Author: Anna Piunova, Mountain.RU

Pavel Shabalin, Ilyas Tukhvatullin. First Ascent Khan Tengri North Face Center in two-man team, alpine style

PART II (Part I )

P.Sh.: We planned to start on August 15. Having waited for the midnight to come in a dining room we left… And could not find the tent. Everything was completely blotted out by the fog and bad weather. So we were forced to sit trying every day to leave and managed to do that only on August 20. The first three days weather was normal since the morning and all the day, but then the trouble began: since the morning weather was good, but by the evening - absolute hell! And the most important thing is that during our entire ascent we used only two more or less convenient sites and could spend the night in the tent. The others sites that we found, appeared either out of place or in a dangerous place or at the wrong time. Therefore four nights from eight ones we had to spend in sitting posture. Just imagine! You climb against the stop, then you sit down not taking off your boots and sit all the night wrapped in a tent protected a little against the cold of the night. But our tent ("Solo", made by Red Fox) gave an excellent taste of its quality. It weighs only two kilograms. But it has not become torn in all these extreme conditions, has survived though was fluttered by strong winds and rubbed with our crampons.

MR: Condition of the route

P.Sh.: There was a lot of snow. Friable snow. All the time we had to shovel snow off the route line; all the nine days we raked before our faces and climbed never loosing our hold of the "choppers". It was abruptly enough. If you got on a snow site - you would try to return back on outcrops. Because it was very hard to dig waist-deep unpacked snow…

On August 20 we left at 4.00 am, on August 28 - put a tent on the dome, on August 29 early in the morning we started summit push and in 1,5-2 hours we passed by the survey tripod.

And we wanted to find a depot that we had left in stones two years before while climbing the "classics".

MR: And did you find it?

No, that is the catch! A big gas cartridge, food, carbohydrates. Nothing from that was found.

Therefore we quickly summited and ran father descending on "classics". We were the last to leave the Mountain, nobody went after us. And we found a heap of left food, empty gas cartridges but no one of them was even half -inflated. Ilyas thawed snow with a wax light getting any water, then jumped it like in a shaker and dredged sugar over it... And in such way for two days! Without water, without gas, without anything.

And after in the afternoon we descended to the cofferdam we pitched a tent and could sit down. But how hard was the way to the cofferdam … It seemed that we moved on plane site but we fell after every twenty steps - again and again.

Sitting in the tent we heard the wind blowing outside. I suggested :"Let's do not take off clothes, just sit and wait out a wind and then will start moving to Chapaev peak and further descend even at night..."

Till the night we were sitting not taking off our boots and wearing harnesses, but along toward night we had pulled out a sleeping bag and rolled ourselves in it. After we awoke from a dream in the morning we forced to sit in a tent again. So, we did not even take off our boots for three days being in constant readiness to go. But all the time there was bad weather.

MR: Freezing injury...

P.Sh.: I saw my hands already on the dome. Up to this point I did not feel anything wrong. But on the dome I looked and thought "What is the hell?" My organism was already very exhausted. It was constantly cold. All the time I did something with my hands: flourishing, shaking, but suddenly they already became blackened. Even in the morning everything was normal, but after I climbed toward an hour and a half on the wild wind - that's that!

I was the leader all the time and all the time I was with my hands up. It's a different matter to climb the second - run a pitch for fifteen minutes and sit and belay again. But who knows how much time can take a pitch for the leader to climb? Half an hour, two, two and a half... You had to hang and hang. I think that this time just one upon the other stratified: weather, cold, season…

MR: Communication

P.Sh.: We specially did not take a radio set and a watch. Thus we usually climb...

Thank God, that Lena Kalashnikova (Asia-Travel) waited for our return at the foot of the mountain.

Thanks them a lot for that they waited for us and did not take off the camp.

When we descended they called the helicopter and they took us away right from there and we did not have to come back on foot. Thanks them awfully!

MR: Gear

P.Sh.: Weight of a rucksack before the start was about kg 16-17. Climbing-irons, a rope, two insulating pads, a sleeping bag, a down parka.

MR: Climbing-irons

P.Sh.: Six screws (four long and two short), about twelve classical pitons (from Blade Pitons up to Bong Pitons, carbide and lightweight, made by Camp). 12 anchor bolts from which only half left. Two complete sets of chocks and a complete set of friends. The seven quickdraws, two of them were explosive. Loops. Karabiners (a little). Full minimization two.

We took the short rope intentionally not to take 10-12 quickdraws and a heap of other kit and caboodle.

MR: Food

P.Sh.: Two tins of red caviar, mashed potatoes, "hot mugs", instant porridge "Bystrov", dry toasts, a pair of uncooked smoked sausages.

MR: First-aid set

P.Sh.: We did not have anything to medicate freezing injury . We had not expected at all... And got minimum: adrenaline, mesatone, prednisolone, a brilliant green pencil.

And what do you think Ilyas, a base-born cad, did when made me a prednisolone puncture? He painted my back with brilliant green :-)

Sponsors: Red Fox and Camp.

Photo: Yan Rybak, Israe