Description of the ascent route to the summit Severnaia Kaidzhany via the North Ridge, category 2A.
Day 1. From the village Ordzhonikidze to the village Verkhnii Lars via the Military Georgian Road (32 km) - about an hour's drive.
Within the village, a small left tributary - Belaya Rechka - flows into the Terek River. You need to move west along the gorge of this stream.
The trail steeply winds its way up the left bank, gaining height. After 1.5-2 hours of walking, you exit the forest zone and after another hour, you reach a wide trough in the upper reaches of the gorge, where you can set up a bivouac.
You can also organize a bivouac an hour's walk further up the gorge, having climbed the high hills of the ancient terminal moraine of the glacier.
Day 2. Early start. Move in the direction of the canyon, compressed by "ram's foreheads". It takes about an hour to walk to the canyon across the scree slopes. The canyon can be traversed along the left side (simple climbing on "ram's foreheads" in a rope team) or along the right side, traversing the scree slopes of the East Ridge of S. Kaidzhany.
After about 200 meters, you enter a more gentle part of a wide trough-like couloir, which the canyon leads to. Having walked 150 m along the bottom of the "trough" and across simple, ruined rocks, you reach the shoulder of the North Ridge of the summit.
A snowy 100-meter ridge leads to a 40-50-meter rocky ascent with a steepness of about 60°. The rocks are extremely ruined (shales), and the protection is hook-based (pitons with long blades).
The ascent leads to a 100-meter sharp shale ridge, steeply rising (45°) towards the summit of Severnaia Kaidzhany. The ridge is partially covered with snow, and the rocks are very fragile.
Move with extreme caution and thorough protection! You reach the summit 5-6 hours after leaving the bivouac. The descent along the ascent route will take about 2 hours 30 minutes. With more significant snow cover, the ascent to the North Ridge is extremely hazardous.
From the bivouac to the Military Georgian Road, it's about 2 hours' walk. On the same day, you can return to Ordzhonikidze by car.
Equipment recommended for a group of 4 people:
- Main ropes 30 m - 2 pieces
- Rock pitons with long blades - 8 pieces
- Group carabiners - 6 pieces
- Hammers - 2 pieces
Description compiled by R. Proskuryakov
KAZBEK
Yuzhnaia Kaidzhany.
North-East Ridge
* subpeak
Photo by R. Proskuryakov