Out-of-doors there is cold autumn… or warm winter. In the news posted to web-site mountain.ru in increasing frequency appears words “drytoolling”, ice… My best friend and colleague phones me and says that he has registered me in participating in competitions “Vyborgsky mixt”. Hmm… I can do nothing but participate. And this is no obstacle that on the day of departure in the morning I am in Almaty and have an opportunity to miss the train…

The scheme of the route

Now I can’t remember how it happened… Either “allow me please to suggest you, miss…”, or “don’t you mind, Mister, if…” In a word, we come to a plan that in spring we all together will ascent to “Hyperborean”.

What does it mean “Hyperborean”? If we will look in an encyclopedia, we’ll find that in ancient Greek mythology Hyperborean was legendary northern land, locality of blissful nation hyperboreans. This name literally means “over the Boreas”, “beyond the North”. Hyperboreans as well as Ethiopians, Phaeacians, Lotophagi are among the nations, close to Gods, loved by them. Even death comes to hyperboreans when they are satiated with live and then, having experienced all the sweets, plunges into the sea.

And in Crimea there is a Mount Shaan-Kaya, on which in 2001 a route was overpassed, named on the analogy of the ancient country. There in this place is really something strange…

Shaan-Kaya, one rainy morning

Base Camp in the grotto

The 17th of March

As it is known, the gentlemen do not waste words… And that’s why I carried the heaviest rucksack. All in all, Europeans are savage people… There in the East woman would carry all the cargo and I would break the night silence with philosophic dissertations! And everybody would be satisfied!

Kopteva, get ready! The rocks are wet

It seemed that the Hyperborean had been passed in a day only by climbers from Yekaterinburg. So we planned that the ascent would take us at least two days. On the evening before our start we decided that on the first day Marina would be the leader, and the rest of the route I would process. As for equipment: for bivouac we took one sleeping bag, a gas-jet, and some provisions (traditionally we took only necessary things), concerning equipment for climbing, we took all we could. But in spite of Marina’s indignation I managed to take out some of the hooks.

The 18th of March

In the morning, as it was promised, it rains. By the afternoon the weather should become fine, so we went to the route. The first rope was wet, and further – everything was dry. It hung. At ten o’clock in the morning we started climbing. I was attentively looking at the moving of my colleague. It was slippery. Soon I understood that the person knew oats. She climbed slowly but surely. On the first route there was interesting climbing. It started over the gully with ivy, then along the plate with holds, then a flushing and an overhand before the station. Sometimes we used the technique of trad-climbing and climbed a lot on this route. The station was under the cornice. While Marina was climbing, rain stopped, and sun peeped out from behind the clouds.

She dries holds with a drier.

The second rope was more difficult. Solid trad-climbing using hooks, “axes” and “anchors”. When I extracted hooks I wondered at subtle imagination of the person had hammered them in. Axes, hammered in vertical cracks, hooks like sandwiches. Wonders!

The beginning of the second rope.

The time was half past four. We had an hour and a half of daylight in reserve. I suggested fixing the third rope and passing the night downwards. When Marina was climbing, I heard some strange creaks and peeps. At first I thought that were karabiners creaking but then understood that were animals. I tried to discern in the crack under the cornice what they could be, but vainly. While I was guessing what could creak and peep around me, Marina climbed 15 more meters and, having got frozen up to the end we descented, to warm up near the fire.

The third rope – for Marina to finish climbing

The 19th of March

That day night we had to pass on the wall, so we had to reach the ledge in any case. The ledge was located after the 5th rope, above big hanging interior angle. Apart from it was not comfortable, I knew nothing about it.

The second day, we pass fixed ropes.

We had passed the fixed ropes by 10 o’clock a.m. and I went to finish fixing the third rope. I remember that in the place climbers put skyhooks I crammed fingers and climbed on them. An exciting strip was before the station. Grade of difficulty - 6b. Marina worked as the second, extracted my hooks. From that moment I couldn’t stop wondering how quickly my super-colleague can pass the rope, working as the second member of the team. She said: “Your hooks, Mr., I extract by hands”. Hmm…

The fourth fixed rope.

The fourth and the fifth ropes were not the most difficult, but as it seemed to me they were the most pleasing. Climbing along the crack of 6b difficulty grade. In the places when it was more difficult, I used trad-climbing. Excellent natural belay. While I was climbing along the angle, I looked at the crack and was about to fall down. From it a crowd of bats stared at me. And I was looking for a better hold in the crack. I wished them not bite me. Marina shouted from downwards: “Vova, they bite!” That way I climbed. I looked in the crack not to touch something and climb farther. Creaks, peeps, screams… Zoo.

The ledge. I sat, let my legs down. Great! It was possible to sit there two together. But station bolts were hammered in somewhere to the side from the center of the ledge.

The time was four o’clock p.m. I had to climb the sixth rope. Small angle with climbing and belay in the crack. Then there was a cornice. In the deion they wrote it was nasty. I climbed up to it and saw it was the truth. I hammered in hooks and “anchors”. Somehow I passed it. Further it became easier. “Anchors”, “axes” – oblique crack hung.

- Vova, in twenty minutes they are going to switch the light off, may be you will finish the rope tomorrow? – Marina downwards had got frozen up to the end. I felt cold too. Cold wind chilled to the marrow, and sun had disappeared beyond the twist at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

We cheerfully prepared for passing the night. We had supper, drank tea. Then we sat, wrapped ourselves with sleeping bag. And it started. Wind blew us through, it was cold. And from hour to hour it got more and more jolly. By two o’clock a.m. we had become unable to endure it and warmed tea. We warmed a little bit too. Then we got tired so that fell asleep. In the morning we were waked by sun. So warm…

The 20th of March

At 8.30 in the morning I climbed along the fixed rope and for hour and a half more went up o the station. I climbed in the boots, so the climb in front of the station was extreme. The place of the cornice I had passed the day before could be value at A3+, and one another place with hammered in stopper could also be A3+ grade of difficulty. The rest strips of the rope were A2 and A1.

A comfortable ledge for overnight stop AMCHAIRS AND SOFAS ARE TO BE COMFORTABLE!

Long-awaited morning after cold night

At 11.20 we started the seventh rope. Climb for about 3 meters, a bolt, after it “jokes” began. “Axes”, “Anchors”. Everything worked on the break, as the crack was oblique and overhanging. In such a regime I climbed for about 20 meters. Then climb led me a small cornice, to witch camalots were going well. I rounded the cornice to the left and along the flushing climbed up to the station. On the climb I was about to fell down. I had to hammer in an “axe” because in 20cm before the station the holds ended and I got exhausted. 2.30 p.m. Something less than 4 hours for a rope. Marina was extracted everything very cheerfully. And I didn’t hear her hammer. It was the truth – she extracted everything by hands. Real man… Oh, no – real woman!

The sixth rope – a key one

On the head wall ropes were hanging on a new route.

At the station

We extracted the anchors

The 8th rope was much easier than the previous ones. A couple of climbs using skyhooks, some trad-climbing with stoppers, then climbing with lots of hanging (may be I had got tired) on the ropes up to the cornice. From the cornice I went to the right. Again I was about to fell down – forgot to unfasten self-belaying piece of rope from the loop. With great difficulties I returned and unfastened. Then climbing became rather easier and I climbed up to the “sliders”. “Anchors” and skyhooks foully caught me on trousers and I again nearly fell. So, with bated breath I had to find the problem by feeling and got unhooked.

Hanging interior angle – we have to go there.

The roof ;)

More 80 meters of easy rocks led us to the top. It started getting dark. And we got rescued!