ASIAN ALPINE E-NEWS
Issue No 85. April 2021

Unclimbed 6006m Peak N face in Lhagu Glacier, Kangri Garpo, East Tibet

Contents① Nakamura’s New Book

Tamotsu Nakamura② Forgotten Sabakh, Pamir Alai, Ashat valley

Page 2
Page 3 ~ 8③ Nepal Mountaineering News

Nepal Mountaineering Association
1Page 9 ~ 20

Unclimbed Summits and Three Parallel Rivers

Forgotten Sabakh. Sabah area, Pamir Alai, Ashat valley
2012-2014.
Introduction
The Kyrgyz Republic is a mountainous Central Asian country. Further, the Kyrgyz
Republic proposed the International Year of Mountains 2002 (IYM 2002). The country’s
geography is dominated by the Tien Shan Mountains and the Pamir-Alai Mountains.
Mountain tourism is a recent idea in the Kyrgyz Republic though there was a fledgling
mountain tourism industry even when the country was a Soviet Republic (Schneiderand Stadelbauer, 2008) In fact, the Law of Tourism was created as recently as 1999 andthe State Agency of Tourism was established in April 2007.
The area that the present-day Kyrgyz Republic occupies has been regarded as marginal
since the times of the Soviet Union and has essentially functioned as an agriculturaland pastoral area. 地理学論集 №84（2009) Geographical Studies №84（2009)

Schneider and Stadelbauer (2008) give an overview of the tourism in the country,emphasizing the diversity in mountain tourism. Tourism development, however, islimited mostly to the eastern part of the country―the Isykukul (Ysyk-köl) Lake area.
Thus, studies on tourism in the Kyrgyz Republic are extremely limited, being mostly
conducted in the eastern part of the country.
1This study outlines the current status of tourism in the Pamir-Alai Mountains area, thesouthernmost area of the country and discusses the current problems faced by thetourism sector in the area. The study area was selected because the following twoprojects are in progress: the UNU/GEF/UNEP project for Sustainable Land
Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (PALM) (CDE, 2005;Hannam, 2006; Jansky and Pachova, 2006) and the Pamir-Alai Transboundary
Conservancy Area (PATCA) project (AGRECO Consortium, 2007; Watanabe andKasirov, 2007; Baird, 2008).

The more attractive Aschat Gorge? First of all, the possibility of first ascents.

I first thought about visiting Sabakh back in the 1990s, a time when my blood started
boiling just from the possibility of doing a first ascent. During that time the archives ofthe Russian Mountaineering Federation were not in electronic format, so I borrowed
printed reports on the ascents to read at home. Even then very few mountaineers knewof this mountain valley, while the neighboring regions, Ak-Su and Karavshin, weregaining huge popularity. In 1997 our “Russian Way: Walls of the World” project started,2

and this led me far from the summits of Pamir Alai, but I never forgot about Sabakh.

The first mountaineers in the region were members of the “Spartak” Moscow team, whoexplored the area in the early 1980s, but did not climb. The huge north face of Sabakh3

(5,300m) was first climbed in 1985 by a team from Novosibirsk led by A. Plotnikov; amonth later climbers from the Spartak team, under the guidance of Vladimir Bashkirov,
climbed their own line on the north wall of Sabakh. In the following years Moscow
mountaineers did many first ascents, but not all of these achievements had beenrecorded and graded. Nevertheless, we will try to restore some historical justice. Amountaineer from Spartak, Andrei Komolov, provided the following information aboutsome early climbs, none of which are documented in the Russian Climbing RouteClassification Record: West Parus (4,850m), north wall (Kolomyitsev-Komolov-Shibanov,tentatively 5B); Main Parus (5,053m), first ascent from the south (E. Moskovets, leader,tentatively 4A); and East Parus (4,800m), first ascent along the north ridge (S.
Shorokhov, leader, 4B).
A team from Saint Petersburg led by A. Moshnikov climbed a beautiful line on thecenter of Sabakh in 1986. In 1989, Mityukhin and partners climbed a very steep routeon the north side of East Parus. Another team, led by Egorov, climbed the southwest
ridge of West Parus, and in 1990 a Spartak team climbed the north face of that peak. Ateam led by N. Petrov did the full traverse of the Ashat wall from east to west. A
Ukrainian team with M. Zagirnyak as leader also did a new route on East Parus, but
the exact location is unknown.

According to the local guide Nurdin, only two expeditions visited the region between
1990 and 2012: an Italian expedition at the end of the 1990s, and a Ukrainian
expedition in 2008. The Italians climbed a beautiful line on East Parus and evenpublished a book about this climb, but the team from Odessa was less lucky: Theclimbers were caught under huge rockfall on the northeast wall of East Parus and a
rescue was required, but fortunately there were no serious consequences.
Both of these teams climbed from the Uryam Gorge, on the east side of these mountains.
No mountaineers had visited Ashat Gorge for 22 years, though a large number ofcommercial groups have trekked from Ashat into Ak-Su along two passes, with the helpof the guide Nurdin.
In 2012 I decided to organize an expedition to this area. During our 20-day trip, Vasily
Kolisnyk and I ascended a summit located above our base camp and called it Peak4

Prometheus (3,900m, east ridge, 360m, 3A). On August 5 we climbed seven pitches on
the north wall of West Parus (4,850m) but were halted by blank slabs with no ice. (InMarch 2014, Alexander Zhigalov and Pavel Vlasenko from Krasnoyarsk completed thisline.) Six days later we climbed the south-southwest buttress of West Parus (700m, 5A,with free climbing up to VI).
In 2013 I gathered a larger team of six. Four of my young friends planned to participate
in the Russian Climbing Championship, while my friend Vasilyand I climbed
mountains “for the soul.” We supported our young friends during their long Sabakh
climb and helped them afterward, because one of them was slightly injured.
Vasily and I climbed a new line on the left side of the north face of Peak 4,750m in lightstyle, with two very bad nights on the wall. Our route, Alkonost, was 700m, 5B. I havecalled the previously unnamed peak Argo because it resembled the ship of Argonauts.
We also attempted the west wall of Main Parus in deteriorating weather conditions. We
climbed 10 pitches and then spent two days on the wall waiting for better weather, butthen ran out of time as the expedition was ending.
Meanwhile, over five days at the end of July, A. Antoshin, I. Osipov, V Shipilov, and A.
Vasilyev climbed a variation to the Plotnikov route on the north face of Sabakh (5,300m).
After fixing pitches at the bottom, the four men spent five days climbing the 2,010m
route.
Many possibilities for first ascents remain in the Ashat Valley. Mt. Parus alone
hasthree summits and seven worthwhile faces, including the unclimbed northwest wallof Main Parus and northeast wall of West Parus. (Parus means “sail” in Russian.) Someof these walls have close to 1,000m of vertical relief.

The whole north wall of Svarog(labeled Peak 4810m, but definitely higher than 5,000m) is unclimbed. The wall isprobably the steepest in the region, with more than 1,000m of relief. Vladimir
Bashkirov and his team tried to climb it in 1990, but since then there have been noattempts.
More to the east one can find Mt. Argo with only two routes: N. Petrov’s route in theright part of the north wall (6A) and our new route Alkonost along the stern of Argo.

5

The east end of the Ashat wall is Dioskuri (Pollux on the east and Cator on the west),
which is 4,700m according to the maps but definitely higher in reality. There is only oneroute, following cracks and couloirs up the north wall.
There are many limestone peaks below Parus, along the sides of the Ashat Gorge. They
include Peak Ashat, Peak Prometheus, and a number of other mountains, from which
one sometimes has to rescue the local hunters, because they know how to ride a horse
but not how to climb. In addition, the region has good blocks for bouldering: Vasily and I
spent lots of time on these boulders as we watched our friends on Sabakh,The region has a huge potential for winter ascents. Sabakh is just created for grandwinter routes, and the northwest wall of Main Parus is covered with ice build-up, like in
Scotland but on a wall more than 1,000m high. One definite negative of the Ashat wallis that the bases of most peaks are composed of loose shale, though this can often be
avoided by climbing snow and ice. Also, the granite of the northern walls is considerably
broken by melt-freeze, much more than in Ak-Su or in Karavshin. The Ashat valley also
has lots of horse flies because it is pastureland. On the other hand, you can order pita
bread, kaymak, and ayran from the shepherds.
The Ashat Valley is to the west of the Karavshin and Ak-Su areas, and like them can bereached from Uzgurush village. It takes 10 to 12 hours to reach a base camp near theterminus of the glacier. This is twice as long as to reach Ak-Su, and donkey drivers ask
a double price for the trip. Nurdin, who owns a huge guesthouse in Uzgurush, canarrange everything.To reach East Parus you head up the Uryam Valley from the main
Laylak (Lailak or Lyaylyak) valley before reaching Ashat. The Ashat gorge can also bereached from Ak-Su through Dalnyi Pass into Uryam Gorge, then over Parus Pass.
Ashat is a compact area. The hike from our base camp near the source of the Ashat
River to the foot of all peaks of the Ashat wall and the west side of Main Parus and West
Parus was only one hour.
In winter 2014 was committed two new ascents to the top of Parus West and the peak in
the lateral ridge called pioneers peak Sochi. In August 2014 a team of 4 people firstclimbed to the top of the north face of Svarog /4960 m./. They climbed the biggest roof
/15 m./ in the CIS.

6NepalMOUNTAINEERING NEWS

Nepal Mountaineering AssociationMarch 2021

The 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Nepal Mountaineering
Association is going to take place on 28th Chaitra 2077 (10th April2021), Saturday at 12 noon at Alice Receptions, Gairidhara ,Kathmandu.

Notice regarding Mountaineering Disaster Relief and Educational
Support (MDRES).

Notice Regarding 30th Annual General Meeting of Nepal
Mountaineering Association.

Discussion with representatives of Everest Bank Limited ( 3rd March2021)

Discussion with representatives of Everest Bank Limited in presence ofBoard members of Nepal Mountaineering Association and Goodwill
Ambassador of EBL, Mingma Gyabu Sherpa also the Board Member ofNMA on possibility of working together on mountaineering issues.

Congratulatory Program (8th March 2021)

NMA organized Congratulatory program to congratulate newly appointed
Vice President and Members of Nepal Tourism Board, Newly Elected
Executive Board Members of Everest Summiteers Association, Himalayan
Rescue Association, Tourist Guide Association of Nepal & Association ofKailash Tour Operators Nepal on 8 March 2021 2:00pm NST at Nepal
Tourism Board, Bhrikutimandap.

International Women’s Day ( 8th March 2021)

NMA organized a talk program on ‘Opportunities and Challenges in the Expedition
for Women Mountaineers’ on the occasion of International Women’s Day at Nepal
Tourism Board, Bhrikutimandap on 8 March 2021, 3:00pm NST.

Read More...

Discussion meeting with different tourism stakeholder (12th March2021)

Discussion meeting with different tourism stakeholders regarding the AnnualGeneral Meeting and Election of Nepal Mountaineering Association at Yellow
Pagoda Hotel, Kantipath on 12 March 2021, Friday.

NMA handed over NMA Flag to Second Vice President Ms. MayaSherpa ( 17th March 2021)

The Board Members of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) bid a farewell to theSecond Vice President Ms. Maya Sherpa for her coming Expedition and handed overNMA flag while wishing for her successful ascent to Mt. Annapurna and Mt. Dhaulagiri.
Ms. Maya Sherpa has also ascended all the 8000 peaks of the world and has created a
successful history. We wish her every success for her every endeavour.

Suicide Prevention First Responder Training ( 24th March 2021)

Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and Nepal Mountaineering Association(NMA) jointly organized an interactive Suicide Prevention First Responder Training
on the 24th March 2021 (11th Falgun 2077) at the NRNA office, Baluwatar,
Kathmandu from 11:45AM to 5:00pm.

Read More...

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Nepal Mountaineering Association · Nagpokhari · Kathmandu 44600 · Nepal