People love each other, like different things, for example, cars, like eating and sleeping a lot, but there are thing that only few people like – ICE and STONES. Some think these feelings are ludicrous, some consider them to be awful, but there is no objective estimate fro these feelings… only alpinist can give a simple answer to this question.

How is it possible to like cold object that briefly steals in our routine life and dissolves among in vast amount of business and family problems.

15 th of January 2007: “We were waiting for fine weather on the point 4000 m (“Koronskie nochevki”) for the third day. There was no visibility at all that meant that even descent to the Base Camp in such a weather wouldn't come way. Our little house literally jumped up of puffs and that provoked storm of emotions… We were going to make an ascent to the Peak Simagin in two-man team but from day to day our desire came to naught. As a result we decided to descend… it was the most difficult thing – to take a decision like that… We promised to return here in May and try prentice hand once again…”

And days began to move one after another… I started forming the team… there were not too many candidates, but nevertheless… Our plans were corrected everybody added something for himself… We found sponsors…. We (Tyumen Regional Alpinistic Federation together with Tyumen State Oil-and-gas University (Alpinistic and Rock-Climbing Club)) also started solving questions about training camp.

The day of departure was set on the 28 th of April, with the help of our wonderful steward Irina Malmigina an apportionment was made. Plans of ascents were specified and approved by the chief of the training camp Alexander Agafonov. We set off…

“Ice… Ice… Ice… Our team (Gainullin Timur, Bekirov Sergey, Hakimullin Sergey, Nekrasov Vadim) was disposed to work on the ice... It didn't matter that we hadn't enough experience, our desire was above all… Ice – and heart stopped in the breast… ice – and nightmare appears in the head… ice – some strips are overhanging…”

Spring in Ala-Archa is something interesting and unpredictable. In the morning sun scorches and in the afternoon snowfall starts… puffs take off tents and things that owners left for drying. There was a lot of snow, so much that sometimes we wanted to howl of pain in legs… But there the Mountains stay, Giants, for the sake of which you give up everything in this perishable world and hurry up for meeting with them, in their embrace.

Our training process began with rocky exercises on the altitude 2200 m , slightly moving to the altitude 3200 m (Racek's Shack), where we learnt how to pass strips using self-made points of rest (Trad-climbing). We met Dmitry Pavlenko, had a nice talk to him, he was impressed a lot by the Shvab's route of 5A grade of difficulty to Baichechekey that he had passed on his own. We also brought provisions and fuel to the altitude 4000 to get acclimatizing. During our trainings we got acquainted with local alpinists that gave us emotional peace and coziness, charged us with positive energy, we made good friends with them, so our camp ended with mass revelry in the last evening… but I would like to tell you about it later…

We decided to hold ice trainings to the Peak Iziskatel of 3B grade of difficulty along the North-Eastern wall. They lasted two hours up to the top and down along our way up, using self-unscrewing bolts. The weather was not joyful, small avalanches went down from the walls, aiming to test our will-power… But our nerves appeared strong. On the other hand, we gave a work out to the interaction between teams. Our team consisted of 5 people and every person knew his role on the wall… that fact made my soul feel warm.

At the altitude 2200 m , at the mention of peak Box along the route of 4A grade of difficulty the weather began to worse, local alpinists – to be worried and alcohol was about to be ended… we decided to have a rest… And snow went on falling…

We gathered in the evening and chose Peak Baichechekey (4515) to make an ascent to, along the route if 5A grade of difficulty along the ice couloir of the Western wall, along the route that was named “cravat” or “snivel”. This route had been the route of my dreams since 2002 when I had been a beginner and had been merrily strutted along the route of 2B grade of difficulty “love traverse” and listened to the instructor when he told me how my hears would ride to the end of the couloir if I would fall down.

Korona, Racek Peak

Avalanche from the Peak Ak-too

  Morning… starry sky… It seemed that mount God approved our choice… There were some doubts… It was our first 5A. And mainly, alpinists from Tyumen hadn't climbed such a routes for about ten years… great honour and possibility to declare about ourselves was in front of us… Approach… player made me feel more comfortable… light reggae, hard punk – rock and blues did its work… there it was the beginning of the route… I took fifis and began my dance… I did everything as Alexander Agafonov taught me… fluently… I amalgamated with tools… I worked over one rope after another up to the key strip of the route, without making intervening points… my sense of danger and responsibility became more sensitive, moves became carefully thought-out, because I understood that if I would fall down, I would flew for about 100 meters… I got lots of adrenalin and thrill all the more… Speed of passing the route without intervening points was sharply increased… At the end of our trainings it equaled 7 minutes for 50 meters + 40 sec for making a station. On the key strip of the route I was frankly burst open of thrill, I start singing… loudly, obscenely, picked songs… I felt very well… Having passed the key strip and worked over the last ropes I enjoyed silence… as my instructor Aleksey said me: “You should know and love stones and only in this case mountains will love you”… That time I felt I was loved by mountains… among which I had grew up. (Time of passing the route equaled 3 hours).

Lou

Lou

Local sportswoman – Kate

Having descended along the route of 1B grade of difficulty, we carried the equipment to the bottom of the ice wall of the Western counterfort (Plotnikov route) of the Peak Korona, 1 Tower. It convinced it was something great and important. We were impatient to wait for the next da morning and test our forces on it.

… It was hard to go… Our previous day work let know about us it… That day Bekir was going to be the leader… I would be the second… if something would happen I would be able to change him… We quickly passed bergschrund that took lots of time of other alpinists as there was a fine snow bridge across it, that bridge solved all our problems. In the middle of the route we changed roles and life became merrier… (ice part of the route took us 3,5 hours). We lied on the Korona glacier and couldn't believe that life was wonderful and we had passed the wall…

We carried necessary things to Korona's shack and joyfully went down… The weather was excellent, life wonderful and we ourselves were really cool…

We summed up, rested and dried things… We drew conclusions that work on the wall had to be counted in minutes, that every member of the team had to know his part of work. Complete distribution of duties had to be present. Our trainer said: “If you miss a minute on every rope on the Barber route, when you reach the top we will have lost 22 minutes, it is not acceptably.”

After two days of good work we watched “working” dreams: Fifi, crampon, fifi, crampon, exhalation…… look down… it was hard…

•  How many?

•  Seven!!!

I saw guys' look… they felt hard too… Director (Hakimullin Sergey) felt sick, it was harder for him them for other, but he worked, wasn't behindhand… I saw hope in their eyes that we would manage to pass the route… I strewed ice to them, they swore… I knew, it was painfully… but those were disadvantages of ice walls… I heard Vadim's voice: “Belay is ready!”… he was our “member of staff”, cooker, that man made you feel warm on the route, his look and work commanded confidence… Quite in the distance I saw the trainer – tiger of ice as we called him… he looked at me through glasses and saw every my move, saw mimicry on my face when I passed “snotty” strip… drew conclusions… But first of all I saw Bekir… my oldest workmate he got most of ice blocks that, hitting on him, evoked flow of swear-words… my words after unsuccessful operation reached his hears… he firmly bore them but sometimes answered… censored.

Local sportswomen Tatiana

Peak Ak-Too

Peak Baichechekey

Guitar, cacao, coffee, tea and warm Kirghiz sportswomen and sportsmen did their work and we again felt fine. Tatiana (local alpinist) went with us up to the Korona's night passes, where we carried a besom and had a clear-up on arriving of our friends.

According to our plans we had to climb to Ak-too along the couloir of the Northern wall. It looked effectively, in the bottom part of the route there was a bergschrund too, it was also filled wit snow. In the morning we couldn't get up for a long time. A first I awoke, as usual, shook everyone, put water on the fire, but the guys didn't get up for 30 minutes more, so I had to swear at them, they woke up, started moving… but at the moment I began to fall asleep on the rucksack… it was a wash-out. Then we set of off and started climbing… I didn't like it from the first steps… sometimes ice crumbled, sometimes fifis grew blunt of small stones, we had to sharpen them every rope… and then stones start falling… not to us, but along the borders of the route… We went rather well, but on every station I had 10 minutes to sleep when Bekir went up with the help of ascenders. I liked the key strip it presented ice with some elements of mixed climbing… cool… and the cornice at the end of the route made me screw an ice screw… All in all the route appeared rather interesting, but when we were descending it started shooting, not only with ice blocks but with real stones… it was unpleasant…

“Nevertheless there is a sense, that alarm you… but it can not turn you back… When we were sitting and enjoying the last sun rays, we heard thunder… “ Avalanche ! Avalanche!” – cried everyone… my eyes stopped at Ak-Too… Along our route a rather serious avalanche, that could kill all of us some hours before, was running… Unpleasant chill run along my back… Thank you, Mount, that you let us go…”

Peak Iziskatel

Peak Korona

Peak Svobodnaya Korea

We descended, had a rest and decided to process the route Lou of 5A grade of difficulty to Svobodnaya Korea ( 4740 m ). The bottom part of the route had collapsed and at the moment it was complicated by hanging icefalls and steep ice, but there were only 4 difficult ropes. We decided to hold filming nag ice trainings for beginners straight on the route. I had ever seen such a delight in the eyes of Slava Pronushkin… He had a secret desire to work on the key strip of the route… and he passed a nice rope of ice with dignity. Ropes were fixed, the team slept, next day we were going to work again.

The seventh rope… through habit I look upwards to see the ridge, calculating, how many ropes were left up to the end…? I thought there were about 3 ropes and worked further…legs got tired… and the route stretched further… I speeded up, switch on the music… it became less hard… even easy… on the tenth rope I hurt a finger, the whole station was dashed with blood… cool… We communicated with our trainer that day, that mount would become an exam after all our work in that season… Sergey Selivestrov and Vitaly Akimov (local instructors) supported us… rejoiced… that helped us a lot on the route… when I was speaking face to face to the mount… about life and you further plans, whether they would be realized or not… it seem, they would be… When I stayed on the top I thought about the descent and disposed myself to 15 ropes of descending using descenders. That day Bekir and Director had dealings with it, Alexander and I were making stations and forming way down… the weather was wonderful, e felt very hot in the couloir… Alexander was very content, he said it making no secret… What could be the best estimate of the team work than Master's words…?

Alexander observes

I am on Lou

I am on Lou

Being down I looked to the Korea, thanked her for letting us go and made photos of the Barber route of 5B grade of difficulty on the sly, hoping that I would be able to make future ascents.