First ascent in seven years of the direct route to the north of Khan Tengri

The Kazakh rope team consisting of Vassily Pivtsov, Alexander Sofrygin, and Ildar Gabassov completes the ascent of Khan Tengri (7,010 m) via a direct route on its north face in alpine style, a feat that had not been repeated since 2005.

The trio from the Kazakh army, including fourteen-thousander Vassily Pivtsov (who summited K2 alongside Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner), Alexander Sofrygin, and Ildar Gabassov, completed a remarkable ascent of Khan Tengri’s north face (7,010 m) in nine days last August via a direct route. This climb had not been repeated by anyone for seven years, since 2005, according to ExplorersWeb.com.

Khan Tengri is one of the seven-thousanders of the Tien Shan range (on the border between China, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan). Geologically, it stands at 6,995 m, but its ice cap elevates it above 7,000 m. It is part of the Snow Leopard circuit from the former Soviet Union. The normal route starts on the southern side and connects to the western ridge, whereas the north face presents a more significant alpinistic challenge due to its steepness, technical difficulty, extreme cold, and high altitude.

Nine Days of Effort

Vassily Pivtsov, Alexander Sofrygin, and Ildar Gabassov began their ascent in the early hours of August 12. Ahead of them stood nearly 3,000 meters of vertical wall, from the 4,200 m base to the 7,010 m summit. They reached the top on the morning of August 20, after nine days of effort and setting up a total of seven high camps along the route. Bad weather forced them to stay for a day and two nights in their tent at C2 (5,350 m). According to ExplorersWeb.com, Vassily Pivtsov led most of the pitches during the ascent, which was carried out in alpine style.

The climbers’ initial plans were open-ended, following “the logic of the terrain while maximizing the beauty of the route.” They allowed for the possibility of repeating an existing line, combining different lines, or even opening a new one. In the end, conditions led them to approximately follow the route first established by an expedition led by Eduard Myloskiy in 1974 during the lower part of the climb, characterized by ice and rockfall hazards. They later connected with the upper section of the route opened that same year (the first two north face routes were established almost simultaneously) by Boris Studenin’s team, where they encountered more rock and the most technical section of the climb, the “Yellow Band,” with pitches up to 6a.

From a statistical perspective, this was only the second ascent of Khan Tengri’s north face by a three-person rope team. Furthermore, in August 2005, the recently deceased Ilyas Tukhvatullin (a victim of an avalanche on Annapurna) and Pavel Shabalin were the only climbers to have previously completed the ascent as a two-person team.

Si necesitas ajustes, dime. 😊