(22.03.2011) DGPS Survey of ShkaraIn Summer 2010 duo Peter Schon (Austria) and Boris Avdeev (Russia) climbed Mt.Shkhara (5193 m) the top of Bezengi wall via rarely visited route from South (5B Russian grade, max. 4 UIAA, max 55 degree snow). The climb was started from anscient Georgian Ushguli village, UNESCO heritage site.
(3.12.2007) South Caucasus Episodes, part I:
Armenia and Mt. Aragats (4090 m).April 2005. After waiting 2 weeks for good weather we reach the summit of modern Armenia's highest peak. A few meters below Aragats summit (4090 m) Deon and I click into our skis to ski 2000 vertical meters back into Aragats village, a ski descent that should top one of the greatest journeys and adventures we ever had.
Author: Peter Schon (Styria, Austria/British Columbia, Canada) Photos: Peter Schon &
Deon Louw (British Columbia, Canada)
Ski
and snowboard descent via a well-known ice falls "7", Mt. Donguzorun (4468m) Caucasus,
Russia (25.02.2002) "... The North Face of Donguzorun is the most difficult
and magical slope especially when the sunset paints it in purple-red colors. It
both attracts and repels the best climbers. A huge ice-fall over all the face
in the shape of an upside-down figure "7", hangs with two its seracs over Baksanskoe
gorge, giving to the all massif especial outlines..."
Author: Vladimir Kopylov,
Moscow
This
is a strange place named Kamchatka (26.09.2002) "...After several articles about skiing on Kamchatka
were published, I was snowed under with questions, how people can get to Kamchatka,
where to ski there and in general - "What is Kamchatka like? " … To facilitate
life to myself and to the most inquisitive part of readers I decided to make a
small review about following important things: where, as well, and as how much
it is possible to make high-speed skiing on Kamchatka peninsula' slopes. At once
there is a small deviation: If you want to arrive to Kamchatka and to ski only
on mountain-skiing bases’ (hotel’s) slopes you have to leave this venture..."
Author: Grigory Mintsev,
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka
Ski
descent from Pobeda peak (25.09.2002) "First
ski descent from the top of Pobeda peak (7,439 m) is completed! Descent was done
on 23-24 August 2002 by Nikolai Pimkin from St.Peterburg, Russia. Several attempts
were made before (by US and France) from Pobeda slopes, still that was the first
one from the top. "
Snowboard
Descent from Peak Lenin (22.05.2001) "...I am alone,
if anything happens nobody knows where to search for me. And if I turn back it
would be a cold night somewhere on the Western slope, frostbitten hands and feet
or I can freeze to death myself. The snow is good here, "powder" - the
dream of a free-rider, and luckily it's not too deep. Last days there wasn't much
snow - which means that the danger of avalanches is not very high. There is no
wind at all on the wall, but somewhere above one can here a powerful hum. The
first several hundreds meters I slide as if over the rocks...."
At last we came on to the face. The snow was still
a bit hard. Having taken ice-tools (the only chance to self-arrest), we started
further. One more difficult piece awaited us at the end of the slope, where the
sun hadn’t warmed the thick snow layer..."
Author: Max
Pankov, Moscow; Ruslan Kochetkov, Murmansk
