Over the years various KCL students have organised expeditions to faraway places with mixed results, some years ago one managed to end on the first after a knee injury, so this time when Gareth asked if I wanted to come climbing in Kyrgyzstan I thought it'd be a good idea...
He and Ed Lemon had been there in 2009 and obviously had some local knowledge and this time we actually knew how to say four so we could order a beer each rather than having to resort to fractions. Some juggling around with climbers later and four of us get ready to fly out. Gareth, Ed, Charlie who's been on KCLMC ice trips in the past and me, all reasonable climbers but not exactly the most competent mountaineers in the world, especially me that about a week before the trip realise I've never actually climbed to the summit of a mountain before. Never mind, how hard can it be? Rather as it turns out but that will come a bit later.
Trying desperately to get lots of sponsorship we prostitute ourselves to lots of companies but unfortunately we don't manage to get anything with the only airline that flies direct to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan so we end up booking tickets with Aeroflot. We all have to reassure girlfriends and parents that Aeroflot are safe now, they've got rid of almost all their old Tupolevs (mainly by falling down but that we keep quiet about) and now are better than Air France for safety (like that is an achievement). We manage to end up on two different flights so me and Gareth leave at an ungodly hour and have a long stopover in Moscow whereas Charlie has a few hours less and flies on the second leg with us, Ed is already out there having lived in the region for the last year working as a journalist being wanted by the Tajik government. Descending with a pile of luggage bigger than ourselves and about as heavy we descend on Bishkek, the five of us squeeze into an Audi with all the kit. Since there is so much of it we end up sitting with about three big bags in our lap in the back seat.
In Bishkek we buy supplies, pack and prepare for what is to come, well, three of us at least. Ed has handed his passport in the week before to get a three month visa, unfortunately there is some kind of delay so he doesn't get his passport back before we leave and he needs the passport to get through the border zone military check points. He does however manage to get a letter which he technically shouldn't be allowed through with, but will probably, not really what you want to hear just before setting off.
Wise from their experiences the last time the UAZ bus is booked for transport, this soviet era vehicle is from the outside looking a lot like a camper van but in reality it is built on the chassis of a very competent 4x4 so it is four wheel drive, supercharged and can be fixed with a hammer alone. The bus also comes with our driver Sasha who seem to made entirely out of leather.
Leaving the Soviet era boulevards of Bishkek we quickly notice how the road is getting worse and worse. Pot holes of a size that would swallow a small European car are quite common. The drive down is mostly uneventful apart from a minor breakdown which left us with enough time to climb a small peak to have a better view over the famous Issyk-Kul, the world's second biggest alpine lake.
Further out the road is still getting worse until we hit Naryn where there simply aren't any road, they've ALL been dug up at once making bread buying somewhat of a tricky prospect. Surprisingly enough we all have mobile phone reception and can only conclude that Kyrgyzstan has a better network than Wales. Getting through the check points the next day turns out easier than anticipated without even having to bribe anyone though they mention that Ed's passport needs to come with the driver on the way back. After the checkpoints the road turns positively track like and big chunks are missing making us drive off road to get round it. Turning off the "road" we do some proper off-roading in what to all intents looks like a campervan.
After setting up base camp we start our first stretch of five days of load hauling high enough for you to really be short of breath. The col we need to pass to get from base camp is nearly 4200m which a day after coming from lowlands is pretty tough. The rivers are quite full hindering us somewhat making us take a little longer than planned.
Base camp is set in a lush valley with a view of the peaks ahead, we can see the summit pyramid of Fers III poking out behind a ridge, this being one of our main targets we keep a close eye on it. Our other target, the hulking Grand Poohbah, we learn that some Slovenians have climbed as we were walking in. This is the point where we get Ed to teach us lots of bad words in Russian. After a rest day we pack our bags to set off up the Sarychat glacier though as we are having our breakfast some rather nasty looking clouds roll in and we decide to indulge in a spot of light climbing on the lime stone cliffs above base camp. Me and Gareth go for the left hand slab and set up "Soul of Milk" XS, 4b, 400m. A rather emotional climb at times with 20m run outs on crumbling lime stone over slabs, overlaps and scree fields before we retreat off the mountain. Ed and Charlie climb the slightly stiffer "Petrol porridge" XS, 5a, 500m to the summit of Pik Benzina. Our climb named after our dried milk which turned out to be completely milk free and theirs after our breakfast bags which at an early stage got tainted with petrol.
The next day the weather looked fine to go up so we start up the terminal moraine of the Sarychat. Our initial target for this trip dubbed the Sentinel we quickly dismissed as out of condition so we continue up the glacier. Rather than walking 7km gaining 500m of altitude we ended up walking twice that and twice the altitude gain taking us up to 4500m below the base of Fers III. The day after walking up we decide to climb an ice/snow streak we've seen on the side of a mountain and then try and take us along the ridge to the Sentinel from the back. After climbing some 600m vertically we find ourselves on the summit of peak Lyell, climbed in 2009, with no way of getting along the ridge either way and we have to descend by walking down a 50 degree scree slope.
The 5th of August is the big day, the attempt on Fers III. Ed and Charlie set off at 4am along the east face of the mountain, me and Gareth follow them half an hour later. The teams climb within view of each other but on mostly separate lines with Ed and Charlie hugging the rock wall on the right and me and Gareth following the glacial ramp upwards. Climbing is initially easy and we can move together though after a while it steepens enough for us to warrant pitching it. Unfortunately we don't have enough ice screws to do really long pitches so we end up running it out between the screws to get a bit further. After several hours of climbing up this never ending ramp, some 500m of vertical gain we turn off right into the band of rock guarding the ridge. The rock is in shocking condition in places and while traversing I throw down rock after rock to stop it from falling on us.
The climbing isn't desperately technical but insecure with some very spicy run outs, Scottish grade of VI 4 was suggested by Ed. I for some reason end up leading on steep snow/ice ramps and long rocky traverses whereas Gareth get steep chimneys with a mixed grade of M5, some of the hardest he's ever climbed and this at around 5000m altitude. It is getting quite late at this point, we've had an energy bar each and half a litre of water since we started and are getting quite tired. We talk about going down but we decide it can't be far to go. Turns out it wasn't so after another M5 chimney we find ourselves on the ridge within reach of the summit. The final head wall is powdery snow at an angle of up to 60 degrees before the capping summit serac. Ed and Charlie are at this point about an hour ahead of us and are going down as we are just about to summit.
We summit at 6.30 roughly in the evening and take some photos from the summit before down climbing the head wall, some 250 vertical metres. At this point we are all feeling the strain of a very long day, both me and Gareth admit to having napped a little while on belay duty and we are starting to think about our warm sleeping bags we'll be down in soon. It turns out however this is just the start of the epic that is the ascent and descent of Pik Eggmendülük (aka Fers III). Arriving back at the point where we gained the ridge we start abseiling. We have a small scare on the first abseil when it seems like the rope is stuck but after more vigorous pulling we get it down, set the next point up and abseil off. Charlie goes first and finds a nice ledge big enough for all of us to sit on nearly at the end of the ropes. Ed goes second but can't go down to Charlie as the ropes have snagged on a piece of rock and sets up an alternative anchor point. I go down to Ed and Gareth follows. When we try and get the ropes down nothing happens, completely snagged. Lots of swearing ensues and Gareth starts up the ropes before coming to his senses realising the ropes are over a sharp slate edge near the top and that his bouncing may well cut the rope before he is up so he abs down. I get my trusty Swiss army knife out and we cut the ends off the ropes leaving us with two pieces about 30m long each. Because of our short ropes we end up doing what seemed like a million abseils in the night until we hit some flattish ground. We have a sinking feeling this isn't where we want to be though, something that is confirmed when the sun starts to come out and we are certain we are on the wrong side of the mountain. After even more swearing and lots of down climbing we get back to the initial glacier ramp, unfortunately some 500m above where the start is. We still haven't had anything more to eat or drink at this point as we haven't brought a stove. We continue abseiling down the side of the rock, unfortunately as the sun is getting out it starts to loosen rocks and small showers start down the face though luckily not where they could hit us so we continue abseiling. The anchors gets worse and worse, at one point I see Charlie holding the ab tat down as I abseil on it to stop it from falling off. 28 hours after starting the route me and Gareth get down, have some chilli con carne for breakfast and crash out. The route name has come to us in a flash of inspiration, 28 hours later, ED1, AI4, M5, 1400m. Ed and Charlie name their route Brothers Chechel, ED1, AI4, M5, 1400m as well after the smoked Georgian cheese they've been eating.
At this point we don't have enough food left so me and Gareth have half a breakfast each for dinner and the same for breakfast the next day. Walking down takes us well into the afternoon and as we have gone past the glacier the river looks bigger than normal. Our fears get worse as the bank we are to walk on seems to have been flushed away and we have to indulge in even more scree scrambling. When we reach our crossing point it looks really bad so Charlie gets in and tries to get across but no luck, I try to get across but no luck either so being somewhat angry I start walking along the river wearing a base layer top and my pants only. I walk rather far and must have turned around just before the Chinese border. The only thing for us to do is to camp another night within 50m of base camp. We have no food at all except a dozen raisins and an energy bar each. Having worked out that the river is going down we get up for dawn and manage to get across where we spend most of the day eating.
Before leaving the valley me and Gareth have time to go and climb two peaks above base camp to name after our girlfriends resulting in Pik Annika and Pik Georgina. We still aren't having much luck and the weather starts to turn as we are about to set off up the peaks proper as they are located on a high plateau above the valley so we decide to pitch the tent before we leave. The climbing is uneventful and easy apart from the snow storm raging around us, visibility on occasion is down to 5m and we are starting to doubt we'll ever find the summit until the clouds suddenly part and the summit is 10m in front of us. Coming back to the tent we get blasted by the wind and don't fancy going down in the conditions and decide to camp there. Gareth has decided to go ultra light and not bring a sleeping bag but bring his insulated over trousers whereas I have gone light without a spoon. After eating with a peg Don Whillans style we have a rather good night's sleep, or at least I do. The next morning dawns awful, the snow is still coming and the wind is just as strong so we decide to sit it out, at least we have food this time.
After our little climb we decided to pack up and head back to the pick up point. Another five days of load hauling later we were sitting in the spot where we have been dropped off nearly three weeks earlier. The weather remained bad so no further trips up that valley happened apart from one which aborted two hours into it. Some light cragging was had on some big boulders half an hour from base camp but unfortunately the only route climbed was and aid route up a crack given A2.
Sasha and the UAZ were spotted as we were sitting down for breakfast with nothing packed so after some frantic throwing things into bags we were ready to leave. Listening to "Highway to Hell" as we were driving out was somewhat surreal after all that time in the wilderness. The drive back was mostly uneventful apart from a slight wheel issue which meant we only had three wheel nuts in instead of the normal five, this driving for 20 hours on roads that would make people with Land Rovers slow to a crawl. We got through the border posts without a problem and the bus ran on fine after the wheel issue.
Back in Bishkek a day early we went out to celebrate, suffice to say excessively. No one got injured and we don't think we got banned from anywhere so all in all a success.
This expedition was supported by the Mount Everest Foundation, Beal, Be-Well Expedition Foods, Lyon Equipment, Mountain Hardwear, Paramo, Petzl, Pod Sacs, Pulsin, Rab and Real First Aid
Words by Hannes Granberg
All photos in article © Hannes Granberg
Photos below, Kyrgyzstan–3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 25, 29, 30, 32, 34 © Gareth Mottram
Remainder of photos © Hannes Granberg
