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TR: Khan Tengri, Central Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan 2-Sep-2014 At 5:12:39 AM huwj

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At the beginning of August I summited Khan Tengri. A 7000m peak that stands in the Central Tian Shan range at the intersection of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China.

It’s a stunningly beautiful mountain in a remote and amazing part of the world. I made some great friends in base camp and had an intense and rewarding time on the mountain.

It’s not Aussie rock, but I thought a few of you might be interested to hear some details. I haven’t put together a proper trip report and the weeks are slipping away so I thought I’d at least share some pictures.

And a few details about the trip…

I choose to climb from the south and bought a base camp package from a Kyrgyz company called Ak-Sai. I have no hesitation in recommending them and the whole team from the office staff to the base camp cooks were great. Using an outfit like Ak-Sai is not essential - one of the great things about this part of the world is that you can hike to base camp, pitch your tent and do your own thing without spending any money. As I was on my own and had no idea how long it would take me to climb the mountain, not having to carry a month’s worth of base camp food and being able to socialise over shared meals with the other climbers was what made me splash out the dollars. In hindsight it was definitely the right decision and made the whole experience so much more enjoyable.

They flew me to the glacier in a chopper, gave me a big yellow tent in base camp and fed me three meals a day for as long as I was there. They also gave me a radio whenever I was on the mountain so I could check in with Dima the base camp manager. Radio contact aside, once you walk out of base camp, you’re on your own.

From flying in to flying out I spent eighteen days climbing the mountain. During my acclimatisation I teamed up with a couple of other soloists. We kept an eye on each other and shared tents, tea and stories, but on my third and final trip up the mountain I climbed and summited alone. On the summit the weather was changing quickly and with a huge snow dump forecast for later in the day, I was far from relaxed or excited. Standing on the summit was not the experience I imagined! That said there’s no doubt that the fifteen minutes or so I spent up there alone was very special and not something I will ever likely forget.

Khan Tengri is a technical seven-thousander but I found the technical difficulties were not so great. Below Camp 3 (5900m) the difficulties mainly involve crevasse and avalanches, both of which are very serious on this mountain! After acclimatisation (ie. once familiar with the route) I was able to ascend to Camp 3 without crampons and using only a walking pole.

Above Camp 3 the west ridge ascends 1100m of mixed ice and rock to the summit. Most of this I would class as difficult scrambling mixed with easy rock climbing. There are several rock steps (maybe three) that make things exciting and are graded as ‘Severe’. Needless to say climbing these rock steps in crampons with a tool and wearing all the gear associated with a 7000m summit is not comparable to climbing a ‘Severe’ route bare chested at your local crag!

Your typical high altitude, fixed ropes and guided ascent is not something that has ever appealed to me. Choosing not to employ the services of a guide is easy, choosing not to use fixed ropes is slightly less so. Knowing that all the technical ground was equipped with fixed ropes (although a lot of the fixed rope on Khan Tengri is seriously questionable quality) I decided before ever setting foot on the mountain that I would clip the ropes for protection but never use them to make upwards progress. I knew that this was an easy decision to make sat at home on the sofa and I might think differently when stood below the crux step at 6800m so to make sure it wasn’t too easy to cheat, I left my jumars at home.

What makes things really exciting up there is the exposure, the altitude and the weather. Khan Tengri is the world’s northernmost 7000m mountain and the further north you go, the thinner the air gets. Acclimatisation is more difficult than equivalent height peaks nearer the equator and the weather here is harsh! On summit morning I set the alarm for 4am. It was -16 celsius inside my tent and the wind on the summit ridge was gusting 70 knots. Motivating myself to get out of the sleeping bag, gear up and start a summit push alone was not an easy task!

Weather aside, it wasn’t all fun and there were definitely some dark days on the mountain. I witnessed a Croatian climber lose his life in an avalanche and two others hospitalised from falling into crevasses in separate incidents. In poor weather conditions a helicopter crashed on the north (Kazakh) side of the mountain and a second rescue helicopter sent to assist almost wiped out the entire camp 2. Climbing solo in the big mountains through heavily crevassed terrain with high avalanche danger is mentally tiring in a way that I wasn’t prepared for, but perhaps learning to deal with these difficulties is where I learned the most from this trip.

All in all it was an amazing time and although I’m not sure how soon - if ever - I will climb another peak that high I loved every minute of it. If any fellow Chockstoners are ever considering a trip to Kyrgyzstan or Khan Tengri, get in touch as I would love to share more details.

Cheers.