An overview of a mountain tour in central Tien-Shan East Kirghizia , August - September 2005
(Difficulty category V)

Route Deion

Biwy at the lake

To hiding place on Sari-tor river

17.08. In the morning it is gray and rainy. We are at 3600 meters above sea level here, but the mountains are out of sight, the whole of Ak-Shijrak ridge is covered by thick hat of clouds. At 7 we leave our campsite at the lake for the river Sari-tor, where we want to leave some food and stuff to use on the way back. To avoid the private lands of a local company Kumtor we walk along its border for 1,5 kilometers and then take the north direction somewhat left from mountain with altitude 3803 m . Gradually we change the direction to east and walk to the right of some lakes, shown on the map. The grounds here are wet, but walking is still easy. In two hours we make it to the river that comes down from Dzukuchak pass. Having taken our boots off, we quickly cross the stream, the water touches our knees. Then walk east, along Sarichat river, but not directly near it.

At 13 hours noontime we put our food supplies packed in sugar-sacks into a niche and bury with stones. At 17.30 we are at our camp in time for supper. It is now when we begin to feel the height.

18.08. We start at 7.50, walk to river Kumtor and along a dirt-road to the wooden bridge over the river. Following the road we make our way towards the easy Akbel' pass that divides the massifs of Ak-Shijrak and Sujek. Leaving the South Bordu river we walk to the slopes of mountain with altitude 4492 m . By this time the group seems tired because of the height and we bivouac at a small lake.

The Kazan river valley

Ascent to sattle of Soyuzmultfilm pass

Descent from Soyuzmultfilm pass to the east

Soyuzmultfilm pass (1B, 4450, first passing)

The snow and ice pass Soyuzmultfilm lies in the south-west part of Ak-Shijrak region. The pass connects the Kazan glacier with one of right tributaries of North Kara-Sai glacier. The Soyuzmultfilm provides the easiest access to Kara-Sai, as the neighboring passes – the East Akbel, South Bordu , Gliaziologov pass – are all of category 2A and require fixed ropes.

Soyuzmultfilm pass from the tongue of Kara-sai North glacier

The valley of Kara-sai river

Descent from Kaindi pass to the east

19.08. On our feet at 6.10, without breakfast we go off through the valley to the pass. After walking up to Kazan glacier we get the ropes out for safety, as the glacier is covered and there might be cracks on our way. The average incline of the glacier is 15-20 degree, on the whole it is quite flat and not torn apart. By the time we see our pass the weather grows worse, soon it becomes very windy and clouded. We quickly dig into snow and put up the tents. By now it is even snowing.

20.08. In the morning the sky is clear. A mountainside of about 20 degree is leading to our pass. At 7.30 we start off tied by ropes. There is a crack below the pass, but it is easy to cross and the way further is quite easy. The pass itself is wide, there is even some place for tents. We make a small tower of stones at the cliffs on the right, from here it is good to make a try for the unclimbed peaks to the north and south.

A snow-slope of about 30 degree is leading downwards, gradually it flattens out at a large glacier, that is a tributary of North Kara-Sai glacier. In the central part there are a few cracks, we avoid them taking right. The snow is quite deep and it sticks on to our crampons, but still we walk easily and fast, in one hour time from the pass we make it to the moraine and rest here.

Then we descend the moraine. The lower part of North Kara-Sai glacier has melted. Now here are many lakes of different size. We walk along the right side of Karasai river valley ant then to its source, in the eastern part of the valley. The river Karasai is quite deep here, but the current is not strong. We wade it in pairs of two. Another 30 minutes and at 17.40 we bivouac for the night at a picturesque lake.

Kaindi pass (1B, 4300 m .)

The Kaindi pass is a glacier that connects valleys of Karasai and Kaindi rivers, technically easy but ropes could be needed.

21.08. We start at 7.20, the sky is clear. The way to Kaindi pass leads through right-side grassy terraces of river Karasai South with a gentle ascent, the terraces gradually change to stony moraine of the glacier. We did not go to Kara-Sai South glacier at its tongue, but moved further to the inflow of a huge right tributary.

This right tributary is over 1 kilometer wide, the glacier is open and practically flat. We walk over to ice and cross to the main glacier. At 11.30 we are at the pass, total walking time from bivouac made 3,5 hours. The weather is growing worse. The descent from the pass is over the Kaindi glacier. The glacier itself is snow-covered, cracks are present, so we tie up with a rope.

We descend further to the joint of glacier valleys Kaindi, Veeroobrazniy and Ekspedizionniy, it is filled with conglomerate. At 15.00 we stop for dinner, it is interrupted by sudden snow. A peak between glaciers Ekspedizionniy and Veeroobrazniy is a good guiding line for us. The way is quite hard and steep. About 1.5 kilometers from Kaindi glacier we find a clear lake and good place for bivouac. The weather favors us and sends excellent views and sunset.

Grazdanskaya Oborona pass (3A, 4640, first ascent)

The snow and ice pass Grazdanskaya Oborona is situated in the central part of Ak-Shijrak ridge, it connects the west branch of Veeroobrazniy glacier and south-east part of Petrov glacier. In the off-season there could be an avalanche danger. Planning our route we had fotos of the north side that determines the difficulty grade. From the south we chose the easiest col.

22.08. Bright morning as we take off at 7.30. In 30 minutes time we are at the river that flows out of Ekspedizionniy glacier. We cross the stream and walk to the glacier in its western part, where it is not so steep.

On the glacier we move in the central flat part, soon there are some cracks, some are small enough to jump over, others have snow-bridges. By now we are tied with a rope and have our crampons on. The first step of the glacier is gently sloping, the second step is steeper. We avoid the ice-break in the central part taking right to the ice slope of about 25-30 degree.

Veeroobrazniy glacier

Above the icefall the glacier is covered, we try the central part but move very slowly here due to great nasty cracks, some of which are 3- 5 meters wide. We decide to traverse and move along the cliffs, the cracks are small here and not dangerous. Then we come to the flat part of the glacier, to the circus of pass Grazdanskaya Oborona. The total time from the glacier tongue made 2 hours 50 minutes.

From the south a steep icy slope of about 100 meters long is stretching to the pass, in the lower part there is a side-crack, we pass it using a snow-bridge. Both ropes are fixed with ice anchors, the ice is very hard here. All group goes up to the pass.

The saddle is very narrow, while we were making a stone-man here the weather changed – strong wind brought snow and visibility reduced to 50- 300 meters .

The descent from the pass to Petrov glacier seemed more difficult, than we imagined. Bad weather and lack of time brought us on to a decision to go back to Veeroobrazniy glacier and spent the night there. We did not take our ropes off the wall, so we could use them the next day. The way up to the pass took our group 1 hour, the descent – 40 minutes.

Ascent to Grazdanskaya Oborona pass from Veeroobrazniy glacier

23.08. The morning did not bring us any good weather, it was still snowing and the wind blew. It is impossible to tackle the pass by such weather, so we stay waiting. In the evening clouds disappear, and night snows us sky full of stars.

24.08. The morning is bright, we start at 8.30. It took us 1 hour to get to the pass using fixed ropes. We are there, while some take a few fotos others begin to fix ropes for abseil.

Grazdanskaya Oborona pass. View from Petrova glacier

At the second step we gather and walk secured with ropes. The right part is less torn by cracks, but even here we have to use snow-bridges and be very cautious. When the cracks-zone is behind the easy snow slope allows us to slide to Petrova glacier. The way from the pass to the glacier took us 4 hours.

The south-east part of Petrova glacier is quite flat, there are no great cracks. Soon a cloud wraps us up, we find our way forward along the side cliffs. The ice axes in our hands begin to buzz and polar clothes electrify. Quickly we stop for the night and carry all metal things away from the tents. It is 17.00, and another 1,5 kilometers to the ascent-point to Petrova pass.

Petrova pass (1B, 4370 m .)

Petrova pass is cover by a glacier and it connects two largest and most beautiful glaciers of Ak-Shijrak. It is the easiest way from the western to the eastern part of the massif. The Petrova pass lies between Petrova and Jaman-su glaciers, to the north from peak 4690.

At Petrova glacier

View to the north branch of Petrova glacier

Our group at Petrova pass

25.08. In the morning the fog over the glacier comes and goes, we start at 7.40. Along the right glacier side we reach the turning point to Petrova pass. The ascent is quite easy and the slope is 15-20 degree steep here. We made it from bivouac to the pass in 1,5 hours. A calm descent to Jaman-su glacier, there are some cracks here, but they are open and clearly seen. We go down to moraine of Solnechniy glacier and have lunch here. Then along the left moraine we get to the tongue of Solnechniy glacier, which is quite flat and has no big cracks. It takes us 40 minutes to rise to left moraine, where we make our camp.

View from Petrova pass to south-east

Peak Oroi South (2B, 5020 m .)

We planned to reach the main peak of Oroi , but bad weather and visibility made us go back after reaching the south summit.

27.08. Grey in the morning, in the last 1.5 days we had about 70 centimeters of snow. Still we decided to go for the mountain, since visibility was acceptable and it was our last chance to go up. We secure with a rope and walk on to Solnechniy glacier. Fresh snow hides cracks, our first man stumbles a few times into emptiness with his foot. We head on to Zolotareva pass, there is a large open crack under the pass, we cross it using a snow-bridge. It takes us 1 hour 40 minutes to get to the pass from our bivouac.

Zolotareva pass from Solnechniy glacier

The ascent route to Oroi South summit

A snow and ice ridge with some rocks takes us higher, to a large saddle, so we have to abseil 50 meters to its bottom first and then continue up the ridge. We leave the rope hanging, in hope to use it on the way back. It took us 2,5 hours to get here from Zolotareva pass. There is much more snow here – up to our knees. Further it is no easier, since the ridge has some snow-cornices. Still secured with ropes along a rocky and unstable ridge we get to the south summit. It is snowing, thundering, the main summit is barely seen. We quickly decide to descend to our camp.

One hour later we are at the rope we left behind, it took us a while to find it. As we approach the Zolotareva pass we have to stop and wait until the storm goes away, because our metal equipment begins to buzz and sparkle. Some time later the wind calms down and the thunderstorm moves away, with little visibility we continue our descent and soon return to Zolotareva pass. Another hour – and we are back in our camp at the moraine of Solnechniy glacier.

First ascent to Rikoshet summit (2A, 4920 m .) from Zolotareva pass (2B, 4700 m .)

The snow and ice Zolotareva pass connects glaciers Solnechniy and Oroi. We tried to ascend the north-east face of Rikoshet summit, above the Zolotareva pass.

28.08. Great weather in the morning, it is bright and sunny. We start at 8.45, at 10.00 we are at Zolotareva pass. We had in plan to traverse the 4920 summit, but now, after two day of snowfall the route seems very unsafe. The best we

Rikoshet summit (4920 m.)

We leave our load behind and head to the summit. There is a 200- 250 meter long snow slope, that we tackle secured with ropes. Our crampons hold very good on icy surface. First two people make their way through a snow-cornice at the top of the peak and climb to the summit. It turns out to be a mushroom with snow cornices hanging in every direction, for the rest of the group it is unsafe to come up here. We all descend using ice anchors for safety.

It should be said that the ascent to 4920 summit is very unsafe, there is a danger that the snow cornice at the top might collapse.

From the pass we head on to Oroi glacier. The route needs fixed ropes, we hanged 250 meters of rope and used the self unscrewing method to take the ice anchors down. The descent took us 3 hours.

The Oroi glacier is relatively flat, in the upper part it is covered with snow. We have to make our way through, paying attention to the cracks – they are visible since the snow covering them is of different colour. It takes us another hour to get to the glacier tongue. There is a comfortable pebble biwy somewhat further on the left side of Oroi river.

Trek to hiding place on Sari-tor river

View from Oroi glacier to the south

29.08. At 6.40 we take off to get our food left at Sari-tor river. One member, who was not feeling himself well, stayed at the camp with the girls. We got to the hiding-place quite quickly, all rivers on our way were easy to pass. Our food stayed untouched, to our relief. We pack up and head back, at 15.10 we are at our camp.

30.08. It is snowing in the morning. Andrei, who was ill yesterday, is feeling worse, no medicine helps. He might have pneumonia and the height – 3800 m . here – makes the treatment problematic. We decide to get him down immediately with two other members to accompany him. They leave for the Kumtor company territory, where they could ask to take them to Karakol village. As they told us later, they got to Kumtor company territory, where they were fed and Andrei examined. The next day a car took all three to Karakol.

The rest 5 members of the group continued the route.