A large snowy ascent. Further, I, 5–2 ropes along a 60–70° snowy slope with an exit left onto rocks. There is a bivouac site here. You can set up I–II tents, after roughly processing the thawing ice that creeps onto the rocks. From the bivouac on the Northeast buttress — 9–12 hours. Along the 30–35° snowy ridge — two ropes until exiting onto heavily destroyed simple rocks, leading through 30–40 m onto the ridge, which is a continuation of the Southeast buttress of the summit. Further movement along the ridge involves overcoming a small "ryzhyi mandar" head-on or bypassing it on the left with an exit in 40 m under a 30-meter wall. The wall is overcome via an internal corner with frozen rocks (rock pitons). The exit onto the wall on the right is less convenient due to cornices on the rocks. After overcoming the wall, a sharp rocky ridge exits under a large rectangular "mandari" rock. The "mandari" is bypassed on the right (I rope) with piton protection. Further movement (4.45 ropes) along the ridge with good monolithic rocks and cornices on the right until the pre-summit. The pre-summit plateau is convenient for an overnight stay. From the pre-summit to the summit, there are 100 m practically without any ascent (be cautious, with cornices on the right). The exit onto the summit, which is a large cornice, is along the visible line of rocks on the left in the direction of travel. The summit tour is arranged between two large monolithic rocks in the western part of the summit. Ascent time:

• From the bivouac site on the rocks under the southeast buttress — 5–7 hours.
• Descent from the summit via the ascent route — 12–14 hours.

Arzamas City Council of Physical Education and Sports Description of the ascent route to Peak Kshemysh Bashi with ascent via the western wall of the southwestern buttress (first ascent) Group composition:

• ORLOV N.I. — leader
• DAVYDOV A.P.
• EGOROV L.A.
• MALYKHIN Y.M.
• RUDNEV V.S.

21 TC-6

USSR Alpine Championship 1973

Kshmysch via North Face

Report on the Ascent by the Leningrad City Committee for Physical Culture and Sports

Brief Geographical Description and Sporting Characteristics of the Route

Kshmysch peak, 5300 m, is one of the highest peaks in the Matcha mountain cluster. It is located almost in the center of the Turkestan ridge between the peaks "25 лет ПНР" and Mushketov, and naturally closes the Kshmysch river gorge. The simplest path to the summit is via the Ivanov pass along the northeast ridge, category 4B. To the north, the massif drops off in an almost sheer wall with a height difference of 1800 m. The wall has significant glaciation. The rocks are heavily weathered. The possibility of traversing this wall, the main alpinist object in the area, is problematic due to both the high technical difficulty and the complexity of choosing a safe route (the wall is exposed to rockfall). In 1972, a team from Novosibirsk attempted to traverse the wall but managed to pass only a small part of the lower bastion before being forced to descend (see photo 1).

Passport

of the ascent made in the USSR Alpine Championship 1973 Class of ascent technically complex Region of ascent Pamir Matinsky mountain gorge Ascent route: Kshemysh (5300 m) via the north face Characteristics of the ascent: height difference 1700 m, average steepness 80°. Length of complex sections 1700 m (height difference 1610 m, steepness 84%). Number of pitons: rock 209, ice 22, bolted 1 Number of climbing hours: 76 h Number of bivouacs: five (without rest day) and in them: lying 1, sitting 4 Team name:

1. Solonnikov Viktor Aleksandrovich — MS, captain, coach
2. Antonov Dmitry Igorevich, MS, participant

1. Class of ascent — traverse
2. Area of ascent — Pamir-Alay, Turkestan Range
3. Route of ascent — Kshemyysh — 5282 m (via N. buttress), Mushketova Southern — 5200 m, Mushketova Northern — 5150 m, Mushketova Predvershinnaya — 5019 m, Shchurovsky Malyy — 5100 m, Muztash — 5100 m, Kharsang — 4800 m, Fedchenko — 5409 m.
4. Characteristics of ascent:
   • height difference of the N. buttress — 570 m
   • average steepness of the N. buttress — 55–58°
   • length of difficult sections
     • 5 km cat. dif. — 2318 m
     • 5–6 km cat. dif. — 222 m
     • 6 km cat. dif. — 34 m

Photo 1. View of Severnaia Matcha and Yuzhnaia Matcha from the upper reaches of the Zeravshan glacier.

Description of the ascent route to the summit Severnaia Matcha 4500 m via the southern edge (first ascent)

Group composition:

1. Rudnev V. S. — leader.
2. Melnikova R. N.
3. Zhgilev A. V.
4. Pinaev V. S. The Matcha peak 4500 m is located in the upper reaches of the Zeravshan glacier (Pamiro-Alai) in the Turkestan Range, north of the eponymous pass, and is actually two peaks, conditionally named Severnaia Matcha and Yuzhnaia Matcha (see photo 1), separated by a wide snow col. A wide snow couloir descends from the col to the glacier, making an ascent possible. The height of Severnaia Matcha, the higher of the two peaks, is determined with an accuracy of ±30 m. The absence of a cairn and other signs of human presence on the northern peak allows us to classify this ascent as a first ascent. The group of Arzamas 16, consisting of: Rudnev V. S. — leader, Melnikova R. N., Zhgilev A. V., Pinaev V. S. — members, made the first ascent to the peak Severnaia Matcha via the southern edge on July 18, 1969. The group left the base camp at the Matcha pass at 3:00, reached the summit at 8:00, and returned to the bivouac at 10:30 on the same day.

Description

of the ascent route to the "Yuzhnaya Matcha" peak via the ridge from Matcha Pass. Group composition: Zhelonkin E.F. (leader), Egorov L.A., Pavlovsky E.S., Sofronov I.D. The double-peaked Matcha summit is located in the Turkestan Range, north of Matcha Pass. It rises 600 meters above the pass. Its height is approximately 4600 meters. North of the Matcha peaks, conditionally referred to as "Yuzhnaya Matcha" and "Severnaya Matcha", lies a three-peaked summit in the Turkestan Range, followed by the Kshemysh-bashi peak. The ascent route to "Yuzhnaya Matcha" peak chosen was the climb along the ridge from Matcha Pass. A group of alpinists from Arzamas-16, consisting of Zhelonkin E.F. (leader), Egorov L.A., Pavlovsky E.S., Sofronov I.D., left the base camp at Matcha Pass on July 18 at 8:00 and reached the summit by 13:00. The group returned to the base camp by 17:00 the same day. The path to the summit from Matcha Pass follows a heavily serrated ridge, where 4 major pinnacles can be conditionally identified, although there are many other pinnacles ranging from fairly large to individual needles. The route is purely rock (July 1969). There's a lot of climbing on severely deteriorated rocks of moderate difficulty. The first pinnacle is bypassed on the left via scree and snow. The second pinnacle is climbed on its left part via inclined smooth slabs. Here, piton protection is necessary. The third pinnacle is climbed on its left part.

Ascent Log

1. Ascent class — high-altitude and technical.
2. Ascent area — Matcha node, Turkestan Ridge.
3. Summit — peak Mushketova, height — 5300 m, ascent route via the center of the northwest wall.
4. Proposed difficulty category — 5B.
5. Route characteristics: a) height difference — 1900 m; b) length of sections with 5–6 difficulty category — 930 m; c) average steepness (sections 1–32) — 73°, (sections 32–46) — 50°.
6. Number of pitons hammered for protection:

Description of the Ascent Route to Obryv Peak via the Southeast Ridge (First Ascent)

Group members: Zhelonkin E.F. (leader), Khokhryakov G.P., Eliseev G.M., Kelikeldin G.V., Sofronov I.D. Obryv Peak is located in the upper reaches of the Zeravshan Glacier, at the end of the southern spur of the Turkestan Range (Pamir-Alay). To the north of Obryv Peak, within the same spur, lies an unnamed peak 5025, separated from Obryv Peak by a long, heavily dissected ridge. To the east, towards Matcha Pass, several steep ridges descend from Obryv Peak and its pre-summit ridges, separated by broad snow-and-ice couloirs. Two ridges extend south and southeast from the peak, terminating in rock walls. According to available data, Obryv Peak had not been climbed before. The route chosen for the first ascent was an ascent via the southeast ridge, accessing it from the southwest through a couloir. The group from Arzamas-16, consisting of G.M. Eliseev, G.V. Kelikeldin, G.P. Khokhryakov, I.D. Sofronov, and E.F. Zhelonkin (leader), departed from the base camp at Matcha Pass at 6:00 on August 4, 1969, reached the summit the same day, spent the night on the ridge, and returned to camp at 14:00 on August 5, descending via the ascent route. The route is a combination of rock, snow, and ice climbing. The main part of the route involves rock climbing, although there are difficult snow and ice sections. From Matcha Pass, the path follows the Zeravshan Glacier, bypassing the southeast ridge to the southern slopes of Obryv Peak. A lake under the southern slopes serves as a landmark for the start of the ascent. Immediately beyond the lake, the ascent proceeds through talus onto a snowfield. The path goes up a fairly steep snowfield to the right, reaching its upper part and emerging onto rocks.

Peak Skalisty — Main Summit (5621 m) via the northern ridge from the Ats-Terek glacier — 35 km.

August 13, 1969. Kazimierz Głazek, Tadeusz Piotrowski, Bernard Uchmański, Krzysztof Cieleńsky, Bogdan Jankowski From a bivouac on the Votryanaya saddle. Description of the route's character up to the saddle:

• Within "Ascent in the Skalisty Peak massif," the path goes via easy climbing, местами по льду — по пря­мой сто­ро­не гре­бня (400 m), кру­ти­зной до 45°.
• Then an ascent onto a complex ridge, along which another 100 m to its highest point.
• Descent down steep snow (20 m) onto a rocky saddle.
• The further path proceeds along a purely rocky ridge.