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Tuva. "Vostochny (East)" peak and two "heroic" climbers face to face

A view on Vostochny peak from a plateau. Photo Alexey Pokhodenko, Denis Prokofyev, Krasnoyarsk

"Heroic" climbers: Andrey Bumazhenko a.k.a. "Boom" and Oleg Filatyev a.k.a. "Phill"

We decided to start our summer climbing season already in May and left to the traditional Krasnoyarsk alpiniad in Tuva (the area of Tsygen-Shibetu range).

This mass ascent is considered as summer but with great reserve: it is still winter in Siberia Mountains at this time.

We had serious plans: to ascend Vostochny (East) peak, 3320m, Tsygen-Shibetu range, Tuva, via 6À graded route (North face, Center).

Let me skip the details (getting to the area, doing the first full carry, training and acclimatization - all of these things are very standard and easily recognized) and give you the bottom line.

Let's start talking right about the ascent.

Finally we started climbing the 5À-graded route that is unique there (Couloir, North face) and very short, but two pitches of the crux are unbelievable! The bottom part (250 meters on foot plus one pitch of ice) we passed for 1,5 hours, but one of that pitches we were fighting for 5 hours. The beginning of the crux presents a 15-meter chimney filled with ice. Due to our sad preparation for ice adventures and some moral unavailability for such complexities (the first mountain this season!) the process of overcoming of the chimney went slowly.

First I dug a trench in vertical snow, trying to get to the chimney, and then Boom fought using fifi-hooks. He had to aid-climb in places with only two ice-screws. Eventually (in 4 hours) we managed to organize to lead the next pitch and fixed the rope but I got the wrong way: jugging upward I got stuck in this chimney right near to the climbing station.

In 5 minutes after jamming I understood, that I would never become a cave explorer, 15 minutes later I began to run scared, and 20 minutes more later I guessed to take off my helmet and to turn my head, and then my other body could slowly turn too. Desperately working with jumars I could hard get out on the plug where the station was set above. During such non-trivial movement I nearly lost my crampons, my fighting mood was gone away, we were benighted and did not want to have cold spending the night. So we had to descend.

And we drew conclusion at once: If you go to climb rocks - you have to climb rocks even in winter. And you shouldn’t meddle in severe mixed rocks in soft crampons and with fifi-hooks. This conclusion was proved to be true: in some days a team of climbers from Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk climbed this chimney for 1,5 hour using ice-axes and good crampons.

Three days later we started climbing 5B-route. There are two routes of such category on Vostochny peak: "left" and "right". The "Left” route weighs up 6À, but is estimated for some reason as 5B (well, it seems that the guys who write the qualifier do not love the Siberian mountains). The "Right" one seems quite good 5B and more popular. We started to fix the rope having wangled additional rope out of our neighbors. They especially did not resist, as all the same they did not want to take it while descending.

Well, we had three ropes to fix. I was given honor to start the route as the leader, but I had one trouble: for a one-year climbing pause it seemed to me I forgot how to fix the rope. The matter was dramatized by extremely abrupt beginning of the route with complex climbing on cold rocks. In rock-shoes and gloves I had to aid-climb in places. But after I made the first pitch and recollected everything I quickly made two pitches more.

Next day Boom was the leader. The rock wall began to be less abrupt and rocks were interleaved with inclined snow ledges. Having made seven pitches more we reached the summit a bit after afternoon. And we thought that if we had free climbed not fixing the rope that day we would not have lost all the day.

The next morning the time of a feat came: we had 3 days more before our departure, and we had not tried 6À route yet. But we had to start climbing it right after our 5B summit without any day of rest. In general this route ascent needs for 4 days: one day of fixing the rope from below, one day climbing up to the ledge, one day more climbing the bastion and the last day climbing up to the summit. As we had no time we decided to minimize the first part and to run it up for a day.

On May, 4 in the morning we started climbing with heavy rucksacks stuffed with a heap of gear, 3 ropes, camp equipment and food for three days. And all of this was loaded on two small climbers! Accidentally, probably wanting to warm-up, I went bump on 50 meters down the firn slope covered with frozen small stones. As I had only my back beaten and in view of absence of serious traumas I heroically continued our ascent.

Boom started climbing as a leader. The beginning of the route was not very complex - snow plates filled with ice and covered with snow. But I felt horrible a bit, to tell the truth, as there wasn't any place to organize safe belay. Having climbed three pitches we got to the narrow chimney filled with a lot of snow and ice. Climbing the second I got into hail of snow and ice blocks and only invoked him not to drop something more material, but nothing sad happened: - the wall really was made of granite.

Boom against the bastion

In 1,5 hour we got organized to lead the next pitch, but the relief was so pure: everything was ice-covered; we found only a spit bolted. If we had had own bolts and ears we would have climb that site easily. But we had to elongate the rope. This procedure with preliminary extraction of a new bight right from a bottom of a backpack in suspended position more reminded a mix of acrobatics and Kamasutra! But, having overcome all difficulties and nothing having dropped, we finally managed to do that. After this pitch we got 20 meters up to the ledge left that Andrey quickly climbed and fixed the rope that appeared inclined a little up to cornices. I had lucky escape and could come back to the station and Boom could straighten the rope.

It was getting dark. With night coming on Boom had to haul the backpack that we had left at the next-to-last pitch, and I was searching for a convenient camp site on an inclined (about 45 degrees) snow ledge. I felt terrible staying along on the ledge but I had to do my part. In 100 meters I found the right place and began to cut down 20-cm layer of firn using a fifi hook and a rock hammer in the other. I think, that from outside it was a fantastic extreme show: at night, in the middle of a rock wall, surrounded by vertical unfriendly rocks, hardly illuminated by gloomy moon light, a small tired man is brandishing pieces of iron in his hands and trying to arrange the modest life, he gains centimeter by centimeter of a flat site from the firn slope to have a rest with his best friend on their difficult way.

The camera moves off, and you can see the whole great wall.

And you can see as his best friend, small and tired too, is jugging a thin rope along a huge wall, hoping, that when he reach the camp site the tent will be already installed, and water for tea will be already boiled. In general, Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee is no match for them.

Boom came to the tent somewhere about midnight. His first words were: “Do you know such softheads climbing their first 6-graded route in two-man team, moreover in winter?” Having rummaged in memory, I did not recollect anyone and informed my fighting comrade about that. And he answered only: “There!”

Working on the bastion

Next day it was my turn to be the leader. And we had to climb the "bastion" - the crux of the route where only one pitch from five we were able to free climb. All my body categorically refused to climb: my hands were trembling, surrounding landscape as from the movie “Conquerors of rocks 5” did not inspire. A team of climbers that was ascending a 4-graded route in parallel made my nose swell. All this disgraces stopped, when I with all my extremities took the rock. Like a hero from a fairy tale I felt scooping force from Earth Mother just I had touched the rock.

After climbing about 10 meters I got to not trivial place the local specialists-climbers had told us about: the fissure extends, you need screw jacks to go further. As we did not have them we tried to wedge an ice-axe. Nothing happened. After intellectual storm I managed to do that with an anchor hook and a fifi hook that was coming loose in the crack, as snot in an ice-hole. Brr, TERRIBLE.

And farther climbing was simple: chocks were used one by one in the calibrated crack, bolts were used seldom and left to organize safe belay, sometimes fifi hooks or anchor hooks were used. And we made already three pitches for this day in such way.

In the evening sitting in our tent we felt exhausted. Our hands scooping energy from cold rocks, and legs, while climbing put seasonably rocky shoes on, were recuperating.

 

I invented a three-point tactics of aid-climbing for myself: one point is hardly lower than your legs, the second one is a toe-hold, the third serves to lead the pitch. After you have set the third point it is possible to descend the eider and remove the first one. It turns to be safe: all the time there are two points of protection. And thus you feel not terrible to depart on 5-6 meters from a constant belay point.

On the summit stone

At night a wind that was not going to bring anything good started to blow. Since the morning Boom was the leader: it was his turn to fight. Everything was OK in spite of the weather that began to spoil and absolutely deteriorated soon: snow was falling from below upwards along the wall. As we were at hanging station there was absolutely nowhere to hide and we just had to stand that, watching as a snow column flew between your legs in a direction opposite to the gravity. The traditional storm clothes do not rescue in such situations when a storm presses from below. Eventually everything became wet and cold, especially our backs that met the storm impact first.

Having made two pitches more in such condition I heard as Boom shouted that there was 4-graded rock site further. I rejoiced at the good news and was out of breath for joy to be the leader further. In 2 hours we got out on the "roof".

WE MANAGED TO DO THAT AND STAY SAFE AND SOUND!

It was 20.00. Having triumphed a little our perfect ascent staying on the summit we began to descend. In two hours we were already in the tent, where tea began to boil on a stove, and two happy guys, proud and tired climbers, began to take long naps in dangerous closeness to the fire.

And then there were buses, a train and, eventually, Tomsk.

 

I would like to say some words about Balezin Valery, the legend of Soviet mountaineering and rock-climbing. We lived with him in one tent for some time during our ascent. And we spoke a lot about the present mountaineering, his mountaineering training and climbs in the past and about trainings and climbs of the team he trained nowadays. We learned a lot of new and interesting as Valery Viktorovich likes to tell and willingly shares his ideas.

After this ascent I came to the conclusion: there are different kinds of ascent: you can enjoy the process of climbing during some of them but you begin to receive pleasure from the others only having descended. Here is such deep idea!

This trip was remembered by actual absence of vodka and women too. Of course we had a bottle of vodka and carried it the entire ascent but found time to drink only before the bus departure. And we saw some women: they came past us climbing on mountains. Completely non-conventional trip!