Everest NOrth FAce

The official expedition site

July, 15, 2004

Pavel Shabaline comments the route line:

The route was initially planned as much as possible approached to diretissime, however due to some objective reasons " we had done what we done".
I shall explain under the scheme:

1. Up to the second camp at 7500 m the route is looked as a direct line, or nearly so a straight line with small zigzags.

A photo on the right - from a site www.stolby.ru

2. Above 7500 m (since 5-th pitch) the route goes, deviating 100 m to the right during 10 pitches from a vertical line, as you can see on a photo. The reason - there're rocky plates covered with a snow, which are vertical and too complex for the organization of the stations and passage. Therefore the group " Siberia " has deviated on two pitchs to the right and has reached the place of the future camp 7800.

3. Group " Don " has corrected a line of a route, went the traverse to the left two pitces (100 m) and having fixed 2 more ropes upwards on a rock . Thus we needed to work from that point upwards via one of two implicitly expressed central couloirs (there're four of them on a bastion), as the right and left couloirs (obviously expressed) withdraw too far from direct line as we planned it, and finished by problem rocky walls at altitude about 8400 m.

4. Having fixed 14 pitches up to border of a grey and yellow belt, our group left on rest and "Siberia" worked the following part of a bastion (5 pitches) . We supposed, that there was the inclined shelf from left to right upwards, however guys have met a deep snow and have preferred to fixe ropes on a rock. The yellow belt appeared less destroyed and though the climb there was very complex, guys have fixed 200 m of ropes during the day.

5. The weather has allowed them to throw on 8300 m (a place of camp 4) oxygen, tent, equipment and gas, and then has catastrophically deteriorated for a week. Having stayed on a wall three days more, they have been compelled to go ddownwards in vain to not spend gas, food and oxygen.

6. At the end of ropes, fixed by "Siberia", our three-men group fixed two more ropes, then Andrey Mariev, who was leading, has reached the slope which was less steep. I.e. at altitude approximately 8450 m our group has come off a fixed ropes and during the very strong wind has approached the upper rocky belt at 8600 m to a place of possible pass. There was a snow line in a rocky break, and there it seemed possible to set the tent of camp 5, so we and have made it.

7. To tell the truth, I have been struck with a steepness of last rocky belt, extent and a condition of a relief. It was looked not so terribly from below . A trouble that we have met again with almost vertical "destroued" rocks, having only a minimum of hooks and three 50-m. thin ropes. I.e. it was necessary to climb and fix 100 m via rocks 6 difficult grade (Russian grade). or A3 (absolutely unreliable safe points during 20- 25i m).

8. By this moment (8300 m) we had two oxygen cylinders per person (3 and 4 litres), and it was necessary to work and live in a mode of rigid economy. Partly therefore, partly because of really high complexity of rocks, I had to work without oxygen (the mask prevents, glasses mist over) and Andrey Mariev safed me in the first day and Iljas Tukhvatullin - on the second.

9. In a result we fixed 50 m in two days, having spent thus the most part of iron, gas, food and one cylinder of oxygen per person (two nights plus "rest" after work).

10. Group " Siberia " could not physically bring "iron" and a dynamic ropes for the continuation of work on a bastion on 8600 m, because Sherpas have refused to work and they had to bear all loads necessary for life-support from below.

11. In the circumstances we had to make the decision to pass a rocky belt at the left on an edging, having deviated from diretissimo to edge of a wall. This variant has reconnoitered Andrey Mariev in the second day of our work above camp 5.

At the press conference: