Central Tien
Shan. Khan Tengri peak (7010 m) climbing from North side.
Pass hopping
(heavy trekking) and climbing fotoreport.
Slides
by: Nikolay Gonenko. Scanning, image processing and comments:
Igor Fedyaev.
to
enlarge picture click on thumbnail image
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| The path on the
West ridge to the summit of Peak Semenova is clearly seen from the saddle.
It is not technically difficult - crampons and one 20 m rope are o'k,
and it takes about 4 hours for climbing and descent. |
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| On the ascent, you can hide from the wind in glacial crevasses... |
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| Immediately after
descent on the saddle, it is strongly recommended to descend to the South
side of the pass. The descent directly down from the saddle is steep - about
60-70° ice slope, use of fixed rope is good idea! Then, the next serious
obstacle is the icefall on the small side glacier, the Northern tributary
of North Inilchek glacier. |
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| Better descent
there in couple using belaying. Keep right side (left on this photo)
Warning! This is icefall danger from the slopes of
Peak-5420 after your descent from the saddle! Be careful! |
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| It is recommended to stay on bivouac after descent from the
icefall. Be aware of the crevasses on this flat ground! |
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| The
2nd approach could be The pass of 11s (Pereval Odinnadtsati, 4850 m,
3A CD, ice). On this aerial photo, you can see Peak Bayankol (5841 m)
on the left, Peak Semenova (5816 m) on the right, Peak-5420 at the
very right, Opasniy Pass in between and Bayankolskiy pass (4400 m)
below. The Pass of 11s is immediately to the right from Peak Bayankol. The
Khan Tengri peak is also seen. Note:
despite the approach to the Pass of 11s takes lesser time, the ascent is
much harder, as well as climbing Peak Semenova from that pass! |
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| Here is appeared
as the Peak Semenova and Opasniy Pass is seen from the South, from the North
slopes of Khan Tengri... |
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| ...and you can see how the Pass of 11s looks like from the
South (the saddle on the very right side of the picture). After descent
to the North Inilchek glacier in case of Opasniy pass you have to turn left
and hike up about 1-2 hrs to reach BC site, in case of Pass of 11s, you
reach the BC virtually immediately upon descent. |
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| Of course, if you are not kind of masochist
or it seems to you the acclimatization doesn't matter much (but think twice
on saying so!), you can flight to BC from Akkol BC, from South Inilchek
BC, or even from Almaty (bad approach, though)! |
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