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Description of the ascent route to Donguz-Orun via the northwest wall (counterfort) — 1962

The Donguz-Orun massif (4468 m) is located in the Main Caucasian Range, in the upper reaches of the Baksan valley, and is quite familiar to mountaineers. The ascent route to Donguz-Orun via the northwest wall (counterfort) has been traversed twice, but there is no description of the route, and it is not known exactly where the climbers' paths lay, whether they coincided for both groups, or what variations these groups took. We embarked on the route, considering the wall to have sufficient difficulty both technically and tactically, and the route to be: — logical, — interesting, — deserving of the most serious consideration and evaluation, and likely to gain wide sporting popularity in the future. It was necessary to study the most expedient paths for its traversal and compile a more or less stable description. The Donguz-Orun massif is composed of ancient rocks, predominantly gneisses, layered in such a way that the slopes of the northern sector of the massif, with their great steepness, have the character of smooth wall sections interspersed with very steep slabs of tiled structure. The route via the northwest wall is combined, with large sections of formed ice. The height difference from the foot of the wall to the summit is about 1900 m.