New Polish Route in Ak-Su Valley

During the first three weeks of August, an expedition of the University Mountaineering Club from Łódź (Akademicki Klub Górski w Łodzi) operated in the Ak-Su Valley (the Karavshin Region, Kyrgyzstan). The team consisted of: Sławek Cyndecki, Paweł Grenda, Bartek Malinowski, Adam Pustelnik, Paweł Pustelnik, Marcin Szymelfenig.

In August, the region was rather deserted and as Paweł Pustelnik reports: "We were the only expedition in the Ak-Su Valley. All the beautiful and massive walls belonged to us (unfortunately, on closer inspection the walls often turned out to be loose – they definitely looked better from a distance). The weather was bombproof – it was warm and dry as a bone."

Adam Pustelnik under the west face of Ortotyubek,
"Amba" marked by the red line

Such perfect conditions resulted in opening a new route on the west face of Ortotyubek (also known as the Central Pyramid or Peak 3850). The first ascent of the route was done by the Pustelnik Bros. Team consisting of Adam and Paweł Pustelnik. To do the 1100m Amba (VI, 7c/c+) the brothers needed 1 day for fixing ropes, 2.5 days for wall action, and 1.5 days for ascending. Amba offers mainly solid and aesthetic climbing.

Adam Pustelnik trying pitch 9 (7c/c+) of „Amba”

The majority of the pitches are easy classics (6a to 6b), there are also a few 6c to 7a+ pitches which involve tricky protection and considerable runouts. The most difficult pitch (7c/c+) tackles a series of roofs in the middle of the route.

Topo of "Amba", click on the picture to enlarge.

Paweł Pustelnik describes Amba in the following words: "The majority of the route solves a new terrain, yet at some points the route intersects, and on at least one pitch follows, an unidentified aid route. The aid line wasn’t mentioned in the topo published by Y. Koshlenko in Desnivel but on our way through the series of roofs, we found old pitons and two belay bolts. While climbing Amba, we tried to leave behind as little fixed protection as possible – we inserted a single belay bolt and on the key pitch through the roofs (7c/c+) we used 3 old bolts as pro. The rest of climbing follows the rules of the clean style."

Additionally, Sławek Cyndecki, Adam and Paweł Pustelnik onsighted the famous Perestroika Crack (VI, 7b, 1000m) at Slesov (also known as the Russian Tower, 4250m). The route was originally freed by French team in 1993 and repeated in a single 28-hour push by Greg Child and Lynn Hill in 1995. 

Sławek Cyndecki, Paweł Grenda i Marcin Szymelfenig made an unsuccessful attempt at opening a new route on an unnamed tower (approx. 4300m) located in the south-east range of the Peak 4810. After leading 22 pitches, the team gave up and abseiled due to constant bombardment by stone blocks as large as TV-sets.

Mysza

More photos in Polish version: Łodzianie w Kirgistanie.