Космонавтов

Description of the route to Peak Kosmonavtov, including technical information and photographs of key stages of the ascent.

Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Path to Pik Kosmonavtov

A description of the ascent route to the summit Svobodnaya Korea, located in the mountains of Kabardino-Balkaria, with details of the approach and technical features of the climb.

Fig. 1. Ascent to p. Svobodnaya Korea (general view)

Description of the ascent route to the summit via a wall with a 500-600 m sheer drop, complexity category 4A, ridge length 150 m.

The ridge is 9-10 m long, traversed astride. Further, a narrow inclined ridge expands to 20 m and is covered with large talus, leading to the summit. The ridge is 150 m long. The summit is a talus-covered area. To the north, a ridge with a steepness of 60° descends. To the east, west, and south, it drops off with walls. The route is classified as a wall climb and is distinguished by strong psychological impacts, as one has to work on a wall with a 500–600 m drop. Descent is via the ascent route. This ascent took 15 hours; 28 ice screws and 21 rock pitons were hammered in. The ascent is rated as 4A category of difficulty.

A description of the ascent route along the eastern wall of the mountain with challenging rock and ice sections, requiring belay organization and piton usage.

The path goes further along the eastern wall with a steepness of 70°. Here is a 20 m long shelf, 10 cm wide, going at an angle of 30°. There are handholds here. 5 pitons are hammered in to pass the shelf. The shelf ends with a narrow crack going upwards with a steepness of 60°, 3 m long. Climb up the crack. Holding onto the crack with hands, we reach a shelf 1 m wide, with a steepness of 30°, covered with fine talus. Here we hammer in a piton. The shelf is 7 m long, it ends with an internal corner with a steepness of 60° and a height of 4 m. Having passed the corner, we reach a large ledge, where we set up a belay. 7 pitons are hammered in on this section, and it takes 1.5 hours to pass. The path further goes above the wall along rocks covered with ice with a steepness of 40°, which end with a snow-ice shelf. The length of this section is 40 m, belaying is organized through ledges. From the shelf, the path leads upwards to the left along a snow-ice wall 3 m long, with a steepness of 50°. The wall leads to an inclined shelf 15-18 m long, covered with flow ice. The passage is made by hammering in rock pitons to the right along the wall. The shelf leads to a pre-summit shoulder. Here, hammering in pitons, we set up a belay. From the ledge to the shoulder, 7 pitons are hammered in, and it takes 2 hours 30 minutes. The ascent to the shoulder is a wall with a steepness of 95°, 8 m long. 2 pitons are hammered in to pass the wall. Here

A description of a challenging alpinist route with ice and rock sections, featuring steep slopes and walls with the use of belay and pitons.

From the foot to the col, there is a snow-ice slope with a lower section of 200 m at an angle of 30–35°, covered in snow. The slope's steepness gradually increases, and in its upper part, it has an angle of 40–45° with no snow. The length of this section is 400 m. 18 ice screws were hammered into the ice section, and it took 4 hours of working time. To the left of the route, there is a wall with a steepness of 80–90°, and beneath it, there is a talus covered in ice. It's impossible to traverse it with crampons. The col consists of two separate gendarmes with cornices that break off to the east. From the col, the path goes north along heavily destroyed and snow-covered slopes with a steepness of 50° and a length of 60 m. The rocks lead to a wall that ends in a ledge. From the ledge, the path goes left along the route into a narrow chimney with a steepness of 80° and a length of 6 m, formed by two smooth ice-covered slabs. Further on, the path leads to a smooth ledge with a steepness of 50°, covered in small talus. The length of the ledge is 7–8 m. Here, we hammer in a piton. In front of us, there is a two-meter wall that leads to a narrow chimney with a length of 10–12 m and a steepness of 60°; 3 pitons were hammered into the chimney. The chimney leads to a bolt, which drops off to the east with a sheer wall. Here, we organize a belay through a protrusion. On this section, 4 pitons were hammered in, and it was traversed in 2 hours.

Ascent route via the south-west wall of Peak Komosomola in the Kyrgyz Ala-Too range, grade 2B.

PD+ 200 m 50 m