BALTORO MUZTAGH ULI BIAHO AND TRANGO GROUPS
BALTORO MUZTAGH ULI BIAHO AND TRANGO GROUPS Great Trango Tower, northwest face, com pletion o f U krainian route (2003) and new variation to Azeem Ridge; Broad Peak, attempt. In the su m m er o f 2007 the K rasnoyarsk F ed eratio n o f A lpinism , w ith su p p o rt o f the a d m in istratio n o f the K rasnoyarsk Region, organized a K arakoram ex pedition. The goals were to ascend G reat Trango Tower via technically com plex new routes and to ascend Broad Peak by the classic route. Eleven clim bers, a trainer, and a doctor, all from Krasnoyarsk, took part in the expedition. We form ed tw o team s: o n e for the U krainian route o f 2003, the o th er to try a line right o f the Russian route o f 1999. T he first team included V ladim ir A rkhipov, Sergei C herezov, Yuri G lasyrin, O leg K hvostenko, A ndrei Litvinov, and A leksandr Yanyshevich. T he second was m ade up o f Evgenni Belyaev, Aleksei K om is sarov, Igor Loginov, an d A leksandr M ikhalitsin. T he team s started at ab o u t the sam e tim e, on the 6th and 7th o f July. O n the U krainian route, we clim bed capsule-style w ith portaledges an d a large reserve o f provisions. We had a precise description o f the route, and at the end o f every pitch we fo u n d a bolt w ith a rappel carabiner.
M eanw hile the second team m oved upw ard, crossing the R ussian route. O n th e fo u rth day they em erged o n to a shelf at th e base o f the steep u p p e r wall. A b an d o f severely broken rock aw aited them . N ot finding a sufficiently safe passage, th e guys began to exit to th e right, deviating from th eir p lan n ed line. Toward th e end o f th e fo u rth day th ey em erged o n to the Azeem Ridge (C o rd es-W h arto n , 2004). T hey req u ired a n o th e r 2 ½ days to ascend th e u p p er p art o f this ridge. O n July 12 they reached th eir high p o in t at one o f the tow ers along the su m m it ridge. The w eather began to w orsen, an d the prognosis for th e com ing three days was not consoling. T he team decided to descend via their ascent route. By this tim e on th e U k rain ian ro u te we had reached o u r final bivouac an d clim bed an o th er 150m on the su m m it tower. We estim ated there rem ained ab o u t 200m to the sum m it. D uring the night a storm started. The next day, in abom inable w eather, we succeeded in clim b ing an o th er 50m and reached the p o in t from w hich th e U krainian team had retreated in 2003. O n July 14, w ith the storm co n tin u in g , we clim bed three m ore ropelengths and em erged o nto the ridge. The sum m it was very close, b u t the next day the storm did n o t allow us to leave o u r portaledges. O n July 16 th e sto rm to o k a respite, an d at 11 a.m . we reached th e southw estern su m m it o f G reat Trango Tower. We quickly descended via th e route o f ascent, once again in a snow storm . O n the evening o f July 17 o u r friends m et us at the foot o f th e wall, a n d at base cam p a celebratory d in n e r awaited us. O n Broad Peak, having acclim atized sufficiently, we im m ediately ascended to C am p 3 at 7,100m an d cached o u r e q u ip m en t at C am p 4, at 7,500m . T he next day the w eather was o u tstan d in g , an d m any clim bers w ent from C am p 3 to the su m m it, b u t we descended for a rest. After o u r rest, w hen th e forecast p ro m ised great w eather, we w ent up. U n fo rtu n ately the p red ictio n did n o t com e tru e. A fter th ree days o f w aiting for an im p ro v em en t in C am p 3, we w ere forced to descend to catch our plane. Thus o u r expedition ended. O leg K hvostenko, Russia (translated by H enry Pickford)
M eanw hile the second team m oved upw ard, crossing the R ussian route. O n th e fo u rth day they em erged o n to a shelf at th e base o f the steep u p p e r wall. A b an d o f severely broken rock aw aited them . N ot finding a sufficiently safe passage, th e guys began to exit to th e right, deviating from th eir p lan n ed line. Toward th e end o f th e fo u rth day th ey em erged o n to the Azeem Ridge (C o rd es-W h arto n , 2004). T hey req u ired a n o th e r 2 ½ days to ascend th e u p p er p art o f this ridge. O n July 12 they reached th eir high p o in t at one o f the tow ers along the su m m it ridge. The w eather began to w orsen, an d the prognosis for th e com ing three days was not consoling. T he team decided to descend via their ascent route. By this tim e on th e U k rain ian ro u te we had reached o u r final bivouac an d clim bed an o th er 150m on the su m m it tower. We estim ated there rem ained ab o u t 200m to the sum m it. D uring the night a storm started. The next day, in abom inable w eather, we succeeded in clim b ing an o th er 50m and reached the p o in t from w hich th e U krainian team had retreated in 2003. O n July 14, w ith the storm co n tin u in g , we clim bed three m ore ropelengths and em erged o nto the ridge. The sum m it was very close, b u t the next day the storm did n o t allow us to leave o u r portaledges. O n July 16 th e sto rm to o k a respite, an d at 11 a.m . we reached th e southw estern su m m it o f G reat Trango Tower. We quickly descended via th e route o f ascent, once again in a snow storm . O n the evening o f July 17 o u r friends m et us at the foot o f th e wall, a n d at base cam p a celebratory d in n e r awaited us. O n Broad Peak, having acclim atized sufficiently, we im m ediately ascended to C am p 3 at 7,100m an d cached o u r e q u ip m en t at C am p 4, at 7,500m . T he next day the w eather was o u tstan d in g , an d m any clim bers w ent from C am p 3 to the su m m it, b u t we descended for a rest. After o u r rest, w hen th e forecast p ro m ised great w eather, we w ent up. U n fo rtu n ately the p red ictio n did n o t com e tru e. A fter th ree days o f w aiting for an im p ro v em en t in C am p 3, we w ere forced to descend to catch our plane. Thus o u r expedition ended. O leg K hvostenko, Russia (translated by H enry Pickford)
