Ascent Log

1. Climbing category: rock climbing
2. Climbing area: Caucasus, (2.8), Ardon River gorge
3. Peak, route: Kariu-Khokh (3438 m) from the south via the NW ridge
4. Estimated category of difficulty: 3A, first ascent
5. Height difference: 1200 m. Total route length: 2300 m. Average slope of the route: 33°.
6. Pitons hammered: rock — 6 pcs., chocks — 8 pcs.
7. Number of travel hours/days: 10/1

South Kaidzhany (3916 m)

Peak of the Kazbek Highland Region

The peak South Kaidzhany is located between the peaks North Kaidzhany and Peak "3850 m" of the Eastern Lateral Ridge, north of the Kazbek massif. The peak has been visited repeatedly since 1947 by mountaineering groups from Ordzhonikidze. Most popular routes:

• Via the Northeast Ridge
• From the south, from the Chach gorge Below is a description of both routes:
• Description of the ascent route to South Kaidzhany via the Northeast Ridge
• 1B-P-A-cat. diff. Day 1. From Ordzhonikidze, the group arrives by car in 1 hour to the village of Gvileti, from where they ascend on a wide pack trail for 1 hour to the confluence of the Amali and Chach-khi rivers.

The descent from the trough to the Chach gorge takes an hour. The descent from the bivouac to the village of Gvileti takes 2–2.5 hours. From here, it is possible to return to the city of Ordzhonikidze by car in 1.5 hours.

Equipment recommended for a group of 4 people

1. Main ropes 30 m — 2 pieces.
2. Rock hooks — 10 pieces.
3. Group carabiners — 7 pieces.
4. Hammers — 2 pieces.

Description of the ascent route to South Kaidzhany from the South

1B - P - A cat. diff. Day 1. The route of the 1st day and the ascent to the trough of the Kaidzhany glacier completely coincides with the previous description. The bivouac location is in front of the "gates" of the Chach gorge. Day 2. Departure no later than 5:00. They go up the slope, leaving the mentioned couloir on the left. After the grassy slopes, they climb up the scree, climb onto the hill of the ancient terminal moraine of the glacier, and enter the glacier cirque.

North Kaidzhany from the East

PD - PD+ cat. diff. The Kaidzhany massif is part of the Kazbek group of peaks in the Central Caucasus. North Kaidzhany is located in the northern spur of Peak Spartak. The summit is a nodal point. The northern ridge leads to Malaia Kaidzhany (3700 m), the southwestern ridge leads to South Kaidzhany (3916 m), and the southeastern ridge leads to Peak 25th anniversary of SKGMI (3870 m). The following routes are laid on North Kaidzhany:

1. From the South from Chachskoye gorge — 1B cat. diff.
2. Along the Northern ridge with exit from the gorge of the Belaya River. — PD cat. diff. The route along the Eastern edge from the Belaya River gorge was first climbed on August 5, 1973, by a group of climbers from Ordzhonikidze led by R. P. Proskuryakov. The ascent with return to Ordzhonikidze takes 1.5 days.

Terrain

Drive along the Military Georgian Road to the village of Verkhniy Lars (1200 m above sea level). To the right, before the village, the Belaya River flows into the Terek River. Walk along the trail along the left bank for about 3 hours to the area of the trough-shaped expansion of the gorge.

Description of the ascent route to the summit Severnaia Kaidzhany via the North Ridge, category 2A. Day 1. From the village Ordzhonikidze to the village Verkhnii Lars via the Military Georgian Road (32 km) - about an hour's drive. Within the village, a small left tributary - Belaya Rechka - flows into the Terek River. You need to move west along the gorge of this stream. The trail steeply winds its way up the left bank, gaining height. After 1.5-2 hours of walking, you exit the forest zone and after another hour, you reach a wide trough in the upper reaches of the gorge, where you can set up a bivouac. You can also organize a bivouac an hour's walk further up the gorge, having climbed the high hills of the ancient terminal moraine of the glacier. Day 2. Early start. Move in the direction of the canyon, compressed by "ram's foreheads". It takes about an hour to walk to the canyon across the scree slopes. The canyon can be traversed along the left side (simple climbing on "ram's foreheads" in a rope team) or along the right side, traversing the scree slopes of the East Ridge of S. Kaidzhany. After about 200 meters, you enter a more gentle part of a wide trough-like couloir, which the canyon leads to. Having walked 150 m along the bottom of the "trough" and across simple, ruined rocks, you reach the shoulder of the North Ridge of the summit. A snowy 100-meter ridge leads to a 40-50-meter rocky ascent with a steepness of about 60°. The rocks are extremely ruined (shales), and the protection is hook-based (pitons with long blades). The ascent leads to a 100-meter sharp shale ridge, steeply rising (45°) towards the summit of Severnaia Kaidzhany. The ridge is partially covered with snow, and the rocks are very fragile.

Severnye Kaidzhany (3969 m)

(Peak of the Kazbek high-mountain region) The summit is located on the north-eastern spur of Peak Spartak (4510 m) (on the Kazbek plateau), where a number of peaks rise: Peak Ordzhonikidze (4005 m); Peak Iriston (3969 m), Chach-khokh (4098 m), Peak "3850", South Kaidzhany (3916 m), North Kaidzhany (3969 m) and Peak 25th anniversary of SKGMI (3865 m). From the city of Ordzhonikidze, the pointed peaks of Kaidzhany are clearly visible against the backdrop of Kazbek's snowy cap. Since 1947, the summit has been repeatedly visited by climbers from Ordzhonikidze. The most popular routes are from the south from the Chach gorge and along the North ridge. Description of the ascent route to North Kaidzhany from the south 1B – P-A cat. difficulty. Day 1. From the city of Ordzhonikidze, they drive for 1 hour to the village of Gvileti, from where they ascend along a wide pack trail to the confluence of the Amali and Chach-khi rivers (1 hour walk). After crossing the rickety bridge over the Amali River and overcoming the steep ascent of the trail, they turn right into the Chach gorge along the trail. The trail crosses to the left (orographic) bank of the Chach-khi River, where it is poorly defined. Gradually climbing higher up the slope, they reach the "sheep's foreheads". Having overcome the "sheep's foreheads" along one of the shelves dividing them, they need to move up the grassy slope under the rocks, where the trail is well-trodden. Moving along the rocks, they reach the shoulder forming the 1st "gates" of the gorge. From the confluence of the rivers to the pass point of the first "gates" is 1 hour 30 minutes walk. The "sheep's foreheads" are passed with caution, with gymnastic belay. Along the trail, traversing grassy slopes and a number of scree couloirs, they reach the second "gates" in 50 minutes, which are a rocky defile in the river floodplain.

Malaya Kaidzhany (3700 m)

via the Eastern ridge, Cat. 1B–2A The summit is situated on the eastern boundary of the Central Caucasus. It is the northernmost summit in the northern spur of Pik Spartaka.

• To the south, Malaya Kaidzhany is connected by a ridge to Severная Kaidzhany (3969).
• To the north, a long ridge descends to Sanibanskii pass (1800 m).
• To the east, the Eastern ridge steeply descends into the Darial gorge. The summit was first ascended by B. Gолубев's team in 1947, traversing the Kaidzhany massif from the north. The Eastern ridge was climbed by V. Kuprin's team in 1971, and has been repeated several times since. Departure from Ordzhonikidze along the Military Georgian Highway to Verkhnii Lars village. 200–300 m before Verkhnii Lars, a trail (abandoned road) branches off to the right into the Belaya Rechka gorge. Be cautious on the trail, as the slopes of the Belaya Rechka gorge are steep. After 2–2.5 hours of walking, the trail joins another one descending from the right slope at a wider part of the gorge, and follows it onto the Eastern ridge of Malaya Kaidzhany. The broad, grassy ridge-koши offers good camping spots. The camping altitude is 2000 m (according to the altimeter). The path continues along the ridge. The ridge:
• is steep and grassy at the beginning of the ascent;

2.8.37

Ascent Record

1. Russian Federation Championship in Alpinism among Veterans.
2. Kazbek Peak - 5033 m from the Karmadon gorge via the A.V. Pastukhov route, from the upper reaches of the Genaldon River.
3. Difficulty category - 2B.
4. Group composition - 10 people, including veteran climbers: Gennadiy Sambolenko, Master of Sports, 66 years old, Viktor Meshcheryakov, Candidate for Master of Sports, 67 years old, Vyacheslav Kavchenko, 1st sports rank, 63 years old, Evgeniy Pas'ko, 2nd sports rank, 61 years old,

Passport

1. Technical class
2. Caucasus, Genaldon gorge, Maili glacier
3. Kazbek peak via NW ridge-slope from Maili glacier
4. Proposed 2B category of difficulty, combined, first ascent
5. Elevation gain 2750 m, length (height) of sections: 2B category of difficulty — 1200 m, 3A category of difficulty — 150 m, 2A category of difficulty — 700 m. Average steepness of the rocky part of the route — 35–40°, steepness of the dome (snow-ice) — 40–45°.
6. No pitons were left on the route previously.
7. Team's travel hours: ascent — 12, descent — 12, including 4 hours searching for the path during descent from the summit in fog.
8. Two nights — on the "shoulder" of the plateau

Route Description

Ascent to the Nameless peak (4000 m above sea level) (Peak "Iriston") 1A category of difficulty. The peak is located in the watershed ridge (between the Genaldon and Chachkhi river basins) connecting the Kazbek firn plateau with the Chach-khokh peak (4100 m). The immediate neighbors of the peak in the ridge are from south to north:

• Ordzhonikidzevskaya railway peak (4300 m)
• Chach-khokh. The first ascent was made on October 25, 1964 from the Chach gorge by a group of the Spartak Council of the DSO in the amount of 7 people led by L. Tabolov. Day 1. The group reaches the village of Gvileti by car, from where it takes no more than 1 hour of walking along a dirt road to the confluence of the Kabakhi and Chachkhi rivers. After crossing the pedestrian bridge over the Kabakhi River and overcoming the steep ascent of the trail, they head along the trail to the right (Chach) gorge. The trail leads to the second bridge, which should be crossed to the left (orographic) bank of the Chachkhi River. Here, on the slope, there are many trails, which, however, all lead to the gate of the Chach gorge (height difference of about 300-400 m). In this area, it is recommended to navigate to a single birch tree growing under the wall of the first "gate", heading higher up the slope. Having overcome the "ram's foreheads" of the "gate" along one of the shelves dividing them, one should:
• go up along the grassy slope to a group of trees,