1,9 25 1 △ 6400 24 135 15200

100

ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE U.S.S.R.

Peak Engel'sa

via the South-Eastern WALL (South-Western PAMIR)

1. Kavunenko 15.0
2. Zaits P.V.
3. Levin B.V.
4. Filippov D.A

Report

on the traverse of peaks Engel'sa — Marx — Shakdarinsky Ridge — Pamir (first ascent).

1. Geographical Location and Sporting Characteristics of Peaks Engel'sa and Marx

a) Geography of the Area. Both peaks are located in the Shakdarinsky Ridge, stretching in a latitudinal direction, and are its highest peaks.

• Height of peak Marx — 6726 m.
• Height of peak Engel'sa — 6510 m. The Shakdarinsky Ridge is a watershed between the Pyanj River basin (to the south) and the Shakdara River basin (to the north). Lateral ridges extending from the arrays of peaks Marx and Engel'sa divide the northern slopes into three valleys: Khatsak, Shaboy, and Nispar (from west to east). Thus, both peaks are accessible from the north only from the Shaboy valley. Here, both peaks drop with huge walls to the foot of the Marx Glacier. The peak arrays rest on granite foundations, resulting in exceptionally extensive sections of sheer walls and a blocky rock structure. Individual monolithic blocks in the array of peak Engel'sa reach 500 m. The slopes of the ridge are covered with powerful glaciation, and numerous ice falls are present, especially in the area between peaks Marx and Engel'sa. However, the relief of the Marx Glacier does not contain significant difficulties. The slopes of peaks Marx and Engel'sa from the north represent routes of the highest category of difficulty, but ascent by these paths is possible only after thorough reconnaissance.

Report

on the traverse of Peaks Engels — Marx — Shakhdarin Range — Pamir (first ascent).

1. Geographical Location and Sporting Characteristics of Peaks Engels and Marx

A. Geography of the Area

Both peaks are located in the Shakhdarin Range, which stretches in a latitudinal direction, and are its highest peaks. The height of Peak Marx is 6726 m, and Peak Engels is 6510 m. The Shakhdarin Range is a watershed between the Pyanj River basin (to the south) and the Shakhdara River basin (to the north). Lateral ridges extending from the massifs of Peaks Marx and Engels dissect the northern slopes into three valleys: Khatsak, Shabo, and Nispas (from west to east). Thus, both peaks are accessible from the north only from the Shabo valley. Here, both peaks drop with huge walls to the foot of the Marx Glacier. The massifs of the peaks rest on granite foundations, resulting in exceptionally extensive sections of completely sheer walls and a blocky rock structure. Individual monolithic blocks in the Peak Engels massif reach 500 meters. The slopes of the range are covered with powerful glaciation and numerous ice drops, especially in the area between Peaks Marx and Engels. However, the relief of the Marx Glacier does not contain significant difficulties. The northern slopes of Peaks Marx and Engels represent routes of the highest category of difficulty, but ascending these paths is possible only after careful reconnaissance. The lateral ridges bounding the Shabo valley to the east and west are much lower (5200–5400 m) and do not have significant glaciation. Routes on individual peaks are not higher than category 4B. Ascending the walls (mainly from the east) is impossible due to the exceptional crumbliness of the rocks.

B. History of Alpinist Exploration

1. Ascent class: High-altitude. 2. Ascent area: Pamir, Shakhdarin Range.
2. Peak, its height, ascent route, route character: p. Engels, 6510 m, via N ridge from Shabo Glacier (Bulanov's route) combined.
3. Complexity category 5B, second ascent.
4. Route characteristics: Height difference — 1810 m. Length of sections with 5–6 cat. diff.: 565 m. Average steepness of the route: 45°.
5. Pitons hammered for belay (including for I.T.O.): Rock — 211/6. Ice — 79/2. Bolt — 0/25. Chocks — 41/2.
6. Number of travel hours — 53 h.
7. Number of nights and their characteristics — 6: Lying — 5, sitting — 1.
8. Surname, name, patronymic of the team leader, participants and their qualification:
   1. Dzhokhadze P.Sh. — Candidate Master of Sports
   2. Sarkisov L.A. — Master of Sports

Appendix

to the Regulations on the USSR Championship in Alpinism for 1970

ASCENT DOCUMENTATION

of the ascent made in the 1970 USSR Alpinism Championship I. Ascent category: Traverse 2. Ascent area: Southwestern Pamir 3. Ascent route: with indication of peaks and their heights:

• Via the northern wall:
  • Peak Engels 6510 m
  • Peak Marx 6726 m

Peak Engels 6510 m

CS DSO "Trud" 1968 www.alp-federation.ru

Route Processing

On July 18, a group consisting of Romanov B., Romanov V., Onishchenko V., and Gerken V. left the assault camp (4850 m), located 1.5 hours walk from the base of the wall, to process the route. Departure at 8:00. On this day, they approached the base of the wall, passed the bergschrund. After the bergschrund, there were about 80 m of firn slope (40%). Then the steepness of the slope increases to 50–55° and ice appears under a thin layer of snow. The total length of the path from the bergschrund to the rocks is about 200 m. They moved with insurance. They left a cache under the rocks, hung ropes, and descended to the camp (4850 m). The descent from under the wall along the hung ropes to the camp took 40 minutes. On July 19, they captured the remaining cargo for the cache: ropes, "hardware". And again, they went out for processing. Using the hung ropes, they climbed to yesterday's cache. The rope team moved forward. The path goes to the base of the counterfort - a traverse to the right under the rocks, along a snow-ice slope with a steepness of 50°. They hung about 100 m of handrails. It is impossible to exit the ridge by traversing to the right due to large cornices. The path up is planned along the rock wall. Under the wall, they left cargo. Along the handrails, they descended down to the camp.

Ascent Description

July 25 - a group consisting of B. Korshunov, V. Gerken, L. Pavlichenko leaves the base camp for the 4850 m camp. The rest of the group leaves the base camp the next day.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST ASCENT OF PEAK ENGELSA (6510 m) VIA THE SOUTH FACE — 6B CATEGORY OF COMPLEXITY

The team of climbers from the CS DSO "Trud" led by V. ROMANOV in 1988. The organizational plan included:

• Gathering all expedition participants in Osh on July 6;
• Traveling by car to the village of Isor;
• Setting up a base camp at an altitude of 4000 m;
• Acclimatization period;
• Ascending via the declared route;
• Wrapping up and evacuating the expedition. The acclimatization period included:
• Organizing a storm camp at an altitude of 4850 m.

102

Report

Team of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee for Physical Culture and Sports on the Ascent to Peak Engels via the South Face in the 1971 USSR Alpine Climbing Championship in the High-Altitude Technical Climbing Category

(Romanov's Route) Team Captain: A.A. Mikhailov Sverdlovsk, 1971

Brief Information about the Region and the Climbing Object

Peak Engels (6510 m) is one of the central peaks of the Southwestern Pamir. Climbing Peak Engels via any route is of great interest. It was first conquered in 1954 by a team from the Georgian Alpine Club, including K. Kuzmin, via the south face with an exit to the hanging glacier to the left of the peak. Subsequently, several more routes were established to Peak Engels, among which the most interesting are:

4.17.100

1. Geographical Location and Sporting Characteristics

Peak named after F. Engels (6510 m) is located in the central part of the Shakhdarin Range (South-West Pamir). For the first time, a mountaineering expedition worked in the area of Peaks Marx and Engels in 1946. Since then, mountaineering expeditions have been entering this area almost every year to make ascents. The area is attractive due to the presence of a large number of diverse and very complex routes. (It is enough to say that there are three routes of the highest category of complexity in this area), many of which were awarded gold medals in the USSR mountaineering championship. The route planned for the ascent was first passed by a group of climbers led by Z.M.S. V. T. Romanov. It is a wall oriented to the southwest. The length of the wall is about 1500 m. The ascent on such a route is a very complex task, since the route starts at 5100 m and ends at an altitude of 6510 m.

2. Meteorological Conditions

The region of South-West Pamir is characterized by stable weather in July-August. However, due to the climatic peculiarities of this year, the weather in the ascent area was not stable. Engels Peak is composed of marble and granite. Along the route, there are sections composed of destroyed and strong rocks. In some places, the passage of sandstone is a great danger. The object of the ascent is located at a great distance from the mountaineering bases. The nearest "Varzob" camp is located at a distance of approximately 700 km. To approach Engels Peak, it is best to use the Osh-Khorog or Dushanbe-Khorog-Osh road. The car goes as far as the village of Ior or Lyangar, and then by pack transport up the trail for about 5 hours. The base camp can be set up on the bend of the river. Despite the work of several expeditions, it is practically very difficult to obtain clear materials about the area.

3. Ascent Plan