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Check out the previous story: Aksaiskoe Gorge. Svobodnaya Korea ("Free Korea"), 4,740 m

The author: Alexandre Ruchkin, S.Petersburg

 

History of northern face of Svobodnaya (Free) Korea peak (4740m)

On May 7-8, 2001, in Kirghiz Ala – Too (Western Tien-Shan, Svobodnaya (Free) Korea peak, 4740 m, North face) a new 6-graded route - a variant of Popenko route, was virgin soloed for 2 days. One spending the night was on the wall, the second - at the top.

When I only started first to climb in my life, there was a huge photo of northern face of Svobodnaya Korea peak on apartment's wall of our instructor and trainer Victor Nazarenko. The black and white photo directed trembling at everyone. And admired words of the trainer only confirmed that it was the very complex wall, and not everyone managed to climb this northern route to the top. It was 1985, at that time the Wall was considered difficult and severe, and it stood in a number of names of such superwalls as Chatyn, Chapdara, Bodkhona, etc.

And it so happened, that three years later, in 1988 I stood not before a photo, but under the Wall, and climbed one of the most simple routes of 5À categories of difficulty, the descending route (it sounded already tempting) on northern face - D.Low's route, 1976.

The Wall of Korea forced climbers to turn back much more often, than allowed to subdue it. Northern face of Free Korea learned much me, learned the main thing - to live on a wall.

In July 1975, a beautiful and complex route via the center through a huge red overhang was appeared on northern face of Svobodnaya Korea peak. A five men team of Armed forces of Sports Club of Army of the Central Asian Military District, Alma-Ata, leaded by Popenko first ascended a new 6-graded route for 3 days of processing and 7,5 days of working on rocks.

This Wall has a rich history. In 1949, from Andreev's route, the history of the northern face of Svobodnaya Korea peak began and has proceeded to nowadays.

In 1961 a team named "Burevestnik (Petrel)" leaded by L.Myshlyaev paved a route on the right site, and was awarded the gold medals of champions of the USSR on mountaineering. In the same year "Spartak" team leaded by B.Studenin repeated the route. Many commands tried to try to get to the core northern face of Korea, but it did not met some of them affably.

Only in 1966 B.Studenin's team managed to climb an extreme left variant on the North face which was recognized as the best in a season, and the North face since then began to refer to "gold".

B.Studenin's route for its original line was nicknamed - "Studenin's axe".

1968 - a team "Trud (Work)" from Novosibirsk made the third ascent of Myshlyaev’s route.

1969 - Two teams: from Krasnoyarsk (leader V.Bezzubkin) and from Ukraine (leader A.Kustovsky) successfully climbed North face on new routes. Again the Wall received gold medals together with the Krasnoyarians and silvers the Ukrainians.

In 1970 - 1973 some teams tried to repeat Bezzubkin's route and only a team from Leningrad (leader Y.Gorenchuk) and a team from Alma-Ata (Y. Popenko) could do it. Korea hardly yielded meters of the Wall. 26 years have passed, but B.Studenin's, J.Kustovsky's, E.Shvab's routes have not been repeated till now.

Having investigated the Wall, Y.Popenko's team made up their minds to climb via the center. The route followed almost a direct line under a red overhang and bypasses it on the right, deducing on the roof - the system of buttresses and the ice coloirs with a positive gradient.

Difference of altitude of the route -1010 m.

Average steepness - 79 degrees.

Extent of a complex site of-581 m.

The ice-climbing techniques was lack of development at that time, all climbers tried to climb on rocks bypassing ice. Many teams reached rocks and threw out crampons as a superfluous cargo. They spent a lot of time on overcoming of ice sites cutting down steps in ice. After modern crampons and ice-tools-fifi hooks, hammers appeared climbers began to bypass rocks on the cracks crammed with water ice. The same fate befell with Popenko's route.

The vertical route crosses a slanting fracture in the Wall from below upwards, from the right - to the left. Masters of ice-fifi bypassed about a half of the route on the ice-falls, frequently crossed with rocks hardly filled with ice, and met the original route on 4-th spending the night, in one and a half pitches under the red cornice.

The line of my route and the line of Popenko's route comparatively had nothing in general. They once crossed together. Appreciating heavy work of pioneers, I would not like to spoil the beautiful Popenko's route. And if the team declares and goes via a concrete route they should adhere to the basic line of it. Therefore the idea of trying to climb my own variant occurred to me.

The fracture in the wall, which bypasses the cornice from the left, did not leave me along for a long time. Snow blocks cracks in a bad weather, and the precise, logical line of a route is visible. The all route is continuous mix. After 300 meters of ice with simple 30 meters of a rock - 4-5 of a category on the second pitch, the fracture filled with a thin layer of water ice begins. Thin ice does not allow to twirl ice screws.

The belay has to be organized on a rock site - on the right or on the left of the fracture. In some places with vertical and negative sites ice is not formed, and you have to aid climb 4,5 pitches - 250 meters 6, À/2-À/3 categories. Cracks are filled with ice.

That year there was something the matter with a snow. It was friable. You couldn't trample it down, and constantly fell through it. My start was delayed because of a heavy snow. I reached a bergschrund after two hours tracking from a hut. Completely equipped, with small jam-packed rucksack with attached from above gear not got into it, I laid a way to white silence, as the overloaded ship, being afraid to go to the bottom. The openwork snow on the bergschrund confirmed its complexity. Ten meters lower it I dug out a hollow, attached the rucksack to a rope and stamped a snow from above. Such anchor should not allow me to fall deeply if the bridge didn't hold me.

There was a lot of snow on ice. Having climbed the first belay I hooked a rock and got organized to lead the second pitch and hauled up my rucksack crossing the bergschrund already in third time. Then I clean climbed next 250 m more on ice till I reached an icefall in a break of the wall. I hanged all my gear round myself, a rope dragged behind. I had in my backpack remained: a gortex bag with a leg (the short and facilitated sleeping bag for spending the night), the gas catridge and a stove, a little of food, 50 meters of cord for descent, and a camera. The weight allowed to clean climb safely. When I saw the small icefall-river close, I understood the problem. The ice was not frozen up, and represented a thin cover breaking under strokes of an ice hammer. I had to wedge the hammers to find a good point of a support, got organized to lead next pitches and slowly and accurately climbed further next pitches coming back and removing the points.

By 17.00 I climbed up to a snow- ice ledge under a cornice, where Popenko's team spent their 4-th spending the night. I cleaned it from snow but rested against ice. I had to sweat to arrange here a rookery working together with my ice hammer. Soon it became clear that I had to spend the night on this ledge. Hanging old bolts on my rucksack I continued to climb further on cracks, from the place of spending night. Up to darkness I fixed about 20 meters of rope and rested against a rock without cracks. It got dark. I decided that morning was wiser than the evening and I would think up something.

I was crumbling ice and thinking with melancholy of a hammock, which I had not taken. Having cut a narrow ledge for spending night place I set fire to the stove and cooked my modest supper in full darkness. Then I got into the gortex bag with thin "leg" instead of a warm sleeping bag, suspended my legs on a rope not to slip from the ledge and left from a terrible reality in dream. I struggled with the superfluous weight up to such degree that did not take an insulating pad, a hammock and a lot of useful things. Then the night passed and a fine night under stars was replaced by a bad cloudy morning covering everything with light snow. I did not want to descend not having finished the ascent. I heated ice to quench my thirst and reserve water and thought of my finding in the middle of the wall. Then I climb up to the place I got stuck yesterday and did it successfully, not understanding with the help of that. I ran out of bolts and sky hooks. There were 30 meters of a rock, 6B, A3-graded, more and I climbed four small cornices of 0,5m everyone, a site with just a few of cracks, bypassing the main cornice from the left in the twinkling of an eye, puffing and sweating, when the rope caught on the wall and I had to descend and unhooked the rope from a stone captivity. It is one of specialities of solo-ascents. Having climbed one pitch more on mix-site (6 À/1), and I appeared on a roof of Svobodnaya (Free) Korea. Rocks blunted my ice tools and points of crampons I descended on ice like a cow. As it was too long to fly up to the ground, I organized belay descending 4,5 pitches on vertical ice couloir with a wall of 7m in height, and went on a ridge. I ran out of forces and hardly moved through snow up to the waist like a small ship on a crest of a stiffened wave.

I had light time enough to descend, but the weather decided to test my durability. Storm clouds closed the sky in a few minutes. A strong wind with a snow on the ridge pressed me in a slope. The way of descent was not visible. A cheerful night was waiting for me at 4740 m. I had to build a tomb of stones and snows somehow protecting me from a dank wind and sleet. The gale-force wind did not allowed me to use the stove, constantly putting it out, not looking at all my diligence. So I remained without a celebratory supper. In awaking dream, under howls of a wind, I muffled in my gortex bag, which maintained the temperature of my life. One more page of a history of northern face of Svobodnaya (Free) Korea peak ended.

And it will constantly be supplemented, while mountains will stand and call us.