The most Northern Mount of more than 7000 m high Part 1 Part 2

Part 3

Shortly afterwards alpinists from sports club “Spartak” and Kazakhstan alpinists declared about their intention to storm the Pobeda Peak. The leader of the expedition and the ascent was V. Abalakov, well-known Soviet sportsmen and a team from “Spartak”, that was one of the strongest and experienced groups in Soviet Unit, was among the members of the expedition. Both of the facts predetermined a lot. A decision to unite both of the expeditions had also been taken and the alpinists started balanced, well thought-out preparing for the ascent. General physical trainings were held on the shore of the mountain lake Issyk-Kul. At the same time the attendant groups, led by A. Poliakov were organizing the Base camp, caravan transfers, fixing communications, meteorological services and preparing another important things. Finally, in July high altitude training and direct preparations for the storm itself started. The participants of the future ascent went up along the slopes of the Pobeda Peak time and again, they made bivouacs for the storm, borrowed caves and brought there provisions and equipment. Due to those ascents to growing from time to time altitude, the alpinists got necessary acclimatization and scrutinized the conditions of the route. By the time of departure all the members of the storm group had made at least one ascent to the altitude 6200 m. August was ending. The last preparations had been finished, the route prepared and weather forecast was favourable. The membership of the storm group was being defined more exactly. At last they chose 11 alpinists, they were: famous sportsmen V. Abalakov, N. Gusak, I. Leonov well-known alpinists Y. Arkin, P. Budanov, V. Kizel, L. Filimonov experienced mountaineers K. Kletsko, S. Musaev, Y. Tur and U. Usenov, the only survived person from Kazakhstan expedition of 1955.

The group was going confidently. Ahead the group was going a “reconnaissance party” consisted of V. Abalakov, Gusak, Budanov, Filimonov. At each bivouac they were waited by a deep spacious cave. Foul weather was being waited through in “comfortable conditions”, and then the alpinists went upwards and further again. At last on the 30th of August 1956 the group went away from the bivouac 7000 m and with its full complement reached the highest point of the massif. It was the second, 18 years later than the first one, ascent to this peak and at the same time the first ascent to the peak that got a proud name – the Pobeda Peak. The ascent of the combined team of the “Spartak” club and the Kazakhstan Physical Culture and Sport committee finished the first phase of struggling for the second (for its height) Peak in the USSR. It started with rather easy completed ascent in 1938, went though the tragic failures and was finished by thoroughly deliberated triumphal storm that marked the beginning of further all-round settling the giant.

Thus, a question about the earliest ascent to the Pobeda Peak was cleared up and taken away.

There had been no mountain higher than 7000 m in the USSR about subjugating which alpinists had any doubt. It had been made 5 ascents by different routes to the Lenin Peak (7134 m). A new route from the West had been done at the Communism Peak (7495m) in 1957: through the Pamir firn plato that earlier had been considered to be forbidding. All-round settling the Pobeda Peak had become a primary task and the solution didn’t keep us waiting.

In 1958 an unusual expedition was going to the region of the Pobeda Peak. It was the most multitudinous and young high-altitude expedition. The participants of the expedition were in the main the students of Bauman technical college and Moscow State University. The expedition posed a bold problem – to make a 10 km long traverse of the Pobeda Peak massif the leader of the expedition was an experienced alpinist, talented organizer and the life and soul of the party Igor Erohin, as most of participants he hadn’t earlier been in the high mountains. There also were such experienced high-altitude alpinists as I. Bogachev, I. Galustov, P. Skorobogatov among the members of the expeditions. They impart their experience to the young. 20 years later than the first ascent to the main summit of the Pobeda Peak the expedition led by I. Erohin undertook wide attack to the massif of this outstanding mount.

Having got necessary acclimatizing and training in the course of which alpinists made ascents to the altitude 6600-6700 and even an ascent to the western summit of the Voennih Topografov Peak (Peak of Military Topographers, 6873 m), the expedition got down to its main problem.

The ascent was organized in an unusual manner. The team of 44 sportsmen among which were 3 women and 4 alpinists from Czechoslovakia made an ascent to the Eastern summit of the massif along the route which the group led by V. Shipilov had tried to pass in 1955. But how did this ascent differ from that one! Erohin’s group was going confidently, having got necessary acclimatizing, it took them two days to reach the top 7003 m after they left the pass Chon-Teren. They held a peculiar world record for the number of alpinist that made an ascent to the mount higher than 7000 m. At the summit the group divided into two parts: 13 strongest led by I. Erohin went along the Eastern ridge to the main summit of the Pobeda Peak and the others descented to the base camp.

For four days I. Erohin, S. Abreimov, I. Bogachev, V. Bozhukov, A. Belopuhov, I. Galustov, B. Lokshin, S. Morozov, V. Muraviev, G. Feschenko, V. Shpoliansky, A. Tsirulnikov and V. Chadeev were going forward sometimes knee-, sometimes waist- and sometimes breast-deep in crumbly Tien Shan snow. They went up to the steep ascent that represented one of the summits of the Eastern range. There was a suggestion to name that summit “Soviet Armenia Peak”. Then there was a descent to the snow fields new the top. There, at the altitude 7100 the last storm camp was organized. But the altitude of the Pobeda Peak seemed to be the most difficult altitude. Even strong and experienced alpinists felt it. S. Abreimov couldn’t go to the top, he stayed in the camp. It appeared too difficult to go further for I. Galustov, 50 years old, and at the altitude of 7300 it was decided that he would turned back to the camp, too. He was escorted by Shpoliansky, Lokshin, Morozov and Feschenko.

The top became closer. Finally, I. Erohin, I. Bogachev, V. Bozhukov, A. Belopuhov, V. Muraviev, A. Tsirulnikov and V. Chadeev went up to the highest point of the peak. They didn’t manage to find L. Gutman and V. Abalakov’s notes. So, they built their one home for notes at a rocky ledge, standing 5-6 m higher above the ridge. The descent of the winners along the Northern was successful, not taking into consideration small avalanches that quickened Belopuhov’s, Bogachev’s and some others descents. Well-prepared and held expedition and wonderful results – the first traverse of the Pobeda massif, mass ascent to the summit 7003 m, the successes of young alpinists, that had been in the mountains for the first time. But at the same time soviet alpinists couldn’t be proud of those results and the leaders of the expedition run the gauntlet. The reason was that they revealed unnecessary “compassion” towards the participants that at the last stage became unable to went up to the main top of the Pobeda Peak, and registered them in the conquerors of the Peak. So they broke “the holy of holies” of the alpinism – to be honest up to the end, especially nobody can see and control you. On the other hand, later the leaders of the expedition and the participants said about this, but deathbed repentance couldn’t eliminate after-pains that rested together with high estimation of this powerful ascent and interesting organization of the expedition.

And again after so successfully held ascents of 1956 and 1958, the tragedies of 1959, 1960 and 1961 came.

In 1959 alpinists from Uzbekistan decided to storm the Pobeda Peak. The leader of their expedition again was V. Racek, who scrutinized this region and the massif of Pobeda. The storm group was led by P. Karpov. They again chose the route along the Northern ridge. It was, no doubt, the shortest and the easiest way to the top, but at the same time it was the most dangerous: it was difficult to leave avalanche stripes aside there.

The expedition was well-equipped and seemed to be organized thoughtfully. But it appeared that bitter experience of 1955 taught the Uzbek alpinists nothing. Walkovers on the extremely easy routes on the Lenin Peak had created false certitude in the opinion that systematic acclimatizing in the region of the Peak including ascents to gradually growing altitudes, alternated with descents to the Base camp, was unnecessary that the Peak could stormed “with a rush”, that they should only reduce the temp of climb. This point was view was widely propagandized by the leaders of the Uzbek high-altitude alpinists, and at the same time they called in question worked out by the soviet high-altitude alpinism tactics of gradual acclimatizing. In compliance with this kind of storm tactics, 25 alpinists went to the Northern ridge among the members of the group there were the highly qualified alpinists who planned to reach the top, and at the same time the participants of auxiliary groups and simple carries of equipment, whom, according to their qualification couldn’t went up higher than for 500-1000 m above the glacier.

They suggested that people, who would lose forces, would leave their cargo and went down. The others would go up climbing. Finally, at the altitude 7100 m, only storm group remained. The last auxiliary party went down, but being exhausted by the climb beyond their strength, people descented only for 100 m, and having no forces to pitch a tent, they dig a hole in snow. In this hole team of four alpinists, crowded together, passed the night.

In the morning the members of the group gave the signals of trouble. The storm group descented to them and found out that the people were dangerously frostbitten and were unable to descent on their own. They started to transport victims down. At the altitude 6700 m they organized a day-off. That decision became fatal. It corroborated the wrongness of the Uzbek conception about high-altitude physiology. As a consequence of such a “rest” on the 26th of August G. Soldatov died, and after the descent to the altitude of 6600 m the 27th of August I. Dobrinin and N. Ananiev died too. The state of the others became complicated because of the snowfall and hurricane wind. The alpinists couldn’t orient themselves in such conditions and remained at the altitude 6600 m to wait bad weather through, losing forces and will to struggle for life.

Salvage operations started. The expeditions of Kazakhstan and Georgian alpinist sport clubs were attracted to them. It is interesting to notice that of 60 participants of the Uzbek expedition nobody could help their companions: the “system” of acclimatizing yielded its fruit. The year 1955 repeated.

In conditions of storm weather the group led by Karpov was reached only by the members of Kazakhstan expedition V. Tsverkupov and A. Vodohodov. Having displayed uncompromising will and courage, those self-sacrificing people brought losing forces alpinists petrol for cooking, provisions, and, the most important – hope that they could be rescued. Tsverkupov and Vodohodov showed themselves as people that were really worthy of the status of Soviet alpinist.
But there also were different people…

U. Usenov, who had been found in a crack and brought to life by his companions 4 years before, refused to help alpinists in trouble. “They didn’t rescue us in 1955”, - he said to Vodohodov when the last called him to go upwards through the blizzard and didn’t even came out from the tent. Krasheninnikov, the doctor from the Kazakhstan expedition, refused to go upwards too. I specially name them as they are the only people in the history of the Soviet high-altitude alpinism who refused to help their companions in sport.