Part 6

After the year 1961 for a long time the alpinists didn't undertake expeditions to the Pobeda Peak . But, in 1961 a group led by Mikhail Hergiani made an ascent to the Western shoulder – the Vaja Pshavela Peak , and an ascent to the Eastern shoulder was made by the group led by B. Efimov. But new steps in exploring the region were made in 1967 by the expedition from Chelyabinsk 's sport association “Burevestnik”, led by A. Riabuhin. The group of this expedition, members of which were V. Riazanov (the leader), B. Gavrilov, G. Korepanova and S. Sorokina, was the first to make full traverse of the Pobeda massif. They went up to it's Western shoulder from the glacier Diky and descented to the pass Chon-Teren (detailed deion of this traverse could be found in a collected stories “Won Tops” of 1965-1967). This route was repeated in 1969 by the group of 12 alpinists from Donetsk led by B. Sivtsov. In 1969 the first after 1956 ascent to the Pobeda Peak along the Northern ridge was made.

Numerous events of felling into avalanches and tragedies, that took place on the Northern ridge in 1959 and 1960, created natural circumspection towards this truly dangerous route among alpinists. But as for Uzbek alpinists, their aspiration for making ascent to the Pobeda Peak along that route had become traditional. But all their previous attempts were unsuccessful and 10 of their colleagues died, trying to pass that way. All in all, the team from Uzbekistan once more set a problem to make an ascent along the Northern ridge. It seemed that at choosing the route not the last role the comparative technical and high-altitude simplicity of the ridge had played.

This time the team, led by V. Elchibekov, prepared for the ascent rather thoroughly, took in attention all the peculiarities of the route and used well thought over tactics of storm. As a result all ten sportsmen reached the highest point of the massif and their ascent was likely to take away the psychological prohibition from this route.

I must say that the year 1969 became a crisis one. From that time the Pobeda Peak stopped to be a bearer of evil rock. Alpinists' experience and persistence yielded fruits.

And at last the year 1970 came. On the glaciers near the slopes of the Pobeda Peak the alpinists from Moscow , Leningrad , Dnepropetrovsk , Almaty, Chelyabinsk , Frunze , Kurgan , Karkul and Kamchatka gathered. They are united by the expeditions of the sport associations “Burevestnik”, “Spartak”, “Avanguard”, led by Viktor Galkin, Peter Budanov, Alexander Zaidler. All in all there were about 150 sportsmen in the expeditions. The expeditions didn't have caravans, but people hadn't to carry cargos on approaches and to walk along the glaciers. The alpinists and cargos were delivered to the Base camps and, moreover, sometimes to start zones of the routes by a helicopter driven by mountain pilot-ace of Kazakhstan Civil Aeronautic Administration Igor Tselman. He threw the cargos down to snow fields under the top of the Pobeda Peak, to the altitude of about 7100 m , landed and took off from those fields, and did all that feats calmly, not thinking they were exploits. The work of this pilot played an important role in the successful mass storms of the harsh Pobeda Peak in 1970.

That season the weather was favourable to the mountaineers. It became worth only between the 3 rd and the 10 th of August, and after those days it became suitable for the ascents again. Different teams had various styles of ascenting. Some teams were going up only when they were sure in their success, having a “margin of safety” in the event of any unexpectedness. The success of the other teams balanced “on the knife-edge”, when the seriously bad weather could result in severe consequences.

“Spartak” team from Kamchatka was the first team that reached the top of the Pobeda Peaks . That team consisted of strong alpinists, led by Lucy Agranovskaia. She had become the first sportsmen that had subdued all four mounts higher than 7000 m in USSR . Kamchadales prepared for the ascent and organized it very thoroughly. They dug caves on all the bivouacs and marked with spar buoys all the not understood and dangerous strips on the northern ridge. They remembered about danger of avalanches on the route, so they passed dangerous strips at night time, resting in well-equipped caves in the daytime. It was reasonable that the way of organization the ascent guaranteed the group led by Agranovskaia from unexpectednesses and brought it well-earned victory.

The second on the top of the Pobeda Peak was the group from Dnepropetrovsk led by A. Zaidler they reached the Western part of the apical ridge. The team brought to the top a bust of V. I. Lenin and by that ascent it finished a tour that included the ascents to all the mounts higher than 7000 m in USSR that was devoted to the centenary from the day of birthday of the Leader.

The next day (after the day when the team from Dnepropetrovsk reached the top) on the top of the Pobeda Peak were four alpinists from Chelyabinsk . Among them was the second woman reached the top of the Mount – Galina Rojalskaia like L. Agranovskaia she subdued all the four mounts higher than 7000 m of the country.

We must say that these groups that worked on the ridges together, organized the ascent not in a proper way. Having left the Base camp on the 10 th of July they reached the top only on the 4 th of August and went down on the 11 th of August. At that, having held preparing and processing the ridge of the Western shoulder without descent to the Base camp for having rest, the group went to storm the summit. Such tactics and system of acclimatizing contributed to exhaust the alpinists, and as a result their temp of going along the route was rather slow. When the group was passing the last meters before the top, sportsmen were going with their last ounce, risking not fulfilling the task. Bad weather conditions also complicated the state of these teams. However, the friendly collective from Dnepropetrovsk got over the difficulties, and, in spite of introduced errors, successfully performed the task of ascent to the Pobeda Peak .

The next groups on the top of the Pobeda Peak were the teams that made traverses they started their route from the pass Chon-Teren. The group of six alpinists led by A. Riabuhin was on the top on the 9 th of August. That group passed the route rather slowly it could be explained by deep snow on the Eastern ridge and the peculiarities of the tactics of groups from Chelyabinsk that preferred to avoid big concentration of commitments during all their ascents in that region. The grouped went up to the Eastern summit with confidence, passed long Eastern ridge, but on approaches to the Main summit one of the members of the group, V. Hudojin, felt unusual and strange weakness. It seemed especially strange because Hudojin was the best-trained sportsmen in the group and had been going well all the time before. The colleagues took Hudojin's cargo and continued the route, slackening speed.

On the 9 th of August the team from Chelyabinsk reached the top of the Pobeda Peak and left a note in the place for notes. Then they slightly moved forward along the ridge of the summit and in the conditions of downward weather stopped to pass the night near the place where the Northern ridge came to the apical ridge. There they were overtaken by the group from Almaty led by V. Popov. That strong group was in good fettle. It started the route noticeably later, reached the main summit on the 10 th of August and some time later came across Riabuhin's tent. At that time Hudojin had been still alive, but couldn't move. Then both of the groups joined to help him. Unfortunately on the 11 th of August V. Hudojin died on the top of the Pobeda Peak . The participants of the expedition began to convey his body further, in the direction of the descent to the Eastern ridge. This of course wasn't correct decision: they would better to pass the mountain edge and went to the technically easy descent along the Northern ridge. The groups moved very slowly, it took them two days to descent to the altitude 7000 m . There, according to the instructions from the Base camp buried the body of V. Hudojin not far from the grave of I. Gabliani. Then they went on descending and in the evening of the 15 th of August they were on the glacier Diky.

Those doings on the top of the Pobeda Peak could end with more severe consequences, if the group of “Spartak” from Almaty didn't came across the group from Chelyabinsk . It seemed that the tactics of traverse and moral and technical training of the group led by A. Riabuhin had considerable gaps. It was interesting to notice that among the members of those groups there were alpinists that had traversed the massif of the Pobeda Peak before: B. Gavrilov, who had made the traverse of the massif from the West to the East in 1967 was among the members of the group from Chelyabinsk, and B. Studenin, who had passed the same route in 1969 was among the members of the group led by V. Popov.

On the 15 th of August the group of “Spartak” led by K. Konoplev went up to the top of the Pobeda Peak . This group completed a traverse from the pass Chon-Teren with confidence and at a quick pace, and descented along the Northern ridge of the Main summit.

On the next day one more team of “Spartak” led by B. Kletsko together with six alpinists from “Burevestnik” went up to the top along the Northern ridge. On the beginning of the Northern ridge the group of “Spartak” found out a good way that allowed them to escape the dangerous for avalanches strips lower than 6000 m . As for the second group (“Burevestnik”), many of the members of it according to their physical and moral qualities didn't correspond to the chosen route. Because of this, even on the descent in the conditions of exclusively good weather, the group could went only for 2-3 hours a day, stayed at the bivouacs up to 4 o'clock p.m., and some of the members of the group constantly sat in the snow and hung on the rope. Only the leader of the group, A. Balinsky, kept strength till the end of the route. It was clear that only presence of a strong group of “Spartak”, and, chiefly, quite unusual to the region of the Pobeda Peak long period of settled good weather, allowed to avoid possible serious mishaps. Any complication of the conditions of the ascent could result in repeating the tragedies of 1955 and 1959.

The final in 1970 was an outstanding traverse, completed by the team of “Burevestnik” led by Ivanov and A. Ovchinnikov. The team seriously complicated the earlier passed routes, superinducing to the 10km-long ridge of the Pobeda Peak two more ridges, between the Vaja Pshavela Peak and a summit situated to the West from it, summit “ 6744” , named the D. Neru Peak. The most difficult strip of this route was the ascent from the glacier Diky to the peak “ 6744” . The apical part of that peak was represented with a rocky-ice wall. Having spent most of the time to overpass this climb, the team “Burevestnik” could keep strength and at a quick pace passed the remaining way of the traverse of the Pobeda Peak . But A. Ovchinnikov felt himself bad. It made him to stop the traverse and, accompanied by L. Dobrovolsky and V. Maksimov, descented along the Northern ridge. But this not in the least minimized the importance of the achievement of the team. Five of the alpinists that continued the traverse in unwitnessedly quick pace, in two days, passed 6km-long ridge up to the Eastern summit of the Pobeda Peak and descented to the glacier Zvezdochka.

This way, only in 1970 63 sportsmen went up to the top of the Pobeda Peak along various routes, and the general number of the alpinists reached the top of the Pobeda Peak mounted to 114 people. The most Northern and at the same time the most stern mount higher than 7000 m had become the top of mass ascents of Soviet high-altitude alpinists. There they again demonstrated their potential, high level of the tactics of high-altitude ascents and their readiness to storm “The third Pole” of the Earth.