Alam Kuh, north wall, new route, second winter ascent of the face, and ...
Iran
A lam Kuh, north wall, new route, second w inter ascent o f the face, and historical reporting. A jo in t team co m p risin g m em b ers from tw o Iran ia n clubs (A rash G ro u p a n d D am av an d C lub) led by M o h am m ad M ousavinejad, spent 16 days in F eb ru ary o p en in g a new route. A njom an, n am ed after th e new ly (2000) fo rm ed A n jo m an K uhnavardi Iran (T he Iran ian A lpine C lu b ), is th e first new ro u te to be clim bed o n th e n o rth face o f Alam Kuh du rin g the w inter. A lam Kuh (4850m ) is the
third highest sum m it in Iran (after D am avand, 5671m, and Salavan, 4900m) b u t its 500- to 600m eter granite n o rth face is u nd o u b ted ly th e m o st prestigious in th e country. A lam Kuh was pro b ab ly first clim bed by th e B o rn m u ller b ro th e rs (tw o G erm an botanists) in 1902 via the easy south flank. T he second ascent was m ade in 1933 by th e British explorer an d m o u n tain eer, Sir D ouglas Busk, via th e east ridge (Siah Sang). T he first ascent from the n o rth cam e in 1936 w hen G o rter an d S teinauer clim bed the n o rth ridge, separating the n o rth an d n orthw est faces. In 1951 Jalil Katibei an d M o h am m ad Ali Tafreshi clim bed the n o rth wall o f peak Shakhak. T hat was very astonishing in those days. T his ro u te has n o t been repeated yet, tho u g h som e climbs o f the easier g ro u n d to the right o f th e route have been done.
To the left o f it (n o t seen in th e p h o to ) on the sam e day N aser Fallah, Ali A sghar O rdo o k h an i, and M ehdi Sedghi N ejad clim bed the steep snow slopes o f th e face betw een peak Shakhak and peak Siah Sang. T his ro u te p robably has n o t been repeated. The first ro u te on the tru e n o rth face o f Alam Kuh was first clim bed in 1964 by G erm an, H erm an Rost an d Iranian, A m ir Alai. Two years later Blassier, Fresafond, Parat, and Valencot from a French expedition clim bed a sec on d route on the n o rth face and in 1969 the Poles, D obek, W roz, an d W aligora, added a third. The early 70s saw a spate o f new routes on the previously unclim bed northw est face (Italians in 1970, Poles in 1971 and th e first all-Iranian route in 1973). Poles re tu rn ed to the n o rth face in 1973, w hen Stam a and others clim bed the G reat Roof. After the Islamic Revolution in 1978 the m o u n tain was left for a w hile to Iranians. In 1983 a team led by the late A Azizi com pleted the first Iran ian route on th e n o rth face, w hile over th ree years from 1982-84 Asgari, Babai, M oham m adi and others p u t up the A rash Route. From 1988 to 1991 several sh o rt routes an d im p o rtan t variants were established by Iranian climbers. However, 1991 was notable for the first w inter ascent o f the n o rth face. A ttem pts at a w in ter ascent go back to 1974 (Poles). From 1980 to 1991 a h an d fu l o f Iranian clim bers tried th e wall and all failed. O ne was killed an d a n u m b er suffered frostbite. T he m ain difficulty is th e cold, w ith tem p eratu res do w n to −40°C at n ig h t an d −20°C d u rin g the day. Powder snow avalanches also provide regular problem s. In w inter o f 1991 an o th er large Iranian team tried the wall, only to com plete three pitches o f th e A rash ro u te in 20 days o n the m o u n tain . O ne m em ber, Ishkhan E brahim i, suffered severe frostbite, w hich resulted in the a m p u tatio n o f all his toes an d som e o f his fingers. However, in this large team there rem ained one determ ined climber. M oham m ad N ouri w anted to climb the wall at any cost. He eventually
soloed the A rash route in fo u r days. Since th en several alpinists have atte m p ted th e face but failed… until the w inter o f 2001. O n F ebruary 6 th e team (co m p risin g M o h am m ad M oosavi N ejad— leader, Ram in Shojaei— technical leader, Ara M egerdichian, Esm ail M otehayer Pasand, Kazem Faridian, M o h am m ad N o u ri— cam eram an, Ali Parsai, Abbas Aghasi, Abbas M oham m adi, M ahyar Pour A bdolah, Afshin L ahouri, M ehdi B roum and, O m id A m oham m adi, and Ali Haji Saeed) reached Alamchal, the cw m below the face. W hile the others erected a h u t below the face, M egerdichian an d I started fixing th e first pitch below th e G olesang, th e névé at th e base o f th e wall. The follow ing day I fixed an o th er 200 m eters o f rope to the base o f the wall. T he next day Faridian, belayed by M egerdichian, to o k th e lead on th e first pitch o f the m ain wall. Near the start he fell on rock that was n o t so steep and injured his ankle. After carrying him dow n to R oodbarak in one and a h alf days, three team m em bers, along w ith five new ones, cam e back. M eanw hile M egerdichian an d I h ad stayed b e h in d an d led the first two pitches on the m ain wall. A fu rth er pitch and a half were clim bed over the 13th and 14th, after which it snow ed for tw o days. Five m em bers left. W ith N o u ri film ing, M egerdichian and I c o n tin u ed clim bing over th e next few days an d o n the 20th I co m p leted th e fifth p itch to reach th e less steep, loose su m m it rock band. I placed the Iranian flag at the high p o in t and then clim bed dow n 10 meters to install a safe belay. T h at day we cleaned pitches fo u r a n d five b u t d u e to snow fall left the rem ainder to be cleared on the follow ing weekend. O u r route A njom an was graded VI A3 5.8 W hile we were on the wall M oham m adi an d N ouri took two days off to repeat th eir 1990 first w inter ascents o f the H aft K hanha peaks (ca 4700m ). They were away from Alamchal cam p for tw o days and clim bed three peaks. At the sam e tim e A m o h am m ad i an d Saeed clim bed the nearby Shaneh Kuh and M iansechal peaks (4300m ). R a m i n S h o j a e l , Iran
A lam Kuh, north wall, new route, second w inter ascent o f the face, and historical reporting. A jo in t team co m p risin g m em b ers from tw o Iran ia n clubs (A rash G ro u p a n d D am av an d C lub) led by M o h am m ad M ousavinejad, spent 16 days in F eb ru ary o p en in g a new route. A njom an, n am ed after th e new ly (2000) fo rm ed A n jo m an K uhnavardi Iran (T he Iran ian A lpine C lu b ), is th e first new ro u te to be clim bed o n th e n o rth face o f Alam Kuh du rin g the w inter. A lam Kuh (4850m ) is the
third highest sum m it in Iran (after D am avand, 5671m, and Salavan, 4900m) b u t its 500- to 600m eter granite n o rth face is u nd o u b ted ly th e m o st prestigious in th e country. A lam Kuh was pro b ab ly first clim bed by th e B o rn m u ller b ro th e rs (tw o G erm an botanists) in 1902 via the easy south flank. T he second ascent was m ade in 1933 by th e British explorer an d m o u n tain eer, Sir D ouglas Busk, via th e east ridge (Siah Sang). T he first ascent from the n o rth cam e in 1936 w hen G o rter an d S teinauer clim bed the n o rth ridge, separating the n o rth an d n orthw est faces. In 1951 Jalil Katibei an d M o h am m ad Ali Tafreshi clim bed the n o rth wall o f peak Shakhak. T hat was very astonishing in those days. T his ro u te has n o t been repeated yet, tho u g h som e climbs o f the easier g ro u n d to the right o f th e route have been done.
To the left o f it (n o t seen in th e p h o to ) on the sam e day N aser Fallah, Ali A sghar O rdo o k h an i, and M ehdi Sedghi N ejad clim bed the steep snow slopes o f th e face betw een peak Shakhak and peak Siah Sang. T his ro u te p robably has n o t been repeated. The first ro u te on the tru e n o rth face o f Alam Kuh was first clim bed in 1964 by G erm an, H erm an Rost an d Iranian, A m ir Alai. Two years later Blassier, Fresafond, Parat, and Valencot from a French expedition clim bed a sec on d route on the n o rth face and in 1969 the Poles, D obek, W roz, an d W aligora, added a third. The early 70s saw a spate o f new routes on the previously unclim bed northw est face (Italians in 1970, Poles in 1971 and th e first all-Iranian route in 1973). Poles re tu rn ed to the n o rth face in 1973, w hen Stam a and others clim bed the G reat Roof. After the Islamic Revolution in 1978 the m o u n tain was left for a w hile to Iranians. In 1983 a team led by the late A Azizi com pleted the first Iran ian route on th e n o rth face, w hile over th ree years from 1982-84 Asgari, Babai, M oham m adi and others p u t up the A rash Route. From 1988 to 1991 several sh o rt routes an d im p o rtan t variants were established by Iranian climbers. However, 1991 was notable for the first w inter ascent o f the n o rth face. A ttem pts at a w in ter ascent go back to 1974 (Poles). From 1980 to 1991 a h an d fu l o f Iranian clim bers tried th e wall and all failed. O ne was killed an d a n u m b er suffered frostbite. T he m ain difficulty is th e cold, w ith tem p eratu res do w n to −40°C at n ig h t an d −20°C d u rin g the day. Powder snow avalanches also provide regular problem s. In w inter o f 1991 an o th er large Iranian team tried the wall, only to com plete three pitches o f th e A rash ro u te in 20 days o n the m o u n tain . O ne m em ber, Ishkhan E brahim i, suffered severe frostbite, w hich resulted in the a m p u tatio n o f all his toes an d som e o f his fingers. However, in this large team there rem ained one determ ined climber. M oham m ad N ouri w anted to climb the wall at any cost. He eventually
soloed the A rash route in fo u r days. Since th en several alpinists have atte m p ted th e face but failed… until the w inter o f 2001. O n F ebruary 6 th e team (co m p risin g M o h am m ad M oosavi N ejad— leader, Ram in Shojaei— technical leader, Ara M egerdichian, Esm ail M otehayer Pasand, Kazem Faridian, M o h am m ad N o u ri— cam eram an, Ali Parsai, Abbas Aghasi, Abbas M oham m adi, M ahyar Pour A bdolah, Afshin L ahouri, M ehdi B roum and, O m id A m oham m adi, and Ali Haji Saeed) reached Alamchal, the cw m below the face. W hile the others erected a h u t below the face, M egerdichian an d I started fixing th e first pitch below th e G olesang, th e névé at th e base o f th e wall. The follow ing day I fixed an o th er 200 m eters o f rope to the base o f the wall. T he next day Faridian, belayed by M egerdichian, to o k th e lead on th e first pitch o f the m ain wall. Near the start he fell on rock that was n o t so steep and injured his ankle. After carrying him dow n to R oodbarak in one and a h alf days, three team m em bers, along w ith five new ones, cam e back. M eanw hile M egerdichian an d I h ad stayed b e h in d an d led the first two pitches on the m ain wall. A fu rth er pitch and a half were clim bed over the 13th and 14th, after which it snow ed for tw o days. Five m em bers left. W ith N o u ri film ing, M egerdichian and I c o n tin u ed clim bing over th e next few days an d o n the 20th I co m p leted th e fifth p itch to reach th e less steep, loose su m m it rock band. I placed the Iranian flag at the high p o in t and then clim bed dow n 10 meters to install a safe belay. T h at day we cleaned pitches fo u r a n d five b u t d u e to snow fall left the rem ainder to be cleared on the follow ing weekend. O u r route A njom an was graded VI A3 5.8 W hile we were on the wall M oham m adi an d N ouri took two days off to repeat th eir 1990 first w inter ascents o f the H aft K hanha peaks (ca 4700m ). They were away from Alamchal cam p for tw o days and clim bed three peaks. At the sam e tim e A m o h am m ad i an d Saeed clim bed the nearby Shaneh Kuh and M iansechal peaks (4300m ). R a m i n S h o j a e l , Iran
