Part 1. Part 2.

The sixth day , 31.07.2006. We started descending. In the morning the weather was fine, we passed the border of the table and then went to the left, along the fault looking for a place, appropriate for starting the descent. We chose a place from which through that 200 meters long fault the way of descent to the next table was seen. Down to 5000 m the ridge there looked like a staircase built of small tables and faults. First two ropes we fixed on ice-axes, on the faults legs didn't touch the ice, downwards it became less steep – up to 60-70 degrees. Along the lower table we went bearing to the left all the time, approximately reckoning the location of our ridge – on spaces like that it was easy to miss the necessary ridge as from different tables different ridges went down – in southern, eastern directions, and between them. Most of the ridges ended with steep walls – we had seen it while our exploring. We dodged losing altitude among the faults, then we crossed one more bergschrund (using descenders), a series of cracks, and further among faults we went down, bearing to the left – there we saw the ridge with two-side cornices along which we had planned to descend. Just near the ridge there was a small field where we stopped to pass the night.

The seventh day, 1.08.2006. Climb to the ridge: slightly-sloping bridge crossing the bergschrund about 20 m long. We climbed and went forward for about 200- 300 m . And then we came across a hole i.e. two-side cornices transformed into three-sided ones. Probably it was possible to cross them by climbing but those two ropes could take us a lot of time. And a little bit behind us to the left there was a very small cornice and in about 30 m below us there was a snow-ice “pillow” (it ended up with a fault). We descended to a pillow, crossed a hole along it (about 70 m ) and then near the cornice climbed back to the ridge – 20 m of 70 degrees steep. Further we fixed ropes as the ridge became a continuous cornice here and there becoming less then a meter wide. We came to a “cap” at the end of the horizontal part of the ridge – the beginning of the further descent. The “cap” ended at three sides with cornices (but, taking into consideration the wall along which we had climbed to it – to all four ones). We had planned to descend further along very sharp snow-ice ridge with thin big cornices. But then we came across an ice slope, and having appreciated the state of hanging cornices, decided that it was possible to descend along it – what wanted to fall down, had already down it. We moved across the cornice – about 10- 15 meters , then along ice, in its upper part it was of about 60 degrees steep, lower it became more slightly sloping (up to 40 degrees). We went obliquely to the right, keeping “our” ridge – ice slope ended with rocky faults and we would have to pass through the ridge. For the first time we tried to do it on the fourth rope, but we understood it was too early, we managed to pass through the ridge on the sixth rope, with digging through small cornice, after that rope there was nearly horizontal one – traverse to the right and down, to round rocky fault, and further – the last rope down to the next snow table. By the time the weather had got terrible, snow started to fall. There was not visibility at all, and we sopped to pass the night.

The eighth day , 2.08.2006. In the morning sun was shinning . And because of night snowfall had not become tough yet. The day before we had made an exploring, looked out for the beginning of the ridge – a place where there had not been a fault (lower it nothing could be seen). So we went there, snow was waist-deep. We didn't put on snow-shoes as very soon the steepness increased and we saw the beginning of the rocky ridge. In front of the beginning of rocks there was pure ice. Rocky ridge in front of us ended up with rocky fault of about 40 m high, we rounded it to the left along rocky slope, came to a stream. There also were faults, and we descend along waterfall to the right (using descenders – about 8 m ) to the screes below fault on the ridge, and along the screes climbed back to the ridge. Further there was difficult strongly destroyed rocky ridge, we passed it working in teams, belay was organized on juts, we round the cowstones to the right along the wall. At one of the places there was a strip with passing the team rope through (a wall 2 meters high). Soon we went to the screes of large stones, unleashed, and along slide-rocky ridge went down to the saddle 4500.

Descent to the Base Camp.

From the saddle it was possible to descend to any side but the descent to the east was more difficult, there were rocky outcrops (it was better to pass that strip in one team – that way to the Base Cap was shorter). We descended in western direction along long screes built of small stones to a circus – there was a cased glacier, further along the nearest stream we went down to a pocket with a stream along which we had began the climb to our traverse. It took us a little more than an hour to descend from the saddle to the Base Camp. By the evening as usual it started raining.

Ascent analysis .

Passing the route for the first time, and especially, making the ascent for the first time is always an interesting problem, even if it is rise by feet to a simple view point. And if there is a whole bouquet of technical obstacles, let them be not very difficult – the problem becomes still more interesting. That is why I like combined routes – for their variety. And passing a combined route of approximate difficulty grade 5A before far more difficult combined route – it is the thing we need. Although, preliminary estimate of the traverse was lower – we were ready for something like 4A-4B. But the rocky ridge with cowstones in the beinning of the route gave us a supposition that the entire climb would be of 4B grade of difficulty. And the descent turned out to be much more difficult than the ascent (moreover, it was not all the time pure descent) in my opinion it increased the grade of difficulty of the traverse up to 5A. On passing the route in the counter direction all these “amenities” of the descent can increase the difficulty grade up to 5B if it becomes impossible to find ways of rounding the faults (may there is a way round the faults, it is possible to find it if you are bearing to the left in the beginning of the descent, on our descent we, surely, didn't do this, having chosen the nearest acceptable variant and thereby, probably, made the descent more difficult).

All in all it has turned out to be a relatively not difficult and very nice route. With given deion and on the assumption of more favorable weather (but about the weather there are lots of doubts) it is possible to reduce the time of passing the traverse for 2-3 days.

Besides, we climbed to a pass, separating branches of the glacier Chon-Teren. That saddle is not the most successful one as goes down to the western branch rather low, but if the descent there is easy it give an opportunity to carry cargos through the pass to the bottom of the Southern wall of the Pobeda Peak . It will be hard to carry them on roundabout way and one-way will take 2-3 days, both ways will take 4-6 days. And with this pass (Chonteren the south) both ways may take 3-4 days – manifest economy. And by the way during carrying cargos by this way it will be possible to get acclimatizing and it is possible to make an ascent to an untrodden mountain of 5000 meters high located in south-eastern direction from the saddle, it seems to be of 4A-4B grade of difficulty, icy.

To be continued…