Brief Overview of Mt. Kuro Area

Mt. Kuro is located in the ridge separating the Hde gorge from the Darial gorge. The western slopes of the peak descend to the village of Kazbegi. From this side, two routes of category 2B difficulty lead to the summit. The eastern ridge, together with Mt. Shino, forms a vast cirque filled with moraine formations. The cirque is separated from the Darial gorge by the southern ridge of Mt. Kuro, which connects to the northwestern ridge of Mt. Shino and has a depression down to 3500 m at the junction. A category 1B route follows this ridge, accessing it through the cirque between Kuro and Shino at the depression. Several routes of 2nd and 3rd category difficulty have been climbed by various groups on the southern slopes of the eastern ridge in search of a route along the southern ridge. At a pronounced elevation (often mistaken for the summit of Kuro), a distinct ridge with steep slopes, rocky and icy, branches off the eastern ridge to the east-northeast. Together with the slopes of the main summit, these form the northern facade of the massif. Mt. Kuro also has a sloping talus cirque on its northern side, opening onto a large terrace in the Hde gorge. The cirque is bounded to the north by the slopes of an unnamed peak about 3900 m high, and to the west by the ridge separating the Hde gorge from the Darial gorge. To the south, the cirque adjoins the eastern ridge of Mt. Kuro. No ascent to Mt. Kuro has been made from this northern cirque to date.

Group Composition

The ascent was made on May 9, 1971, by a group of climbers from Tbilisi State University, consisting of:

1. Sarjveladze N.I. — 2nd category
2. Tarkhnishvili D.I. — 2nd category

1. Climbing category — technically challenging.
2. Area 2.9 (from the Perevalny Krepost to the village of Pan); Chauhi mountain range.
3. Traverse of peaks Leonidze (3773 m) — Japaridze (3733 m) with ascent via the South-West edge of peak Leonidze.
4. Proposed difficulty category — 4A.
5. Route characteristics: height difference — 350 m; average steepness of the edge on ascent — 60°; length of sections with 5th cat. diff. totals — 60 m.
6. Only rock pitons were used during the ascent along the edge. A total of 34 pitons were hammered in. 3 of them were used to create artificial footholds (ladders).
7. To complete the route from the base camp near three stones and back, 13.5 hours were spent in good weather conditions. Of these:

• approach to the route — 2.5 hours;
• ascent along the D-3 edge of peak Leonidze — 6 hours;

1. Climbing category - rock
2. Climbing area - Eastern Caucasus, Khde (Kistinki) gorge
3. Peak - Shino, height 3948 m, route - Shino via the center of the North face
4. Proposed category of complexity - 4B
5. Route characteristics: height difference of the wall - 900 m; average steepness 55°; length in meters of sections:
   • 2A - 400 (pre-summit ridge)
   • 2B - 140
   • 3A - 165
   • 3B - 260
   • 4A - 195