The route of ascent and descent. Photo by A.Klenov.

Climbers from Ekaterinburg have done a new route in the center of the North Face of Thalay Sagar (6905m), one of the hardest, most beautiful and well known peaks in the Indian Himalaya.

The team

Alexander Klenov (36,deputy leader, International Master of Sports [IMS]),

Mikhail Davy (33, IMS),

Mikhail Pershin (27, IMS)

Alexey Bolotov (36, MS).

The coach and leader of the expedition - Viktor Ostanin.

Being to the right of the last year's Australian route, the winner of the Gold Ice-Axe Prize-98, the new line is in fact the direttissima of the North Facel. The climb was done during the period from the 17th to 27th of May, and turned out to be much harder than judged initially by the pictures and descriptions. There had been no reliable information about the nature of the wall's rock because all the climbs had been done by the ice gullies away from the rock tower of the center.

The most difficult was the rock band under the summit - shattered overhangs and huge unstable blocks ready to go at one touch. Climbing practically without belay, one had to check each tiny movement. Due to the altitude and technical difficulty, 1,5km of the sheer wall did not give a chance to relax up to the very summit. But for the hanging platforms the climb would have been impossible because there was not a single ledge there good for bivouacs. On top of that the weather was very difficult. Daily snowfalls, rocks plastered with snow, limited visibility, avalanches were hindering the team during all the climb. The last day was the only one without precipitation. But then, coming to the summit point the team was met by frost and strong wind.

For descent they took the ice gully of the Australian route and in two days, on the 30th of May, were in Base.

A.Klenov on the rocks near the summit. Photo A.Bolotov.

A.Klenov on the route. Photo M.Davy

Jean Claude Marmier, the President of the French Mountaineering Federation, was the first to congratulate the climbers by e-mail. 12 years ago he himself attempted Thalay Sagar by an ice gully, but had to turn back 250m under the summit.

The mountain has seen 18 expeditions with only 5 of them successful.

The expedition was part of the Ekaterinburg Region project "Rock climbing 2000", sponsored by the city's meat-packing factory.

The organizers - the Sports Committee and Mountaineering Federation of the Region, public sports fund "Alpsport". The climb could not have been carried out without a lot of help (financial too) from the companies: "Vitapolyaros",  "Manaraga", "Nasha Ryba", "Alvo-Traiding", "Novaya Bolnitsa", "Rossia Molodaya" youth intellect fund, "Krik-Center" advertising group. The information sponsorship - the Urals TV Agency. Uzbek Airlines were the "wings" of the expedition.

Kedar-Tal lake. Base camp. Photo M.Davy

Bivouac. Photo M.Pershin

Descent from the top to the storm camp Photo M.Davy

On the route. Photo A.Bolotov

In base camp. Photo M.Davy