indian dress sari: Beautiful Ala Archa in Kyrgyz Tien Shan

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Beautiful Ala Archa in Kyrgyz Tien Shan

In July-July 2010 I was lucky to undertake glaciological works towards my Master of science thesis in Ala Archa National Park in Kyrgyz Tien Shan. As usual, I had left everything to the last minute but thanks to my supervisor Andy Hodson in Sheffield and my dear friend Dmitry Pavlenko, the expedition outcome was very successful! There certainly wasn't lack of excitement during this expedition, starting from being kicked out from the train in the Kazakhstan boarder due to having a wrong transit visa in my passport provided by the Kazakstan embassy in London (folks, check your visas TWICE as the embassy does give out wrong information)! I was "arrested" for a day, but thankfully the Finnish embassy quickly bailed me out and I returned to Moscow from where I quickly booked a flight to Bishkek. Phew...finally in Bishkek and only one day late from the schedule! In Bishkek I was faced with ongoing unrest in Osh that luckily didn't extend to the northern parts of Kyrgyzstan, and it had no effect on my plans. All my investigations took place on Aksai glacier, located within one day walk from Alplager; located just 40km outside Bishkek. For my masters thesis I am investigating the effects of biological dust to glacier melt in Asia and during the expedition I measured the glacial melt rate in Aksai, collected 100 cryoconite samples, undertook daily incubations to measure dissolved oxygen, measured the albedo on different parts of the glacier and took about thousand photos. Phew!

In addition to the glaciological works, I climbed several snowy peaks and I was very lucky to climb two classic rock lines on the Bachichiki rock wall (4515m) with a good friend, local climber and guide, Dmitry Pavlenko. With Dima I climbed both the classic trad route "Schwaba" (russian 5A, 550m; I lead first 6 pitches at vs/hvs) and the "Polak" route (Russian 5A, 550m), both on the Bachichiki rock wall and the latter in terrifying snow/ hail/ rain whilst learning to jumar on big wall style. Many thanks to Dmitry Pavlenko, one of the best mountain guides and teachers that I have met during my very limited years in mountaineering, as without you this small expedition wouldn't have been possible.

Mountaineering and climbing undertaken during this trip:

Swaba 550m (russian 5A - about alpine TD) on Bachichiki rock wall (4515m) with Dmitry Pavlenko

Polak 550m (russian 5A - about alpine TD) on Bachichiki rock wall (4515m) with Dmitry Pavlenko. First pitch was aided by Dmitry, afterwards I can claim a pitch or two under my name. Dmitry brilliantly finished this route in snow/rain/ hail whilst I was learning the basics of jumaring....

Peak Raceka - 2B (no classification) - nice one day climb with David Nicholls!

Peak Korona 4810m - sadly, I had to turn around 200 meters below the summit as we didn't have crampons nor ice axe to go further.

Peak Ucitel 4527m - an easy walking peak, good for acclimation and lovely views!

Russian alpine grade explanation is available here.

Ala Archa is simply one of the best climbing venues in Kyrgyzstan. It is only a stone throw from Bishkek and very accessible. There isn't many routes for beginners but the selection of challenging routes is plentiful. I found most routes too hard for myself to climb, mainly due to the lack of good technical mountaineering skills. But hey, there is always the next year! More information about climbing in Ala Archa is found here:

Dmitry Pavlenko

The Alpine Fund

Risk.ru

Below is a selection of photos that I took during my trip in Ala Archa. I hope to write further post about my glaciological work as results come forward.

Top of Aksai glacier

My home for a month

Somewhere close to the top of Korona Peak 4810m. Seems a bit silly now that we didn't go to the top now, but as you might notice, no ice axe nor crampons. But a lovely day anyhow!