Despite not being able to reach the main objective, the International School of Mountaineering's annual foray into the lesser-known regions of Kyrghyzstan's Tien Shan was successful in completing a new route in the granitic sector of the West Kokshaal-too, as well as discovering a marvellous new rock climbing venue.
ISM has now made 15 expeditions to the Tien Shan, and this autumn director Pat Littlejohn, with guides Adrian Nelhams and Vladimir Komissarov, returned to old haunts. After an uneventful journey south from the country’s capital, Bishkek, they set up base camp below the Kotur Glacier at 3,950m in the West Kokshaal-too, a spectacular range of alpine peaks that straddles the Kyrghyz-Chinese border.
In 1998 Littlejohn had organized the first ISM expedition to this glacier basin but heavy snowfall prevented much climbing, so he returned the following year and was successful on six peaks up to 5,285m.
The plan in 2008 was to establish an advanced base as far up the glacier as possible, with a view to acclimatizing on a couple of peaks before crossing to the head of the Nalivkin Glacier to the east and attempting the unclimbed 5,697m Pik Byeliy (aka Grand Poobah).
Byeliy is one of the most significant remaining unclimbed peaks in the range and despite the attentions of several expeditions over the years, the mountain's defenses are such that no one has managed to set foot on it from the north. The only team to have come close to climbing this complex mountain, Mike Libecki's American expedition, approached from China and was defeated quite high on the south side by a vicious storm.
Littlejohn, Komissarov and Nelhams, with James Bruton, Anthony Froud, Neville Howarth, Leif Iversen, Simon Liebling, Jacki Liebling, Gareth Read and Stephen Taylor, set up a camp on the east side of the Kotur below Pik Judith-Brian (5,050m), a nice snowy summit Littlejohn had climbed on the 1999 expedition.
The South Ridge of this peak was unclimbed and looked attractive, so Littlejohn's group made the first ascent via the easiest line at PD+. The remaining climbers reached the Kotur Pass at the head of the glacier and climbed the adjacent Pik Pyramida (5,140m) via the North West Ridge, repeating the line of the 1999 ascent (PD) and almost certainly that of the Russians who made the first ascent in the 1980s.
A little later Nelhams's team climbed a more direct line up the South Ridge of Judith-Brian, going straight over a huge gendarme that had been outflanked by Littlejohn's party. This gave a tougher route at AD+. Meanwhile, Littlejohn and party were struggling with hostile conditions on a repeat ascent of Pyramida. They made the summit in severe crosswinds.
Repeated heavy snowfalls then pinned the climbers at camp until they were forced to accept that there was no chance of achieving the planned objectives. Instead, they decided to return to base camp, pack up and visit a couple of lower lying areas on the drive back to Bishkek.
In 2001 an ISM trip had discovered the Nomad Domes near the sulphur springs at Arashan. These give excellent rock routes above a landscape of 'classic' Kyrghyz nomad life. Existing routes are up to three pitches long and the team added three more from VS to E2.
From here they drove north and approximately half-way between the Kokshaal-too and Bishkek discovered a 'new' area of limestone hills with good stone and the potential for ‘alpine’ rock routes up to 700m in length. Here, they put up four routes from HVS to E2, with the longest around 12 pitches.
Littlejohn was enthusiastic about this discovery, which has the greatest potential of any rock climbing area he has seen in Kyrghyzstan and an idyllic campsite next to a river.
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