Ascent Passport

1. Area — Kyrgyzstan, Pamir-Alay, Karavshin Valley (Kara-Su river basin) 5.4.3.
2. Peak — Yellow Wall, via the left part of the east wall
3. Proposed — 5A category, first ascent
4. Route type — rock climbing
5. Route characteristics:

Elevation gain of the main section — 600 m,

route length — 800 m.

length of sections with 6th category difficulty — 120 m, 5th category — 280 m

average steepness of the main section — 52°

6. Equipment used on the route: anchor hooks — 23/11, cams — 86/48, + aid climbing on micro-protection — 35. Left behind — 1 anchor hook (section R4–R5). Found on the route old bolts (stations R5, R7)
7. Total climbing time — 9.5 hours, number of days — 1.
8. Team leader: Alexander Zhigalov, 1st sports category

Team members: Anastasia Ermishina, Candidate for Master of Sports

9. Team coaches:

Valery Balezin, Master of Sports of International Class, Honored Coach

Nikolai Zakharov, Master of Sports of International Class, Honored Coach

10. Departure dates:

On the route — at 11:30, August 12, 2014

On the summit — at 20:45, August 12, 2014

11. Ascent organized by — Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Krasnoyarsk Krai

2014

1 — Climbed route, left part of E wall, 2014 2 — via the ledge on E wall, 5A, Solonnikov, 1987 3 — via the center of E wall, 5B, Yanushevich, 2005

Route profile on the left, taken from the descent path

Hand-drawn profile of the route

Panorama of the area

Tactical Actions of the Team

In July 2014, the Russian Championship in mountaineering in the technical class took place in the Karavshin valley. After the championship, some teams had a few free days left.

Thus, Anastasia Ermishina from the Tomsk-Krasnoyarsk team and Alexander Zhigalov from the Krasnoyarsk-2 team joined forces to make two first ascents:

• On Silver Wall
• On Yellow Wall

After completing the first ascent on Silver Wall, South summit, approximately 4A category, on August 12, they left the base camp to choose a line for the first ascent on Yellow Wall.

Initially, they planned to follow a line to the right of Yanushevich's route, 5B category. Since they left the camp late, daylight might not be sufficient, so they decided to take a shorter and easier line.

They noticed the left part of the east wall, which, according to their data, had no existing climbing routes, and the wall was large enough, with the upper bastion directly leading to the summit. Routes on the right part of the wall required overcoming the upper section via scree to reach the summit.

They started the ascent at 11:30. The route follows the line of oblique black ledges, going from left to right across the left part of the wall. Transitions between ledges were made using:

• small pendulum movements,
• climbing in some places.

Each transition to the left straightens the route and shortens its length.

Key sections: R4–R5, R6–R9.

Features:

• thin, tight, overhanging cracks,
• loose blocks,
• slabs.

On the route, they found an old bolt, station R5, and a Petzl piton with an ear, station R7, with tied cordelettes. According to the information received, these were rappel stations of Alexander Yanushevich's team from Krasnoyarsk.

On section R4–R5, they left an anchor hook. They reached the mid-level ledge at 17:20.

The upper bastion consists of a series of inclined chimneys formed by separate sounding blocks. Climbing is complex. In some places, the rock has a thin weathering crust.

They reached the summit at 20:45. They did not find a control cairn or a container for a note. They cut a plastic bottle and left a note inside it, wrapped in a plastic bag.

They descended to the camp at 22:30. The planned route was 5A category, but the presence of challenging aid climbing and the length of sections with difficult climbing suggest a category of 5B.

Route Description by Sections

Section R0–R1: The start of the route is on simple terrain, with grass-filled cracks leading to the left part of a large crescent-shaped ledge. Passing through the ledge involves aid climbing on a wet crack. Exit onto a slab with a crack. Station on a small ledge.

Section R1–R2: From the station, simple climbing to the right and up towards an edge. Behind the edge is a convenient ledge, station.

Section R2–R3: From the ledge upwards, towards the base of a large black ledge, involves a series of short walls, ledges, and numerous cracks and fissures.

• short walls
• ledges
• numerous cracks and fissures

Station is convenient, near an internal corner.

Section R3–R4: An inclined internal corner, one of whose walls is the large black ledge, inclined from left to right. In bad weather, water runs through this area. In the middle of the corner is a small ledge next to a thorny bush. Station is semi-suspended.

Section R4–R5: First key section. The corner continues and divides into several identical ones. Need to move along the leftmost one. Tensioned aid climbing under an overhang. Here, in the left overhanging wall, an anchor hook is left. In the upper part, a large sounding stone is wedged in the internal corner. Aid climbing through it. Then exit onto a wall with an oblique crack from left to right. Along the crack to a small flake, where an old bolt with a large ear is found. Station.

Section R5–R6: The crack continues further, from left to right under oblique corners with overhangs — not to be climbed. To the left, a bastion with good relief, ledges with grass, is visible.

• From the station, pendulum movement to the left
• Exit to the bastion through internal corners, walls

Station on a good ledge under overhanging ledges, corners.

Section R6–R7: Start of the second key section. Inclined internal corners, one of whose walls is an overhanging ledge. Start moving along the leftmost one. Exit onto a small ledge with grass. Here, a Petzl piton with an ear is found. Station.

Section R7–R8: From the ledge upwards, aid climbing on a thin crack. The crack ends, pendulum movement to the right (3 m), transition to a crack. Climbing along it to a small inclined ledge. Station.

Section R8–R9: Aid climbing up a thin crack, towards the base of an inclined red internal corner. Along it, aid climbing on anchors and micro-protection. Exit at the junction of the corner with neighboring corners, through a ledge onto a large mid-level ledge. End of key sections.

Section R9–R10: Mid-level ledge. Easy climbing. Approach to a wall under large chimneys.

Section R10–R11: Wall with various relief. Exit onto a grassy ledge.

Section R11–R12: Wall with a crack, exit onto a chimney formed by a large flake. Station on the flake.

Section R12–R13: Large red chimney, with an overhanging oblique ledge to the left. In the middle of the chimney, pendulum movement to the right, into a neighboring chimney with stacked, riddled with loose blocks. Challenging climbing. Rock has a thin weathering crust. Exit under a ledge, station.

Section R13–R14: Through the ledge, exit into a series of chimneys, transitioning to the right from one to another. Station on an inclined ledge.

Section R14–R15: Climbing a wall with cracks into an inclined chimney. Exit onto a convenient ledge, station.

Section R15–R16: Climbing a vertical internal corner into an inclined internal corner. In the upper part, loose stones, blocks. Station on a ledge.

Section R16–R17: Inclined wide chimney. In the upper part, sounding blocks stacked on top of each other.

Section R17–R18: Wall with rounded boulders, "ram's foreheads." Easy climbing. Exit onto a ridge, start of a crest.

Section R18–R19: Climbing along the ridge to the right, easy. Challenging sections are bypassed. Simultaneous movement of all participants is possible.

Section R19–R20: Exit onto a shoulder. At this point, the route converges with Yanushevich's route, 2005. Exit onto the summit.

Descent via a descent couloir.