Ascent Route

Climbing type — rock. Climbing area — Caucasus, Krasnodar Krai. Peak, its height, ascent route — Lajub via N-E wall, 2998 m. Proposed difficulty category — 5B (KTPV, 2.1 clause 6). Route characteristics:

• Elevation gain — 900 m
• Length of sections:
  • R4 category: 620 m
  • R5 category: 440 m
  • R6 category: 110 m
• Average steepness of the route — 50–52°
• Wall section steepness — 72–75°

Ascent Passport

I. Ascent class - rock. 2. Ascent area - Western Caucasus. 3. Peak, its height, ascent route - Larb, 2998 m, via the northeast wall. 4. Proposed difficulty category - 5B. 5. Route characteristics: height difference - 1000 m, length of sections with 5-6 cat. diff. - 395 m, average steepness - 65° 6. Number of pitons driven for belaying and creating artificial holds: rock - 135; ice - none; bolt - none. 7. Number of climbing hours - 25 hours.

The route in question is laid out on the northeastern side of the main peak of Layub Vostochny. The route can be conditionally divided into four parts:

• the lower part — a snowy slope, a snow-ice cone, rocks, below the "sheep's foreheads";
• the overhanging Northeast wall;
• the ridge of the counterfort;
• the rocky-snowy ridge of the summit. The route is generally complicated by solid rocky formations, heavily snowed, and sheer sections covered with accreted ice. The greatest difficulty is presented by a three-hundred-meter wall, with an overall steepness of more than 90°. The passage is facilitated by the presence of two giant internal corners crossing the wall in a zigzag from left to right, then from right to left (sections R4–R5, R5–R6, R6–R7) in the direction of the counterfort ridge. The most challenging part is the upper section of the wall (sections R9–R18), composed of ice-covered slabs with a steepness of 80°–90° and in places overhanging up to 120° and corniced. Further, the route passes along the complex steep rocks of the counterfort, transitioning into the rocky-snowy ridge of the summit.