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First ascent on Lhotse Middle Spring
2001
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Looking at Everest
region map published by National Geographic, such a
magic projection of highest polar zone of Earth, I
have a pretty feeling of aesthetic meditation. My look
glides slowly along mountain ridges, valleys, and
rivers. Without any special goal my attention
concentrates on center of the map. Everest, South
fore-summit, South col, Main Lhotse, Lhotse Shar. I
feel myself like an explorer. There are not so many
points with altitudes higher than 8000 meters. A point
between Lhotse Main and Lhotse Shar has altitude 8414
meters. What is it? Just a mark in the ridge? This
point is visible from Everest summit as a summit with
steer northwest wall. It amazes by its pointed form
like one of French Alps spires, shining by sharp edges
of its roofs. Until the last time this summit - Lhotse
Middle - appeared in the Guinness book as the highest
point of Earth where man has never trod.
History of developing
Himalayas and Karakorum says that there are only 14
summits with altitude higher than 8000 meters.
Annapurna allowed climbers to reach his summit first
of them, but at the high price. But mountain massifs
are not Egyptian pyramids. A mountain crows often by a
several summits. Most of all - 5 summits - has
Kanchenjunga. Each of its summits was climbed
separately. 25th in this list was K2 West that were
climbed by Japanese climbers in 1982. According to
Reinhold Messner list, Lhotse massif has three obvious
summits: Main (8501 meters), East (8414 meters) and
Lhotse Shar (8386 meters). Lhotse East has also other
name: Lhotse Middle, 26th summit in the Messner's
list.
There is only one
classical, relatively easy route along the northwest
wall to the Main summit. Others, south routes are very
difficult. The more impressive of them is Russian 1990
route along the South wall to the Main Lhotse.
My concepts of Lhotse
were shaped mainly by reminiscences of my friend and
coach Alexander Pogorelov. He took part in a first
South wall direttissima on Lhotse, 1990. Alexander
didn't reach summit like Karataev and Bershov, but his
group was very close to the success. Pogorelov,
Turkevich, Kopeyko and Hitrikov first reaches at that
time 8350 meters point. They fixed ropes on the most
difficult part of the route from 7600 to 8100 meters
during 4 days and moved then in alpine style,
practically without food and bivouac gear, having only
two ropes and a short ice-axe. Pogorelov and his
friends spent three nights at the altitude higher than
8000 meters. Second bivouac at the 8200 meters was
arranged just in a snow pit. Carving their way in a
"empty" snow of the tracery snow ridge they rushed to
the summit by all their essence.
I remembered after this
story that Lhotse ridges higher 8000 meters are the
exhausting work in a trench in a "empty" snow and an
endless space around that consists from the risk to
fall together with the snow roof of the knife-sharp
ridge. They performed huge volume of a difficult
technical job and then descended by a miracle,
after 10 days on the wall. I remember also such
feelings when we together with Pogorelov saw similar
relief on the southwest wall of Khan-Tengri (6995
meters). Leader had at that time two dangerous falls
and was stopped by belay rope. Something about that I
expected from Lhotse middle.
As I know, 7 expeditions
tried to climb Lhotse Middle during last 5 years: 5
Russian expeditions (including ours expedition), Spain
and Korean (2001).
Nobody before tried to
climb Kanchung wall of Lhotse Middle, though this line
was known. Vladimir Bashkirov suggested it in 1997.
Vladimir was the main ideologist of this ascent. He
died then during descent from the Main summit, after
unsuccessful attempt to traverse the entire Lhotse
massif from west to east.
Our success was caused
by a correct route, good team of climbers from many
Russian cities. First time we would have planned and
tried to reach the wall from the South col, but the
danger of snow avalanche stopped us. Timofeev group
had replaced us on the South col and made decision to
ascent first along the north ridge that lead to the
Main summit. Then, using a gear that was carried by
Timofeev group on 8100, Gleb Sokolov and me had found
the way through roofs and seracks of the north ridge
of Lhotse main to the Kanchung face. It broke the
situation and gave hopes to all the members of our
expedition. Loking at the wall we got the assurance
that the ascent may be real.
We couldn't move farther
because to the bad snow condition. It literally
"flowed away" from under foots. Avalanche danger, bad
weather and bad state of health of Yuri Ermachek
forced us to descent.
May, 16th, two weeks
before the end of the expedition, Tourism Ministry of
Nepal gave us at last the official permit to ascent
Lhotse Middle. Vice-secretary of Ministry visited the
base camp personally.
My forecast about
possibilities of reaching the summit in a 2-3 days of
a good weather was confirmed. May 23rd Timofeev,
Vinogradsky, Bolotov and Kuznetsov had continued our
route (21st -22nd they ended the traverse of slopes of
northeast wall), crossed about 1000 meters with a
number of technical difficult sections and reached
summit area to 3 p.m.
May 24th at 12:00 Gilin,
Sokolov and me ascent nevertheless the last dizzy 80
meters (10-12 meters elevation gain) of the summit
ridge and reached the highest point - summit roof of
Lhotse Middle.
Later, May 27th, using
fixed ropes ascended Yanochkin and Volodin. The
weather to that time became unstable and in a many
places he did the way anew.
9 climbers from 12 have
reached the summit: Alexey Bolotov, Petr Kuznetsov,
Evgeny Vinogradsky, Sergei Timofeev, Yuri Koshelenko,
Nikolay Gilin, Gleb Sokolov, Vladimir Yanochkin,
Victor Volodin. We all used extra oxygen from 8000
meters. The 5-years length history of attempts to
ascent the Lhotse Middle first time was ended.
Leaders of ascent:
Nikolay Cherny, Sergey Timofeev.
Climbers: Evgeny Vinogradski, Nikolay Gilin, Yuri
Ermachek, Alexey Bolotov, Petr Kuznetsov, , Gleb
Sokolov, Yuri Koshelenko, Vasily Elagin, Vladimir
Yanochkin, Victor Volodin;
Film group: S.Shakuro, I.Borisenko;
Expedition organizer: Victor Kozlov.
Source
Yury Koshelenko Pictures
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