KHAN-TENGRI - THE TOP, 

SUBMITTED TO NOT MANY

The high snowy mountains of Alatau and Tien Shan are an object of admiration and adoration, love, pride of Kazakhstanis. And everything connected with our mountains causes genuine interest and lofty emotions. Therefore, the Second International Festival "Khan-Tengri-2003", held from July 17 to August 7 in the heart of the Central Tien Shan, at the foot of the Khan-Tengri Peak, was surrounded by a halo of interest.

Khan-Tengri Peak, whose height is 7010 meters, climbers from all over the world strive to conquer. Climbing it is difficult and dangerous. But difficulties attract strong-willed individuals, which is why so many climbers - professionals and amateurs from more than 30 countries of the world - gathered the Khan-Tengri-2003 festival, organized by the Almaty City Emergency Department and Asia Tourism.

Within the framework of the festival, the 1st International Meeting of Rescuers was held. This became a very important part of the festival, which was attended by representatives of 21 countries of the world - Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Georgia, USA, Spain, Great Britain, Iceland, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Turkey, Finland, Uzbekistan, France, Belgium, Canada, Japan, Italy.

Of great importance is the new route of climbing the peak, “beaten” during the festival - the Kuzmin route, which is shorter and steeper than the classical one. 37 people from the teams of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, Georgia, ROSO, SSA participated in the processing of the route. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions, anchorages (and this is more than 4 km of ropes) were made only up to a height of 6800, and all the climbers who climbed this route could not reach the summit. 93 people tried to conquer the Khan-Tengri peak, but only 14 daredevils managed to climb there. In the 2003 mountaineering season, two climbers were the first to ascend the Khan-Tengri Peak: Alexei Sevyrin from Kazakhstan and Ivan Pugaev from Kyrgyzstan. 

One of the most important events of the competition was the race along this new route (4200m - 6800m - 4200m), which took place on August 1st. The climbers were faced with the task of climbing to the end of the route, and then returning back to the base camp on the Northern Inylchek glacier. This new track is interesting and almost completely visible from the base camp, so the fans had a great opportunity to watch the movement of the participants. The winner of this race was Chadl Kellogg (USA), who completed the route in 6 hours 11 minutes and 40 seconds. He walked second for a long time, but almost at the very foot he pulled ahead and won the race. No one expected such a result until his head appeared over the horizon. The second came Andrey Puchinin (Kyrgyzstan, 6 hours 16 minutes 43 seconds). The third was our compatriot Sergei Brodsky from the CSKA-Kazakhstan team (8 hours 24 minutes 30 seconds). By the way, Sergei was the first to reach the maximum mark of the race, but fell behind on the way back. A. Rychkov (Kazakhstan) and Sergey Surmonin (Moscow) also took part in the race, finishing fourth and fifth.

Ice climbing competitions were also held - applications were received from 30 athletes wishing to test themselves in a new sport. Ice climbing is gaining popularity - the International Olympic Committee plans to include this new sport in the program of the Winter Olympic Games in 2006. Holding these competitions on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan contributes to strengthening the position of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the arena of international professional sports as a state with a developed mountaineering structure.

In the ice climbing competition, the first in the combination were Andrey Puchinin and Alexander Sabunin, the second - Freyer Ingi Bjornsson and Gudjon Hauksson (Gujon Hauksson) from Iceland, the third team was Vadim Popovich - Nikolai Smagin.

One of the points for evaluating the activities of rescue teams from different countries was the provision of a video about the work of the team. By decision of the judges of the competition, the video film of the Kazakhstan Republican Operational Rescue Squad (ROSO) was recognized as the best. Apparently, the judges were impressed by the actions of rescuers in emergency situations. The second prize went to a video film about the work of the emergency services from Dagestan (Russia), the third prize went to the Georgian team.

Among the participants of the festival and guests of honor is the legend of Soviet mountaineering Elvira Nasonova (Ukraine), the only Snow Leopard among women three times in the territory of the former USSR, who celebrated her 62nd birthday at the festival and was going to conquer the summit for the fourth time, and for the first time in a new way. route from the Kazakh side. The presence of this brave woman gave confidence in human capabilities. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions and a cold (continuous rains and overnight stays in soaking wet tents did their job), she was unable to complete her plan. And on the closing day, when a solemn parade took place in the Akkol-Khan-Tengri base camp, she showed not only sports, but also culinary talents, preparing pasties for everyone who stayed in the camp on the Northern Inylchek glacier. On August 4, 2003, under the leadership of the Chairman of the Sports Committee of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the head of the Central Sports Club of the Army, Major General P. M. Novikov and the First Deputy Mayor of Almaty, Ya. I. Zayats, the official closing ceremony of the festival was held.

Many interesting, important, dangerous events happened during this festival. Its direct participants share their impressions. 

^ Johnny Khutsishvili, lifeguard (Georgia):

- The most memorable event for me, probably, was the operation to rescue the Polish girl Marta. During the meeting of rescuers, joint exercises were planned for all rescue teams that came to the festival. Therefore, when it was announced that there was an injured person at an altitude of 5200 meters who needed urgent help, I took it as part of the exercise. We quickly packed up and climbed to the indicated height. Rescuers from other teams were also sent there. When we arrived at the indicated place, it became clear that the alarm was not in vain. As it turned out later, the girl decided to ski, but on a very steep slope she could not resist, fell, turning over several times, and received very severe bruises so that she could not get up. Athletes from Lithuania saw her and reported to the base. Although all the time she behaved well, smiled and even winked.

But the most important thing that I would like to note is the coherence of the work of all rescue teams - Georgians, Russians, Turks, Kazakhstanis, Icelanders, and Chinese. We understood each other without words. Everyone clearly knew what he needed to do at the moment - which ropes to tighten, which knot to tie. Thanks to this, we climbed there in just 3 hours and 40 minutes, carried out all the necessary preparations and lowered the victim to the camp. According to standard estimates, this should have taken at least six hours. The ascent alone takes about four hours.

After this rescue operation, the proposed joint international exercises were canceled, as each team showed the level of their training and skills in real conditions.

And our lifestyle is wandering! We are in constant motion, we can not sit in one place for a long time.

Many of the rescuers of the Russian team of the Ministry of Emergency Situations have already been in Kazakhstan, participated in the competitions "KazSpas", visited the mountains. All of them are masters or candidates for master of sports in mountaineering. Konstantin Dorro even worked as a guide on Khan Tengri for several years, reaching the summit four times. 

“Unfortunately, the weather was bad on Khan Tengri all July, strong winds were blowing, it was snowing, the temperature was very low. All this made it very difficult to work on laying the route of Kuzmin and climbing. Therefore, anchorages and belays on this new route were installed by rescue teams only up to an altitude of 6800 meters. It would seem that there was very little left to the top, but in fact there was still a lot of work to be done. Even moving from camp to camp, we had to deal with snowstorms and snowstorms, it's good that ropes were laid. 

- And most of all I remember, - continued ^ Sergey Yegorin from the North Ossetian Republican Rescue Service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, - how once we spent the night in the second camp at an altitude of 5300 m, next to the tents of Kazakhstani climbers. There was a very strong wind. And at three o'clock in the morning we hear through a dream: "Guys, help!" The neighbors' tent was broken, the fasteners came off. Two climbers, along with a tent, were lifted by the wind and blown down. We ran out to help, and Anatoly Gorev - generally in socks without shoes - almost got frostbite. We stopped, tried to fix the tent, but it was already badly broken, and we took the climbers to us. You can’t predict at what point and under what circumstances real rescue work will have to be carried out.

“By the way, I would like to note the good organization of all stages of the festival,” says ^ Kurbanov Kurban. - We were well received. An opportunity was given for fruitful work and climbing to the very top. It is a pity that there was not enough time to fully acclimatize and prepare for climbing such a difficult peak. 

Climbing is not only a "male" occupation. Among the participants of the festival were girls climbers in the teams of Turkey and Georgia. Sophia and Lika, climbers from Georgia, are just over twenty. But they have already managed to look at the world from the height of mountain peaks:

“We have great impressions about the festival. We were on a beautiful mountain. She is cold and inaccessible. We tried to climb it, but none of our three attempts were successful. We only reached the height of 6400. The weather was bad, so there was not enough time. Otherwise, we would certainly have tried a fourth time. Still, it's a pity, because our goal was, of course, the top. But we do not despair, we still have a long way to go. 

“We have also visited other peaks,” Sophia says. “I was in the Himalayas two months ago. Conquered the peak of Amadablam (6856 m). It is only 200 meters below Khan Tengri. And we have become accustomed to the risk that is invariably present on any ascent. It is inseparable from us, it is our lifestyle. Actually, I am a student, studying at the Technical University in Tbilisi. And Lika graduated from the Faculty of Psychology.

Doctors told us about the courage and indefatigable aspirations of professional climbers: V. G. Slesarev, director of the Center for Disaster Medicine, Ilyas Kuandykovich, head of the mobile field hospital, Rakhil Ruzieva, head of the medical rescue service of the city of Almaty 051.

- Everyone loves his job and strives to achieve perfection in it. For climbers, this perfection lies in the conquest of more and more peaks. But at the same time, the desire to achieve the goal and a reasonable approach to business are always struggling in them. A real climber always considers the degree of danger. They take risks, but - estimating the entire risk. And everything is thought out to the smallest detail: what they will eat, what kind of tent and sleeping bag they will take so as not to freeze, shoes, clothes, right down to what kind of hat he will wear. And if they do not have the required equipment, the necessary training, they will not take risks.

During the festival, the main troubles for doctors were associated with "tourists", athletes who came to the festival at their own request, striving to conquer unknown peaks. Professional climbers are very organized. Everyone who went to the ascent must pass a medical examination and receive permission from doctors. By the way, there were also heroes among the doctors at the festival. During the entire festival, Timur Dzhalamov, a young employee, worked in the camp at an altitude of 4200 m. The first time he got into such conditions, he coped with all situations perfectly. 

Why did the accidents happen to the Poles? They are all students and they probably lacked the necessary experience. Influenced by his own carelessness. And the mountains do not tolerate disorganization, carelessness. People have been preparing for years for one ascent. And now there is a tendency that some allow themselves to go to the mountains alone, unprepared. 

And, of course, we could not help talking to the legendary mountaineer Boris Aleksandrovich Studenin, international master of sports in mountaineering, owner of four snow leopards, who was also present at the festival, which is now 69 years old. He always says that the climber who is well prepared for climbing and never goes anywhere alone lives to old age.

Yes, climbing is dangerous. But that climber is bad, who goes and thinks that he will not return. A person must be confident in his abilities. Yes, accidents can happen. But accidents happen to those who are not prepared for them. And if you are ready, then everything can be fixed. I have been mountain climbing for so many years and I still walk this land. I visited about six hundred peaks in the mountains of the Pamirs, the Pyrenees, the Alps, Altai and Tien Shan, of course. 33 times ascended the seven-thousanders. I have spent most of my life in the mountains and take them more seriously than many in my profession. My geological education allows me to know them, as it were, “from the inside”.

Speaking briefly about the festival, everything is great. It's great that such an event took place, that so many participants from different countries came. I myself did not climb this time, but in my life I have been to Khan-Tengri and to Pobeda Peak more than once. He led expeditions of all-Union significance. 

And if you go into details, then this festival has a lot of good things, but there are also costs. For example, I talked with young athletes who participated in climbing. It turned out that they almost do not know the history of their sport, and they are not very strong in geography. They have a somewhat one-sided training based on physical fitness. But this, I think, is an inferior climber, and, perhaps, this is not so much a shortcoming of the climber himself, but of his coach.

I wish young climbers to study the history of their sport, to study the geography of high-altitude regions, of course, with a bias in their specialty. Walk not only to the peaks, but also along the routes. And of course, you need to think when you walk.

These days it is 50 years since Boris Alexandrovich professionally took up mountaineering. We congratulate him, we wish him good health and wonderful students who are able to be imbued with endless love and respect for the mountains to the depths of their souls.

Among the fourteen people who reached the top of Khan Tengri Peak were two amateur climbers, employees of SAKURA MOTORS, which acted as the general sponsor of the festival. With pride for his colleagues, the director of the company Sadvokas Sultanov shared his impressions about the festival:

– My opinion about this festival is still ambiguous. This is the first time I participate in such a festival and I see the organization of such actions. But what happened at this festival is very important on the scale of the country and the state. It is very good that this is entering the active phase. 

When the possibility of our participation in the festival was just discussed, we were offered not only to act as sponsors, but also to expose our team, which could make the ascent. And I remember: Damir Kasymov approached me and, since he has been fond of this for a long time, asked to be sent along with his brother Diaz. These are young guys, strong, have long been fond of mountaineering. I decided, of course, if they have such a desire, let them make this ascent. At that time, for me it was almost tantamount to a walk up the hill, I did not understand then all the seriousness. I myself climbed only to the camp on the Northern Inylchek glacier. And when they flew around in a helicopter, I saw three climbers climbing the mountain. They were walking waist-deep in the snow, tied with ropes, and at that moment I became scared. And when I arrived at the closing and found out that there were situations when people were in mortal danger (some could not get up, the weather interfered with the second, then unforeseen situations - insurance, a rope, or something else), I thanked God that the guys , which I not only allowed, but did not forbid, returned alive and well. I looked at all the teams of all participating countries and realized their huge and hard work, which they themselves voluntarily go to - apparently, they like it. And yet, it is a very important component of public services. And imagining yourself in the mountains, somewhere up there, in unforeseen situations, when you don’t know what to do and where to run, you think that if there weren’t such guys, the chances of surviving are zero. Now I know that there are people who are ready to help. 

The festival is over. Both athletes and rescuers went home. But those days that they spent on Khan Tengri will be remembered by them for the rest of their lives - as always, friendship won, and perhaps at the next festival we will meet our heroes again.

Alla Dubrovina

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First International Festival "Khan Tengri - 2000"
Khan-Tengri - 2000 - the first international festival of climbers, held by the travel company "Asia Tourism" on the eve of the second millennium with the support of the akim of the Almaty region. The festival was held from 6 to 27 August 2000 in the mountains of the Central Tien Shan of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The festival was attended by about 520 participants from 30 countries, including such world-famous climbers as: Simono Moro (Italy), Alexander Lvov (Poland), Valery Babanov and Vladimir Karataev (Russia).
Among the 280 participants who tried to conquer Khan-Tengri Peak (7010 meters), only 53 are professional climbers, and 227 are amateurs. 50 specialists were involved in the rescue operations.
The ascent to the summit began from the base camp on the Inilchek glacier, to which the climbers were delivered by helicopter. As a result, only 79 mountain climbers reached the snowy summit. Each of them was awarded the Certificate of the Conqueror of the Summit.
The festival was also attended by officials: delegates from Kazakhstan, the United States Ambassador with his family, and diplomatic representatives from Indonesia, Pakistan and Canada.
On the websites you can find many interesting details about this festival. The pages of many local and foreign publications devoted articles to this event, and a documentary film was made.  
 

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