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Author: Pavlenko Dmitry, Moscow - Bishkek

 

 

Brief anti course against total lawlessness in mountaineering

ATTENTION! This brief analytical review of my climbing mistakes is intended only for those a few people who are in great interest in mountaineering and actually want to plunge into this slough, who have courage to estimate soberly their acts and opportunities, but do not have an opportunity to find the TRUE instructor for comprehension of mountaineering elements.

I hope very much, that the information set forth below can become useful before all the conditions in which my climbing becoming passed are very similar to the present ruin and to my big regret, all the little that I managed to achieve was not thanking, but in defiance of.

Fortunately, I had luck with my first instructors. They managed to support and develop my enthusiasm about Mountains and imparted the basic, most important postulates of safety to me. Lena Mingaleva, Valentina Vasil'evna Sosnina, thank you a lot, that all interested beginners can receive the real thought-provoking information firsthand, instead of from review of casualties.

I shall start with high altitude. It's the most burning question for me. Working as the guide in International Mountaineering Camps (IMC) and just making ascents on our "7-thousand" mountains, I constantly collide with frightening increase of presence of militant laymans in the big Mountains. I am not sorry about the self-enamored fools who have come off from reality. Let them make the end of their life as they want.

But it is insulting, that frequently in their company the normal people that do not have sufficient experience to distinguish cheap fops from real climbers plump into. The amount of the last mentioned guys is strongly limited at the present time.

Communism peak

Well, 1994 year. First my high-altitude experience was connected to a huge overstrain and full absence of pleasure from the done ascents. We had only two weeks to climb two Mountains, Communism peak and peak Korzhenevskaya and full absence of acclimatization. The mood was fighting and next day, after arrival on Moskvin's glade we left to 5100m. Our heads did not burst only due to our caps densely fitting them. Since the morning we were ran for it, but the next day we again were at 5100m.

Beautiful ridge of Korzhenevskaya peak. On background from the right above you can see a slice of Kommunizm peak firn plateau. Photo: N.Totmyanin

Then rattling and using obscene language we reached 5800m.

Under the plan the next day we had to do the first full carry at 6400m. With light baggage we got to the camp at 6400 unexpectedly quickly and there was an idea to make a summit bid. Our team consisted of four climbers had only two down parkas, a bit of food and a tent without insulating pads. As we considered that to think some time meant to lose a lot of time, we went upward. Of course we let the matter drag on. By the evening it become cold, we went putting on available down parkas in turns. We climbed up to 6400m already in the darkness and many thanks to a girl from Moscow that came there with a full complete of gear and allowed us to use it!

We slept five together on one pad muffling up in down parkas by turns. We descended to the base camp completely exhausted, but in three days we started climbing Communism peak. On Borodkin's ridge we began to valiantly shoot ahead a chain of other climbers, but soon having reached "Grudi (Breasts)" we realized that we had no forces to continue climbing and the weather deteriorated at all. In wild snowstorm there was no opportunity to install a tent. For our luck we came across a small house of Manarazhnikov, our neighbors, and it was the first and unique time when we used someone else's tent without permission. Then, on communication we got OK to do that, but we had already drunk all vodka that was there. In the morning we got forces only to descend on a plateau. Then we spent two nights more at 6900 at a gale-force wind, but as a whole already without any fallibility. Finally descended I strongly took thoughtful: "If the high-altitude mountaineering connects with such unhealthy extremism whether it is necessary for me?"

It was the classical example of stupid extremism concerned in time limit that could not excuse at all. We completely were in authority of lucky coincidences (it is good that only lucky!).

Well, the young, well trained organism was a great asset and managed to sustain all physical exertion without consequences. But how many examples when people had to fasten with high altitude climbs because of a break of closed respiratory circuit and other body organs not speaking about other much worse fates.

Today the neglect of acclimatization and wrong planning of high-altitude ascents are the basic source of rescue operations and sad casualties in mountains.

Southern Inylchek

The following case is the most shameful in my biography, but, alas, typical too. In 1995 my friends and I organized an expedition to Southern Inylchek glacier. Having certain climbing and high-altitude experience I was the head of the expedition sports part. My colleague on last year's adventure Andrey Konshin was invited as group of support because the other participants had no real experience at such ascents. Taking into account the last sad experience in climbing fore-season we had elaborate preparations, trainings, courses of vitamins and treatment beforehand, made gradual systematic acclimatization on the glacier. In general we did everything that all decent people usually did. But ascending Khan Tengri all hell broke loose.

It began right from normal climbing in a cave under the cofferdam.

Everybody of us had different state of health, but our desire and mood were fighting. Weather was unstable and we managed to leave at about ten in the morning. Having reached a ridge and seeing a normal condition of fixed rope and rather sloping rocks, I decided that everyone would move at his own speed! At awful weather only Andrey Konshin and I reached the summit. Already descending I noticed the traces leading from 6500 direct downwards, across the slope to our cave under the cofferdam. On approach to the saddle I caught up hardly alive girls and they told that perhaps the strongest participant of our team felt bad at 6600 and went down straight in the cave! Alas, everyone has his own high-altitude threshold, and someone who runs cross-country races plains fast becomes always far from being a strong high-altitude climber. Then there was a descent, insults and till now indefatigable bitterness of shame of the guys that I actually left on the first in their life serious Mountain. Thanks Destiny that Leonid managed to descend that slope safe and sound. Bodies of losers were found under it so many times!

It seems to me that was a demonstration lesson of absolute irresponsibility of the head! And, alas, the lesson of that fact that a skilled and strong sportsman not all the time could appear a reliable partner. Last winter ascent on Lenin peak and summer ascent on Ê2 serve to show the confirmation of that, not speaking already about the attitude of many guys that consider themselves as guides, to their wards. Well, high-altitude-climbers-individuals-beginners, you should be vigilant!

Lesson of 1996. Short, but quite often meeting. Two times at the bad weather, dense fog, strong wind, snowfall, without a track, I tried to solo climb on the cofferdam of Khan Tengri alone and descending on my own traces, that I had made one or two hours ago, I three or four times fell into the crevasses. I survived due to my right reaction and a correct arrangement of the crevasses.

It's the extremely widespread nonsense!

Makalu, Western face

In 1997, descending after Makalu Western face summit and feeling not so good after acute attack of hypoglycemia, I fell from the last vertical pitch because of the UIAA knot unclipped the unlocked screwgate carabiner (I had lost a descender on the second trip). I was rescued by the next pitch that traversed abrupt ice slope: I fell on it and managed to catch hold. Right there, having got breath from a shiver, I knotted the same knot and (a gift of Destiny!) in the beginning of my movement it unclipped on my eyes, saying, that it was the real time to come to senses.

You should not postpone a gear control. It can bee too late, when you blow your lump a little and can not understand that, if even a spin ferrule during descent with UIAA can be unlocked.

I got some falls in 2001. By that time they had dropped me out of the team, but I wanted to climb something heart-felt. By the way at the same time Kazbek Valiev offered me to accompany his first-rank sportsmen on Khan Tengri from the north, something about 5B. By then I was well trained and acclimatized.

Khan Tengri, North face © Sergey Lavrov's photo, Almaty

The young blood pulsed in my veins and I offered to ascend the simplified variant of 6A via the center of North face. I knew that the guys had already climbed one 5B route, but only later I learned, that they had climbed Khan on classics from the north face (then it was still 5B). The guys became sad after the first spending the night and it was not their fault. The North face of Khan Tengri is a severe object for new to war climbers. But all of them stood out courageously and by the end of the fourth day we finally got out the red marble rocks. By that time a good weather vanished without any traces. Constant avalanches, a storm wind followed our not so pleasant climbing on an abrupt tiled slope practically without any opportunity to organize intermediate protection points. Making the last move on the red zone's third pitch in a direction of a ledge where we were going to spend the night in a continuous snow stream I took no notice of a plate at size about a good monument and flied it down myself. Before loosing consciousness I had time to melancholy think about Tyumen static rope and a bolt set in 25 meters under me. I managed to stop flying hardly below the belay station. The abrupt wall and the foresight rescued me; I got only my both hands broken. Finally I could get out the ledge of the ridge due to my bearable using crampons and Anton's (a Kazakh climber from Alma-Ata) courage. Not looking on his bad health state he was climbing the leader and fixing the rope for two days.

Thanks the great Mountain - Khan Tengri! I taught me a lesson and let me in the land of the living. And it forgot me the haste and reluctance to sit on the North face with inexperienced team at bad weather. We should not consider that only as an accident. Probably Mountains do not forgive having odd kinks.

Well, that's all that I want to tell you. In general high altitude is most difficult aspect of an objective self-ranking, as everything looks rather peacefully and flat, and you feel cool on fixed rope. Therefore there will be more and more and more accidents in the Mountains, alas, while the hankering to be cool extreme guy will not summer down.

Climbing technical routes you can feel better: the fear forces you to concentrate even in good weather. But and here you do not to get along without firm mistakes.

In 1991 making an ascent on Mekhnat, 4B as the leader, once again I missed the right descent couloir, left my group in a safe place and moved soloing down, hoping to find the right descent route. In one place a quite decent rocky chute left downwards to a small fluffy firn basin. Having stepped on it, I was departed downwards the chute like on a sports bob, because there was water under the basin. Fortunately, the chute appeared long enough that I had time to be wedged in it in five meters up to beginning of two-pitch fault. And after a very few time, I found out that absolutely in the same situation, a good man was killed on the next Mountain.

In the rest time I have not mistaken in climbing technique more because I am always strongly afraid.

Well, and at last about solo. It seems to me that this kind of climbing and getting pleasure from dialogue with Mountains in many respects is connected with hopelessness and it is a pity. Your friends stop climbing, but you get a strong desire to climb, but do not want to team up with somebody unknown and you decided to solo. A lot of people have argued over that. No matter how you look at it but solo climbing is the biggest prospect for self-improvement. There are practically no purposes left for big team nowadays, there comes the time of two-three-man teams. And then? Who will support truly sports style? Soloists, in the most fair competition face to face, one-on-ones. It opens immense prospect.

And in 1993 because of fool hopelessness I had to move in soloists and climbed warm rocks of Dugoba. I rather quickly ascended Mekhnat, 4À and 4Á, and flirted with an idea about 5À. So thought so done. I knew the route on Vecherny (Evening) Sverdlovsk since last year, when had consulted about it before not taken place ascent in a two-man team. Go forward! Somewhere in the middle of the route I got out to 10-15m rappel, and nearly begun to cry because of such surprise. I had to promise to myself, that if everything had luck, I would leave solo climbing. But later I had to deceive myself, to my regret.

I do not know at all if all that are the good example of a cool climber or the lawlessness in mountaineering as I left to solo without thorough studying of the route. The answer, I hope, is not difficult to you.

Peak Svobodnaya (Free) Korea. Sergey Tretjakov's photo

I would like to finish with an example of a desperate scandalous listlessness. In the winter of 2002 I climbed Svobodnaya (Free) Korea via Law route with new, good crampons, excellent new gear. Well, what for should I have ropes for rappelling and mechanical ascenders? In result I got night descent on foot at a snowstorm. Good gear and knowing of the slope helped me to descent, but my hair stood on end.

Now I am training my body to stand not superfluous gear in this winter.

Well, that's all, actually it appeared longish, but so many mistakes I have made!

And to this thorny way the majority of present amateurs of Mountains are doomed. Should I say all this? In my opinion, yes, because in fact recurrence any from the above described mistakes can lead to a lethal outcome. I want to tell not the lectures about how you should climb mountains or situational tasks from a tutorial, abstract examples, but tell about my own mistakes and their real analysis. We are all human, we are all sinners. A man can mistake. To err is human. Certainly, it is easier to tell about your victories, but frequently, the string of process, the most thin places can be lost under enthusiastic relations, where sport develops in absurd extreme, and not everybody manage to turn the dangerous corner. There are so little of us, take care, real climber-beginners!

P.S. And it seems to me that it would be useful to publish fair, without denominations, analyses of the big ascents. In fact there are a lot of real examples in them to discuss about. Whether it only seems to me?

With all respect to all realists,
Pavlenko Dmitry