Ascent Passport

1. Type of ascent — snow and ice.
2. Region of ascent, ridge — Main Caucasian Ridge from Ortokare peak to Gestola peak, North spur.
3. Peak, its height, ascent route — Mizhirgi Eastern, 4918 m, via the northern wall, via "cascades" (Shevchenko route).
4. Anticipated difficulty category 5B
5. Route characteristics: height difference — 1400 m, average steepness — 49°, length of 5B difficulty sections — 657 m.
6. Pitons hammered: for rock protection — 18, ice screws — 89, chocks — 16.
7. Number of climbing hours — 29.
8. Number of nights and their characteristics: 2 bivouacs.
9. Group composition: Ovsyannikov Yu.N., Master of Sports — leader, Zhuravlev V.V., Candidate for Master of Sports — participant, Karataev V.A., Candidate for Master of Sports — participant, Lebedev V.G., Candidate for Master of Sports — participant.

U. Mizhirgi. North wall. Routes 5B cat. sl. (general directions). Route of the first ascent. ¹

U. Route description. Order of passage

The tactical plan for passing the route provided for processing the lower, most dangerous part of the wall, about 250 m long, and this had to be done before the sun heated the upper glaciers, i.e., before 10–11 am. During the observation, several recorded avalanches and collapses occurred in the middle of the day. July 19 — we went out to process at 3 am by the light of lanterns, taking only ropes and hooks with us. It's snowing a bit from above, and a few centimeters of snow have already fallen. We're nervous — the first meeting with the wall. We're a bit shivery from sleep, but it's not cold. We cross a long avalanche cone with several branches, all pitted with pits, crevices, and approach the wall. All the rocks are snowy, damp, quiet, but there are clearings in the fog and we can hope for improvement.

Footnotes

1. 1. Between themselves U. Mizhirgi. View from p. Panoramny.
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