May, 1999.

"HIGH TENSION"

ANNA PIUNOVA

In the spring of 1999, Alexander Klenov teamed with Mikhail Davy, Mikhail Pershin, and Alexey Bolotov decided to ascend Thalay Sagar by its north face.

A year earlier, Klenov had recced this area and was so attracted by Thalay Sagar that he had convinced his mates that it was this very wall they ought to climb. The expedition was originally planned in autumn 1998, but had to be postponed because of the Russian economic crisis.

The journey was begun from Delhi, from where the party took a bus to Gangotri via Rishikesh and Uttarkashi. It took three days to reach Gangotri. From Gangotri, the trail was good, but once in a while, stones rolled down from the slopes on the sides. The team gained 1700 m in two days. A firm, regularly used, path led through a moraine, then crossed the glacier from its left and went up the icefall on its right to an ice 'pillow'.

The base camp was established by the Kedar Tal lake, 4700 m and the ABC at 5400 m, on 16 May, on the ice 'pillow'. From ABC, the team began its eleven day climb on 17 May. On an average they gained 200 m per day. The nights were spent on a portaledge because of the lack of natural bivouac ledges. Using a 'portaledge' as a movable camp allowed them to 'bivy' quickly on any feature. Though on some day, they were forced to stay put because of bad weather or difficult terrain, on the whole it was a remarkable alpine-style ascent over an extremely dangerous route.

After having spent two days at base camp, the guys were bubbling with energy. They transferred their gear and supplies to ABC and recced the area a bit. Only Michail Pershin was not feeling well and it was decided to send him down to Gangotri with Victor Ostanin to recover. The rest were about to start their acclimatisation trek without them when they were informed over the radio that Michail was feeling better and would like to join them. So the team delayed their progress till the two came up. In the meantime, the team went up to 6300 m and spent two nights there for acclimatisation before returning to base camp. Two days later, all of them returned to-ABC.

The wall looked unapproachable. There were vertical monolithic steep rocks right at the beginning of the route and there was one crumbly-looking rock overhanging from somewhere near the summit. The weather had turned worse and after fixing some pitches, the party was forced to bivy. Avalanches kept passing them by without a break. They had to set up the portaledge under endless snow and strong wind. By morning, the storm seemed to have spent itself out. The next section was very steep, and the weather turned bad again. The team spent another night in the portaledge, waiting for the snow and ferocious wind to stop. It didn't. So they decided to move up slowly even in the foul weather.

It meant climbing into an endless storm and through horrible frost. Even the cracks were filled with ice. But the daily, rigorous, intensive climbing had overcome the most difficult part of the route. The leader actually 'freed ' the way where possible, and climbed each pitch with direct aid. The three behind him followed with jumars, hauling the bags after them. Every afternoon, a different person led. However, Alexander Klenov, the strongest member of the team, led most of the time.

It is worth mentioning that, in the section between Camps 2 and 3, the cracks in the ice suddenly came to an end and the climbers came up against the monolithic vertical wall. Michail Pershin had led that pitch with sky-hooks and bolts. By afternoon, he moved down to the portaledge, having fixed 30 m of rope. He was very tired and complained of burning eyes. It was later discovered that he'd had a serious bum on the retina which resulted in damaging his eyesight. He was not able to lead any more, though he helped in jumaring and hauling up the luggage. Mikhail Davy took his place. By the end of that pitch, they had swung to the right, over a small crack that seemed to form a narrow river of ice. Sections of monolith rocks, ice, cornices all seemed to alternate and merge. Combined with bad weather, there wasn't a moment's respite. The team crossed the ice couloir at 6400 m. The terrain then changed abruptly. Above the couloir, the rocks were unreliable and steep. Their colour, too, was a bright red. Belay was not possible, so Alexander Klenov had to find his way through long portions without belay. It was more than just difficult climbing.

Camp 4 was set up at 6630 m. In the evening, Klenov went up as far as he could. There were huge cornices which threatened to collapse because of the crumbly rocks.

On 27 May, the party attempted the summit. They left the portaledge behind, carrying only climbing gear. Every rope length covered meant a longer and more difficult retreat. Fortunately, in spite of high winds and brutally low temperatures, the day was clear and bright. After 300 m, following Alexander's careful lead, avoiding any risk, the team reached the summit at around 2 p.m. It was wonderful. A white, sparkling silence reigned all around. At the end of eleven hard days of exhausting work, they had climbed by a very difficult route over Thalay Sagar's north face.

They clicked a few photos, but did not congratulate each other (as per tradition, that must wait till they reach base camp), and began rappeling to their portaledge. Usually, the weather turned bad by afternoon, but they were able to reach their yellow 'starling-houses' by evening, weary, but pleased.

The descent to the couloir was exactly via the route of ascent. After the couloir, they followed the previous expedition's route, which cost them two days to reach ABC. From ABC to base camp took one day and all the reserves of their energy. They had to drag their luggage over soft and deep snow and make sure they didn't fall head over heel.

The route was named 'High Tension', although some call it the Russian Direttissima, a beautiful and difficult ascent, a feat in the history of mountaineering.