MOUNTAINEERING FEDERATION OF THE LITHUANIAN SSR May 21, 1970 TRAVERSING THE PEAKS OF JACQUES DUCLÔS — 4270 m — 4270 m — PIK G. AKSTINASA (KARAKOL VALLEY, TIAN SHAN) Leader: B. BINKAUSKAS, first ascent

Route Description

Traversing Jacques Duclôs – 4270 m – 4270 m – Pik G. Akstinasa

Category 3A route

The route starts from a campsite on the left moraine of the On-tor Glacier (see Scheme I). The campsite is well-protected from the wind, and there is water available, but it's necessary to dig trenches around the tents to avoid trouble from water flows resulting from rain. The ascent to Jacques Duclôs Peak begins with a climb straight up from the campsite. The route then proceeds through the following sections:

Ascent Route to the Summit

(Mt. Akstinas, 4250 m, Category 2B difficulty) The summit of Mt. Akstinas is located in the Tian Shan mountain range, on a spur of the Terskey-Alatau ridge, which runs from west to north and from the west side closes the Karakol valley. The summit of Mt. Akstinas together with the summit of Litovskikh Alpinistov (total ridge length — 2 km) closes a rocky amphitheater filled with eternal snow and ice. The path from the base camp, which is located at the confluence of the two rivers On-Tor and Kol-Tor, goes along a trail on the left bank of the Ot-Tor River to the tongue of the On-Tor glacier. Here are the "lower" campsite, the journey takes 4 hours. The "upper" campsite is located on the southern green slope of the Litovskikh Alpinistov summit. The path to the "upper" campsite:

• along the right lateral moraine to the On-Tor glacier;
• then, bypassing the Litovskikh Alpinistov summit from the left, we cross over to the glacier located on the right. The journey to the "upper" campsite takes 2-3 hours. The path then leads to the summit of Mt. Akstinas. We ascend a steep moraine to the Bezymyannyy glacier, and along it to the saddle between the Bezymyannaya and Mt. Akstinas summits. The journey takes 3-4 hours.