ISM West Kokshal-Too Expedition 2006
MEMBERS: Pat Littlejohn, Adrian Nelhams, Vladimir Komissarov
(guides), Ulrik Andersen, Ben Box, James Bruton, Joanne da
Silva, Greg Paul, Todd Siemers, Nick Wheatley.
At the start
of September we made the now familiar trip via Naryn to the
Kokshal range and established base camp at the
delightful lake below the west side of the Navlikin Glacier.
On our first full day the full team walked 5 hours up the
glacier to recce and acclimatise, then the weather closed in
and snowed
heavily for 24 hours, putting 30cm of snow at BC and much
more higher up. Once the weather cleared we made an exploratory
trip to the Malitskovo glacier immediately to the east. This
revealed a cluster of excellent unclimbed peaks. After a
'council
of war' one team led by PL decided to attempt Pk 5611 (peak
adjacent to Grand Poohbah) at the head of the Navlikin glacier,
and the two other teams led by AN and VK decided to attempt
peaks around the Malitskovo glacier.
After 2 days PL, JdS, BB & JB established a camp at about
4650m below Pk 5611 but were pinned down by evil weather for
3 days, which meant most slopes were even more heavily laden
and avalanche prone. They went up to c. 4850 on the peak but
turned back when the depth of unstable snow reached the handles
of trekking poles. At night the gusts of wind were like express
trains but luckily they had a bombproof tent (JB's Hillenberg).
On the plus side, JdS taught everyone to play Bridge which
gave some in-tent entertainment, and a tent fire also enlivened
proceedings! Finally there was a brief clearing and they climbed
a small peak above the camp (Pt Argon, 4880m) before heading
down when the food ran out. On the way back to BC they had
a fantastic day making the first traverse of Macciato Peak
(4656m) which gave 9 hrs of fine mountaineering along a sharp
crest.
Through this period the other teams were attempting 5 peaks
above the Malitskovo Glacier. Here the weather was much better;
being lower and further north (Poohbah seems to hold its
own bad weather system, often in a storm cloud when everything
lower is clear). VK, GP & UA climbed Pik Ascha 4717m
and the more distant Pik Novey 4760m. They were then joined
by AN, NW & TS for an ascent of Pik Berum 4812m. The
dominant peak of this glacier is the superb, fin-like Pk
4996m. AN, NW & TS climbed the east flank of this then
followed the sharp north ridge to a forepeak just short of
the summit, stopped by time and a dangerously corniced ridge.
They offer a name of Pik Kanashay (Queen). Finally AN with
GP and UA reached 4900m on Pk 4975m, turning back because
of avalanche danger.
All in all an excellent, memorable trip
despite not achieving the major objective of 'Grand Poohbah'.
Click here to view the West Kokshal-Too Expedition
Map
Click here to view the West
Kokshal-Too Photo Gallery
