THE TASTE OF KARAKORAM ICE оr “While the ice changes to water you have still time enough to climb it”
B.C. north-west face of Uli Biaho
We returned to Karakoram two months earlier than usually.
At the beginning it was snowing and during the nights freezing but only in this
conditions we were able to climb these difficult ice routes.
40 hours on Hainabrakk
Uli Biaho
It was our second attempt in this route. During the first try we were hit by
an avalanche and me by ice also. After this experience we started to climb at
midnight, as we wanted to avoid falling of ice and avalanches.
The ice was in very good conditions. Steep, often 90 degrees and very hard. We
climbed fast and after one bivi we reached the summit ridge of Hainabrakk. We
wanted to continue to the summit but we couldn’t climb the steep rock tower on
the ridge in 5.375m. We descended the same way.
Steep ice, snow blown on the flats and long ridge with snow mashrooms.
This is the north face of Shipton. Still unclimbed.
We climbed the first five hundred metres in this dangerous terrain. At eight
o'clock in the morning Gabo climbed to belay.
He was all green-red. He had sunstroke.
He was sick so we went down.
54 hours in the wall of Uli Biaho
Few meters under ridge of Uli Biaho
Three years I was watching this north-west face of Uli Biaho and searching the
line we could climb it. But I couldn’t find any safe way. The wall is steep, with
hard ice and dangerous summit ridge. Till this time nobody tried this face.
We started to climb the dangerous couloir during the night time and in the morning
we reached the bottom of the main ice wall. We climbed the first one hundred metres
of the 90 degrees steep ice and then we continued in steep passages to the place
of our rest place. We digged in the hard ice a small ledge for sitting. The night
was cold and without sleeping bags it started to be horrible. So after few hours
of rest we continued climbing.
Gabo & Dodo after 54 hours in wall of Uli Biaho
The hardest place was in front of us. Thin ice was just sticked on the rock.
Ten metres below the summit I had to make the belay because it was impossible
to climb together to the summit. The snow ridge was not stable enough for two
persons. It's like a big snow mashroom, like on Cerro Torre. We were rappelling
down all night, using just the Abalaks.