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Mountain photos - amateur
and professional photos of mountains.
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Author: Oleg Pedenko, Angarsk
Climbers from Angarsk at the
foot of Mt. Kupol (Dome), 2921m,
Area description Near to the settlement of Arshan that is wide-known for its mineral springs there is Burun gorge. Massif Kupol-Stol with a lot of scheduled mountaineering and rock-climbing routes is located in it.
Having started in 1999 some enthusiasts bolted ten routes in extent from 250 up to 600 meters there for two years. It seems the routesetters did not have to pinch and scrape and they bolted good and proper. Bolts were placed at intervals at an average of three meters. All belay stations with double bolts is equipped with a ring for pulling the rope through. So you can rappel off of the many rap anchors. The rocks represent granite plates, therefore the majority of the routes (Monashka (Nun), Grot (Grotto), Krestik (Crosslet), Ugol (Corner), Opasnaya britva (Dangerous razor)) start by climbing up a crack, then slabby* face climbing alternating with wall climbing. There is a simple foot-descent from the top and it is really faster and easier than rappelling. (*Slab- the Krasnoyarians call it "katushka". This special rocky relief represents monolithic plates without edges and cracks typical for Krasnoyarsk Stolby. They are climbed using special techniques - slabby face climbing) You can bivy right in Kupol's corrie at one of many good camp sites there. There are a lot of boulders top-rope-bolted there and even a football field nearby. Fire wood is not present, and you have to cook with gas, but all the routes are some little distance from there (about 20-30 minutes). There is a lodge there too, but in summer it is not suitable for habitation, as the roof leaks like a sieve when it's raining. The routesetters worked at the routes: Eugeny Bashkirtsev, Denis Veretenin, Sergey Kosoturov, Oleg Pedenko and Andrey Kustov. Alexander Frolov was the leader and a sponsor of the project.
President's days This year, many thanks to the president, we had four public holidays in June. "Why not to go to Sayan Mountains and to climb bolted routes?" we said. On June 11 in the evening our company left Angarsk by a minibus in a direction of the mountains.
At one o'clock in the morning we were discharged at Zunovskaya glade and after 50 minute- trekking we at last reached the head of Burun gorge where bivied to spend the night. In the morning, we were awaking little by little. After having breakfast we went further upwards on the track. In an hour we reached a small river and crossed it over a huge log. Here we had to stop to take off mites promptly heading upwards on our legs and feeling flesh and blood. The next four hours we moved forward gradually gain altitude and then stopped to have a rest near a small shelter. From here the track turns to the left, and conducts on a steep slope directly in the corrie of Kupol. Having overcome this distance in an hour we finally took off our backpacks. We met Givi and Maks that had arrived here the day before.
At the foot of Kupol
Having had a drink of tea and settled tents, all of us made a bee-line for the park of boulders to climb khitrushki*
(*The Krasnoyarians call "khitrushka" a bouldering problem). These huge boulders have anything that you would like: overhangs, crimpers, chimneys, monolith slabs. Next morning was sunny. Denis Veretenin a.k.a. Volosatiy (Hairy) and Sergey Kosoturov a.k.a. Dyadya (Uncle) were readiest to leave the base camp. They aimed to make the second ascent Kupol via 6À-graded route. The other guys went to the central bastion to climb bolted lines. Andrey and Nikolay started Monashka (Nun), Givi and I tried Grot (Grotto), and brothers Komariki went on Krestik. Maks was running below, taking photos of everything that occurred on the wall. Having taken pleasure from good rock-climbing Givi and I rappelled at about 1 am via ascent route and went to have a look and to find out how the land lies at Hairy and Uncle. By that time they had climbed hardly more than a half of the wall, but the most complex site remained still ahead. Weather began to spoil, and we had to descend to the tents. At five p.m. a gentle rain started to drop, a wind became intensify, it began to lighten and thunder. Then a real thunder-storm began. We looked at tiny figures of our comrades creeping on the wall and be distressed for them. Later, Hairy told, that the rain did not get reach them because of a strong overhang protected them, only a cold wind blew. At 22.00 our fighters had only one pitch remained to climb. A group of healthy volunteers went to support them morally and to meet them atop with hot tea and a snack. At one o'clock in the morning the guys successfully summited and became cheerful and surprised seeing that they were met. At the base camp we could observe five small lamps flashing on the slope slowly coming nearer to our camp… Next day in the morning the sun shined again! Brothers Komariki started to climb Ugol (Corner), the others had a nice walking in the gorge and took a lot of photos of all the routes from different sides. Having returned, we started playing football using a rolled rope as a ball. During our game unexpectedly sky clouded over and first it began hailing and then raining. We didn't mind that as we sheltered from the weather under a boulder but the guys on the wall were really flashed over from the fifth pitch and had to descend. Descent in the valley On Sunday having packed our backpacks and taken away the garbage we descended to the valley. Near a ferry all of us stopped to take a header into a raging stream of the Burun river. Then all of us were loaded in the bus and went to Arshan to mark the successful journey with beer. More photos
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