This is the second part of my Kyrgyzstan adventure post and this is the story of the 5 mountaineering days in the unexplored valley.
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| ABC |
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| View from inside the tent |
Finally, finally the first real mountaineering day starts. We set off in a group of 5 split into two ropes. One of the mountain guides with two people and me roped up with another member of the expedition. He took part already to 4 previous expeditions and has a long climbing experience in his rucksack already...but there is a small issue :)...he is scottish and, you know, these guys don't really speak proper english...first thing I think is...how the hell am I going to understand him on climbing some pitches when he gets out of sight??? We'll see.
Our target for the day is a summit rather nearby with a large snowfield underneath and a summit that from the distance looks like a panettone of rock. The approach involves crossing icy rivers (but this will be a constant for every peak since at night the temperature goes well below zero) and some steep snow fields, where we rope up. At last we get on the ridge and here things get more interesting. Going on an unknown route involves several dangers. First of all you never know if there will be a major obstacle round the corner, but mainly loose rocks are always there. Sure, nobody has ever been here before so it's normal that lots of loose rocks will actually come loose if you are not careful. We are lucky because there a mountain guide going first and clearly he has lots and lots of experience...but this does not mean we can just walk and not being careful. Sometimes we do small "pitches" and sometimes we walk together until we reach the last rocky bit before the summit. Here one single pitch of around 20m with no protection whatsoever and still lots of loose rocks takes us on the first unclimbed summit of our trip!
Even the way down stays interesting since the guide picks a slightly different route and we have to descend on some rather steep snow. So ice screw in, front points and there you go feeling like Ueli Steck in the video of the Eiger north face climb...only backwards :). From the evening before I could not think it would have got so warm during the day, but actually the way down is comfortable in the baselayer only. At base camp we meet the other team of 4 people plus guide that climbed another summit. In these 5 days we will always be split into two teams and unfortunately I won't be able to say anything about the other team. I've been working hard but I still can't manage to be in two places at the same time...
The afternoon is the chance to relax, rehydrate and chat about the wonderful things done in the morning. Actually...this is what all afternoons are about here at ABC. Some really brave people might even consider getting washed in the river but apart from that there is not that much to do. However, I don't mind this...actually I like it. The thing is, everyday in our life we are rather busy...get up, breakfast, run to work, quick lunch because I have a meeting, work more in the afternoon, go here, go there, do this and do that. So, the idea of being able to spend several afternoons lying in a tent or outside on the rocks, totally surrounded by untouched nature with the only sound of wind and running water, looking at wonderful peaks...actually...is really really great!
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| Typical afternoon scene at ABC...if the weather was good |
For the second climbing day the plan is to climb (or at least attempt) the peak almost directly opposite to Sunset Rock, which we will in the end call Dawn Peak or Kun Chygsh (in the local language). Approach to this peak involves a longer walk, even downhill, towards a side valley entirely covered by a wonderful glacier. Being on a glacier very often means having cold winds blowing all over the place, and today is no exception. It does not feel cold, but for sure not warm. After a long walk inside the valley we decide to veer to the left in order to gain the ridge of today's mountain. The snow is rather steep and the bergschrund is covered in snow, but it holds. Suddenly we feel that there might be an avalanche risk so the guide decides to go on his own, still tied to the rope and secured with an ice screw. Once at the top of the snowfield and just below the ridge he realizes that the snowpack is safe and we can all follow.
Due to the sun rising from the back of the ridge it was not possible to fully understand the features of this ridge. Actually we expected to have to climb very cool stuff and massive gendarmes...but that was not true. The ridge is a huge pile of crumbly rumbly rubble. All the way to the top it's two steps ahead and one step back...quite tiring really. But once finally on the summit we enjoy another wonderful view of this immense mountain region. We can see China on one side with the flat valley underneath and the At Bashi range on the other side. Once again the weather has been good with us and we can rest on the summit without freezing. Altitude gauge is 4460m.
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| Ridge here we come |
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| On the summit |
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| View towards China |
On the way back we learn how quickly the weather can deteriorate. In the morning there was literally one cloud in the whole sky and now, a few hours later, we can clearly see a front running towards us. Fortunately we have enough time to go back to the tents and approximately an hour later it starts haling. So, the rest of the afternoon has to be spent in the tent...but the company is great and time flies. It would have been nice to have some music to listen to, but I on purpose decided not to take any music with me, just to get a full detachment from my everyday's life. In the evening for dinner we eat beans, salad and chicken...and one of these three things creates stomach problem to almost everyone. Some people have to get up in the middle of the night, and others (like me) can resist until the morning...but the result is the same (better not to go into the details...).
In the morning we all feel a bit weaker than usual but the weather is looking good again so we feel compelled to go and attempt another summit. We won't be here for long so is better to exploit all the time we have available. The target for today is a nicely looking peak, and the plan is to climb it from its west ridge. The approach takes much longer than expected and in the meanwhile the weather starts deteriorating again...even faster than yesterday. It really seems that the clouds are running to catch us up. Once we reach the saddle we can see the ridge completely...and it looks really good! But also quite tricky and the guide estimates it as D+, with a 5 hours ascent at least. So, looking at the clouds which are closer to us by the minute we quickly decide that this summit won't be attempted and we move our attention to its neighbor, on the opposite side of the saddle. It looks really easy, just a walk up, but better an easy summit than nothing. Going up is not really so easy as the rubble keeps on rubbling away and this time we make two steps ahead and three steps back :). But eventually we manage to reach the summit and this summit will be named running peak or Churkoo Peak (4480m). Running partly because the clouds were running towards us...and partly for the reasons I have explained earlier due to the food we ate :).
This third climbing day ends pretty early and we are at ABC even before midday, but is surely better like that since after a short time it starts haling again. The other group is still out there battling on the rocks. They have been trying to climb a nice peak with three summits, but they had to retreat. Partly because the climb was getting dangerous and partly because the bad weather did not leave much choice.
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| Haling seen from inside the tent |
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| Hang on...I think I have seen this mountain before...doesn't it look like the Matterhorn? |
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| That's the fantastic ridge we could not climb |
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| Summit of running peak |
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| Back to ABC |
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| ABC after another bad weather spell |
In the following morning we decide to attempt this peak with three summits, but from the opposite side. Looking at the peak from the bottom I think to myself: "finally we get to climb something that looks really technical". In fact, the climb starts with a rather steep snow couloir, probably in the pictures it even looks steeper than it actually was. After almost 100m of snow and some rubble we get to the beginning of the first pitch. Naturally, the guide goes first. But he picks a route that I would have not thought about and he disappears in a very large crack, shuffling along. Ho doesn't know if this will be the correct way..actually nobody knows. And this is the nice thing about climbing an unclimbed route. You never know what is awaiting behind the corner. At some point he shouts to keep on feeding the rope because he thinks he has found a way. One the rope comes tight one by one we start following, both rope parties. After a second and much shorter pitch we reach something that looks like the summit ridge...but here there is a problem. The guide starts going up but he claims that there is no way we can go through there. It is not that difficult but there are no possibilities for placing protection and, additionally, the rock seem very loose and easy to break. But just below our feet we see a traverse that brings to a couloir that should directly access the summit. It looks rather airy, but the guide knows that this might be the only way. Before crossing he places several slings in such a way to create hand holds and facilitate the descent towards the traverse. Reason why we study history is to learn from it, and this is one of this case. For sure most people know about the Hinterstoiser traverse, and about what happened when they did not leave a rope in place after crossing it. So, we leave all the slings and the protections in place...just in case we have to come back this way.
After the traverse there is a full pitch up this big couloir, starting with a large slab. It's not difficult but we have to be really really careful because big boulder can be dislodged at any time. I'm the last in the row and therefore I have to clean the rock from all the protections. I have to say some of the placement found by the mountain guide are really good and imaginative, but always effective. At the end of this pitch we can finally see the summit, and the last short pitch that will lead us to it. This is by far the best pitch of all. It's all up an arete that involves holding with the hands on one side and work on contrast with the feet on the other...amazing climbing. And finally we "stand" on the summit. There is not really that much space to stand but somehow we all manage to stand up there, being happy of the best summit conquered to far. Due to the fact that this peak has three summits we will call this one Cerberus Peak, like the dog that was guarding the Ade, or Hell. It's the lowest summit (4365m) but by far the best one.
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| Steep snow |
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| Steeper snow |
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| Where the hell do we go now? |
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| That really looks like Matterhorn |
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| The traverse |
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| Summit shot on Cerberus peak |
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| The last pitch on the arete |
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| The second last pitch after the traverse |
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| The other team on the other summit...even though they came from the opposite side it is still a fantastic view |
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| Abseiling...long way |
Even the descent is good as we decide to make a single long rappel from the beginning of the arete all the way down into the end of the snow couloir. Fortunately we also manage to take back all the gear that we left in place, but we have to leave a piece of rope for the abseil. From now on, there will be a clear sign on this mountain saying that somebody else has been here before...but probably no one will climb this mountain again.
One last afternoon, the most relaxing of them all, and then ready for the last night in the sleeping bags at 4000m. The plan for the following day would have been to attempt one last summit, come back to ABC to dismantle it and go back to base camp. Unfortunately the weather in the morning is bad and we can't do anything else other than waiting for the hale to stop, dismantle the camp and go down.
Rest of the day will be used to get washed (after 5 long days) and eat lots of very nice food cooked for us at base camp. Tomorrow we are going to leave to get to the rock climbing region of Son Kul canyon, and so the mountaineering part of this trip is here finished.
...continues...
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