A closed glacier or a trap for the careless. Tips for Climbers How to Avoid Falling into Cracks Mountaineering

A closed glacier or a trap for the careless

Vasiliev Leonid Borisovich - Kharkov, doctor, MS of the USSR.
Photos of the editor - doctor, MS USSR

Trust in a friend ...

In the mountains, there are situations from which no one is immune. The most experienced fall into avalanches and under ice landslides, the most careful do not avoid breakdowns. Spontaneous rockfall can be unpredictable. But the cracks on the closed glacier are notscary if you constantly remember about them and adhere to the old rule- in the zone of possible cracks, move only in a bundle and only with certain precautions. The latter is extremely important – in itself binding tothe rope does not guarantee you from trouble.

I AM heard about professional guides who, having passed a difficult wall in the Alps without insurance, contact before returning over the glacier. If the local mine rescuers remove from the crack the body of a person who is not properly equipped, without all the devices provided for by the situation, no insurance company will pay his family the money put under the contract.

In fact, you must definitely visit the glacial crack so that there is no the desire to fly there someday, but it is best to do this in training sessions on extracting the stuck. I will share another experience ...

Crack

Andrey Rozhkov's team, participating in the Moscow Winter Championship, descended from Ullu-tau. I ran ahead of the rest on our climbing trails on a canopy 20 degree slope. At some point, my leg softly fell into the void, and I slowly settled into the snow up to his waist, held on the surface by a voluminous backpack. Legs did not feel support, but I, not yet "cut" into the situation, began to flounder, trying to get out of the hole. The rest is still imprinted in my memory as slow motion filming. The edges of the ice holding me sagged, and I plunged headlong into the snow, hanging on my backpack straps. The next second, the backpack followed me, and I fell into a dark void. Light support on something on the cat - and I was turned upside down. I fell flat, hitting some ledges. These seconds were endless - I remember, I was seized not by fear, but by amazement - how much can you fall? It's time to be in the center Earth! Finally I blurted out my back on the ice plug. The backpack fell through in the sequel cracks, trying to drag myself there too. Somehow I propped my elbows against the edges of the crack, stopping the slide down. Freeing one shoulder from the strap, he rolled over onto his stomach. The backpack hung with a second strap at the bend of the elbow. I knelt down, pulled it out black void and looked around. It wasn't all that dark in the crack. Smooth ones went up shiny walls. The snow cover at the top let in daylight. Garlands of icicles peeled off the top edges of my trap. In general, it was beautiful. In tiny the hole, closing the sky, appeared the face of Sasha Sushko. "How are you there?" He asked, lowering the end of the rope. I untied the ice-fi strapped to the backpack, fastened to the rope, and climbed out of the crack myself. The hole in the snow barely allowed my head in the helmet to pass through - it’s not clear how I slipped into it with my backpack. We measured by the marks on the rope the depth of my pit – 12 meters. All in all, I got off easy – trap for the carefreecan be much more insidious ...

How to behave on a closed glacier without tempting fate? First of all, you must be properly equipped. In the "system", in a helmet, in cats. (Cats it is advisable to wear it even when it is tiresome to walk in them because of the snow slip.But if you find yourself in a crack – and cats can become the main tool in your self-rescue. Without them, you will not be free from possible jamming in a narrowing crack. The helmet will also not be superfluous, given that in the crack the backpack is almost will surely turn you upside down). Zhumar, 2-3 ice screws, the same number of carbines or braces should hang on the belt, in the pocket of the anorak - there is a grasping and at least 3 meter end of the cord.

The best outcome for someone who fell into a crack withsuch equipment - hanging on a rope. Using a zhumar and tying the Bachmann knot,climb yourself even thoughthe case when your partner is not capable of anything. If only he could fix rope! Ideally, the partner, having secured the rope coming to you on an ice ax or "storm", and having secured it by the grasping one, will crawl to the edge, throw off the other end of the rope, after carefully clearing the edge of the crack, placing an ice ax, jacket, or backpack under the rope (all insure!).

If you fall into a crack without a rope, or with a rope in your backpack, things get more complicated. Already when you "land" there are options. At best, the crack is shallow, withflat bottom, or you are as lucky as me, and you will find yourself in a "traffic jam". Much worse if you will be stuck in the narrowing of the walls or you will be thrown into the water. There are holes, right through to the stone bed, piercing the body of a snowfield or glacier. Looking down, you can see a stream rushing under the ice arches. This is the worst option!

Fell into the crack

Not better and jamming, which can lead to serious injury. Also, in a narrow crackyou can be covered with a layer of snow and ice, parts of the snow that have collapsed behind you overlap. Either way, you'll be wet through and through in a couple of minutes. (Disturbing in This situation is one thing - after 15-20 minutes the failed person stops responding to the calls from above ...). Therefore, in any case, it is necessary to descend to the victim who has flown to the bottom as soon as possible, having with you a first-aid kit, warm clothes, a primus stove and the necessary technical equipment. But if you are able to act in this situation, fight for life. Throw off yourself and push the snow deeper into the crack, until it is frozen. Twisting the ice screw as high as possible and threading the rope into its carbine or a cord tied to your belt, tie a loop at the other end and try insert your leg into it. Pulling up on the hook and loading the simplest pulley block with your foot, likefree from jamming as soon as possible. If you succeed, it is a victory. Samein a way, alternately twisting the borax higher and higher, start climbing the wall. To release the re-cord you will have to hang on the lanyard every time. It will go faster if you have a couple of cords. It's better to get rid of the backpack, leave it by tying it to a hook or to the end of a rope. The hardest part is to climb over the edge cracks if the rope has cut deeply into it. In this case, the front should go zhumar, and the grasping or Bachman's knot is behind it. The double rope and help from above will make the task easier. Remember - there are no hopeless situations for the prepared man!

As a rule, novice climbers consider themselves safe, already just tied to the rope. It is an illusion of insurance if your partner walks right behind you and holds rings in his hands. Snow does not create friction, and it is naive to think that this is how you can hold the dash of a wet rope. It’s also good if your partner doesn’t fly into the crack. following you. Make him walk the full rope. By the way, for a deuce it followsshorten to 12-15 meters, it is even better to go on a double rope. It is advisable to tie onrope in front of you the guide knot and insert the ice ax into it - then, falling during the jerk, it is easier to hold the rope, and, twisting the "drill", click the finished knot into it. Still, more than two people should move in a bundle on a single rope. (Attention! Avoid walking in the middle of the ligament on the "sliding"! To my friend, it cost his life,but more on that below ...).

Hermann Huber in his book "Mountaineering Today" (note that this"Today" was 30 years ago) offers a rational way of tying a deuce toglacier: the rope is divided into three parts, and to the middle (it is slightly shorter than the two end ones)partners are attached. The free ends wound on each are designed todumping someone who has fallen into a crack. Each can be tied with a grasping knot on a rope a meter from the chest.

Other guides recommend preparing on foot "Stirrup" from the cord, and with its second end, passed under the chest harness, tie grasping on the main rope at chest level. But even after preparing in this way, falling into the crack is best avoided.

Careful observation of the glacier surface will tell you the nature and direction of the cracks - it is unacceptable for both to be above the crack parallel to the movement of the ligament. Sometimes, especially with oblique morning or evening light, closed cracks guessed by the change in the color of the snow that sagged slightly above them. In suspicious places, probe the path with each step. A ski pole will provide you with an invaluable service without a ring, an ice ax is less effective for this purpose. Remember also that the failure of the first is more dangerous on the descent - in this case, there is a great chance to break into a crack and a partner. Heavier or reckless, coming second on the rise, falling through, too runs the risk of pulling off a partner (see below!). Therefore, on the descent and ascent, one should not shorten the rope to the same extent as on a flat glacier.

But in any case, a person who foresees danger, or at least is ready for it, is capable ofconfront her. Here is an unenviable situation from which my friend Anatoly Lebedev, who is now the director of the Ryukzachok firm, came out with honor: 1982, two A. Samoded - A. Lebedev worked on an extreme route - a 400-meter flood "icicle" on the wall of Moskovskaya Pravda (Yu -3 Pamir). In the heat, they made an unforgivable mistake - they hung up all the ropes and returned to the tent unbound. Already in front of the tent, Tolya fell into a closed crack - an ice "glass" filled with water. It did not reach the bottom, smooth walls went up 6 meters. In this stalemate Anatoly did not give in to panic - floundering in icy water and diving headlong at every attempt to do something, he was able to pull the ice ax from behind his backpack, remove the ice hammer from his belt, and (fortunately, there were cats on his feet!) He began to get out of the trap himself. It is difficult to calculate the speed with which Alik Samoded ran under the wall for the rope, but by the end of the record climbing he managed to throw the end of it to his partner. Of course, this feat would have been easier to avoid. But how unlike its outcome is the endings of the sad stories below ...

1. 08/03/1961. v. Wilpath, 5a.

A group of instructors of the a / l "Torpedo", returning from the ascent, passed the last section of the icefall before the "Volginskaya" overnight stay. When crossing the crack, a snow bridge collapsed under the group leader N. Pesikov, and he fell to a depth 20 m, with extensive injuries. There was no insurance.

2. 27.07.1968... Peak of Communism.

The group organized a bivouac on the Communism peak plateau (6200 m). The tent was set up in a safe place, about 10 meters from a narrow crack. At about 18.30 E. Karchevsky left the tent, where there were other participants. A few minutes later he was called out, but he did not answer. As the footprints in the snow showed Karchevsky fell into a crack. A rope was lowered into a hole in the snow (ondepth 30 m), for which they began to pull from below. But repeated attempts to approach the victim were unsuccessful. The crack in the upper part was 45 cm, and then narrowed to 20 cm. Falling 30 m, Karchevsky's body jammed and froze into ice.

3. 01.08.1973 . Peak of Communism, Belyaev glacier.

The expedition of the city of Kursk was aimed at climbing the peaks of Communism and Pravda. To observe the groups and maintain radio communication, 4 climbers of the second category were involved under overall leadership P. Krylova. 08/01/1973 at 6 o'clock two groups of climbers left the camp "4700" up to an altitude of 5000 m, they were accompanied by observers G. Kotov and N. Bobrova. Everyone went up to an altitude of 5000 m without contacting. From here the observers returned to camp "4700", where they received a request to go up again and bring forgotten cats. Kotov and Krylov brought the cats up to 5200 m. On the descent, they walked without contacting. Kotov, who walked first, carried a rope on his backpack. Suddenly he failed. He did not respond to Krylov's cries. Only the next day, the body of G. Kotov was discovered at a depth of 35 m under a 1.5-meter layer of snow and ice debris.

4. 28.07.1974 ... The Peak of Communism is the plateau of the Peak "Pravda".

Two ligaments of the expedition of the Ukrainian Council of DSO "Spartak" to remove the body of A. Kustovsky from South the walls of the peak of Communism worked on the plateau of the peak of Pravda. The first in the top five was B. Komarov. He walked quickly, not probing the path with an ice pick. The second in the bunch, Morchak, carried rope rings (2-3 meters). The distance between them was about 8 meters. Suddenly Komarov fell into a crack, but was detained by Morchak. Komarov hung at 3-3.5 meters from the surface. The crack was deep, with smooth edges, less thanmeters. When asked if he could help with stretching, he answered in the affirmative. The firstan attempt to pull Komarov ended unsuccessfully - the rope crashed into the firn edge. Komarov began to try to throw his leg over the edge of the crack. Komarov did not react to the demand to stop these attempts and, as a result, turned upside down, after which stopped answering questions. After processing the edge of the crack, Komarov was removed withoutsigns of life. According to the group, it took 8-12 minutes. The resuscitation attempt lasted 2.5-3 hours, but to no avail. The cause of Komarov's death was intracranial hemorrhage as a result of a head injury.

5. 11/04/1975. v. Kazbek.

The Alpiniad of the Kharkiv Regional Council of the DSO "Zenith" was held with numerousorganizational violations. On November 3, the participants climbed to the weather station.When returning from the exit, the group walked tied with one rope. Degtyarev went first, closing Demanov, in the middle, Taran and Dorofeeva were walking on sliding carbines. After a while, Degtyarev fell into a crack up to his chest, from which he got out on his own. Taran's reaction was slow - he began to insure Degtyarev only after shouting: “What are you standing for? Pull the rope! " Group moved on and in the same place as Degtyarev, Taran falls into the crack.Demanov managed to fix one end of the rope on the ice ax only after 15 minutes.(the snow lay on the ice in a thin layer). The battering ram hung on a rope and a cord ona depth of 3-4 m on a chest harness with the head thrown back. The face was covered with snow. Since the battering ram was hanging on the slide, it was not possible to pull it out by the free end of the rope.succeeded. They could not fix the second end either, so Taran was lowered to the bottom of the crack, and they went for help. However, neither Demanov nor Degtyarev, who is ininsane state could not explain where the victim is. To the crack they came up only at 23 o'clock, but could not lift Taran (the participant carrying the ice hooks did not come up). I. Taran's body was removed from the crack only on November 5.

6. 10.07 76. the peak of the World, For.

A group of dischargers of the 5th stage of the "Bezengi" a / l left at 5 o'clock from the bivouac on the l. Ullhouz on climbing. Moving on a closed glacier, not connected. At 6 o'clock going thirdT. Zaeva, when crossing the bergschrund, fell 15-18 m. Zverev went down to her, put warm clothes under Zayeva and began to wait for help to lift her, but Zayeva died without regaining consciousness.

7. 06.08. 76. v. Zaromag, 2b.

Two branches of badges under the guidance of instructors L. Batygina and Yu.Girshovich made an ascent to V. Zaromag. On the descent, bundles of squads wentalternately. The instructors were not connected. About 13 hours into a closed crackthe participant V. Feldman, who was walking in the first bunch, failed, next to him was G. Khmyrova from the second bunch, who came up to the shouts, and then instructor Y. Girshovich, who came up unconnected (he stayed on the ice ledge 4 meters from the surface). Girshovich, by voice, contacted Khmyrova and Feldman, who turned out to beslightly off to the side. Khmyrova's leg was jammed, and she asked for an ice ax. Khmyrova could not use two additional ropes lowered into the crack. Then Girshovich attached himself to them and was lifted up by the participants. Frozen and demoralized, he did not take any further part in the rescue work. Feldman was lifted behind Girshovich, but Khmyrov could not lift. Lyubkin on the crampons got to Khmyrova, covered with snow 30-40 cm. By freeing her wedged leg, and pushing from below, he helped to lift Khmyrov (at about 14:55). She showed no signs of life. Rubbing and artificial respiration did not help and at 18 o'clock the participants began to transport the body Khmyrova down.

8. 12.08.1976 ... v. Gumachi, 1b.

Four branches of the badges of the a / l "Elbrus" made an ascent to v. Gumachi andstarted descending along the ascent path. Instructor Kalganenko, transferring the leadership of his branch to another instructor, put on skis and began to descend on them in parallel paths of descent of branches. At 11:30, Kalganenko was caught in a transverse crack. The skis got stuck across the crack, the bindings were unfastened, and Kalganenko fell down 30 m. In 35 minutes. she was taken out of the crack, but without regaining consciousness, L. Kalganenko passed away.

9. 03.07.1982 ... Levinskaya glacier.

A group of dischargers under the guidance of the instructor of the 2nd category E. Tarabrin left the a / l "Alai" for snow and ice classes on the Levinskaya glacier. TOplace the bivouac arrived at 12 o'clock. Before going to class, participant V. Peasants receivedinstructor's order to go to the bivouac of climbers from Ivano-Frankivsk, standing 500 meters away, to receive advice on the route of the training ascent. Then he had to catch up with the group on the trail along the end moraine to the place of training. When the peasants did not come by 16 o'clock,the group stopped their studies and returned to the bivouac to organize a search. Just on The next day, Krestyannikov's body was found at a depth of 15-17 m in a closed crack 2 kilometers away from the place of the training.

10. 25.07.1984 ... Caucasus, Kashka-Tash glacier .

The group of gathering of the Odessa OS "Avangard" made the ascent 5b complex. on in. Ullu-Kara and went down the Za to the plateau. Two I. Orobei (MSMK) - V. Rosenberg (1st time) moved ahead. They approached the open crack without contacting. Rosenberg offered to organize a belay, took off the rope and stuck an ice ax into the snow. At this time, Orobei decided to cross the crack using a ski pole, but slipped and fell into the crack. An hour later, the victim was raised. Attempts revive him were ineffectual.

11. 28.07.88 ... p. Free Spain .

Sports group V. Masaltsev and A. Pisarchik (both - CMS) at three o'clock in the morningascent not along the route 5b to the peak of Free Spain (V wall), to which it was released, but along the Za. Motive route changes (rock hazard) untenable - this season the wallpassed repeatedly. About 6 hours Masaltsev passed a snow bridge and came to a snow slope with a steepness of 20-25 degrees. Pisarchik, following him, fell into a crack and pulled Masaltsev into it. Pisarchik jammed at a depth of 25 m, and Masaltsev at a distance of about 7 m in side and a little deeper. At first, the fallen talked, but after 15-20 minutes Masaltsev stopped responding. Clerkwas able to free itself from jamming and,without making an attempt to get to Masaltsev and help, unfastened from the rope, connecting them, took out the second rope and 3 ice screws from the backpack, with the help of whichclimbed out of the crack. At 15:50, the rescue squad reached the victim, notdiscovering signs of life in him. A clerk for breaking the rules - with An unauthorized change of the route, for leaving a friend in distress, he was completely deprived of the instructor's title and sports categories.

12. 02.02.1990 .Tien Shan, Marble Wall glacier .

A group of observers of the ascent to V. The marble wall came out onto the glacier. Atmoving on an open (!) glacier in a bundle, walking second S. Pryanikov fellcrack. The crack width did not exceed 1 m, but at a depth of 4-5 m it narrowed to 30 cm and then expanded again. Pryanikov's legs went through a narrow gap, and his body jammed, squeezing the chest tightly. The partner did not feel jerk, because there was a supply of rope. The three of them pulled out Pryanikov without signs life, resuscitation was carried out for two hours, but to no avail.

13. 24.02.1998 .Kavkaz, Kashka-Tash glacier .

Three climbers, having made a winter ascent to V. Free Spain (5b), returned to the tent on the plateau. We walked in our many times trodden tracks, not related. Oleg Bershov walking ahead, hearing a quiet "hooting" behind him turned around, but did not see his comrades following him. Returning back, I found in snow a hole with a diameter of a meter and a half. The ropes remained in the backpacks of those who followed. Only the next day, rescuers found the bodies of Sergei Ovchinnikov and Sergei Frost in a crack under a meter-long layer of snow ...

I was familiar with the sociable Seryoga Pryanikov, my colleague doctor, I knewKharkovites Igor Taran and Sergey Moroz, together with Igor Orobei1st category. It's hard to get rid of the thought that, just remember they are insidious trapped on a closed glacier, things could have turned out differently ... I invite the reader to figure out the mistakes on which to learn, and try to find the optimal solution, both in the described real situations and in situational tasks compiled by the author.

1. When moving along the glacier in a bunch of three, two of those in front come out onto a closed crack and fall through. The first is wedged in the narrowing of the crackat 10 m, does not answer questions. The second hangs in the middle. The third fell into the snow andholds the rope on the ice ax. What are the options for everyone?

2. When the two moved along a closed glacier, the first one bypassed an open crack,the second moves along it. At this moment, the first one falls into a closed a crack and a jerk of the rope throws the second into the open. Both hang on his rope without reaching the bottom. What are your actions in this situation?

3. In a bunch of three, moving on a rope shortened to 15 m - fortythe middle one, walking on the sliding one, falls into the crack. Companions, torn off by a jerk of the rope, lie in the snow, holding it. What equipment would you like to have in place of each of the three, and what are your actions?

4. Extreme situation: you need to move on a closed glacier in alone. What equipment, what tricks do you use, what to do to prevent falling into a crack?

TO THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT VICTORY

THEY STAND TO DEATH FOR THE PASSES OF THE GREAT CAUCASUS

The German fascist troops, having reached the main passes of the Greater Caucasus in the second half of August 1942, resumed active offensive operations, striving at any cost to seize the oil-bearing regions of Baku and Grozny, and also to reach the Black Sea towards their troops in the Tuapse and Novorossiysk directions. The closest pass to connect with these groups was Marukhsky.

On the way of the elite units of the Edelweiss mountain rifle division, the ridges were not an insurmountable obstacle Caucasus mountains, but the endurance and massive heroism of the soldiers who defended the passes of the Caucasus.

General Rudolf Konrad and his Alpine Riflemen from the 49th Mountain Corps were confident of their easy victory.

The Marukh pass (height 2739 m) in the western part of the Greater Caucasus was covered by the 808th and 810th regiments of the 294th rifle division. Alpine shooters, formed in the mountain villages of Tyrol from the best climbers and skiers, had special mountain equipment and weapons, warm uniforms, pack transport - mules. They could move quickly in the mountains, climb glaciers and snow passes.

From August 27 to September 1, stubborn battles were fought on the approaches to the Marukh pass. On September 5, the enemy went over to the offensive with the forces of the regiment and, having a great superiority in manpower and means, took possession of the pass. But his further advance to Abkhazia and Transcaucasia was stopped by the forces of the 810th regiment, which was stationed in the 2nd echelon.

Immediately beyond the pass was the front line of the defense. The border of 1.5-2 km passed from the Marukh-Bashi mountain to the north-west and closed the passage to the Marukh gorge. Our mountain rifle detachments dug in, erected dugouts and machine guns in the rocks. Another 3 battalions arrived to help the regiment. Throughout September and October, the troops fought with varying success for the possession of this line.

On October 25, the 810th regiment occupied the height of 1176 and the gates of the Marukh pass, firmly entrenched and defended itself among rocks, snow and ice until the end of 1942.

The flying detachments of climbers rendered great help to our troops. They could be found on mountain paths, on snowy plateaus, on steep passes. They tracked down the enemy, set up ambushes and blockages on roads and trails, made daring raids, and participated in ground and air reconnaissance. They stood against the elite Alpine units of the "Third Reich", which fought in Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia and gained a lot of experience.

Small groups of gamekeepers managed to penetrate through the Caucasian ridge to the area of ​​the Bzyb River. They were seen in the villages of Gvandra and Klidzhe, in the area of ​​Lake Ritsa, 40 km from Sukhum, but they could not go further - they were destroyed.

During the same period, civilians were being evacuated. In August 1942, the climbers received a task from the command - to take people living and working at the Tyrnyauz molybdenum combine located in the Baksan gorge through the passes of the Transcaucasus, and take out valuable equipment and raw materials. The escape route along the road was cut off by the Germans. They flew over the Baksan gorge german aircraft dropping bombs. Under fire, in difficult meteorological conditions, a chain of Tyrnyauz residents walked to the pass, led by climbers and their assistants - Komsomol members from the combine. With a lack of climbing equipment and special footwear, the climbers led women, the elderly, the disabled, children and transported valuable equipment on donkeys. Bypassing deep cracks covered with snow, organizing rope crossings, falling into snow charges and a thunderstorm, the climbers transferred 1,500 adults and 230 children during August.

Everyone who went from the Baksan gorge to Svaneti through the Becho pass knows that it is accessible only to trained, trained athletes. I was convinced of this, too, having passed the pass with a group of factory tourists in August 1960. There were also beginners in our group, and if it had not been for the help of climbers who were passing at the same time, we would have had to experience great difficulties.

After the transition of Soviet troops to a general offensive in January 1943, the enemy withdrew to the north. The enemy's attempt to break through the Marukh pass to the rear on the Tuapse and Novorossiysk directions and reach the sea failed.

The history of the highest war in the world is presented in the book by Vladimir Gneushev and Andrey Poputko "The Mystery of the Marukh Glacier", published by the Stavropol Book Publishing House in 1966.

In September 1962, the shepherd of the collective farm Muradin Kochkarov grazed a flock of sheep in the mountains of the Western Caucasus near the Khalega pass. Having missed several sheep, Muradin, leaving the flock to his partner, went in search. He went out to a small lake - there were no sheep there, he went even higher and soon climbed the ridge. Here he saw several combat cells, human bones, casings. Having walked along the ridge to the top of Kara-Kai, I saw traces of fierce battles. On the Marukh glacier, he came across the frozen remains of our soldiers. He reported what he saw to the chairman of the village council in the village of Khasaut.

The Stavropol regional executive committee created a commission of military specialists, doctors, experts and sent it to the Marukh glacier. They were accompanied by a platoon of sappers and a group of climbers led by an experienced instructor Khadzhi Magomedov. Going out along the valley of the Aksaut River to the crest of the ridge, they found and collected the remains of the soldiers, found a field hospital. At the highest point of the 3500 m ridge in a tour made of stones, there was a note left by tourists who had recently passed. They wrote that they were shocked by what they saw and offered to call this nameless ridge "Defense".

On the descent from the ridge to the glacier moraine, more and more traces of fierce battles came across. In many places on the glacier - scattered on the surface of the ice, half-frozen remains of our soldiers, weapons, shells. On Defensive Ridge, a team of sappers destroyed mines and shells.

People carried all the remains of the soldiers across the ridge to a clearing and on horseback lowered the mournful load into the valley of the Aksaut River, then to the village of Krasny Karachay and from there by car to the village of Zelenchukskaya - the regional center.

Those who were buried in Zelenchukskaya on October 1, 1962, people will remember forever. There have never been so many people in Zelenchukskaya - from the very morning they walked here and drove on anything not only from their neighboring villages and villages, but also from Karachaevsk, Cherkessk, Stavropol. Neither the stadium where the military guard with an orchestra was lined up, let alone the park where the remains were buried, could accommodate all the arrivals, and therefore people stood, damming up the neighboring streets.

In the summer of 1959, the Moscow City Tourist School of Sergei Nikolaevich Boldyrev made the transition across the Western Caucasus. 162 participants were divided into 5 groups, 2 of which, passing north of Kara-Kai, reached the North Marukh glacier. We had to spend the night on the moraine of the glacier. In the morning, climbing to the Marukh pass, they began to meet bones, unexploded grenades, fragments of mines and shells, and cartridges. Back in Moscow, preparing for the campaign, they knew about the traces of fierce battles at the Marukh pass, but what they saw cannot be conveyed in words.

In 1960, a group of students from the Civil Engineering Institute. Kuibysheva from Moscow, making a mountain hike, found the remains of soldiers on the glacier. They buried the nameless soldiers as best they could, and the next year they lifted a prefabricated obelisk into the mountains in backpacks and erected it in the glacier area.

Many years later, a massive ascent was made to the Marukh pass. A monument was erected there and a rally was held in memory of our soldiers who stood to death against the elite units of the Edelweiss division.

In 1961, I took a group of tourists from our factory through the Klukhorsky Pass, and we found traces of battles. And even in 1974, when I came here with factory tourists, I found echoes of the battles of 1942.

In 1975, the country was preparing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Great Victory. For a long time I had been hatching the idea of ​​organizing a hike to the area of ​​the Marukh pass and installing a plaque to its heroic defenders on the rocks of the Oboronny ridge from the tourist club of the plant. Alexander Kozlov, chairman of the plant's tourist club, supported me. So the expedition was organized as part of the mountain and water groups, which were supposed to meet after the hike on May 9 in the village of Zelenchukskaya and take part in a rally and laying a wreath at the monument to the defenders of the Marukh pass. Alexander Sapozhnikov and Viktor Khorunzhiy took up the production of the board, the factory artists prepared two ribbons for the wreath and the board. The trade union committee allocated money for travel and several days of vacation.

Mountain group: Nikolay Lychagin and Mark Shargorodsky - engineers, Tatiana Zueva - technologist, Vladimir Dmitriev - military representative of the plant, Victor Horunzhy - electrician and I - Marishina Valentina - designer, leader of the campaign.

Water group (3 crews): Valery Gut - normalizer, head of the campaign, Viktor Slabov - technologist, Boris Evtikhov and Alexander Sapozhenkov - engineers, Alexander Ivanov - milling machine operator and Igor Zhashko (not a plant employee), whose father took part in the battles for the Marukh pass.

The watermen drove through Cherkessk to the Upper Arkhyz, from where they began rafting down the Bolshoi Zelenchuk River.

Our mountain group arrived in Karachaevsk, from there by bus and car to Krasny Karachay and along the valley of the Aksaut River moved to the upper reaches. After a two-day hike, in the morning light-handed with ice axes and two backpacks, in which the board and fasteners are packed, we begin our ascent to the Khalega pass. Knee-deep in the snow we make a path. On the ascent to the pass, we meet several tours made of stones, installed boards, obelisks. At the foot of these monuments there are traces of battles, remnants of weapons, rusty iron, and shell casings. Leaving the board in a secluded place on the pass, we returned to the tents. The next day, passing through the Khalega pass along the beaten path, picking up the board, we descended into the valley of the Marukha River, filled with snowfields. We stopped for the night in a wooden shelter not far from the glacier. The shelter was packed to overflowing with tourists - the entire geography of the country. In the morning we climbed the Oboronny ridge, found a ledge with a flat platform for the board, where the next day they set and secured the board, using ropes for belaying and lifting a board with the text: Transcaucasia in August - December 1942. From the youth of the factory and the tourist club of the factory. Moscow city. May 1975 ". Pine branches with a ribbon and lilacs from the village of Krasny Karachay were fixed under the board.

We met the senior pioneer leader of the school, and she offered to make a wreath from the group at their school. We made a gorgeous wreath of spruce branches, added fresh flowers to it, attached a ribbon and on May 9 we carried it out of school. Pioneers and schoolchildren also brought out their wreath. A rally was held at the stadium. I have never seen the Victory Day celebrated in such a way. The stadium was full to overflowing. All with wreaths, flowers, baskets, flags - veterans, youth, pioneers, children, mothers with strollers.

Photo

After the meeting, organized in columns, everyone moved to the park to the monument to the defenders of the Marukh pass, where an eternal flame burns. There are many tourists in the columns who have descended from the mountains. Young children, schoolchildren, are on the guard of honor.

Photo

Wreaths, baskets, flowers were laid at the monument. On the dark stele of the monument there is a light board with the image of a machine gun and an ice ax.

We gave to the pioneer leader, who helped us with making a wreath, for the school museum a figurine of a warrior - defender of the Marukh pass, made by our factory craftsman.

On the bank of Zelenchuk, after all the celebrations, the groups gathered at the festive table. Local residents came to us, sat with us around the fire, sang war songs. The people are very friendly, there are many children.

Having passed many passes in the Caucasus, I saw dozens of obelisks, memorial plaques, pyramids with stars, raised on their shoulders by tourists from many cities of our Soviet country. At the Becho pass, the tourists of the Odessa tourist club "Romantic" set up a large silver board on the rock, on which are written the names of 6 climbers who accomplished the feat, transferring the inhabitants of the Baksan gorge through the pass to Svaneti. On the board is a warrior in a helmet with a star and a little girl, holding his arms around his neck.

The geography of the cities whose tourists raised these modest monuments to the mountains on their shoulders is great: Odessa, Donetsk, Moscow, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Leningrad, Rostov, Krasnodar, Stavropol ... I remember one obelisk with a star and a massive board with the inscription North Caucasus”, Established by the Komsomol of the city of Chapaevsk, Kuibyshev region (now Samara).

The passes of the Caucasus were defended by the warriors of many nationalities of our Great country - the USSR. In addition to the soldiers, the Marukh pass was defended by the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet. The memory of grateful descendants for the great feat of our fathers and grandfathers should be passed on to the generations who follow us.

Valentina Marishina,
Moscow city

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We have already discussed how great it is to read the description (the publication on route classifications) before going on the route. But this, it turns out, is not enough.

These harmful climbers use such words in their descriptions that one cannot figure it out without a dictionary and a bottle of beer ... Well, they joked and they will. But seriously, I recommend everyone who is interested in mountains to familiarize themselves with these definitions. Perhaps you can learn something interesting for yourself.

Vertex – highest point mountains or massif. Usually the goal of an ascent is to reach the summit (and descend from it). They have different names depending on their shape:

Peak- pointed top;

Three peaks of the Mongolian People's Republic (Mongolian People's Republic), 3870 m

Dome- top with round shapes;

Elbrus (5642 m) - summit-"dome"

Table mountain- a top with a horizontal or slightly inclined upper part.

Tirke (1283 m) - mountain table

Route- the way to the top and descent. I want to note that descent in this matter is no less important component.

Tour- an artificial pile of stones for marking the route (can be folded at the top, pass, fork, indicate the place of descent, etc.)

Tour on the pass of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. Very long awaited (pass height 3693m)

The descriptions often indicate control tours, in which (as well as at the top) you need to change the note. This additionally confirms the passage of the declared route.

Bivouac- overnight stay on the route or during the conquest of the summit. On obviously long routes, descriptions may indicate convenient bivouac spots.

Ridge- a part of the mountain range connecting several peaks.

Pass- the lowest point in the ridge.

Elbrus region. Jailik peak (4533 m) is proudly shining in the sun

Backstage- a depression in the rock (inner corner), which arose under the influence of flowing and falling water. They can be up to several tens of meters wide and, depending on the season, can be filled with snow, firn and ice. The bottom, usually cut by a gutter, is the most dangerous place in the couloir.

Open book- a sharp inner angle that allows you to climb with your feet and hands on rock surfaces.

Trough- a shallow wide inner corner (the concept of an "inner corner" can be found in a geometry textbook, presumably for the sixth grade).

Valley- a wide depression between two ridges. Typically very inhabited area.

Baksan valley

Gorge- a deep narrow valley with steep, often rocky slopes.

Gorge- a particularly narrow part of the gorge with almost steep slopes.

Hollow- a depression steeply descending in one direction between two lateral ridges (ribs).

Descent along the gorge

Crest- a face formed by two adjacent slopes, reaching the top.

The path along the ridge to the top of Dzhantugan (3991 m)

Snow cornice- snow drift hanging under the influence of winds over one of the slopes of the ridge. It requires a very careful attitude towards itself - the structure is fragile, if possible, you should bypass along the opposite slope, below the level of the ridge.

Hitsan- a rocky island, separated from the ridge as a result of erosion.

Adyr-Su gorge. View of the Mestia hut

Nunatak- a rocky peak completely surrounded by ice, a mountain ridge or a hill protruding above the surface of an ice sheet or mountain glacier.

Saddle(in everyday life "saddle") - a depression between two peaks, from which hollows descend in directions transverse to the ridge in both directions.

View from Babugan Yayla

Slope- the surface of the mountain between adjacent ridges (as an option - the lateral surface of the ridge). By the nature of the soil or cover, the slopes are grassy, ​​stony (talus), rocky, ice and snow.

Debris("Looseness") - a pile of stones or fragments of rocks lying on the surface of the slope. Depending on the size of the stones, talus are large and small.

Training sessions on a grassy slope

Descent from the glacier along the "loose"

Wall- a slope or part of a slope with a steepness of more than 60 °.

It is worth noting that ascents “on the wall” are usually categorized higher than on the ridge - this can help in finding descriptions of the desired level of difficulty for a particular peak.

Overhang- a section of a wall with a negative slope

Cornice- overhang at an angle of 90 ° to the slope.

Ceiling- extensive horizontal overhang of rock.

When serious "overhangs", "cornices" or "ceilings" appear in the description, it will not be superfluous to have ladders and hooks with a hammer (AID category may not be listed) - if you are not completely sure that you will free climb.

North-eastern Mongolia near

Terrace- a horizontal section of the slope forming a long step.

In everyday life, small "terraces" are often called " shelves". Usually it is convenient to equip them with belay stations.

Plate- a smooth and flat rock section with a steepness of up to 60 °.

Buttress- an outer corner adjacent to a wall or slope.

Edge- buttress adjacent to the ridge.

Gendarme- elevation on the ridge. Studying the description, it is worth paying attention to which side this or that "gendarme" is bypassed.

Famous gendarme "Devil's finger" on Mount Sokol in Crimea

Crack- a gap in the rock, which is so wide that you can put your fingers in it or hammer in a hook.

Cleft- the gap in the rock is so wide that an arm or a leg can fit in it.

The crevice on the rocks of Dovbush

Fireplace- a vertical gap in the rock, so large that a person can fit in it.

The technique of overcoming "fireplaces" differs from the usual climbing on a stand or natural relief (there are no hooks and you need to go into the space), so it should be practiced separately.

An oversized cleft is too narrow to fit in with the body and too wide to wedge an arm or foot. Usually difficult to climb.

Chimney- a rock formation resembling a pipe. On the Forossko-Mellskaya wall in Crimea there is a route of the same name 2B class. on the "Tower" array. The chimney section does not present any particular technical difficulty, but it leaves an unforgettable impression.

"Chimney" on the route of the same name

Lamb foreheads- rocky outcrops on a talus or snow-ice slope. They represent a convex section of rock, smoothed by streams of water, stones or a glacier.

They usually try to get around these outcrops - smooth stones do not encourage free climbing. Especially in mountain boots.

Typical Caucasian landscape

Glacier- ice masses sliding in the form of icy rivers from firn fields down into the valleys.

Kashkatash glacier in the Adyl-Su gorge

Glacier tongue- its lower end part.

Moraine- the accumulation of rock debris (at the bottom, along the edges, in the middle or at the end of the glacier), formed as a result of the destruction of neighboring slopes or its bed by the glacier. Accordingly, lateral, median and terminal moraines are distinguished.

View from the parking lot "Green Hotel"

Icefall(not to be confused with an ice collapse) - a disorderly pile-up of ice blocks, as well as a system of cracks and faults at the bends of the glacier bed.

Serac- separately protruding ice block of the icefall; poses a potential hazard as it can break off.

Icefall in the upper part of the Kashkatash glacier

Rankloft- a foothill crack, formed at the place where the glacier adjoins the rocky slope (the reason is the melting of ice from the rocks heated by the sun).

Bergschrund- a transverse crack in the tongue of the glacier, formed due to the movement of the ice mass down the slope.

The bunch overcomes the bergschrund

The main difference between these two words of German origin is that rancluft means a crack between ice and rocks, and bergschrund (in everyday life - “ berg") - in the glacier itself. In addition, there may be a bunch of other cracks on the glacier, which are not specifically named.

Of course, the list is far from complete, the descriptions can be expanded and deepened. Therefore, I recommend going to the mountains for details - everything is much more interesting there!

When compiling the dictionary, personal mountain experience was used, notes by Alexander Guzhviy, the dictionary of Garth Hatting ("Mountaineering. Climbing technique." - Moscow, 2006) and the vastness of the Internet (special thanks to the tourist club "ZEST" for a good selection). Photos: Olga and Denis Volokhovsky, Vitaly Nesterchuk, Irina Churachenko, Yaroslav Ivanov and others.

To be continued…

Bypassing the cracks of the Sagran glacier. I. Daibog is the first.

In the background is the northern peak of Lipsky Peak

Photo by A. Sidorenko

Altitude 4000 m, the minimum thermometer showed at night - 4 °. The glacial streams were covered with ice, but already with the first rays of the sun the glacier came to life again. Timashev and Letavet noticed, on the shaded side of small ice cones, horizontal plates of ice arranged in shelves, on average, at a distance of about four centimeters one above the other. Each such shelf, as observations showed, was a few days ago an ice surface that covered a small glacial lake during the night, and the distance between the shelves showed the depth of melting of the glacier surface in a day.

A narrow trench filled with gray moraine is left behind; now before us stretched the vast expanses of glacial fields covered with sparkling bristles of ice needles. Above, behind them rose the walls of high ridges and peaks, shining with unsullied whiteness of slopes or distinguished by dark spots of rocky cliffs.

If in the middle reaches the Sagran glacier receives its main tributaries on the left, then in the upper part two of the most significant tributaries flowed in from the right side. The glacier itself in a gentle arc deviates here to the northeast, and then almost exactly to the north. The surface of the glacier also changes; its smooth, sloping course has acquired a stepped character here. Sloping and calm areas alternate with steeper falls of the glacier, so torn apart by numerous cracks that trying to climb these icefalls would not only take a long time, but would also be risky.

The quietest movement was possible only in the middle of the glacier, up to the confluence of the right large tributary. Above his domain, they had to go, nestling close to the right bank, moving along the broken edge of the glacier, through cracks, in many places filled with water. The steep southern slope was covered with talus and rocks. This part of the glacier has not yet been stepped by a human foot, and we did not even have an approximate description of it.

While most of the group was returning to the lower part of the glacier for the cargo left there, a small reconnaissance group continued to find a way in the upper reaches of the Sagran. Only in the evening, tired after the hard climbing and heavy load, we reached a relatively flat area on the coastal moraine. Altitude 4500 m.

Here, on the moraine, at the turn of the Sargan glacier to the north-east, it was decided to organize the "Main camp".

During these two days, while our comrades with the porters were pulling up the cargo, the exploration group climbed even higher along the glacier. It was found that further, the right bank of the glacier to rise to its upper reaches is impossible, huge cracks and piles of ice blocks block the path. Climbing the crest of the ridge separating the Rodionov glacier and the upper reaches of the Sagran, from a height of 5000 m, we perfectly saw part of the upper reaches and the huge peaks that close the glacier. From here it was already possible to outline the paths for the ascent to the highest, armchair-shaped peak of the region with two powerful shoulders, characteristic sharply dissected ridges and steep slopes, turning into huge rocky kilometer-long cliffs. To the left of this main peak was another one, which seemed to be only slightly inferior to it, but undoubtedly exceeding in height all the other, also first-class peaks of this group.

By the evening of August 18, when all the participants of the expedition pulled up, a whole tent city appeared on the site. During the day it was so warm that many climbers walked in shorts, while at night the temperature dropped to -4.5-5 °. From the "Main Camp" we made a number of routes to study the orography of the glacier, its tributaries and the surrounding ridges. This provided us with the necessary acclimatization.

With the enthusiasm of the pioneers, revealing new pages of the book of nature, climbers, overcoming cracks, icefalls and heights, penetrated to the sources of the Sagran glacier. The Observations glacier, a large right-hand tributary of the Rodionov glacier, was crossed up to the saddle leading to the Shini-Bini glacier. We partially visited the left tributaries of the Sagran, which we called the Vilka and Perevalny glaciers. We also climbed to the saddle of the main watershed of the Peter the Great ridge, on the other side of which lies the Gando glacier. We named this saddle after the most prominent figure in Soviet mountaineering, Avgust Andreevich Letavet. The nearest summit, to which we climbed from the Leta-veta pass, was named by us the Kinochronicle peak, in honor of the cameramen of our expeditions who made the first filming of the region from it.

As a result of all observations on the routes we passed, it was possible to draw up a complete diagram of the entire Sagran glacier and its tributaries. The main channel of the glacier goes with sharp bends to the south, then to the west, and finally to the north. The Sagran glacier has six tributaries, not counting the Shini-bini glacier, which now no longer reaches Sagran; four of them flow in on the left, two on the right.

The continuous moraine cover ends at an altitude of 3500-3600 m. The middle moraines disappear almost completely at an altitude of 4400-4600 m, from where a firn cover begins on the glacier. Almost all tributaries of the Sagran have bed folds that form more or less significant icefalls. A completely inaccessible icefall, turning into a huge fault, has a glacier on the western slope of Lyosky Peak, and we saw a large ice-fall on the Vilka glacier.

The main, watershed ridge of the Peter the Great ridge is bounded by the glacier from the south and east. The average height of the ridge is not high, slightly more than 5000 m. Four significant peaks rise above the ridge from west to east: Lipsky peak, Bezymyannaya peak, Edelstein peak 1, which is close in height to Lipsky peak, and, finally, the main peak crowning the area, which we named, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the capital of our Motherland, celebrated in 1947 - the peak Moscow, and the glacier at the foot of its southern wall - Moskvich.

From peak Moscow, the main watershed of the Peter the Great ridge goes to the east, and a powerful spur answers to the northwest. It begins with the second highest peak of the Sagran glacier basin, which we named the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state in connection with the 30th anniversary of the October Revolution. Between it and Peak Moskva lies the main source of the Sagran Glacier, which we discovered for the first time, which increased the previously known length of Sagran to 29 km. Further west is a series of gradually declining peaks. Oshanin Peak, named after the Russian explorer who discovered the Peter the Great Ridge and the Fedchenko Glacier. This peak is located in the upper reaches of the Rodionov Glacier, which we named after the topo-graph, a member of the expedition V.F. Oshanina. Next comes Fersman Peak, located between the Rodionov Glacier and its right tributary, which we designated as the Observations glacier.

After the first acquaintance with the area, acclimatization, training and filming of the middle zone of the glacier, we began to explore the approaches to the western ridge of peak Moscow.

During the day we managed, adhering to the left, calmer coast of the Sagran glacier, to climb to the ice-fall. The huge southwestern wall of Moscow Peak was above us. Even earlier, as a result of observations, two possible variants of ascent to the western ridge arose, the lower, steep ledge of which is crowned with a vast snow cushion. The first route is along its southeastern ice slope, which forms the starboard side of the Moskvich glacier. The second route is along its northwestern, also ice slope. A closer study showed that the first option would be much more difficult, the path was blocked by a difficult icefall and a high steep ice slope. But the second option did not seem easy either. The icefall separating the upper circus of the Sagran Glacier was so high and broken that it was doubtful whether it was possible to overcome it. Still, the ice slope leading to the lower cushion was more gentle and shorter.

We decided to try to bypass the icefall on the left bank of the glacier along the steep snow and ice walls, which do not fall down with their faults from the first pillow to the glacier's surface. After a long felling of steps in the ice cliffs, moving with constant belay on ice hooks, by noon we overcame all the difficulties and reached the upper step of the glacier. A careful examination of the northwestern slope confirmed the possibility of ascent. Having finished filming, we decided on the way back to try to go down the icefall. Studying it from above made it possible to outline a difficult, but possible path. Master of Sports A. Bagrov, moving first, perfectly understood the chaos of heaps of ice seracs and huge failures. Two hours later, we went down to the foot of the icefall.

Nevertheless, it was decided to look for other routes along the glacier, which could reduce the ascent. Moving straight to the camp, the group found itself in the area of ​​hidden cracks. Our bunch calmly followed in the footsteps of the first, when I suddenly fell through. Having broken through the snow cover, I fell into a deep crack. The rope stopped the fall, and, having flown 6-8 m, I hung between two sheer ice walls, which went into a dark ominous gap. The chest harness strongly squeezed the chest, breathing was already interrupted when the loop from the cord 1 captured with it saved the situation. After securing it to the main rope, I stood with my foot in the loop. It immediately became easy to breathe. My comrades threw me the end of the rope with another loop. Having put it on the other leg, I, like on a ladder, began to climb quickly, being pulled from above by my comrades. We did not dare to take any more risks, and again switched to the path we had traveled, albeit a long one, but safer.

On August 23, eleven climbers went up the glacier to test the possibility of climbing the western ridge to the top of the Moskva peak and to study the entire region of the sources of the Sagran glacier. The route was calculated for 8-10 days. Remained in the "Main camp": the head of the expedition, A.A. Letavet, A. Popogrebsky and A. Zenyakin, who were supposed to watch our movement to the top. They decided to keep in touch every evening with a light signaling at the appointed hour.

The peaks were already sparkling in the morning sun, but deep shadows still lay on the glaciers. The night frost, which fettered the glacial streams at night, has not yet given way to the heat of the sun. Slowly moving up the glacier four bands of climbers, burdened with heavy rucksacks.

The icy cliffs of the icefall, which seemed not so difficult when we passed them light yesterday, took a lot of time and a lot of energy this time. In addition, in a short time - 20-30 minutes - despite the height of 5000 m, the night frost was replaced by an exhausting heat. The snowy slopes and the firn surface of the glacier that surrounded us only intensified the heat, reflecting, like a reflector, the scorching rays of the sun. We were, as it were, in a huge concave mirror. On vacation, the comrades, exhausted by the heat, forgot themselves in a heavy slumber. Thirst tormented, but there was no more water. The firn reigned.

Honored Master of Sports E. Abalakov on the rise along the southeastern ridge of the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state.

In the background is the northern face of Moscow Peak.

Photo by A. Sidorenko

We have embarked on a new path that has not yet been traversed. Very slowly, the ligaments were pulled up to a wide submontane crack, tearing the slope, behind which the icy surface glistening in the sun steeply went up. Ice rang under the blows of ice axes. Slowly moving over the steep, alternately securing each other on metal hooks hammered into the ice, we persistently gained altitude meter by meter. By evening, all the bundles climbed to the vast plateau of the first snow cushion.

The altitude is 5250 m. Having leveled the platforms in the snow, stretched out the tents, we began to prepare food. The water obtained from the snow made a noise in the alcohol kitchens, it became more comfortable in the tents. The last rays of the sun were extinguished on the cliffs of Moscow Peak, crimson under the sunset, and the mountains plunged into bluish darkness. The weary alpinists fell fast asleep in their warm sleeping bags.

24 August. Cold. We got out of the tents quite late and began to quickly pack our backpacks. Before us is a huge, steep snow slope, shining with icy areas and cliffs of firn faults. Here every step demanded attention. We try to firmly drive the crampons' teeth into the firn, but the uncomfortable position of the feet, which are twisted when moving on such a steep slope, greatly fatigues the leg muscles. As we climb, the slope gradually grows under us as a huge ice mountain. On it you can "slide", probably, only once in a lifetime. Rare sloping platforms above the steep faults serve as places of the desired respite. Only on them you can throw off heavy backpacks at least for a short time.

After five hours of difficult ascent, we finally reached the sloping snowy slope of the upper cushion and went to the beginning of the rocks of the western ridge. Deep below there was the Sagran glacier with fan-shaped stripes of cracks. The air is so transparent that the wall of the peak of Moscow Peak seems very close. As above the crater of a volcano, a white cloud swirls above it and disappears behind the crest. Near the beginning of the rocks on the north side, we found a completely horizontal small area covered with smooth ice. Despite the height of 5700 m, water accumulates in the cut holes, and we greedily quench our thirst. After resting, we find out that we are on a wide balcony, a giant snowy cornice, which, bending around the north-western ridge, connects with the previously unknown main source of the Sagran glacier.

Towards the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state. In the background on the right is Lipsky Peak, so named by Soviet climbers in honor of the Russian geographer who first saw this peak (1899). The triangles mark the places of the bivouacs:

1. Above the second pillow, on the balcony (5700 m), 2. On the western edge of the Moskva peak (5800 m).

At the source of the Sagran glacier E. Abalakov (right) and E. Ivanov.

Photo by E. Timashev

Almost a kilometer below us falls a completely sheer wall. Above us, the rocks of the western edge of the Moscow peak go up into steep ledges. Opposite us rises a rocky massif of the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state.

Along the steep rocks, trying not to drop stones so as not to injure the comrades walking below, we climbed 100 m under the sheer wall of the steepest rise of the western ridge. The weather was deteriorating. A strong wind swooped down. Clouds covered the mountains. The assault on complex rocks had to be postponed in order to urgently begin the construction of sites for a bivouac among the rocks at an altitude of 5800 m. Throughout the night, hurricane gusts of wind pressed the tents, cracked the banners. Snow dust from frost fell asleep on sleeping bags, splashed the faces of climbers huddled in their sleeping bags.

25-th of August. The morning did not bring relief. Poor visibility. Not even the nearest rocks are visible. A frosty blizzard circled behind the walls of the tents, not allowing them to get out. From the intense fatigue of the previous day, the influence of altitude began to affect. My head ached, my throat was dry, I felt weak. Dry alcohol "Hexa" got wet, and with great difficulty it was possible to light a match, blown out by gusts of wind, and to make the alcohol ignite. But instead of a life-giving hot flame, the damp "Hexa" filled the tent with such fumes that we felt as if we were imprisoned in a gas chamber. It was impossible to open the tent, the whirlwinds of snow would instantly have brought everything inside with snow. I had to endure, getting headlong into sleeping bags, and even when, thanks to the heroic efforts of A. Sidorenko, the delicious breakfast was ready, we were left lying almost indifferent.

But we did not lose hope for a speedy improvement in the weather. Indeed, for the dry climate of the Pamirs, stable, clear weather is usual, and one had to assume that the storm that caught us is a transient phenomenon. However, day and night passed, August 26 came, and the storm raged as before. A dull rumble, arising somewhere below, nara-became, and another hurricane gust of wind crashed into the tents with a roar, shaking them, trying to tear them off the rocky ridge. Geographer Timashev reported from a nearby tent: temperature - 13 °. Our "microclimate" was more favorable, as the tent was protected from the wind by the rocks. However, altitude and cold affected apathy, in unexpected outbursts of irritability. The hope for a quick change in the weather was gradually dying away, since the altimeters showed an increase in absolute height - 50 m, reflecting the drop in pressure. The smallest thermometer noted a temperature of 23 ° during this day. This is the phenomenon of a three-day fierce storm that held us at an altitude of 5800 m, A.A. Letavet later aptly described it as "Tien Shan in the Pamirs".

Only on August 28 - on the fourth day - the storm subsided, and it was possible to get out of the tents. It was necessary to decide what to do. The date of our return was drawing near. Food and fuel have decreased. Working capacity from forced passive lying decreased. The "Main Camp" was probably already worried about our fate, although at the appointed time we neatly gave light signals, lighting scraps of film. I considered it premature to go down with the whole group: after all, it would hardly be possible to organize a repeated attempt to ascend. We were clearly entering the "time trouble".

It was decided that weaker comrades would go down, accompanied by several strong climbers.

On August 28 at 11 o'clock Kelzon, Staritsky, Khodakevich, Daibog and Bagrov, leaving us most of their food and fuel, went downstairs. By seven o'clock in the evening of the same day they reached the "Main Camp" (4500 m), where prof. A.A. Letavet. Our good condition and the food and fuel left by our comrades allowed the six of us to continue our ascent.

On August 29, the wind died down, but the clouds were still holding. With difficulty, we cleared and folded the icy tents, packed our backpacks and, once again tied with ropes in triplets, we began to climb the steep cliffs over a kilometer-long cliff. The first in the bundle hammers a steel hook into the crack of the rock, engages on the carabiner and only then gives a signal to the next in the bundle
give out the rope connecting them. We pull ourselves up slowly one by one, checking each of our movements. The cliffs are so steep that it is often impossible to climb them with heavy backpacks. You have to take off the load and pull it on the rope. We crossed this two-hundred-meter wall for almost half a day. To save money, the latter had to knock out the hooks back. Several hooks at most dangerous places left in the rocks to return.

At the end of the day, when we reached an altitude of 6000 m, M. Anufrikov unexpectedly fell into a snowy area. Freeing the stuck leg, he dug a hole and discovered a narrow deep crack in the rocks under the snow. This peculiar cave turned out to be a valuable find for an overnight stay. After two hours of work on the welfare, for the first time during the assault, we could all spend the night together, reliably protected from the wind. In the evening, candles were burning in the cave, tea was boiling, jokes and songs were heard. Probably for the first time at the six thousandth height opera arias and duets sounded.

Already late in the evening, having jammed with a triple shaft, very pleased with our bivouac, we calmly fell asleep, squeezed by the rocky walls of a stone sack.

The morning of August 30 came. Unusual silence. We climb out of the cave. Furious exclamations ... In the mountains it sweeps again. Misty shroud and whirlwinds of snow covered the ridges. But we decided to continue our ascent. Again I had to climb sharp brittle rocks or bogged down on my knees in loose snow, balancing under sharp gusts of icy wind. We slowly rise from the ledge to the ledge. Sidorenko and Ivanov have very cold feet. While the comrades are resting, Timashev and I are going higher to explore the path.

Bypassing the huge rocky towers, hiding under the rocks from the gusts of a blizzard, we came to a narrow icy ridge. At the end of it we drive a dark silhouette of a high sharp rock: this is probably the highest point of the ridge, the western shoulder of the Moscow peak. An irresistible desire to find out the possibility of further ascent along the western ridge to the top forced us to climb along the edge of a steep ridge, on which we had to balance over huge cliffs, covered at times by blankets of clouds. Suddenly the clouds parted, and before us loomed in the distance, rising after some lowering of the ridge, a spectacular giant rise of a sharp jagged ridge, ending in the dome of the summit.

Snow-covered sharp numerous "zhan-darms" of the western ridge, like the teeth of an upturned saw, blocked the further path. We watched with intense attention this remaining rise to the top. It was necessary to go about another one and a half kilometers in a straight line and gain at least 800 m vertically. It was clear that to accomplish this, in addition to skill, time, effort and good, stable weather were needed; now, continuing to climb in unstable weather, with our waning strength, with limited time, we would put ourselves at too great a risk. No matter how bitter it is, you need to retreat! Leaving the southern side of the ridge, we folded the tour, Timashev wrote a note, which we carefully hid in the middle of the stone pyramid. Depressed, we returned to the frozen, waiting for us A. Sidorenko, E. Ivanov, A. Gozhev and M. Anufrikov.

Peak Moscow (6,994 m - on the right) and the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state from the south. Below is the Sagran glacier:… .. the path of the climbers,  camp on the second pillow. A flag on the crest of Moscow Peak marks an altitude of 6200 m, reached by climbers.

Photo by E. Timashev

Until late in the evening, they went down the steep, snow-covered rocks, hammering and knocking hooks with numb hands, hanging on frozen ropes, barely distinguishing each other through the snowstorm. Having reached the place of our camp at an altitude of 5800 m, we unexpectedly discovered an annoying "robbery": dry jelly, pieces of smoked sausage, left by us, turned out to be racy-given and pecked by crows. Only at dusk did we go down to the familiar balcony at an altitude of 5700 m and set up our tents on the smooth surface of the ice. The passionate desire to draw water from the holes cut in the ice was no longer crowned with success. Sunset. There was only frosty ringing ice all around.

In the evening at the appointed hour, I gave the signal. The wind blew matches for a long time, hands were freezing. But then the film flashed, and I raised the torch high. For a second, rocks and snow lit up brightly. But the film burned out, and the darkness became even thicker. I look down anxiously, and suddenly a point of light flashed deep below in a veil of fog. "Hooray! My signal has been received! " It became warmer and calmer in my soul from the consciousness that comrades headed by A.A. are tirelessly watching us down there. Letavet. I return to the bivouac. Candles are burning in the tents. Tovar-rishis prepare hot food. The moon appeared. The night was frosty. Mercury again dropped to -20 °, but tired people slept soundly.

August 31. Wonderful Pamir morning! Clear sky. Windless. The upper part of the main source of the Sagran glacier is perfectly visible from our balcony. In the east, upstream, it ends with a saddle located about two kilometers from us against the background of a dark blue alpine sky. It lies between the peak of Moscow and the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state. From the saddle it was possible to solve two sports tasks: to establish the possibility of climbing the Moscow peak along the northern ridge and to try to ascend to the peak of the 30th anniversary of the Soviet state along its southeastern ridge. In addition, we could establish which glacier headwaters adjoins the source of the Sagran glacier. Timashev ardently urged Sidorenko to use this exceptional case, which first presented itself to the cameraman - to shoot from such a height highest peak USSR, Stalin's peak.

There was a heated discussion: should we go down - to the "Main camp" or up - to the saddle? It was decided to reach the saddle and, if possible, complete both tasks.

Entering the saddle required a significant expenditure of energy. We had to walk along our cornice along the northern slope of the western edge of the Moskva peak and then descend to the Sagran glacier, to its main source. This was due to the loss of 150-200 m in height. Descent to the glacier turned out to be difficult due to treacherous cracks hidden under deep, free-flowing snow. I had to slide down on their bellies to distribute the weight of the whole body as much as possible large area holding each other on the ropes. The backpacks were lowered separately. Such "swimming" on the snowy slope, over the hollows of the cracks took a lot of time.

What do we know about glacial cracks? Just what glacial(ice)crack- This is a break in the glacier, formed as a result of its movement. Cracks most often have vertical walls. The depth and length of the cracks depends on the physical parameters of the glacier itself. There are cracks up to 70 m deep and tens of meters long. Cracks are: closed and open type... Open cracks are clearly visible on the surface of the glacier and therefore pose less danger to movement on the glacier. Theory is good, but without a visual image, a theory remains just a text.

Depending on the season, weather, and other factors, cracks in the glacier can be blocked by snow. In this case, the cracks are not visible and when moving along the glacier there is a danger of falling into the crack along with the snow bridge covering the crack. To ensure safety when moving on a glacier, especially a closed one, it is necessary to move in bundles.

There is a special type of cracks - bergschrund typical for kars (circus, or a natural bowl-shaped depression in the pre-summit part of the slopes) feeding valley glaciers from the firn basin. Bergschrund is a large crack that occurs when the glacier leaves the firn basin.

Details about the types of glacial cracks and their structure can be found in the article.

Now let's move on to direct viewing of illustrative examples of cracks of various types and sizes:

Glacial crack on a "dirty" glacier

Dangerous ice cracks on the "closed" glacier

Rankloft is a crack, a gully between a glacier and rocks. Usually, rancluft is formed at the lateral boundaries of the glacier-rocks contact. Reaches from 1m wide and up to 8 meters deep