Gordoghan Zom III, Buni Zom Mountain. Nikolas Kroupis and I first ...
H
indu
R
aj
Gordoghan Zom III, B uni Z om M ountain. N ikolas K roupis and I first w ent to the Buni Z om range in July 2002 w ithout any know ledge o f the terrain and the geography o f the peaks. Two years later (M ay-June) o u r goal rem ained the sam e, to clim b Buni Z om M ain Peak (6,551m ). This tim e the two of us, with two m ore Greek climbers, Panos Sakellaris and Babis Politis, headed for the m o u n tain . We started w ith two days light trek from the last village (P hargam ) follow ing the Phargam gol, and established o u r base cam p at Kulakmali (3,950m). H oping to get over the 300-m eter rock wall th a t leads to the K h o rab o rt glacier, o u r plan was to cross the glacier and reach the sum m it via a 300-m eter ice face to the n o rth ridge. U nfortunately o u r efforts were cut off by very d em an d in g rock clim bing o f nearly 150 meters. Bad w eather and water com ing from melted snow, from above, m ade the climbing route wet and even more difficult. We decided to go back and reach the sum m it from G ordoghan Glacier passing over Buni Z om N o rth peak, as a New Z ealand team did on th e first ascent in 1957. We trekked back half way to Phargam village and m et the foot o f G ordoghan Glacier. Sakellaris and Politis trekked back to Phargam village and left for C hitral. W ith the help o f three p o rters, K roupis an d I scaled up to 4,700m an d set a cam p.
We arranged for the po rters to com e early the next m o rn in g to co n tin u e o u r way on the gla cier. O n the next day we were at 5,100m , having crossed th e w hole G ordoghan glacier, w hen we cam e before a dangerous net o f crevasses hidden by fresh snow. It proved im possible to find a way th ro u g h these crevasses. We set a second cam p at 5,065m near the icefall. Next day we tried to continue but finally tu rn e d back and we set a cam p at 4,915m and cam e up w ith the alternative plan o f clim bing G o rd o g h an Zorn I (6,240m ). At 03:30 on June 9 we set o u t for G ordoghan Zom 1. We followed a cone m orain e th a t leads to an ice gully (N36 08' 40.1"-E72 21 '31.9"). The route passes a m o rain e situated alm ost at the m iddle o f the length o f the G o r doghan glacier, and continues to the West face o f G ordoghan Z om III. We left the G ordoghan Glacier behind us and took the ice gully th at leads to a big snow -covered slope. The sum m it is n ot visible from this point. The peak th a t can be seen ahead has the G ordoghan Z om I su m m it behind it and on its left. We continued o u r way for this peak believing that this was G hordogan Zom . Finally we reached a slope covered by thick ice betw een 40° an d 50°. From this p o in t we saw th at th ere was a h ig h er peak b eh in d this first one. T he last 200 m eters were exhausting. At 11:00, Nikolas reached this first peak (N36 08' 59.2" - E72 22' 51.5" at 6,158m altitude GPS reading). This peak is not signed in Japanese 1:150,000 m aps so we gave the nam e G o rdoghan Z om III. G o rd o g h an Z om I is co n n ected w ith this peak by a very narro w ridge ab o u t 300 m eters long. This ab ru p t ridge is form ed by eroded rock w ith som e places covered by snow and had been im possible to be passed by a solo climber. Nikolas m et me lower on the slope. It was 13:30 w hen we reached o u r tent an d crawled in w ith exhaustion. We covered the 1,240 m eters to the peak in 6 h o u rs and we needed a n o th er 4 h o u rs to com e back. The snow condition had not been very good due to the early season. The best tim e to clim b in the Buni Zom m o u n tain range is in August. G e o r g e Z a r d a l id is , Greece
indu
R
aj
Gordoghan Zom III, B uni Z om M ountain. N ikolas K roupis and I first w ent to the Buni Z om range in July 2002 w ithout any know ledge o f the terrain and the geography o f the peaks. Two years later (M ay-June) o u r goal rem ained the sam e, to clim b Buni Z om M ain Peak (6,551m ). This tim e the two of us, with two m ore Greek climbers, Panos Sakellaris and Babis Politis, headed for the m o u n tain . We started w ith two days light trek from the last village (P hargam ) follow ing the Phargam gol, and established o u r base cam p at Kulakmali (3,950m). H oping to get over the 300-m eter rock wall th a t leads to the K h o rab o rt glacier, o u r plan was to cross the glacier and reach the sum m it via a 300-m eter ice face to the n o rth ridge. U nfortunately o u r efforts were cut off by very d em an d in g rock clim bing o f nearly 150 meters. Bad w eather and water com ing from melted snow, from above, m ade the climbing route wet and even more difficult. We decided to go back and reach the sum m it from G ordoghan Glacier passing over Buni Z om N o rth peak, as a New Z ealand team did on th e first ascent in 1957. We trekked back half way to Phargam village and m et the foot o f G ordoghan Glacier. Sakellaris and Politis trekked back to Phargam village and left for C hitral. W ith the help o f three p o rters, K roupis an d I scaled up to 4,700m an d set a cam p.
We arranged for the po rters to com e early the next m o rn in g to co n tin u e o u r way on the gla cier. O n the next day we were at 5,100m , having crossed th e w hole G ordoghan glacier, w hen we cam e before a dangerous net o f crevasses hidden by fresh snow. It proved im possible to find a way th ro u g h these crevasses. We set a second cam p at 5,065m near the icefall. Next day we tried to continue but finally tu rn e d back and we set a cam p at 4,915m and cam e up w ith the alternative plan o f clim bing G o rd o g h an Zorn I (6,240m ). At 03:30 on June 9 we set o u t for G ordoghan Zom 1. We followed a cone m orain e th a t leads to an ice gully (N36 08' 40.1"-E72 21 '31.9"). The route passes a m o rain e situated alm ost at the m iddle o f the length o f the G o r doghan glacier, and continues to the West face o f G ordoghan Z om III. We left the G ordoghan Glacier behind us and took the ice gully th at leads to a big snow -covered slope. The sum m it is n ot visible from this point. The peak th a t can be seen ahead has the G ordoghan Z om I su m m it behind it and on its left. We continued o u r way for this peak believing that this was G hordogan Zom . Finally we reached a slope covered by thick ice betw een 40° an d 50°. From this p o in t we saw th at th ere was a h ig h er peak b eh in d this first one. T he last 200 m eters were exhausting. At 11:00, Nikolas reached this first peak (N36 08' 59.2" - E72 22' 51.5" at 6,158m altitude GPS reading). This peak is not signed in Japanese 1:150,000 m aps so we gave the nam e G o rdoghan Z om III. G o rd o g h an Z om I is co n n ected w ith this peak by a very narro w ridge ab o u t 300 m eters long. This ab ru p t ridge is form ed by eroded rock w ith som e places covered by snow and had been im possible to be passed by a solo climber. Nikolas m et me lower on the slope. It was 13:30 w hen we reached o u r tent an d crawled in w ith exhaustion. We covered the 1,240 m eters to the peak in 6 h o u rs and we needed a n o th er 4 h o u rs to com e back. The snow condition had not been very good due to the early season. The best tim e to clim b in the Buni Zom m o u n tain range is in August. G e o r g e Z a r d a l id is , Greece
