View of the Massif of Pobeda Peak from Inylchek Glacier. Photo: Mountain.ru

But it was that period of time (1978) when Evgeny Zavialov, an alpinist from St. Petersburg, made his solo ascent to Pobeda Peak, passing over frontier guards.

By that moment Evgeny Zavialov had got considerable experience both in mountaineering and in alpinism, so his decision to try to make an ascent to Pobeda Peak was high-risk, but on the other hand valid due to his physical and tactical attainments and also to his experience of making solo-ascents and ascents to the mounts higher then 7000 m.

Photo Evgeny Zavialov

Being a child Evgeny was keen on sports. At the age of 14 he went to the mountain region for the first time (it was a walking-tour with several pass hoppings), when he was 22 years old, he got engaged to for mountaineering seriously, by that moment he had become a highly-qualified boxer.

In the beginning of the 1970-s he made ascents to all the mounts that were higher 7000 m in the Pamirs (Lenina Peak (7134 m), Korzhenevskaya Peak (7106 m), Communism Peak (7495m)).

In the middle 1970-s he was working as an instructor in a tourist centre of the Ministry of Defence (Defence Department) in a settlement Tamga (it is located on the southern shore of the Issyk Kul) and used a possibility to train and make solo ascents in the region of Terskey-Alatau (including solo-ascents to Peak Dzhigit (5170m), Peak Dzhety-Oguz ( 5200 m), Festivalnaya peak (4900 m) and Slonenok ("Baby Elephant") peak, (4800 m)). Working in a tourist centre “Issyk” near Almaty, he used a possibility to train and make ascents to the peaks of Zailiysky Alatau (peak Abaja, peak Komsomol). In 1976 he made a solo-ascent to Nansen peak (5697 m), that mount had been located in a prohibited area, closely to the glacier Southern Inylchek, near the glacier tongue, only 40-50 km far from the Pobeda Peak.

The schedule of Evgeny’s ascent to Pik Pobeda in summer 1978.

To appear on the glacier Inylchek Evgeny was to detour frontier guards, so it was impossible to ride through the settlement Inylchek and frontier post. He had chosen a round way – from the junction of the rivers Ottuk and Saridjaz, (they often use this place to come to the region from Karacol region through the Chon-Ashu Pass (3800m)) not down-stream, but up-stream Saridjaz and farther, passing the range Saridjaz (through the Tuz pass (4001m)), then way down to the glacier-tongue of the glacier Inylchek. Apropos, it was the way which had used the first successful expedition to Pobeda in 1956 and some another earliest expeditions to the region.

The weight of the rucksack in the beginning of the expedition was more than 50 kg.

Path to Pobeda Peak. Zvezdochka Glacier Photo: Mountain.Ru

The 3rd of August – Tuz pass (4000 m, 1B) in the ridge of the range Saridjaz. The descent from the pass leaded to the valley of the river Inylchek (2800 m) that flew from the glacier of the same name.

The 5th of August – admittance to the glacier. The bottom of Pik Pobeda is over a distance of 50 km from that place, but taking into account roundabout way along the region, the whole way is longer.

The 7th of August - the junction of the Northern Inylchek and the Southern one (Lake Mercbaher).

The 10th of August – the junction of the Zvezdochka Glacier and the glacier Southern Inylchek (4000 m).

The 11th of August – the icefall of the Zvezdochka Glacier had been passed, approaching to beginning of the route, to the plato (4450 m) of the bottom of the Northern Slopes of Pobeda. The route of the pioneers had been chosen: from the Northern side through the “pillow”.

“Pillow” of Pobeda. The beginning of the pioneers’ (1956) route. To the left there can be seen the Northern walls of the Western Pobeda, in the foreground there is the icefall of the Zvezdochka Glacier. Photo: Mountain.ru

The 13th of August – Walk by the Northern Wall of the Western Pobeda up to the Chon-Teren pass on purpose to find the food left the previous expedition.

The 14th-16th of August – Days-off on the plato near the route (4450 m).

The 17th-22nd of August – The ascent itself, the top (7349 m) was reached on the 22nd of August on 2 o’clock p.m., the descent had been started.

The 23rd of August (night and morning) – descent to the plato under the route, then further descent to the valley.

The 24th of August (evening) – returning back to the “green area” near the glacier Southern Inylchek tongue (hole Chon-Tash, 2800 m). As a result, the descent from the top of Pobeda to Chon-Tash had taken something more than 2 days. In general situations this way takes not less than 5-6 days.

The 26th of August – Meeting with frontier-guards in Maida-Adir.

Are staying: Leonid Zamyatin, Vladimir Baliberdin, Vladimir Shopin, Are sitting: Andrew Valter, Evgeny Zavialov.

Fragment from the letter of Nikolay Totmyanin (St. Petersburg, five times “Snow leopard”):

“About the solo-ascent to Pik Pobeda I learnt in 1984 from the talk with frontier-guards in Mayda-Adir. We asked then whether the Chinese had gone to Pobeda or not.

The praporshik we talked to said that The Chinese were on the top of Pobeda and he had the evidences of their success – the things that they had left on the top. When we asked how he had got those things he said that he had confiscated them from the tourist who had delved into frontier zone without permission and had made an ascent to the Mount.”