Glacial cracks. A selection of photographs. Tips for climbers Climbers avoid deep cracks on the surface of a glacier

We have already discussed how great it is to read the description (a publication about route classifications) before going on a route. But this, it turns out, is not enough.

These harmful climbers use such words in their descriptions that you can’t figure it out without a dictionary and a bottle of beer... Well, okay, they were joking and it will be. But seriously, I recommend that everyone who is interested in mountains familiarize themselves with these definitions. Perhaps you will learn something interesting for yourself.

Vertex – highest point mountains or massif. Usually the goal of climbing is to reach (and descend from) the summit. Depending on their shape, they have different names:

Peak- pointed top;

Three peaks of the MPR (Mongolian People's Republic), 3870 m

Dome- top with round shapes;

Elbrus (5642 m) - “dome” peak

Table Mountain- a peak with a horizontal or slightly inclined upper part.

Tirke (1283 m) - table mountain

Route- the path to the top and descent. I would like to note that the descent in this matter is an equally important component.

Tour– an artificial pile of stones to mark the route (can be placed at the top, pass, fork, indicate the place of descent, etc.)

Tour at the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions pass. Very long-awaited (pass height 3693m)

The descriptions often indicate control rounds, in which (as at the top) you also need to change the note. This additionally certifies the passage of the declared route.

Bivouac– overnight stay on the route or while conquering the peak. On routes that are known to be long, descriptions may indicate comfortable places for bivouacs.

Ridge- Part mountain range, connecting several vertices.

Pass- the lowest point in the ridge.

Elbrus region. Peak Dzhailyk (4533 m) shines proudly in the sun

Couloir- a depression in the rock (internal corner), which appeared under the influence of flowing and falling water. They can be up to several tens of meters wide and, depending on the time of year, can be filled with snow, firn and ice. The bottom, usually cut through by a trench, is the most dangerous place in the couloir.

Open book- a sharp internal angle that allows you to climb with your feet and hands resting on rocky surfaces.

Trough– a shallow, wide internal angle (the concept of “internal angle” can be found in a geometry textbook, presumably for the sixth grade).

Valley- a wide depression between two ridges. As a rule, the area is very populated.

Baksan Valley

Gorge- a deep narrow valley with steeply rising, often rocky slopes.

Gorge- a particularly narrow part of the gorge with almost vertical slopes.

Hollow- a depression steeply descending in one direction between two side ridges (ribs).

Descent along the gorge

Crest- a face formed by two adjacent slopes, leading to the top.

The path along the ridge to the top of Jantugan (3991 m)

Snow cornice- a deposit of snow hanging under the influence of winds over one of the slopes of the ridge. It requires a very careful attitude - the structure is fragile; if possible, you should go around along the opposite slope, below the level of the ridge.

Khitsan- a rocky island separated from the ridge as a result of erosion.

Adyr-Su Gorge. View of the Mestia hut

Nunatak- a rocky peak, ridge, or hill completely surrounded by ice that projects above the surface of an ice sheet or mountain glacier.

Saddle(in common parlance “saddle”) - a depression between two peaks, from which hollows descend in directions transverse to the ridge in both directions.

View from Babugan-yayla

Slope– the surface of the mountain between adjacent ridges (as an option - the side surface of the ridge). Depending on the nature of the soil or cover, slopes can be grassy, ​​rocky (slides), rocky, ice and snow.

Scree(“bulk”) - a pile of stones or rock fragments lying on the surface of a slope. Depending on the size of the stones, scree can be large or small.

Training sessions on a grassy slope

Descent from the glacier on the "dry"

Wall– a slope or part of a slope with a steepness of more than 60°.

It's worth noting that "wall" climbs are usually categorized higher than ridge climbs - this can help in finding descriptions of the desired level of difficulty for a particular peak.

Overhang– a section of wall with a negative angle of inclination

Cornice– overhang at an angle of 90° to the slope.

Ceiling– extensive horizontal overhang of rock.

When the description includes serious “overhangs”, “cornices” or “ceilings”, it would be useful to have a ladder and pitons with a hammer (the aid category may not be included) - if you are not completely sure that you will be able to free climb.

Northeastern MPR near

Terrace- a horizontal section of a slope forming a long step.

In everyday life, small “terraces” are often called “ shelves" It is usually convenient to equip them with safety stations.

Plate- a smooth and flat section of rock with a steepness of up to 60°.

Buttress- an external corner adjacent to a wall or slope.

Edge- buttress adjacent to the ridge.

Gendarme- elevation on the ridge. When studying the description, it is worth paying attention to which side this or that “gendarme” is approaching.

The famous gendarme "Devil's Finger" on Mount Sokol in Crimea

Crack- a gap in the rock so wide that you can fit your fingers or drive a hook into it.

Cleft- the gap in the rock is so wide that an arm or leg can fit in it.

Cleft on the rocks of Dovbush

Fireplace- a vertical crack in the rock so large that a person can fit in it.

The technique of overcoming “chimneys” differs from the usual climbing on a stand or natural terrain (there are no holds and you need to go in a spread), so it must be practiced separately.

An oversized crevice is too narrow to fit your body into and too wide to wedge your arm or foot. Usually difficult to climb.

Chimney- a rock formation that resembles a pipe. On the Foros-Mella wall in Crimea there is a route of the same name 2B k.s. on the Tower massif. The “chimney” section is not particularly technically difficult, but leaves an unforgettable impression.

"Chimney" on the route of the same name

Ram's foreheads– rocky outcrops on a scree or snow-ice slope. They are a convex section of rock, smoothed by water flows, stones or a glacier.

People usually try to get around these outcrops - the smooth stones are not conducive to free climbing. Especially in mountain boots.

Typical Caucasian landscape

Glacier- masses of ice sliding in the form of ice rivers from firn fields down into valleys.

Kashkatash glacier in the Adyl-Su gorge

Glacier tongue- its lower end part.

Moraine- an accumulation of rock fragments (at the bottom, along the edges, in the middle or end of a glacier), formed as a result of the glacier’s destruction of neighboring slopes or its bed. Accordingly, lateral, middle and end moraines are distinguished.

View from the Green Hotel parking lot

Icefall(not to be confused with an ice avalanche) - a random accumulation of ice blocks, as well as a system of cracks and faults in places where the glacier bed bends.

Serac– a separately protruding ice block of an icefall; poses a potential hazard as it may break off.

Icefall at the top of the Kashkatash glacier

Rankluft– a submountain crack, formed at the junction of a glacier with a rocky slope (the reason is the melting of ice from rocks heated by the sun).

Bergschrund– a transverse crack in the tongue of a glacier, formed due to the movement of the ice mass down the slope.

The ligament overcomes the bergschrund

The main difference between these two words of German origin is that rankluft means a crack between ice and rocks, and bergschrund (in common parlance - “ berg") - in the glacier itself. In addition, there may be a bunch of other cracks on the glacier, which are not specifically named.

Of course, the list is far from complete; descriptions can be expanded and deepened. Therefore, I recommend going to the mountains for details - everything is much more interesting there!

When compiling the dictionary, we used personal mountain experience, notes by Alexander Guzhviy, the dictionary of Garth Hattingh (“Mountaineering. Climbing techniques.” - Moscow, 2006) and the Internet (special thanks to the tourist club “TIN” for a good selection). Photos: Olga and Denis Volokhovsky, Vitaly Nesterchuk, Irina Churachenko, Yaroslav Ivanov and others.

To be continued…

Zones of crack formation can be predicted by knowing the nature of the glacier and the surface on which it is located. Fracture zones usually form in places where the ice flow changes direction - on turns, depressions and bends. Ice and cracks are often covered with a layer of snow. There is a danger of falling into a crack. On closed glaciers they move in teams, with careful insurance, constantly probing the path in front of them.

The first team when reconnaissance of the route route should consist of three people. The fall of one into a crack should not lead to the other two being pulled into it. The rope must be fully extended (do not leave rings, do not allow slack in the rope). The movement of participants within the ligament and between the ligaments is one after another.

When a group moves from ice to rocks you may encounter coastal crack (Rantkluft), running along the body of the glacier and formed due to the temperature difference - the stones heat up more than the ice, and the latter melts near the rocks. Such cracks (Fig. 1) have a relatively small depth. To pass them, you can almost always find an area where they are covered with fragments of rocks or ice.

When the glacier bed's steepness changes, transverse cracks appear in its body.

With a significant increase in the steepness of the bend, due to the fragility of the upper layers and the greater (compared to the lower layers) speed of their movement, significant cracking of the glacier surface occurs, and the fall of the separated masses of ice occurs. Such zones of intense ice destruction called icefalls.

Where the glacier, following the shape of the valley, makes turns, formations form in its body. radial cracks, fan-shaped and expanding towards the outside of the bend. Here path groups must pass near the shore along the slope closest to the center of the turn.

When a glacier emerges from a gorge onto a wider section of the valley, longitudinal cracks. In the case of a closed glacier these are the most dangerous cracks. Here, all tourists in one group can, without suspecting danger, walk along a crack in the immediate vicinity of it, and the fall of one of the tourists into the crack will inevitably cause the rest to fall. In such cases, it is advisable to move either along the convex shapes of the glacier or along a serpentine line with a line angle of 45 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the glacier.

When moving along the convex forms of the glacier's relief, tourists may encounter mesh (crossing) cracks, which occur when ice creeps onto a protruding part of solid rock at the bottom of a valley. As a result, the ice swells and longitudinal and transverse cracks are formed, intersecting each other (Fig. 2). It is better to avoid these cracks. If, when going around such a zone, there is a danger of encountering longitudinal cracks existing in it, then it is best to bypass the latter along the lower boundary of the convex shape. Here tourists can only expect transverse cracks.

Snow cornices may form at the edges of cracks. Therefore, if it is necessary to move near large open cracks, it is necessary to first inspect (with careful insurance) the nature of the crack and the cornice.

In the upper reaches of glaciers, parallel to the slopes of the cirque, arched foothill cracks (bergschrund), having a large width and depth in their central part (Fig. 3). Closer to the base of the arch, in its lower part, the width of the crack decreases, disappearing. If a bergschrund is a series of arches, then most often their bases are not connected, but are located one above the other, forming possible passages. In summer, you can also look for a passage through the bergschrund in the concave part of the slope, which in the spring is a chute for avalanches. Avalanches form strong bridges here. Of course, this path should be chosen only when avalanches have already occurred (in no case after a snowfall). The approach to the snow bridge must be made from a safe area one at a time, with an observer posted. Those who have passed the dangerous section immediately leave the danger zone. Such bridges and the entire danger zone should be crossed in the morning with careful insurance.

Before the crack transitions over the snow bridge You must first examine it carefully. If a group moves across the bridge, tourists cross it on their bellies, with insurance, but without backpacks. At the same time, they should try to distribute their body weight over as large a surface as possible. Even across bridges that are not entirely reliable, you can transport the entire group in this way. Backpacks are dragged separately.

Cracks on closed glaciers- serious danger. Falling in them without reliable and correct insurance usually leads to injury. If the fallen person is not injured, but is unable to move (jammed, unreliable support on which the fallen person managed to stay, etc.), lack of rope or the inability of other travel participants to timely organize the rise of the tourist from the crack, leads to his rapid freezing.

A closed glacier or a trap for the careless

Vasilyev Leonid Borisovich – Kharkov, doctor, MS USSR.
Photos by the editor – doctor, MS USSR

Rely on a friend...

In the mountains there are situations from which no one is immune. The most experienced fall into avalanches and ice collapses, the most careful do not avoid breakdowns. Spontaneous rockfall can be unpredictable. But the cracks on the closed glacier are notscary if you constantly remember them and adhere to the old rule– in the area of ​​possible cracks, move only in conjunction and only with certain precautions. The latter is extremely important – the mere attachment towearing a rope does not guarantee you from harm.

I I heard about professional guides who, having climbed a difficult wall in the Alps without insurance, contact before returning along the glacier. If the local mine rescuers the body of a person is removed from a crack, not properly equipped, without all the devices provided for by the situation, not a single insurance company will pay his family was entitled to money under the contract.

In fact, you definitely need to visit a glacial crevice to avoid any problems. desire to fly there someday, but the best way to do this is during training sessions retrieving a stuck one. I'll share another experience...

Crack

Andrei Rozhkov's team, participating in the Moscow Winter Championship, descended from Ullu-tau. I ran ahead of the others along our climbing tracks on a flat 20 degree slope. At some point, my leg fell softly into the void, and I slowly sank into the snow up to his waist, held on the surface by a bulky backpack. My legs didn’t feel any support, but I, not yet “getting the hang of” the situation, began to flounder, trying to get out of the hole. What happened next is still etched in my memory like a slow motion movie. The edges of the crust holding me sank, and I plunged headlong into the snow, hanging on the backpack straps. The next second, the backpack followed me, and I fell into a dark void. A slight lean on the cat against something and I was turned upside down. I fell flat, hitting some ledges. These seconds were endless - I remember that I was gripped not by fear, but by amazement - how long can you fall? It's time to be the center Earth! Finally, I fell backwards onto the ice plug. The backpack failed in continuation cracks, trying to drag me there too. Somehow I pressed my elbows into the edges of the crack, stopping my slide down. Releasing one shoulder from the strap, he turned over onto his stomach. The backpack hung with the second strap on the bend of the elbow. I knelt down and pulled him out black emptiness and looked around. It wasn't that dark in the crack. Smooth went up shiny walls. The snow cover above allowed daylight to pass through. Garlands of icicles turned away top edges my trap. Overall, it was beautiful. In a tiny The face of Sasha Sushko appeared through the hole, covering the sky. “How are you doing there?”- he asked, lowering the end of the rope. I untied the ice-fi attached to my backpack, fastened myself to the rope, and climbed out of the crack myself. The hole in the snow was barely big enough for my helmeted head to fit through – it’s not clear how I slipped through it with my backpack. From the marks on the rope we measured the depth of my hole – 12 meters. Overall, I got off easy – a trap for the carelessit could be much more insidious...

How to behave on a closed glacier without tempting fate? First of all, you must be properly equipped. In the “system”, in a helmet, in crampons. (Cats It is advisable to wear them even when walking in them is tiring due to the sticky snow.But if you find yourself in a crack – and cats can become the main tool in your self-rescue. Without them, you will not be freed from possible jamming in a narrowing crack. A helmet will also not be superfluous, considering that in the crack the backpack is almost will probably turn you upside down). Zhumar, 2-3 ice screws, the same number of carbines or guys should hang on the belt, in the pocket of the anorak - there is a grasping and minimum 3 meter end of the cord.

The best outcome for someone who has fallen into a crack withwith such equipment - hanging on a rope. Using a jumar and tying a Bachman knot,you can climb it yourself evencase when your partner is not capable of anything. If only he could secure rope! Ideally, your partner, having secured the rope coming towards you on an ice ax or “storm”, and having secured it with a grabber, will crawl to the edge, throw you the second end of the rope, having first carefully cleared the edge of the crack, placing an ice ax, jacket, or backpack under the rope (all insure!).

If you fall into a crevasse without a rope or with a rope in your backpack, the situation becomes more complicated. Already When you “land”, options are possible. At best, the crack is shallow, withflat bottom, or you will be lucky like me and you will find yourself in a traffic jam. It's much worse if you will get stuck in the narrowing of the walls or you will fall into the water. There are holes, right through to the rock bed, piercing the body of a snowfield or glacier. Looking down you can see the stream rushing under the ice arches. This is the worst option!

Fell into a crack

No better and jamming, which can cause serious injury. Moreover, in a narrow crackyou may be covered with a layer of snow and ice, part of the snow falling behind you ceilings Either way, you'll be soaking wet in a couple of minutes. (Alarming in There is only one thing in this situation - after 15-20 minutes the failed person stops responding to calls from above...). Therefore, in any case, you must go down to the victim who has reached the bottom as quickly as possible, taking with you a first aid kit, warm clothes, a stove and the necessary technical equipment. But if you are able to act in this situation, fight for life. Throw off the snow and push it deeper into the crack, until he froze to death. Having twisted the ice screw as high as possible and threaded a rope into its carabiner or a cord tied to your belt, tie a loop at the other end and try insert your foot into it. Pulling yourself up on a hook and loading a simple chain hoist with your foot, likeget rid of the jam as quickly as possible. If you succeed, it’s a victory. Samemethod, alternately twisting the drills higher and higher, begin to climb the wall. To release the cord, you will have to hang from the lanyard each time. Things will work out faster if you have a couple of cords. It’s better to get rid of the backpack, leave it it by tying it to a hook or to the end of a rope. The hardest thing is to get over the edge cracks if the rope cuts deep into it. In this case, there should be a lead the zhumar, and the grasping or Bachmann knot is behind it. A double rope and help from above will make the task easier. Remember - there are no hopeless situations for the prepared person!

As a rule, novice climbers consider themselves safe, already only tied to a rope. It is an illusion of insurance if your partner is walking closely behind you and holding the rings in his hands. Snow does not create friction, and it is naive to think that this is how you can resist the tug of a wet rope. It’s good if your partner doesn’t fall into a crack following you. Make him walk the entire rope. By the way, for a deuce it shouldshorten to 12-15 meters, even better to go on a double rope. It is advisable to tie onrope in front of you with a guide knot and insert an ice ax into it - then, having fallen during a jerk, It’s easier to hold the rope and, after twisting the “drill,” click the finished knot into it. And yet, on a single rope you should move with a team of more than two people. (Attention! Avoid walking in the middle of the bunch on the “sliding”! It cost my friend his life,but more on that below...).

Hermann Huber in his book “Mountaineering Today” (note that this is“today” was 30 ago) offers a rational way of linking two toglacier: the rope is divided into three parts, and to the middle one (it is slightly shorter than the two end ones)partners become attached. The loose ends wound on each are intended tothrowing to someone who has fallen into a crack. Everyone can tie a grasping knot on a rope a meter from their chest.

Other guides recommend preparing the leg “stirrup” from the cord, and tie it with its second end, passed under the chest harness grasping on the main rope at chest level. But even having prepared in this way, it is better to avoid falling into a crack.

Careful observation of the surface of the glacier will tell you the nature and direction of the cracks - it is unacceptable for both to end up above a crack parallel to the movement of the ligament. Sometimes, especially in oblique morning or evening light, closed cracks are guessed by the change in color of the snow that has slightly subsided above them. In suspicious places, probe the path with every step. A ski pole will provide you with an invaluable service. Without a ring, an ice ax is less effective for this purpose. Remember also that falling through first is more dangerous on the descent - in this case, there is a high chance that your partner will fall into a crack. Heavier or careless, coming second on the climb, failing, too risks pulling your partner along with you (see below!). Therefore, on the descent and ascent you should not shorten the rope to the same extent as on a flat glacier.

But in any case, a person who anticipates danger or is at least prepared for it is capable ofresist her. Here is an unenviable situation from which my friend Anatoly Lebedev, now the director of the Rucksack company, came out with honor: 1982, the pair A. Samoded - A. Lebedev worked on an extreme route - a 400-meter sinter “icicle” on the wall of Moskovskaya Pravda (Y -3 Pamir). In the heat of the moment, they made an unforgivable mistake - they hung all the ropes and returned to the tent untied. Already in front of the tent, Tolya fell into a closed crack - an ice “glass” filled with water. It didn’t reach the bottom; the smooth walls went up 6 meters. In this stalemate Anatoly did not give in to panic - floundering in the icy water and plunging headlong every time he tried to do something, he was able to pull out an ice ax from behind his backpack, remove an ice hammer from his belt, and (fortunately, he had crampons on his feet!) he began to climb out of the traps. It is difficult to calculate how fast Alik Samoded ran under the wall to get the rope, but by the end of the record climb he managed to throw the end of it to his partner. Of course, this feat would have been easier to avoid. But how different is its outcome from finals sad stories which are given below...

1. 08/03/1961. V. Wilpata, 5a.

A group of instructors from the Torpedo a/l, returning after the ascent, passed the last section of the icefall before the Volginskaya overnight stay. While crossing a crack, a snow bridge under the group leader N. Pesikov collapsed and fell to a depth 20 m, receiving extensive injuries. There was no insurance.

2. 27.07.1968. Peak of Communism.

The group organized a bivouac on the plateau of Communism Peak (6200 m). The tent was set up in a safe place, about 10 m from a narrow crack. At about 18.30 E. Karchevsky left the tent where the other participants were. A few minutes later they called to him, but he did not respond. As the footprints in the snow showed, Karchevsky fell into a crack. A rope was lowered into a hole in the snow (ondepth of 30 m), which they began to pull from below. But repeated attempts they were unsuccessful in approaching the victim. The crack at the top was as wide as 45 cm, and then narrowed to 20 cm. Falling 30 m, Karchevsky’s body jammed and froze in ice.

3. 01.08.1973 . Peak of Communism, Belyaev Glacier.

The Kursk expedition aimed to climb the peaks of Communism and Pravda. To monitor the groups and maintain radio communications, 4 second-class climbers were brought in under the general leadership of P. Krylov. 08/01/73 at 6 o’clock two groups of climbers left camp “4700” up to an altitude of 5000 m, they were accompanied by observers G. Kotov and N. Bobrova. Everyone walked up to an altitude of 5000 m without communicating. From here the observers returned to camp “4700”, where they received a request to go up again and bring up forgotten cats. Kotov and Krylov carried their crampons to 5200 m. On the descent they walked without contacting. Kotov, who walked first, carried the rope on his backpack. Suddenly he failed. He did not respond to Krylov’s screams. Only the next day the body of G. Kotov was discovered at a depth of 35 m under a one and a half meter layer of snow and ice debris.

4. 28.07.1974 . Peak Communism is the plateau of Pravda peak.

Two bundles of the expedition of the Ukrainian Council of the DSO "Spartak" to remove the body of A. Kustovsky from the South the walls of Communism Peak worked on the plateau of Pravda Peak. The first in the group of five was B. Komarov. He walked quickly, without testing his way with an ice ax. The second in the bunch, Morchak, carried rings of rope (2-3 meters). The distance between them was about 8 meters. Suddenly, Komarov fell into a crack, but was detained by Morchak. Komarov hung at 3-3.5 meters from the surface. The crack was deep, with smooth edges, less thanmeters. When asked if he could help with pulling, he answered in the affirmative. Firstan attempt to pull Komarov out ended unsuccessfully - the rope crashed into the firn edge. Komarov began trying to throw his leg over the edge of the crack. Komarov did not respond to the demand to stop these attempts and, as a result, turned upside down, after which stopped answering questions. After treatment, the edges of Komarov’s crack were removed withoutsigns of life. According to the group, it took 8-12 to extract Komarov from the crack. minutes. The attempt at resuscitation lasted 2.5-3 hours, but to no avail. The cause of Komarov's death was intracranial hemorrhage as a result of a head injury.

5. 04.11.1975. V. Kazbek.

The Alpiniad of the Kharkov Regional Council of DSO "Zenith" was held with numerousorganizational violations. On November 3, the participants climbed to the weather station.When returning from the exit, the group walked tied with one rope. Degtyarev was the first, followed by Demanov, in the middle, Taran and Dorofeeva were on sliding carbines. After some time, Degtyarev fell into a crack up to his chest, from which he chose himself. Taran's reaction was slow - he began to belay Degtyarev only after shouting: “What are you standing for? Pull the rope! Group moved further and in the same place where Degtyarev was, Taran falls into a crack.Demanov managed to secure one end of the rope to the ice ax only after 15 minutes(the snow lay on the ice in a thin layer). The battering ram hung on a rope and a cord onat a depth of 3-4 m on the chest harness with the head thrown back. The face was covered with snow. Since Taran was hanging on the sliding one, it was impossible to pull him out by the free end of the rope.succeeded. They also couldn’t secure the other end, so they lowered Taran to the bottom of the crack and went for help. However, neither Demanov nor Degtyarev, who is inin an insane state, they could not explain where the victim was. Towards the crack They arrived only at 23:00, but they couldn’t lift Taran (the participant carrying the ice hooks never came up). The body of I. Taran was removed from the crack only on November 5.

6. 10. 07 76 . Peak of the World, Za.

The group of arresters of the 5th stage of the Bezengi a/l left the bivouac on the lat at 5 o’clock. Ullouauz on ascent. We moved along a closed glacier, unrelated. At 6 o'clock running thirdT. Zaeva, while crossing the Bergschrund, fell 15-18 m. Zverev descended to her, placed warm clothes under Zaeva and began to wait for help to raise her, but Zaeva died without regaining consciousness.

7. 06.08. 76. V. Zaromag, 2b.

Two squads of badgeists under the leadership of instructors L. Batygina and Yu.Girshovich climbed V. Zaromag. On the descent, bundles of squads walkedinterspersed. The instructors walked untied. About 13 o'clock in a closed crackParticipant V. Feldman, who was walking in the first group, fell through, next to him was G. Khmyrova from the second group, who came up to the screams, and then came the untied instructor Yu. Girshovich (he lingered on the ice ledge 4 meters from the surface). Girshovich voiced contact with Khmyrova and Feldman, who turned out to bea little to the side. Khmyrova’s leg jammed and she asked for an ice ax. Khmyrova was unable to use the two additional ropes lowered into the crack. Then Girshovich attached himself to them and was lifted up by the participants. Frozen and demoralized, he subsequently did not take any part in rescue operations. Feldman was raised behind Girshovich, but Khmyrov could not be raised. Participant S. Lyubkin on crampons reached Khmyrova, who was covered with 30-40 cm of snow. Having freed her jammed leg and pushing from below, he helped raise Khmyrova (at approximately 14:55). She showed no signs of life. Rubbing and artificial respiration did not help and at 18 o’clock the participants began transporting the body Khmyrovoy down.

8. 12.08.1976 . V. Gumachi, 1b.

Four squads of icons from the Elbrus a/l climbed the mountain. Gumachi andWe began our descent along the ascent path. Instructor Kalganenko, having transferred the leadership of his department to another instructor, put on the skis and began to descend on them in parallel paths for descending compartments. At 11:30 Kalganenko fell into a transverse crack. The skis got stuck across the crack, the fastenings came loose, and Kalganenko fell down 30 m. In 35 minutes. she was removed from the crack, but without regaining consciousness, L. Kalganenko passed away.

9. 03.07.1982 . Levinskaya glacier.

A group of dischargers under the leadership of 2nd category instructor E. Tarabrin left the Alai camp for snow and ice training on the Levinskaya glacier. TOplace The bivouac arrived at 12 o'clock. Before going to class, participant V. Peasants receivedthe instructor ordered to go to the bivouac of climbers from Ivano-Frankivsk, located 500 meters away, to receive advice on the route of the training ascent. Then he had to catch up with the group on the trail running along the end morena to the place of classes. When Krestyannikov did not come by 4 p.m.the group stopped training and returned to the bivouac to organize searches. Only on the next day, Krestyannikov’s body was discovered at a depth of 15-17 m in a closed crack 2 kilometers away from the training site.

10. 25.07.1984 . Caucasus, Kashka-Tash glacier .

The training group of the Odessa OS "Avangard" climbed 5b k/tr. on v. Ullu-Kara and went down the Za to the plateau. The team of I. Orobey (MSMK) and V. Rosenberg (1st time) was moving ahead. They approached the open crack without communicating. Rosenberg offered to organize belay, removed the rope and stuck an ice ax in the snow. At that time, Orobey decided to step over the crack using a ski pole, but slipped and fell into the crack. An hour later the victim was raised. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

11. 28.07.88 . Free Spain .

The sports group V. Masaltsev and A. Pisarchik (both CMS) started at three o’clock in the morningclimbing not along route 5b to the peak of Free Spain (B Wall), which was released, but along Za. Motive changing the route (rock hazard) is untenable - this season there is a wallhas been passed several times. About 6 o'clock Masaltsev I crossed a snow bridge and came out onto a snowy slope with a steepness of 20-25 degrees. Pisarchik, who was following him, fell into a crack and pulled Masaltsev into it. Pisarchik jammed at a depth of 25 m, and Masaltsev at a distance of about 7 m in side and somewhat deeper. At first the fallen talked, but after 15-20 Masaltsev stopped answering for a few minutes. Pisarchikwas able to free himself from the jam and,without making an attempt to get to Masaltsev and help, unfastened from the rope, connecting them, took out a second rope and 3 ice screws from his backpack, with the help of whichcrawled out of the crack. At 15:50 the rescue team reached the victim, butfinding signs of life in him. Clerk for violating the rules - with unauthorized change of route, for leaving a comrade in distress, is completely deprived of the title of instructor and sports ranks.

12. 02.02.1990 .Tien Shan, Marble Wall glacier .

A group of observers watching the ascent to the mountain. The marble wall overlooked the glacier. Atmoving along an open (!) glacier in a team, S. Pryanikov, who was second, fellcrack. The width of the crack did not exceed 1 m, but at a depth of 4-5 m it narrowed to 30 cm and then expanded again. Pryanikov’s legs passed through a narrow gap, and his torso jammed, severely squeezing his chest. My partner didn't feel it jerk, because there was a supply of rope. The three of them pulled out Pryanikov without any signs life, resuscitation was carried out for two hours, but to no avail.

13. 24.02.1998 .Caucasus, Kashka-Tash glacier .

Three climbers, having made a winter ascent to V. Free Spain (5b), returned to the tent on the plateau. They followed their many-trodden footsteps, not related. Oleg Bershov, walking ahead, heard a quiet “hooting” behind him. turned around, but did not see his comrades following him. Returning back, I found a hole in the snow about a meter and a half in diameter. The ropes remained in the backpacks of those who followed. Only the next day rescuers discovered the bodies of Sergei Ovchinnikov and Sergei Frost in a crack under a meter layer of snow...

I knew the sociable Seryoga Pryanikov, my fellow doctor, I knewKharkov residents Igor Taran and Sergei Moroz, with Igor Orobey a methodological training took place at1st category. It’s hard to get rid of the thought that if only they remember the insidious trapped on a closed glacier, everything could have turned out differently... I invite the reader to figure out for himself the mistakes that should be learned from, and try to find the optimal solution, both in the described real situations and in situational tasks compiled by the author.

1. When moving along a glacier in a group of three, the two in front come out onto a closed crack and fall through. The first gets stuck in the narrowing of the crackat 10 m, does not answer questions. The second one hangs in the middle. The third fell on the snow andholds a rope on an ice axe. What are the options for each?

2. When a team of two moved along a closed glacier, the first one went around an open crack,the second moves along it. At this moment the first one falls into the closed crack and with a jerk of the rope throws the second one into the open. Both hang on your rope without reaching the bottom. What are your actions in this situation?

3. In a team of three, moving on a rope shortened to 15 m - fortythe middle one, walking on the sliding one, falls into a crack. The partners, torn off by a jerk of the rope, lie in the snow, holding it. What equipment would you like to have in place of each of the three, and what are your actions?

4. Extreme situation: you need to move along a closed glacier in alone. What equipment, what techniques do you use, what will you do, to prevent falling into a crack?

TO THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT VICTORY

THEY FOUGHT TO THE DEATH FOR THE PASSES OF THE GREATER CAUCASUS

The fascist German troops, having reached the main passes of the Greater Caucasus in the 2nd half of August 1942, resumed active offensive operations, seeking at any cost to capture the oil-bearing regions of Baku and Grozny, as well as to reach the Black Sea to meet their troops in the Tuapse and Novorossiysk directions. The closest pass for connecting with these groups was Marukhsky.

On the path of the selected units of the Edelweiss mountain rifle division, it was not the ridges that became an insurmountable obstacle Caucasus mountains, but the resilience and massive heroism of the soldiers who defended the passes of the Caucasus.

General Rudolf Conrad and his Alpine riflemen from the 49th Mountain Corps were confident of an easy victory.

The Marukh Pass (height 2739 m) in the western part of the Greater Caucasus was covered by the 808th and 810th regiments of the 294th Infantry Division. Alpine riflemen, formed in the mountain villages of Tyrol from the best climbers and skiers, had special mountain equipment and weapons, warm uniforms, and pack transport - mules. They could move quickly in the mountains, climb glaciers and snowy passes.

From August 27 to September 1, there were stubborn battles on the approaches to the Marukh Pass. On September 5, the enemy went on the offensive with the help of the regiment and, having a great superiority in forces and means, captured the pass. But its further advance into Abkhazia and Transcaucasia was stopped by the forces of the 810th regiment, which was stationed in the 2nd echelon.

Immediately beyond the pass was the front line of defense. A line of 1.5-2 km ran from Mount Marukh-Bashi to the northwest and closed the passage to the Marukh Gorge. Our mountain rifle detachments dug in, built dugouts in the rocks, and installed machine guns. 3 more battalions arrived to help the regiment. Throughout September and October, the troops fought for possession of this line with varying success.

On October 25, the 810th regiment occupied height 1176 and the gates of the Marukh Pass, firmly entrenched itself and defended itself among rocks, snow and ice until the end of 1942.

Flying detachments of climbers provided great assistance to our troops. They could be found on mountain trails, on snowy plateaus, on steep passes. They tracked down the enemy, set up ambushes and blockages on roads and trails, carried out daring raids, and participated in ground and air reconnaissance. They stood against the elite Alpine units of the “Third Reich”, who fought in Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia and gained a lot of experience.

Small groups of rangers managed to penetrate through the Caucasus Range into the area of ​​the Bzyb River. They were seen in the villages of Gvandra and Klidzhe, in the area of ​​Lake Ritsa, 40 km from Sukhum, but they were unable to go further - they were destroyed.

During the same period, the evacuation of civilians was underway. In August 1942, the climbers received an assignment from the command - to bring people living and working at the Tyrnyauz molybdenum plant, located in the Baksan Gorge, through the passes of Transcaucasia, and to remove valuable equipment and raw materials. The escape route along the road was cut off by the Germans. German planes flew over the Baksan Gorge and dropped bombs. Under fire, in difficult weather conditions, a chain of Tyrnyauz residents walked to the pass, led by climbers and their assistants - Komsomol members from the plant. With a lack of climbing equipment and special shoes, climbers led women, old people, disabled people, children and transported valuable equipment on donkeys. Bypassing deep cracks filled with snow, organizing rope crossings, getting into snow charges and thunderstorms, climbers transferred 1,500 adults and 230 children during August.

Anyone who has walked from the Baksan Gorge to Svaneti through the Becho Pass knows that it is accessible only to prepared, trained athletes. I was also convinced of this when I crossed the pass with a group of factory tourists in August 1960. There were also beginners in our group, and if it had not been for the help of climbers passing at the same time, we would have had to experience great difficulties.

After the transition Soviet troops During the general offensive in January 1943, the enemy retreated to the north. The enemy's attempt to break through the Marukh Pass to the rear in the Tuapse and Novorossiysk directions and reach the sea failed.

The history of the world’s highest altitude war is presented in the book “The Mystery of the Marukh Glacier” by Vladimir Gneushev and Andrei Poputko, published by the Stavropol Book Publishing House in 1966.

In September 1962, collective farm shepherd Muradin Kochkarov was tending a flock of sheep in the Western Caucasus mountains near the Khalega Pass. Having missed several sheep, Muradin, leaving the flock to his partner, went in search. He went out to a small lake - there were no sheep there, he went even higher and soon climbed the ridge. Here he saw several combat cells, human bones, cartridges. Walking along the ridge to the top of Kara-Kaya, I saw traces of fierce battles. On the Marukh glacier he came across the frozen remains of our soldiers. He reported what he saw to the chairman of the village council in the village of Khasaut.

The Stavropol Regional Executive Committee created a commission of military specialists, doctors, and experts and sent it to the Marukh glacier. With them was a platoon of sappers and a group of climbers led by an experienced instructor Khadzhi Magomedov. Coming out along the valley of the Aksaut River to the crest of the ridge, they discovered and collected the remains of the soldiers, and found a field hospital. At the highest point of the ridge, 3500 m, in a tour made of stones, there was a note left by tourists who had recently passed by. They wrote that they were shocked by what they saw and suggested calling this nameless ridge “Defensive.”

On the descent from the ridge to the glacier moraine, traces of fierce battles were increasingly encountered. In many places on the glacier there are scattered, half-frozen remains of our soldiers, weapons, and shell casings scattered across the surface of the ice. On the Defense Ridge, a team of sappers destroyed mines and shells.

People carried all the remains of the soldiers across the ridge to a clearing and on horses lowered the mournful cargo into the valley of the Aksaut River, then to the village of Krasny Karachay and from there by car to the village of Zelenchukskaya - the regional center.

People will remember those who were buried in Zelenchukskaya on October 1, 1962 forever. There have never been so many people in Zelenchukskaya - from the very morning they walked here and drove anything, not only from neighboring villages and villages, but also from Karachaevsk, Cherkessk, Stavropol. Neither the stadium, where the military guard and orchestra lined up, nor the park where the remains were buried, could accommodate all those who arrived, and therefore people stood, blocking the neighboring streets.

In the summer of 1959, the Moscow City Tourist School of Sergei Nikolaevich Boldyrev made the transition along Western Caucasus. 162 participants were divided into 5 groups, 2 of which, having passed north of Kara-Kaya, reached the Northern Marukh Glacier. We had to spend the night on the moraine of the glacier. In the morning, climbing to the Marukh Pass, they began to encounter bones, unexploded grenades, fragments of mines and shells, and shell casings. Even in Moscow, preparing for the campaign, they knew about the traces of fierce battles on the Marukh Pass, but what they saw cannot be expressed in words.

In 1960, a group of students from the Civil Engineering Institute named after. Kuibysheva from Moscow, while making a mountain hike, found the remains of soldiers on the glacier. They buried the nameless soldiers as best they could, and the next year they carried a prefabricated obelisk into the mountains in backpacks and installed it in the glacier area.

Many years later, a massive ascent was made to the Marukh Pass. There they erected a monument and held a rally in memory of our soldiers who fought to the death against the elite units of the Edelweiss division.

In 1961, I took a group of tourists from our plant through Klukhor Pass, and we found traces of battles. And even in 1974, when I found myself here with factory tourists, I discovered echoes of the battles of 1942.

In 1975, the country was preparing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Great Victory. I have long been nurturing the idea of ​​organizing a hike to the Marukh Pass area and installing a plaque to its heroic defenders on the rocks of the Defense Ridge from the plant’s tourist club. Alexander Kozlov, chairman of the plant’s tourist club, supported me. Thus, an expedition was organized consisting of mountain and water groups, which were supposed to meet after the hike on May 9 in the village of Zelenchukskaya and take part in a rally and laying a wreath at the monument to the defenders of the Marukh Pass. Alexander Sapozhnikov and Viktor Khorunzhiy were engaged in the production of the board; factory artists prepared two ribbons for the wreath and the board. The trade union committee allocated money for travel and several days of vacation.

Mountain group: Nikolai Lychagin and Mark Shargorodsky - engineers, Tatyana Zueva - technologist, Vladimir Dmitriev - military representative of the plant, Victor Khorunzhiy - electrician and I - Marishina Valentina - designer, leader of the trip.

Water group (3 crews): Valery Gut - standardizer, leader of the trip, Viktor Slabov - technologist, Boris Evtikhov and Alexander Sapozhenkov - engineers, Alexander Ivanov - milling machine operator and Igor Zhashko (not a factory employee), whose father participated in the battles for the Marukh Pass.

The watermen traveled through Cherkessk to Verkhniy Arkhyz, from where they began rafting down the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River.

Our mountain group arrived in Karachaevsk, from there by bus and car to Krasny Karachay and moved along the valley of the Aksaut River to the upper reaches. After a two-day trek in the morning, lightly with ice axes and two backpacks in which the board and fasteners are packed, we begin the ascent to the Khalega Pass. We make a path in knee-deep snow. On the way up to the pass we meet several stone tours, installed boards, and obelisks. At the foot of these monuments there are traces of battles, remains of weapons, rusty iron, cartridges. Leaving the board in a secluded place on the pass, we returned to the tents. The next day, having passed through the Khalega pass along a beaten path, taking a board, we descended into the valley of the Marukha River, filled with snowfields. Not far from the glacier, we stopped for the night in a wooden shelter. The shelter was packed to capacity with tourists - the entire geography of the country. In the morning we climbed the Defense Ridge, found a ledge with a flat platform for the board, where the next day we installed and secured the board, using ropes for belaying and lifting the board with the text: “To the heroic defenders of the ice fortress of the Marukh Pass, who stood to the death to the end, not letting it through Transcaucasia in August - December 1942. From the factory youth and the factory tourist club. Moscow. May 1975." Pine branches with ribbon and lilacs from the village of Krasny Karachay were secured under the board.

We met the senior pioneer leader of the school, and she offered to make a wreath from the group at their school. We made a gorgeous wreath of spruce branches, added fresh flowers to it, attached a ribbon and took it out of school on May 9th. Pioneers and schoolchildren also brought out their wreath. A rally took place at the stadium. I have never seen Victory Day celebrated like this anywhere. The stadium was full to capacity. Everyone with wreaths, flowers, baskets, flags - veterans, youth, pioneers, children, mothers with strollers.

Photo

After the meeting, everyone moved in organized columns to the park to the monument to the defenders of the Marukh Pass, where the eternal flame burns. There are many tourists in the columns who have come down from the mountains. Young children, school students, stand on the guard of honor.

Photo

Wreaths, baskets and flowers were laid at the monument. On the dark stele of the monument there is a light board with the image of a machine gun and an ice ax.

We presented the pioneer leader, who helped us with making the wreath, with a figurine of a warrior - the defender of the Marukh Pass, made by our factory craftsman, for the school museum.

On the bank of Zelenchuk, after all the celebrations, the groups gathered at the festive table. They came to us local residents, sat with us by the fire, singing war songs. The people are very friendly, there are many children.

Having passed many passes in the Caucasus, I saw dozens of obelisks, memorial plaques, pyramids with stars, raised on their shoulders by tourists from many cities of our Soviet country. At the Becho Pass, tourists from the Odessa tourist club “Romantic” installed a large silver plaque on the rock, on which are written the names of 6 climbers who accomplished the feat of leading the inhabitants of the Baksan Gorge through the pass to Svaneti. On the board there is a warrior in a helmet with a star and a little girl with her arms wrapped around his neck.

The geography of cities whose tourists lifted these modest monuments into the mountains on their shoulders is great: Odessa, Donetsk, Moscow, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Leningrad, Rostov, Krasnodar, Stavropol... I remember one obelisk with a star and a massive plaque with the inscription “To the Defenders North Caucasus", installed by Komsomol members of the city of Chapaevsk, Kuibyshev region (now Samara).

The passes of the Caucasus were defended by soldiers of many nationalities of our Great Country - the USSR. In addition to the soldiers, the Marukh Pass was defended by sailors of the Black Sea Fleet. The memory of grateful descendants for the great feat of our fathers and grandfathers must be passed on to the generations following us.

Valentina Marishina,
Moscow

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Bypassing the cracks of the Sagran glacier. The first is I. Daibog.

In the background is the northern peak of Lipsky Peak

Photo by A. Sidorenko

The altitude is 4000 m, the minimum thermometer showed at night - 4°. The glacial streams were covered with ice, but already with the first rays of the sun the glacier came to life again. Timashev and Letavet noticed on the shaded side of small ice cones horizontal plates of ice arranged in shelves, on average at a distance of about four centimeters one above the other. Each such shelf, as observations showed, was a few days ago an ice surface that covered a small glacial lake overnight, and the distance between the shelves showed the depth of melting of the glacier surface during the day.

A narrow trench filled with gray moraine was left behind; Now before us stretched vast expanses of glacial fields, covered with a sparkling bristle of ice needles. Higher behind them rose the walls of high ridges and peaks, shining with the unsullied whiteness of the slopes or standing out with dark spots of rocky cliffs.

If in the middle reaches the Sagran glacier receives its main tributaries from the left, then in the upper reaches the two most significant tributaries flowed from right side. The glacier itself bends in a gentle arc to the northeast, and then almost exactly to the north. The surface of the glacier also changes; Its smooth, gentle flow here acquired a stepwise character. Sloping and calm areas alternate with steeper falls of the glacier, so broken by numerous cracks that attempts to climb these icefalls would not only take a lot of time, but would also be risky.

The calmest progress turned out to be possible only in the middle of the glacier, right up to the confluence of the large right tributary. Above his property we had to go, clinging close to the right bank, moving along the torn edge of the glacier, through cracks, in many places filled with water. The steep southern slope was covered with scree and rocks. No man had ever set foot in this part of the glacier, and we did not even have approximate descriptions of it.

While most of the detachment was returning to the lower part of the glacier for the cargo left there, a small reconnaissance group continued to look for a path in the upper reaches of Sagran. Only in the evening, tired after difficult climbing and a large load, we reached a relatively flat area on the coastal moraine. Altitude 4500 m.

Here, on the moraine, at the turn of the Sargan glacier to the northeast, it was decided to organize the “Main Camp”.

During these two days, while our comrades and porters were pulling up loads, the reconnaissance group climbed even higher on the glacier. It was found that further, on the right bank of the glacier, it is impossible to climb to its upper reaches; huge cracks and piles of ice blocks block the way. Having climbed to the crest of the ridge separating the Rodionov glacier and the upper reaches of Sagran, from a height of 5000 m we clearly saw part of the upper reaches and the huge peaks that close the glacier. From here it was already possible to outline the paths for climbing to the highest, chair-shaped peak of the area with two powerful shoulders, characteristic sharply dissected ridges and steep slopes turning into huge rocky kilometer-long cliffs. To the left of this main peak rose another one, which seemed to be only slightly inferior to it, but undoubtedly surpassed in height all the other, also first-class peaks of this group.

By the evening of August 18, when all the expedition participants had arrived, a whole tent city appeared on the site. During the day it was so warm that many climbers walked around in their shorts, but at night the temperature dropped to -4.5-5°. From the “Main Camp” we made a series of routes to study the orography of the glacier, its tributaries and the surrounding ridges. This also provided the acclimatization we needed.

With the enthusiasm of pioneers opening new pages in the book of nature, climbers, overcoming cracks, icefalls and heights, penetrated to the sources of the Sag Run glacier. We passed the Observations glacier - a large right tributary of the Rodionov glacier - right up to the saddle leading to the Shini-bini glacier. The left tributaries of the Sagran, which we called the Vilka and Perevalny glaciers, were partially visited. We also climbed to the saddle of the main watershed of the Peter the Great ridge, on the other side of which lies the Gando glacier. We named this saddle after the most prominent figure in Soviet mountaineering, August Andreevich Letavet. The nearest peak, which we climbed from the Leta-veta pass, was named by us Newsreel Peak, in honor of the cameramen of our expeditions, who made the first film footage of the area from it.

As a result of all the observations on the routes we took, it was possible to draw up a complete diagram of the entire Sagran glacier and its tributaries. The main channel of the glacier goes in sharp bends to the south, then to the west, and finally to the north. The Sagran glacier has six tributaries, not counting the Shini-bini glacier, which now no longer reaches Sagran; four of them flow in from the left, two from the right.

The continuous moraine cover ends at an altitude of 3500-3600 m. The median moraines disappear almost completely at an altitude of 4400-4600 m, from where the firn cover begins on the glacier. Almost all tributaries of the Sagran have bends in their beds, forming more or less significant icefalls. A completely inaccessible icefall, turning into a huge fault, has a glacier on the western slope of Lioskogo Peak; we also saw a large icefall on the Vilka glacier.

The main, watershed ridge of the Peter the Great ridge limits the glacier from the south and east. The average height of the ridge is small, slightly exceeding 5000 m. Four significant peaks rise above the ridge from west to east: Lipsky peak, Bezymyannaya, Edelshtein peak 1, close in height to Lipsky peak, and, finally, the main peak crowning the area, which We named the peak Moscow in honor of the 800th anniversary of the capital of our Motherland in 1947, and the glacier at the foot of its southern wall - Moskvich.

From Peak Moscow, the main watershed of the Peter the Great ridge goes east, and a powerful spur branches off to the north-west. It begins with the second highest peak of the Sagran glacier basin, which, in connection with the thirtieth anniversary of the October Revolution, we gave the name Peak of the 30th Anniversary of the Soviet State. Between it and the Moscow peak lies the main source of the Sagran glacier, which we discovered for the first time, which increased the previously known length of the Sagran to 29 km. Further west there is a series of gradually descending peaks. Oshanin Peak, named by us in honor of the Russian explorer who discovered the Peter the Great ridge and the Fedchenko glacier. This peak is located in the upper reaches of the Rodionov glacier, which we named after the topographer, expedition member V.F. Oshanina. Next comes Fersman Peak, located between the Rodionov Glacier and its right tributary, which we designated as the Observation Glacier.

After the first acquaintance with the area, acclimatization, training and filming of the middle zone of the glacier, we began reconnaissance of the approaches to the western ridge of Moscow Peak.

During the day we managed, sticking to the left, calmer bank of the Sagran glacier, to climb up to the icefall. The huge southwestern wall of Moscow Peak was above us. Even earlier, as a result of observations, two possible options for climbing the western ridge arose, the lower, steep ledge of which was crowned with an extensive snow cushion. The first route is along its southeastern ice slope, which forms the right side of the Moskvich glacier. The second route is along its northwestern, also icy, slope. Closer study showed that the first option would be much more difficult; the path was blocked by a complex icefall and a high, steep ice slope. But the second option didn’t seem easy either. The icefall separating the upper cirque of the Sagran glacier was so high and torn that the very possibility of overcoming it was in doubt. But still, the ice slope leading to the lower pillow was more sloping and shorter.

We decided to try to bypass the icefall on the left bank of the glacier along steep snow and ice walls, with their faults falling from the first cushion to the surface of the glacier. After a long period of cutting steps in ice cliffs, moving with constant belay on ice hooks, by noon we overcame all difficulties and reached the upper step of the glacier. A careful examination of the northwestern slope confirmed the possibility of ascent. Having finished filming, we decided to try to go down the icefall on the way back. Studying it from above made it possible to outline a difficult but possible path. Master of Sports A. Bagrov, moving first, perfectly understood the chaos of piles of ice seracs and huge failures. Two hours later we descended to the foot of the icefall.

Nevertheless, it was decided to look for other paths along the glacier that could shorten the ascent. Moving straight towards the camp, the group found itself in an area of ​​hidden cracks. Our group was calmly following in the footsteps of the first, when I suddenly fell through. Having broken through the snow cover, I fell into a deep crack. The rope stopped the fall, and, having flown 6-8 m, I hung between two sheer ice walls that went into a dark, ominous abyss. The chest harness strongly compressed the chest, breathing was already interrupted, when the loop from cord 1, taken with it, saved the situation. Having secured it to the main rope, I placed my foot in the loop. Immediately it became easy to breathe. My comrades threw me the end of the rope with another loop. Having put it on my other leg, I began to quickly climb up stairs, pulled up by my friends from above. We no longer dared to take any more risks, and again switched to the path we had traveled, although long, but safer.

On August 23, eleven climbers went up the glacier to test the possibility of climbing along the western ridge to the top of Moscow Peak and exploring the entire area of ​​​​the sources of the Sagran glacier. The route was designed for 8-10 days. The following remained in the “Main Camp”: the head of the expedition A.A. Letavet, A. Popogrebsky and A. Zenyakin, who were supposed to watch our movement to the top. They decided to maintain communication every evening with a light alarm at the agreed hour.

The peaks were already sparkling in the rays of the morning sun, but deep shadows still lay on the glaciers. The night frost, which had frozen the glacial streams for the night, had not yet given way to the warmth of the sun. Four groups of climbers, burdened with heavy backpacks, slowly moved up the glacier.

The icy cliffs of the icefall, which did not seem so difficult when we walked them lightly yesterday, this time took a lot of time and a lot of effort. In addition, in a short time - 20-30 minutes - despite the altitude of 5000 m, the night frost was replaced by sweltering heat. The snowy slopes and firn surface of the glacier that surrounded us only intensified the heat, reflecting the scorching rays of the sun like a reflector. It was as if we were in a huge concave mirror. On vacation, the comrades, exhausted by the heat, fell into a heavy slumber. I was thirsty, but there was no water here anymore. Firn reigned.

Honored Master of Sports E. Abalakov on the climb along the south-eastern ridge of the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state.

In the background is the northern wall of Moscow Peak.

Photo by A. Sidorenko

We have entered a new, previously untraveled path. Very slowly the ligaments were pulled up to a wide submountain crack that tore the slope, behind which the icy surface, glistening in the sun, went steeply upward. The ice began to ring under the blows of the ice axes. Slowly moving over the steep, alternately belaying each other on metal hooks driven into the ice, we persistently gained height meter by meter. By evening, all the bundles climbed onto the vast plateau of the first snow cushion.

Altitude 5250 m. Having leveled the sites in the snow, stretched the tents, we began to prepare food. The water obtained from the snow began to rustle in the alcohol kitchens, and the tents became more comfortable. The last rays of the sun went out on the rocks of Moscow Peak, which turned red under the sunset, and the mountains plunged into bluish darkness. The tired climbers fell fast asleep in their warm sleeping bags.

August 24. Cold. We got out of the tents quite late and began to quickly pack our backpacks. In front of us is a huge, steep snowy slope, glittering with icy areas and cliffs of firn faults. Every step here required attention. We try to firmly sink the teeth of the crampons into the firn, but the awkward position of the feet, turned out when moving on such a steep slope, greatly tires the leg muscles. As we climb, the slope gradually grows beneath us like a huge ice mountain. You can “slide down” it probably only once in your life. Rare sloping areas above steep faults serve as places of welcome rest. Only on them you can throw heavy backpacks at least for a short time.

After five hours of difficult climbing, we finally reached the gentle snowy slope of the upper pillow and reached the beginning of the cliffs of the western ridge. Deep below there remains the Sagran glacier with fan-shaped stripes of cracks. The air is so transparent that the wall of the top of Moscow Peak seems very close. As if above the crater of a volcano, a white cloud swirls above it and disappears behind the crest. Near the beginning of the rocks on the northern side, we discovered a completely horizontal small area covered with smooth ice. Despite the altitude of 5700 m, water accumulates in the cut holes, and we greedily quench our thirst. Having rested, we find out that we are on a wide balcony, a giant snow cornice, which, going around the northwestern ridge, connects with the previously unknown, main source of the Sagran glacier.

On the way to the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state. In the background on the right is Lipsky Peak, so named by Soviet climbers in honor of the Russian geographer who first saw this peak (1899). Triangles indicate bivouac sites:

1. Above the second pillow, on the balcony (5700 m), 2. On the western edge of Moscow Peak (5800 m).

At the source of the Sagran glacier, E. Abalakov (right) and E. Ivanov.

Photo by E. Timashev

Below us, a completely sheer wall drops down for almost a kilometer. Above us, the rocks of the western edge of Moscow peak rise up in steep ledges. Opposite us rises the rock massif of the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state.

Along steep rocks, trying not to drop stones, so as not to injure our comrades walking below, we climbed 100 m under the sheer wall of the steepest rise of the western ridge. The weather was getting worse. A strong wind blew up. Clouds covered the mountains. The assault on the difficult rocks had to be postponed in order to urgently begin the construction of bivouac sites among the rocks at an altitude of 5800 m. All night, hurricane gusts of wind pressed the tents and ruffled the canvases. Snow dust from the frost covered the sleeping bags and splashed the faces of the climbers huddled in their sleeping bags.

August 25. The morning brought no relief. Visibility is poor. Even the nearest rocks are not visible. A frosty blizzard circled behind the walls of the tents, not allowing anyone to lean out. The extreme fatigue of the previous day was beginning to take its toll on the altitude. My head hurt, my throat was dry, I felt weak. The dry alcohol "Hexa" got wet, and with great difficulty we managed to light a match, blown out by gusts of wind, and get the alcohol to ignite. But instead of a life-giving hot flame, the damp Hexa filled the tent with such fumes that we felt as if we were imprisoned in a gas chamber. It was impossible to open the tent; the snow whirlwinds would instantly cover everything inside with snow. We had to endure it, crawling headlong into our sleeping bags, and even when, thanks to the heroic efforts of A. Sidorenko, a delicious breakfast was ready, we remained lying almost indifferent.

But we did not lose hope that the weather would soon improve. After all, for the dry climate of the Pamirs, stable, clear weather is common, and we had to assume that the storm that overtook us was a transient phenomenon. However, day and night passed, August 26 arrived, and the storm continued to rage. A dull rumble, arising somewhere below, grew stronger, and another hurricane gust of wind flew with a roar at the tents, shaking them, trying to tear them off the rocky ridge. Geographer Timashev reported from a nearby tent: the temperature was 13°. Our “microclimate” was more favorable, since the tent was protected from the wind by rocks. However, the altitude and cold affected him in apathy and unexpected outbursts of irritability. The hope for a quick change in the weather gradually faded, as altimeters showed an increase in absolute height - 50 m, thereby reflecting a drop in pressure. The minimum thermometer recorded a temperature of 23° for this day. This is a phenomenon of a three-day severe storm that kept us at an altitude of 5800 m, A.A. Letavet was later successfully described as “Tien Shan in the Pamirs.”

Only on August 28 - the fourth day - the storm subsided and it was possible to get out of the tents. It was necessary to decide what to do. The time for our return was approaching. Food and fuel have decreased. Efficiency due to forced passive lying decreased. In the “Main Camp” they were probably already worried about our fate, although at the agreed time we carefully gave light signals, lighting up scraps of film. I considered it premature to go down as a whole group: after all, it was unlikely that it would be possible to organize a second attempt at the ascent. We were clearly under time pressure.

It was decided that weaker comrades would go down, accompanied by several strong climbers.

On August 28 at 11 o'clock Kelzon, Staritsky, Khodakevich, Daibog and Bagrov, leaving us with most of their food and fuel, went down. By seven o'clock in the evening of the same day they reached the “Main Camp” (4500 m), where Prof. A.A. Letavet. Our good condition and the food and fuel left by our comrades allowed the six of us to continue our ascent.

On August 29, the wind died down, but the clouds were still there. With difficulty, we cleared and folded the icy tents, stowed our backpacks and, again tied together with ropes in threes, began climbing the steep rocks above a kilometer-long cliff. The first in the bunch drives a steel hook into a crack in the rock, hooks it on a carabiner, and only then gives a signal to the next one in the bunch.
give out the rope connecting them. We slowly pull ourselves up one by one, checking our every movement. The rocks are so steep that it is often impossible to climb them with heavy backpacks. You have to remove the load and pull it out on a rope. It took us almost half a day to overcome this two-hundred-meter wall. To save money, the latter had to knock out the hooks back. Several hooks in the most dangerous places left in the rocks to return.

At the end of the day, when we reached an altitude of 6000 m, M. Anufrikov unexpectedly fell through a snowy area. Freeing his stuck leg, he dug a hole and discovered a narrow, deep crack in the rocks under the snow. This peculiar cave turned out to be a valuable find for an overnight stay. After two hours of work on landscaping, for the first time during the assault, we could all spend the night together, reliably protected from the wind. In the evening, candles were burning in the cave, tea was boiling, jokes and songs were heard. Probably for the first time, opera arias and duets were heard at a height of six thousand.

Late in the evening, wedged in a triple jack, very satisfied with our bivouac, we calmly fell asleep, squeezed by the rocky walls of the stone bag.

The morning of August 30 arrived. Unusual silence. You are climbing out of the cave. Furious exclamations... It's blowing again in the mountains. A foggy veil and snow swirls covered the ridges. But we decided to continue climbing. Again I had to climb along sharp, brittle rocks or get stuck knee-deep in loose snow, balancing under sharp gusts of icy wind. We slowly rise from ledge to ledge. Sidorenko and Ivanov's feet are very cold. While my comrades are resting, Timashev and I go higher to scout out the path.

Walking around huge rock towers, sheltering under the rocks from the gusts of a snow storm, we came out onto a narrow icy ridge. At the end of it we see the dark silhouette of a high, sharp rock: this is probably the highest point of the ridge, the western shoulder of Moscow Peak. An uncontrollable desire to find out the possibility of further ascent along the western ridge to the top forced us to climb along the edge of a steep ridge, on which we had to balance over huge cliffs, sometimes covered by wisps of clouds. Suddenly the clouds parted, and in front of us loomed in the distance, rising after some lowering of the ridge, a spectacular gigantic rise of a sharp jagged edge, ending in the dome of the peak.

The sharp, numerous “jean-darmas” of the western ridge, covered with snow, like the teeth of an upside-down saw, blocked the further path. With intense attention we watched this remaining climb to the top. It was necessary to walk another one and a half kilometers in a straight line and gain at least 800 m vertically. It was clear that to accomplish this, in addition to skill, time, effort and good, stable weather were needed; now, continuing to climb in unstable weather, with our dwindling strength, and with limited time, we would expose ourselves to too great a risk. No matter how bitter it is, we need to retreat! Leaving the southern side of the ridge, we folded the tour, Timashev wrote a note, which we carefully hid in the middle of the stone pyramid. Depressed, we returned to A. Sidorenko, E. Ivanov, A. Gozhev and M. Anufrikov, frozen and waiting for us.

Peak Moscow (6,994 m - on the right) and the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state from the south. Below is the Sagran glacier:…..the path of the climbers,  camp on the second pillow. A flag on the ridge of Moscow Peak marks the height of 6200 m reached by climbers.

Photo by E. Timashev

Until late in the evening they descended steep, snow-covered rocks, hammering and knocking out hooks with numb hands, hanging on frozen ropes, barely distinguishing each other through the snowstorm. Having reached our camp site at an altitude of 5800 m, we unexpectedly discovered an unfortunate “robbery”: dry jelly, pieces of smoked sausage, left by us, turned out to be scattered and pecked by crows. Only at dusk we went down to the familiar balcony at an altitude of 5700 m and set up our tents on the smooth surface of the ice. The passionate desire to collect water from holes carved in the ice was no longer crowned with success. The sun has set. There was only frosty ringing ice all around.

In the evening at the agreed time I gave a signal. The wind blew out the matches for a long time, and my hands were freezing. But then the film caught fire, and I raised the torch high. For a second, the rocks and snow lit up brightly. But the film burned out, and the darkness became even thicker. I peer down anxiously, and suddenly, deep below, a light point flashes in the veil of fog. "Hooray! My signal has been received! It became warmer and calmer in my soul from the knowledge that our comrades, led by A.A., were tirelessly watching us down there. Letavet. I'm returning to the bivouac. Candles are burning in the tents. The comrades are preparing hot food. The moon appeared. It was a frosty night. The mercury dropped again to -20°, but the tired people slept soundly.

August 31st. Wonderful Pamir morning! Cloudless sky. No wind. From our balcony we can clearly see the upper part of the main source of the Sagran glacier. In the east, upstream, it ends in a saddle, located about two kilometers from us against the backdrop of a dark blue high-mountain sky. It lies between the peak of Moscow and the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state. From the saddle it was possible to solve two sports problems: to establish the possibility of climbing the Moscow peak along the northern ridge and to try to climb the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state along its southeastern ridge. In addition, we could establish which glacier the source of the Sagran glacier is in contact with the upper reaches of. Timashev passionately urged Sidorenko to use this exceptional opportunity, which presented itself to the cameraman for the first time - to film from such a height highest peak USSR, Stalin Peak.

There was a heated discussion: should we go down to the “Main Camp” or up to the saddle? It was decided to reach the saddle and, if possible, complete both planned tasks.

Getting to the saddle required a significant expenditure of effort. We had to walk along our cornice along the northern slope of the western edge of the Moscow peak and then go down to the Sagran glacier, to its main source. This was associated with a loss of 150-200 m of height. The descent to the glacier turned out to be difficult due to treacherous cracks hidden under deep, loose snow. We had to slide down on our bellies in order to distribute the weight of our entire body over the largest possible area, holding each other on the ropes. Backpacks were lowered separately. This kind of “swimming” snowy slope, over the crack gaps took a lot of time.