REPORT

on the CS "Zenit" championship in alpinism 1972 on the traverse "Peak 40 let LKSM Ukrainy (6318 m) — Peak F. Engels (6510 m)" of the team from Dnepropetrovsk regional council of DSO "Zenit" (in the class of traverses) Dnepropetrovsk 1972

5. Route Description

August 8. The group left the base camp (4200 m) at 9:00. Ascended by the moraine of the Kish-ty-Dzherob glacier, then through slushy snow on the right side of the glacier to the ridge (5200 m). Two relatively flat snow platforms were trampled and the group spent the night there. August 9. Departure at 9:00. The weather was excellent. Ascended to the ridge at 5200 m in rope teams: VALIK—SEMENOV, NAZARENKO—KOZAK, SAMOYLENKO—GREBENKIN, PROTSENKO—SUSLOV. The rope teams remained unchanged thereafter. Movement was simultaneous; the snow was steep but not yet slushy up to the ridge. Descended from the ridge via a rappelled rope to the Zugvand glacier. Then ascended up the glacier. The slope was approximately 20°, but it was not very hot, and the snow began to slush, making it hard to move. Steps were alternately kicked. By 16:00, they reached the start of the route. The key section ahead was the traverse of the Western wall of Peak 40 let LKSMU. They set up a camp, had a snack. At 17:00, the rope team VALIK—SUSLOV went to reconnoiter the start of the route. The route begins with negotiating a bergschrund and exiting onto ice under the marble belt. The ice slope was 30–35° steep and 200 m long. There was a thin layer of slushy snow on the ice, making it difficult to move in crampons. The available daylight was used to process the ice section. The rope team VALIK—SUSLOV, without backpacks and with three 80-meter ropes, used ice screws for protection and fixed ropes up to the rocky outcrop under the marble belt. By 20:00, the team returned to the tents on the Zugvand glacier.

USSR Alpine Federation Donetsk Regional Alpine Section

Report

of the Donetsk Alpinad participants on the traverse of the peak 40th Anniversary of Komsomol of Ukraine – peak Engels approximately 5–6 category of difficulty with the first ascent of the western wall of peak 40th Anniversary of Komsomol of Ukraine, carried out for the 1967 Ukrainian SSR alpine championship in the traverse class. Donetsk, 1967

1. Geographical location and sporting characteristics

The area of peaks Marx and Engels is located within the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of the Tajik SSR, in the southwestern Pamir, within the geographical coordinates: 37°02′–37°06′ north latitude and 72°29′–72°32′ east longitude. Alpinists began to explore this area relatively recently compared to other regions of the Pamir and Tian Shan. Only in 1954 did an expedition from the Georgian Alpine Club arrive here. They were the first to ascend several peaks in the area, including the highest point – peak Karl Marx (6726 m) from the south (from the East Nishgar glacier), and the third highest peak – peak Friedrich Engels (6510 m) from the south (from the Kishty-Dzherob glacier). A high (over 6000 m) ridge from peak Leningrad State University to peak Marx drops steeply to the east into the Zughvand valley, forming a nearly vertical wall about 8 km long. The northeastern walls of peaks Marx and Engels (to the right of the Kustovsky route, beyond the wall's bend) can evoke admiration for their inaccessibility from any master of wall climbing. Therefore, with the recent introduction of a new class – high-altitude technically complex ascents – in the USSR alpine championship, this area has become very popular and will remain a pilgrimage site for many alpine groups for a long time.