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Ascending Pobeda
11:18 a.m. EST Oct 31, 2003
After the Khan Tengri speed climb, eager to capitalize on his acclimatization, Chad headed over to Peak Pobeda, 7439m, in Krgystan. On the classic route, Pobeda boasts a ridge-walk above the 7000m mark for over 12 kilometers, each way. In addition, the mountain is very avalanche prone and is poorly fixed even by Russian standards. Chad sent us a description of his recent summit of Pobeda. With in hours of getting there, Kellogg was on the move – within days of arriving in Base Camp, a serac above him breaks loose, a climber dies after a fixed line broke, Chad summits, has to take a dex pill after a harrowing descent, and then also witnesses a helicopter rescue high up on the mountain.
Chad’s account of Pobeda:
Pobeda means ‘victory’ in Russian. I like to describe the peak as a Venus flytrap; it lures you in and then does not let you go. Before I arrived on the South Side of the mountain in Kyrgyzstan, August 9th, there had been only five decent days of weather in the past month. The highest that previous teams had made it on the mountain in the season was 5700m. The peak is 7439m high, so there were not that many teams of climbers ahead of me. I had scheduled a helicopter to pick me up and fly back to Almaty on the 15th. That left five days to roundtrip the Mountain. (Chad was pre-acclimatized from Khan Tengri)
On a summit attempt just hours off the helicopter
Immediately after landing at the southern base camp I packed my gear and supplies and left camp within an hour. I headed up the dry Zvezdochka glacier for a few kilometers. I encountered an icefall and picked my way through the growing number of crevasses. In the distance I could see two figures moving above the icefall. It was good to know that when I crossed the plentiful snow bridges solo that others had crossed not too long before me. After five hours I rolled into Camp I at dusk. I was amazed at all of the fantastic peaks on either side of the glacier farther up valley. The climbers’ route went right up a debris chute below a large unstable serac. I quickly set up camp and prepared for an early start to ‘beat the sun’.
Serac fall
When I awoke in the morning the team camped nearby was breaking down their tent. I packed my gear and began about an hour after they left. The sun started to climb above the horizon as I approached the serac debris path. Suddenly the serac gave way under the touch of the suns first rays. The blocks of ice crashed down toward me, as I stood frozen in my tracks. Then I moved quickly upward kicking new steps and running across the traverse to the fixed line on the overhanging serac. I used a *Texas prusik to ascend the line, blindly trusting the anchors. On the plateau above I made rapid progress and caught the two climbers ahead by at around 5000m. We talked while eating some bars. Dimitry from Russia and Sabi from Spain were also attempting to summit by means of the classic route. I cached my rope and snow protection as I figured most of the crevasse danger was behind me. Dikly pass was at 5200m and Camp II was above on the ridge at about 5700m.
Death on Pobeda
I pressed on eager to reach Camp II and enjoy the position, having to cross a sketchy snow bridge just above the pass mid day. I had heard that there were two Russian teams, a Spanish woman and a guide, and a British team higher on the Pobeda. I was just about up to 5800m and my daily objective when I see a climber rapidly descending. He ran right up to me and asked if I could speak English. I replied that I was an American. He told me that his partner had taken a fall about five hundred feet higher asked if I could climb down to 4900m to help him, Rob, locate and rescue his partner, Andy. I dropped my pack and gathered the essentials.
Bad fixed lines
On the way down Rob and I recruited the Russian and Spaniard to help. At the pass I located what I thought to be the body nearly 3500 feet below where Rob had seen Andy fall. The Spaniard agreed to climb to the base of the wall and recover the climber. Dimitry got in contact with base camp and notified them that there was an incident. When Rob and Sebi had pulled the body out of harms way Dimitry and I assisted in removing our fellow climber to a safe helicopter-landing zone. Rob had determined that the probable cause was a combination of anchor failure and old fixed lines that had failed. I then high tailed it back up to my pack at 5,800 and chopped a tent platform. I managed to climb 2700m that day above 14,000 ft.
6500m and counting
The next morning I broke camp late and started to climb with the sound of rotors whipping the thin air. The difference between Khan Tengri and Pobeda was that on Pobeda the fixed lines were a route marker, and could not be relied upon. I climbed through the mixed bands of snow and rock on the ridge until I hit a suitable camp at 6500m. There was a large overhanging rock under which I could set my tent up. The view was amazing as the day was crystal clear. I could see into China and the Gobi desert as well as into Kazakhstan and further south into Kyrgzstan.
Summit push time
After an amazing sunset I fell fast asleep. I got an alpine start and headed for the summit from Camp III. Right out of camp there was a steep couloir followed by a short vertical rock and ice step. Near 6800m I saw the camp of the Spaniard woman and her Georgian guide. I could see the West summit of Vasha Pshavela, 6918m, that you have to climb over to get onto the arm of Pobeda. The arm the ridge was four miles long to gain the summit. All the teams high on the mountain were making an attempt on August 12th, the full moon. I could see the two teams in front of me. The Russian team of three and the Spaniard and guide. The ridge seemed to undulate on infinitely.
Summit!
Two hours later I caught up with the Georgian and Spanish climbers. They were taking a break and brewing up. Just as I was about to stroll up I poked through a crevasse on the ridge and had to drop roll and self-arrest on the ridge all at once. Humbled, I walked up and took a seat nearby. Near the obelisk formation I could see the Russian team working up the steep mixed section and past the technical crux of the summit pyramid. I got started and had soon caught the team of three. Soon thereafter I walked across a formation called the knife. The knife is a razor sharp ridge about 75 ft. long with 10,000 ft of exposure on each side. Safely on the other side I made my way to the summit coughing every few steps. It was nearly five o’clock when we reached the main summit. The Russians told me that I could share their rope with them on the way down off of the pyramid. I was thankful and carefully down climbed the ridge, taking my time crossing back over the serrated knife. Near the bottom of the pyramid and below the technical crux we parted ways.
A little dex
It had been snowing the past few hours we had been descending. In the dusk the faint trail began to get covered. I lost the trail on the leeward side of the ridge and traveled too low and got off route alone. Realizing that I was far too low I began to climb difficult terrain back up toward the ridge above 7000m. Exhausted I decided to take my first tablet of * dexamethasone. I continued to climb up to the ridge in near dark conditions and still without the trail. Suddenly I see Alexander the Russian cross in front of me two hundred yards above. I hurried to catch up. Once on the ridge again I caught the two senior Russian climbers. It turned out that they only had one faltering headlamp between them. I had a powerful headlamp so I went in the middle. The ridge seemed to go on forever. I felt like the fly squirming in the sticky Venus flytrap. After what seemed like forever we arrived at the Russian high camp at 7000m near Vasha Pashavela. I stopped and had some tea and rye bread before heading down to my camp. It was after midnight and very cold by this point. The full moon had risen, but there was news via the radio that the Georgian and Spaniard were in trouble.
A weary 19 hours of straight climbing
I headed out solo and trudged wearily down the ridge past the Spanish camp and down the rock and ice step uneventfully. Back at 6500m I crawled into a Russian tent 19 hours after I began the morning before. The next morning I packed and ate a leisurely breakfast before down climbing to Camp II. As I was leaving I ran into the Spaniard and the Russian heading up the mountain. I gave them the beta that camping on the middle of the ridge would be the best position for a summit bid. I kept the image of Andy the British climber in the forefront of my mind as I moved deliberately down the ridgeline.
High-altitude rescue
Mid afternoon I heard the sound of M5 rotor blades cutting the silence. A rescue was underway for the Georgian guide and his client. I was amazed as I watched the chopped reach altitudes near 23,000 ft. It was time to go. I followed the tattered lines back past the technical difficulties and to Camp II where the British tent still stood. I crawled inside yet another teams tent and took a midday nap. When I awoke in the evening and cooked dinner. Two of the Russian climbers approached the tent and asked for a fuel canister. I readily offered a Korean gaz canister. Alexander asked me if I planned to make it back to base camp on the fourteenth, the next day. I replied that I was heading down to 5000m that night. I guess that base camp was concerned about me missing the helicopter flight.
Pobeda opens its jaws
As I was climbing past the Russian tent Alexander told me that he thought I was a very strong man. That was the highest compliment I could have received. I crossed the sketchy crevasse near the pass under much more stable snow conditions this time. At the 5000m camp I dug up my cache and took another nap for three hours before I had to break camp yet again to beat the sun. I was still wriggling to get free of the jaws that still ensnared me. At the top of the ice cliff I lowered my pack and rappelled the overhanging face. I reached Camp I as the sun began to heat the day. On and on I walked. Below Camp I, I crossed dozens of crevasses until I reached the dry part of the glacier below. Near three o clock I rolled back into the Southern base camp and gladly set down my pack. My lungs were badly trashed and I went straight to the doctor for some antibiotics. The chopper picked me up at 7:00 AM the following morning August 15th. I was headed back to Almaty after four weeks in the Central Tien Shan.
*Texas prusik – a knot and technique used to ascend a vertical line. Loops around your feet are attached to the vertical line, and you are able to climb up like a ladder, advancing the knot higher on the vertical line every step made up.
*dexamethasone – A catabolic steroid that gives weary climbers a little bit of a boost.
Image 1 of Pobeda courtesy of Mountain.ru and Kirill Filchenkov
Image 2 ExplorersWeb archive of a Russian fixed line
Image 3 ExplorersWeb archive of Chad Kellog
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