ASCENT FORM

1. Technical Climbing Category
2. Caucasus, Tsey Region
3. Chanchakhi Peak (4420 m) via North-East Face
4. Complexity Category - 5B, combined, third ascent
5. Height difference - 620 m, length - 810 m, length of sections with 5B-6 complexity category - 420 m average steepness of the main part of the route (3800–4420) - 60° of which 6 complexity category (4000–4225) - 80°

Description of the Ascent Route to Arkhon Glavny (4253 m) via the Northeast Ridge, Category 3B Complexity

The Arkhon massif is located in the Tepli group of peaks in the Northeast spur of the Kolota peak (4168 m). Its four peaks, listed in order from Kolota, are named:

• Yuzhny (South)
• Tsentralny (Central)
• Glavny (Main)
• Maly (Small) The first ascent of Glavny Arkhon was made on July 2, 1949, by a group led by Senior Lieutenant German. On July 3, 1949, the ascent was repeated by a group of climbers from the Ordzhonikidze "Medik" Sports Society (led by A. Kalmykov). These ascents were made from the Khardadzhin glacier from the south and are classified as Category 2A. On May 29, 1966, a group of climbers from Ordzhonikidze, led by R. Proskuryakov, made the first ascent of the Northeast ridge of Arkhon Glavny, approaching it from the Kurtatin valley. The group consisted of athletes with 1st sports rank and one with 2nd sports rank. On the same day, a group of third-rank climbers led by N. Alchiev made the first ascent of Arkhon Maly (3942 m) via the Southwest ridge, Category 2B complexity.

Day One

From Ordzhonikidze, travel through the village of Dzuarikau to the Kurtatin valley until the fork of the Fiagdon and Dzamarash-don rivers (2 hours 30 minutes). At the fork, cross the Fiagdon River to the left bank and follow the trail for about 1 km along the river. The trails lead into the first valley to the west.

Route Description for Climbing Arkhon Maly Peak (3942 m)

Category II-B difficulty. The peak is located in the Teplinskaya group of the Front Range of the Greater Caucasus, on the northeastern spur of Kolota, immediately adjacent to the Arkhon Glavny peak (4253 m) to the southwest. The first ascent to Arkhon Maly was made by a group of climbers from Ordzhonikidze led by N. Alchiev on May 29, 1966, from the Fiagdon valley via the southwest ridge. Day I. Traveling from Ordzhonikidze through the Kurtatinskoye gorge to the confluence of the Fiagdon and Dzamarashdon rivers takes 2 hours 30 minutes. Cross the Fiagdon River via a bridge near a watchtower and follow the trail up to the first hanging valley (on the left orographic slope of the gorge). The ascent proceeds up a grassy slope, which becomes quite steep at the top, leading to a moraine hill. The moraine ridge is sharp, with avalanche debris from Glavny Arkhon on both sides. On the first day, the ascent reaches an absolute height of 3000 m. At the junction of the moraine and the slope, a bivouac is set up on a small site. The ascent to the bivouac takes 3 hours. Day II. Depart at 5:00 AM. After proceeding 100 m along the moraine, turn right and ascend the slope to the eastern buttress of the northeastern ridge of Arkhon. Upon reaching the ridge of the buttress:

• form a rope team;
• move up the ridge.

The peaks of Jimarai-khok (4776 m), "4398" and Soutisi-khok (4473 m) are located west of the peak Kazbek in the spur of its snowy massif and limit the Midagravin plateau from the east and southeast. Jimarai-khok is the highest peak in the mountains of North Ossetia. Its icy-rocky northern wall is clearly visible in clear weather from the city of Ordzhonikidze between the white caps of Kazbek and Shau-khokh (4000 m). The peaks of Jimarai-khok, "4398" and Soutisi-khokh are composed of schists cut by diabases and effusives, and have significant glaciation. The western rocky ridge of Jimarai consists of effusive rocks. The first ascent to Jimarai was made by a group led by Z. Japaridze in 1935 via the western rocky ridge. In subsequent years:

• In 1950, climbers from the "Medik" Sports Society of North Ossetia visited Jimarai again.
• In 1955, a group from the North Ossetian alpine section led by Suzhaev traversed the peaks of Jimarai-khok - Shau-khokh, which was rated as a category 5B route.
• The peak Soutisi was first conquered by a group led by S.V. Polyakov in 1956 via a ridge ascent from the Tep pass. No one has ever been to the peak "4398", which remains nameless. The beauty of the Jimarai, Soutisi peaks and the snowy-icy ridge with cornices and icicles between them prompted the climbers from the "Lokomotiv" Sports Society to undertake this traverse, which is described below.

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,

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;

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.

The summit is located in the Tepli group of the Front Range of the Greater Caucasus, in the northern "Saw" of Kolota (4168 m), being the northernmost peak of the spur. The first ascent to Pik Severny was made from the Tsaziu-kom gorge, with an exit to the eastern ridge of the Peak, on June 12, 1966, by a group of climbers from Ordzhonikidze, consisting of 7 people (1st category, the rest - higher category) led by V. Meshcheryakov, with R. Proskuryakov as the instructor-observer.

Day 1

From Ordzhonikidze, they drive by car along the Gizel highway to the village of Dzuarikau, after which they turn into the Kurtatinsky gorge. They pass through the villages:

• Lash,
• Khidikus,
• Khariskin and reach the bridge over the Tsaziu-don river, at the confluence of the latter with the Fiagdon river. They ascend along the left bank of the Tsaziu-don river, following the trail, which after about twenty minutes of walking leads to a small bridge over Tsaziu-don. They cross the bridge and follow the trail along a fairly wide terrace of the gorge, overgrown with bushes and dwarf birches. After 2 hours and 30 minutes of walking along the trail along the river, they exit the bush zone and move along an alpine meadow. Near a small mountain lake, a bivouac can be conveniently set up.

Day 2

Ascents to the Peak of the 25th Anniversary of North Ossetia (Syrkhu–Barzond) (4051 m) via the northern ridge, category 3A difficulty. The summit is located in the northwestern spur of the lateral ridge branching off from Tsarint-khokh and represents an independent massif of the spur. The northern ridge of the summit was traversed in 1949 by a group of North Ossetian alpinists. To the west, a steep ridge branches off, not yet traversed by anyone and estimated to be around category III-IV difficulty. To the north, into the Kurtatinsky gorge, towards the village of Khidikus, descends a ridge that was traversed for the second time by groups of the North Ossetian DOS "Spartak" on May 29-30, 1964 (Group of 1st-class climbers and 2nd group led by 1st-class climbers). The height difference from the Kurtatinsky gorge to the summit is 2500 m. The route length is approximately 7 km. The main technical work takes place at an altitude of 3300-4051 m above sea level. The path from the village of Khidikus goes along a wide ridge. Initially, it's a steep grassy slope with many trails. Further, the path goes along slopes overgrown with subalpine mixed forests. Higher up, at an altitude of 2300-2500 m, grassy slopes resume, overgrown with rhododendrons. Overnight stays are possible here (lack of water in summer). The journey from the village of Khidikus to the overnight stay takes 4.5-5 hours. Further up - a short distance along the slopes and exit onto a wide, clearly defined ridge, overgrown with grass, with rock outcrops. On the ridge - a large "gendarme". The journey from the overnight stay to the "gendarme" takes 2-2.5 hours;

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1. DIFFICULT ROCK FORMATIONS
2. "КО­НЕК" (the "horse" or ridge)
3. SHELF ("POLKA")