Page 17 - 2011 AMA Winter

So what of Point 5318? Our third climb took us back into the Djangart Valley to the highest peak of the region. This time we would need two days to get to the mountain, the trek over the N1 glacier’s moraines alone taking seven torturous hours. Being equipped for an alpine style climb, our supplies would last for six days only. It was then with great disappoint- ment, not to mention discomfort, that our first thirty six hours on the mountain were spent in a cramped bivvy tent while the snow poured down outside. With the weather clearing slightly on the fourth day of our trip, we looked to edge slightly higher up the mountain by means of a rock rib in order to make a bid for the summit once the snow had consolidated. This we did with relative ease up to 4750m, before being confronted by a sixty meter snow field to get to another safe rib. We ten- tatively moved onto this snow, hoping for safe passage, but our luck was out. A sudden shift of the ground beneath us and a crack the size of a tennis court around us halted us in our tracks. There was no need for any discussion, this was the end of our climb.
So we return from Kyrgyzstan wondering whether our expedition was a success. Point 5318m remains unclimbed but we have established two great new routes of which we can be proud. We learnt that a trip of this nature is entirely different from any kind of climbing trip that we have experienced before. Indeed, had we not even achieved a single summit, we both agree that the trip would have been worth embarking upon for the experience alone. It is here, in a land of no guide books, no telephriques and no assurances that both experience and the experience count more than anything else. We wondered, during our journey back to civilisation, whether applying an alpine style of climbing, as we did, was the most suit- able for the expedition.
With base camp being two arduous days walk away from the highest mountains and long slogs up moraines being a necessity, time on the mountain was limited by carry- ing only alpine style quantities of supplies.
Our attempt on Point 5318m, for exam- ple, simply couldn’t stretch to incorpo- rate a 36 hour snow storm plus a d a y or two of snow consoli- dation. However, an alpine s t y l e did
allow us to make three other climbs in the time available, which a siege on one objec- tive would not have. We’re not the first mountaineers to have faced this dilemma of course, and the choice for future expe- ditions may be different. Either way, our advice to anyone else planning a similar expedition would be to expect the unex- pected, be flexible, keep on smiling and you might just come home with something to show for it.
If you wish to learn more about the expe- dition, there is a facebook page entitled Djangart Ascents Kyrgyzstan with details of routes, logistics, upcoming lectures and many more photographs from the trip.
Many thanks all of those people who so generously supported our expedition and through their contributions allowed it to happen: The AMA; The Austrian Alpine Club (UK Branch); BARCLIF; TrekKits; Goretex; and The Mount Everest Foundation.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER 15