Trip Reports

Peak Lenin - 23 Jul to 14 Aug '16

Acclimatising from base camp on Peak Lenin

Written by Leader Robert Anderson, August 2016

Expedition Leader: Robert Anderson
Local guides: Andrei, Roz, Nikolai
Members: Alessandro, Bob, Brett, Damien, Reuben, Matthew, Mandy, Mary, Jeremy, Ron.

With thoughts of Yurts and yaks, traveling along the Silk Road through high arid valleys and ascending high onto the snow clad slopes of Pik Lenin, we set off for a summer season in the Pamirs.

For Brett, Ron and I, we would be returning after a near miss last year, knowing that only the weather and a few hundred meters stood between us and the top. For others, it was a rare opportunity to visit the heart of Central Asia, experiencing a mix of ancient cultures and modern society topped by an attempt on one of the famous five of the Snow Leopard Peaks. Base Camp is set amongst grassy alpine meadows ringed by blue alpine lakes. Ridges rise 500 meters above Camp, ideal for quick hikes into the heights and a return to the Yurt for overflowing bowls of stew, pizza, and watermelon slices. We certainly wouldn't be going hungry.

The trail to Camp 1 quickly introduced us to the heights and scale of the higher mountains, with the glacier extending out for kilometers across and upwards, curving between precipitous ridges of black, orange and grey rock. Soon the full expanse of Lenin was revealed, towering nearly 2,500 meters above us. Camp 1 would be home for two weeks, with our stand up tents, dining tent and tables, a shower on call and three hot meals a day. With a climb to the top of Yulan Peak at 5,100 meters, and a day front pointing up and rappelling down the ice cliffs on the glacier, we were set to tackle the heights.

At 4:15 a.m. we departed Camp 1, headlamps flickering across the ice and rushing streams of the glacier, while our harnesses clanked with ascenders, descenders and carabiners. At the base of the face we roped up, soon crossing over crevasses, snow bridges, then following fixed ropes up the ice cliffs. The sun rose over the ridge, casting the Alai Valley far below in hues of red and a cool breeze sprang up to cool our passage onto Camp 2 at 5,400 meters. There we tested our high altitude acclimitization by reading The Cyrillic alphabet in our Russian soup.

A welcome sun warmed our tents at 6:30 a.m the next morning and by early afternoon we had ascended the heights to our 6,100 meter Camp 3. It only took a little added enthusiasm to follow Alessandro over to a new high point for him on Peak Razdalnaya at 6,148 meters, perched on the ridge between Kyrgastan and Tajikistan. We galloped back down the slopes, spent a restful night at Camp 2 and were back at Camp 1 for lunch the following day. A few days later we moved back up to the heights, with a quick night at Camp 2, before moving up to Camp 3. The remote and jagged peaks of Tajikistan glowed in the sunset, the team was set and we settled in for some fast sleeping. The forecast was good, the team was strong, and then as darkness settled, it started to snow.

At 1 a.m. the tent was deathly quiet, no sound or hint of snow and we had a moment of hope for clearing weather. But the roof was sagging deeply, and after a few solid thumps the snow slid from the roof like an avalanche and settled hallway up the sides of the tent. The flurry of flakes hitting the roof resumed with a passion.

Outside, tents rose in white blankets, entombed in snow and the walk from tent to tent left a trough behind me. An hour later, hoping for a reprieve, another talk with our local guides yielded little solace, as the snow continued its quest to bury our tents. At dawn, with a forecast for increasing snowfall that afternoon, we dug out into the clouds and waded back down the mountain. While the forecast might be predicting the major weather fronts, it didn't preclude the Pamirs from making their own concoction of weather to dump a foot or more of white overnight. As we descended, a lone climber struggled down the summit ridge from 6,400 meters, leaving the only track on the mountain for the day.

For those of us back for round two, it was a good reminder the big mountains will always create their own mix of challenges, beyond which human skills, forecasts and plans can still be thwarted. And for those on their first Kyrgastan adventure, we hope they are already plotting a return. « Previous report | Next report »

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