Little Sister
Little Sister (4,206m ), M iddle Sister (4,341m ), Big Sister (4,492m ), Zeus (4,747m ), Daisy (4,239m), Snow King (4,580m ), first ascents; Rock Dragon (4,597m), attem pt. A ndy B arret from the U.K. and I from C yprus arrived in Kyrgyzstan on S eptem ber 23, ho p in g to explore the far west c o rn er o f the W estern K okshaal-Too Range, a region th a t clim bers had n o t visited. But w hen we m eet w ith o u r logistics provider in Bishkek (ITM C), we learned that there was no way to know if we w ould find horses w hen we reached th e end o f th e 4×4 road, th ree days’ walk from the valley we w anted to visit. We spoke w ith V ladim ir Komissarov, the president the Federation o f A lpinism and Rock C lim bing o f the Kyrgyz R epublic, as well as being p resident o f th e A ssociation o f the C entral Asia Tour O perators. He had ju st retu rn e d from the first expedition to clim b in Torugart-Too, on the b o rd e r w ith C h in a [see Pat L ittlejohn’s rep o rt, above]. He gave us lots o f useful in fo r m atio n ab o u t this range. We d id n ’t w ant to spend to o m uch o f o u r lim ited tim e carrying gear to base cam p, so we changed o u r plans to T orugart, w ith its easier approach. N ext m o rning, arm ed w ith an old Russian m ap (the only m ap o f the area) th at we b o r row ed from V ladim ir, we loaded o u r pow erful Russian 4×4 van w ith loads o f food, gear, and
vodka, a n d left th e capital w ith o u r good driver Alexander. After 30 m in u tes o f d riving we had ou r first breakdow n, b u t A lexan der d id n ’t look w orried, repaired the van in an hour, a n d h ad us on th e m ove again. A fter three days a n d a cocktail o f b reak dow ns, off-ro ad driv in g , river crossings, dust, bad w eather, and a big navigation exercise, we drove o u r 4×4 van up to 3,652m in a big valley on th e n o rth side o f th e range, w ith b eautiful views o f the T orugart peaks. T he w eather was b ad the next day, so we took the o p p o rtu n ity to acclim atize an d plan o u r clim bs for the next few days. A lthough the range is 35km long, only the glaciers in the center o f the range had been explored by the previous expedition. This left th e east and west sides u n to u ch ed , w ith lots o f u n n am ed and u n clim b ed su m m its to have a go at. Next m o rn in g we w oke to a perfect blue sky. We grabbed o u r gear and w alked up a peak close to BC on the east side o f th e valley. We w ent up the lower west slopes to get on the n o rth ridge, which was a nice snow -covered ridge (up to 40°) ru n n in g dow n from the su m m it o f Peak 4,206m , w hich we nam ed Little Sister (PD ). Full o f energy from o u r first success, we m ade an attem p t the next day on the n o rth face o f Peak 4,597m , west o f BC, b u t we underestim ated th e difficulties, an d after reaching 4,200m , tu rn ed back, as the clim bing was getting hard er th an w hat we were ready for. O n O ctober 1 we did a fast traverse o f two peaks southeast o f base cam p. After crossing the frozen river on the east side o f the valley, we clim bed th e west face o f th e first one, w hich was h ard w ork in deep snow (40°). We reached the en d o f the n o rth ridge th at ru n s betw een
Little Sister a n d this peak. From this poin t we clim bed th e last rock section to the 4 ,3 4 1m su m m it o f M iddle Sister (AD). D espite clouds a n d w ind, we th en raced over to the su m m it o f peak 4,467m , Big Sister (A D-). After a m uch-needed rest day, on O cto b er 3 we w alked to an u n n a m e d d ry glacier southwest o f BC. O n th e east side o f th e glacier we discovered rocky peaks w ith am azing lim estone form ations, an d at the head we fou nd a beautiful snow covered m o u n ta in th a t was w aiting to be clim bed. We started up a big 40°– 50° gully ru n n in g dow n the n o rth ridge, an d then w orked o u r way up rock, snow, and ice, to 50°, to the su m m it o f 4,747m Peak Zeus (AD). From this su m m it we had views west and south th at unveiled a sea o f unclim bed peaks. A big storm consum ed the next three days. D u ring the sto rm we spent m ost o f o u r tim e h o ld in g u p o u r cheap C hinese ten t, using o u r b odies to stop it from break in g in th e stro n g w inds. O n the afternoon o f O ctober 6 the w eather im proved, and Andy left ten t-h o ld in g duties to me, while he m ade a fast ascent o f a 4,239m m o u n tain close to cam p that he nam ed Daisy (F). The next day the w eather im proved, and we w ent east into a big un n am ed valley and then south into a small valley, w ith Little Sister and M iddle Sister on the west side and Big Sister at the south end. O n the east side was a nice snow peak w ith a long n orth ridge. We found a big gully th at took us to 4,000m on the ridge, w hich we followed to the su m m it o f Snow King, 4,580m (PD ). From the top we had views east into an unnam ed valley that was full o f superb snow peaks. O n O cto b er 8 we m ade a n o th e r a tte m p t on th e 4,597m peak lo o m in g over base cam p, w hich by now we had nam ed Rock D ragon. This tim e we attem pted the n o rth ridge. A 40° gully led us to the ridge at 4,100m . We tried to clim b the ridge to the su m m it, b u t bad lim estone got worse as we moved higher. The clim bing was not hard (VD-S), b u t loose and unprotectable. We reached 4,300m , before deciding th at the rem aining ridge was too dangerous. We then said byebye to the am azing T orugart Range and left for the bars and cuisine o f Bishkek. C o n st a n t in o s A n d r e o u , Cyprus
vodka, a n d left th e capital w ith o u r good driver Alexander. After 30 m in u tes o f d riving we had ou r first breakdow n, b u t A lexan der d id n ’t look w orried, repaired the van in an hour, a n d h ad us on th e m ove again. A fter three days a n d a cocktail o f b reak dow ns, off-ro ad driv in g , river crossings, dust, bad w eather, and a big navigation exercise, we drove o u r 4×4 van up to 3,652m in a big valley on th e n o rth side o f th e range, w ith b eautiful views o f the T orugart peaks. T he w eather was b ad the next day, so we took the o p p o rtu n ity to acclim atize an d plan o u r clim bs for the next few days. A lthough the range is 35km long, only the glaciers in the center o f the range had been explored by the previous expedition. This left th e east and west sides u n to u ch ed , w ith lots o f u n n am ed and u n clim b ed su m m its to have a go at. Next m o rn in g we w oke to a perfect blue sky. We grabbed o u r gear and w alked up a peak close to BC on the east side o f th e valley. We w ent up the lower west slopes to get on the n o rth ridge, which was a nice snow -covered ridge (up to 40°) ru n n in g dow n from the su m m it o f Peak 4,206m , w hich we nam ed Little Sister (PD ). Full o f energy from o u r first success, we m ade an attem p t the next day on the n o rth face o f Peak 4,597m , west o f BC, b u t we underestim ated th e difficulties, an d after reaching 4,200m , tu rn ed back, as the clim bing was getting hard er th an w hat we were ready for. O n O ctober 1 we did a fast traverse o f two peaks southeast o f base cam p. After crossing the frozen river on the east side o f the valley, we clim bed th e west face o f th e first one, w hich was h ard w ork in deep snow (40°). We reached the en d o f the n o rth ridge th at ru n s betw een
Little Sister a n d this peak. From this poin t we clim bed th e last rock section to the 4 ,3 4 1m su m m it o f M iddle Sister (AD). D espite clouds a n d w ind, we th en raced over to the su m m it o f peak 4,467m , Big Sister (A D-). After a m uch-needed rest day, on O cto b er 3 we w alked to an u n n a m e d d ry glacier southwest o f BC. O n th e east side o f th e glacier we discovered rocky peaks w ith am azing lim estone form ations, an d at the head we fou nd a beautiful snow covered m o u n ta in th a t was w aiting to be clim bed. We started up a big 40°– 50° gully ru n n in g dow n the n o rth ridge, an d then w orked o u r way up rock, snow, and ice, to 50°, to the su m m it o f 4,747m Peak Zeus (AD). From this su m m it we had views west and south th at unveiled a sea o f unclim bed peaks. A big storm consum ed the next three days. D u ring the sto rm we spent m ost o f o u r tim e h o ld in g u p o u r cheap C hinese ten t, using o u r b odies to stop it from break in g in th e stro n g w inds. O n the afternoon o f O ctober 6 the w eather im proved, and Andy left ten t-h o ld in g duties to me, while he m ade a fast ascent o f a 4,239m m o u n tain close to cam p that he nam ed Daisy (F). The next day the w eather im proved, and we w ent east into a big un n am ed valley and then south into a small valley, w ith Little Sister and M iddle Sister on the west side and Big Sister at the south end. O n the east side was a nice snow peak w ith a long n orth ridge. We found a big gully th at took us to 4,000m on the ridge, w hich we followed to the su m m it o f Snow King, 4,580m (PD ). From the top we had views east into an unnam ed valley that was full o f superb snow peaks. O n O cto b er 8 we m ade a n o th e r a tte m p t on th e 4,597m peak lo o m in g over base cam p, w hich by now we had nam ed Rock D ragon. This tim e we attem pted the n o rth ridge. A 40° gully led us to the ridge at 4,100m . We tried to clim b the ridge to the su m m it, b u t bad lim estone got worse as we moved higher. The clim bing was not hard (VD-S), b u t loose and unprotectable. We reached 4,300m , before deciding th at the rem aining ridge was too dangerous. We then said byebye to the am azing T orugart Range and left for the bars and cuisine o f Bishkek. C o n st a n t in o s A n d r e o u , Cyprus
