Belukha mountain climbing route. Altai. Climbing Belukha. Climbing routes to Belukha

People come to me with enviable regularity with the same question:

“I want to go on a tour to climb Belukha, but I have no experience. Will you take me or not, and do I have a chance of a successful ascent?”

This article is dedicated to answering this question.
It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally. Given a very good set of circumstances, of course, there is a chance for a successful ascent, but does the leader have the right to count on this? Does a participant with little or no experience pose a threat to himself and everyone else? I’ll tell you what is important for a leader to know about the participants in the ascent, and what he expects from them:

In one bundle

Any chronic disease can worsen in the mountains, so it is important to check with a competent doctor before climbing and get his recommendations. For some diseases, heavy loads and hypoxia are not indicated. I consider the minimum physical form for climbing Belukha to be when a person is able to walk 20 km with a backpack without severe fatigue. You need to get in physical shape long before the climb. Cardio training is especially welcome - running, cycling, cross-country skiing, swimming. You need to start them in advance, preferably half a year in advance, in order to approach the climb itself at the peak of your physical fitness.

There are people who have congenital intolerance to heights. They are few, only a few percent, and it is important to know that you are not one of them. In addition, any rise to altitude teaches your body to quickly adapt to it - to acclimatize. For Belukha, in my opinion, experience of climbing 4000 m or so is enough. For successful acclimatization, it is very good to go to an altitude of 4000 m in the same season when you plan to climb. For example - on the May holidays, or later. This will give you minimal acclimatization and prepare your body for climbing Belukha.

Have you slept in a tent? Have you ever gone on multi-day hikes with a backpack? How much backpack weight can you comfortably carry? For climbing Belukha, positive answers to the first two questions are very desirable; they eliminate many surprises on the route itself. I have had cases when tourists, already during a tour (simple trekking), were perplexed: “Why weren’t they told us that the water in the river is so cold and we need to wade it? I didn’t think that it could rain in the mountains and there would be so much mud on the trail...”, etc.
When climbing Belukha, you need to carry your own backpack, and not just your things, but also part of the general equipment - tents, ropes, gas and food. In addition, with this backpack you need to climb ropes on fairly steep slopes. And if you only have theoretical knowledge about all this, then in practice it may turn out that you are not ready for this.

Ice activities

For climbing Belukha, such experience is very desirable, even mandatory. You will save the instructor from having to tell you the basics of rope walking techniques, and climbing and descending along the fixed rope on the route itself. The instructor does not always have the opportunity to control who is fastened in what way, how the changes are made, and your life directly depends on the correctness of your actions in the mountains. This experience can be gained either with us, or at a climbing wall or in an alpsection.
To climb Belukha you need to know:
What's happened
How to walk in a bundle on a closed glacier.
How to walk along fixed ropes using a jumar and descend with a descender. What is a “station”, how to fasten to it and how to pass intermediate belay points - re-fastenings.
What commands can climbers give and how to respond to them.

To climb Belukha, good physical shape and a simple desire to climb to the top are not enough. Very often, people without experience have little idea of ​​what kind of physical stress they will have to face on the route. When a person approaches, as it seems to him, the limit of his physical strength, the will must come into play. You must have your own convincing answer to one simple question that sooner or later confronts every climber: “What am I doing here, why do I need all this?” Unfortunately, there are no universal answers to this; it is important that your answer suits you completely.

During the ascent, many cultural layers usually fall away from people, and they reveal their nature, and these are not always the best sides. It is important to understand that you will be in a team where you may not like all the people, but climbing is a team effort and success or failure depends on each and every one. Try not to get irritated, not to conflict, resolve emerging issues in a constructive manner. Learn to accept the difficulties that arise. A lot depends on the psychological climate in the group.

Ask yourself all these questions and try to answer them honestly. If you don’t have answers to some of your questions, I highly recommend going to Belukha. In it you will gain the necessary experience, learn about what mountain climbing is in practice, and you will know and understand yourself better.
Mountaineering, like any other professional human activity, is a path from simple to complex, and you should not jump over steps on this path. I know that many travel agencies offer climbing Belukha for beginners, and some of them even manage to reach the top. But I consider this unacceptable, since it carries increased risks both for the beginners themselves and for the rest of the group and increases the likelihood of failure. From Belukha, tragic news about the death of climbers comes quite regularly, and I think no one wants to be among them.
And one last thing.
Even if all the conditions are met, and you are completely ready, and a strong team has been assembled, this does not guarantee success. Still, weather or other circumstances may interfere and you will not make it to the top. The Katunsky ridge is characterized by unstable weather and long periods of bad weather.
Despite all this, Belukha is certainly one of the most beautiful and attractive Altai peaks and is worth a try.
I wish everyone successful ascents and descents!

Artem Golovin. 2015

PS: Naturally, all of the above about climbing Belukha can be extended to our other difficult mountaineering ascents - to

Mount Belukha is the highest point of Altai. It is located in the Ust-Koksinsky region of the Altai Republic on the border with Kazakhstan in the Katunsky Range. The Katun River originates from the slopes of the ridge. The nearest villages are Kucherla and Tungur. In Altai the name of the mountain sounds like Uch-Sumer - three-headed. And indeed, in the Belukha massif there are three peaks nearby - Belukha Eastern, Belukha Western and Peak Delaunay. Together with the peak of Korona Altai, they form a steep wall, which is called the Akkem wall. Beneath the almost vertical Akkem wall lies the Akkem glacier. Belukha - “Queen of Altai”, is such a beautiful and majestic mountain that it is impossible to remain indifferent. It is not without reason that since ancient times it has been considered a sacred mountain among the local population. The beauty and amazing, even mystical power of Belukha was described by the great Russian artist Nicholas Roerich. For a long time he lived and traveled in the Altai Mountains and painted many paintings of the mysterious sacred Altai mountains. The Russian name of Mount Belukha is due to the presence of abundant snow-white cover of the Katunsky Range. Another name for Belukha Kadyn-Bazhi is “top of the Katun”. The summit of Belukha was first conquered on July 26, 1914 from the south side. This was done by two brothers Boris and Mikhail Tronov. Later in 1933, Vitaly Abalakov’s group managed to take a more difficult route from the north. These days there are several routes to the mountain. The easiest way to climb is from the south; the route from the Tomsk camps through the Delaunay Pass and the Mensu Glacier is a little more difficult. The most difficult and dangerous routes are along the Akkem Wall.

How to get there

Dates: July 20 - August 5, 2018.
Type of tourism: mountain.
Difficulty category: the first with elements of the fourth.

Belukha is rightfully considered the King Mountain of Altai. She spread her wing-ridges over hundreds of kilometers. Belukha is visible from various peaks of the Altai Mountains, 100-200 km away! Climbing the Tsar Mountain Belukha is a mandatory item in the program of any person who considers himself a mountain climber. Any person who sees the beautiful mountain in a photo or painting dreams of being on top of Belukha. With us you can make your dream come true and climb the mountain.

While food and equipment are being transported on horseback to Lake Akkem, we cross the Karaturek Pass relatively lightly, thus acclimatizing. We distribute the products and move to the top. We conduct ice training under the mountain. We climb to the top and organize an assault camp. Early in the morning we set out to climb. We climb and contemplate the amazing landscapes from the highest mountain in Altai. We go down to the assault camp. We return to Lake Akkem and, if there is time left, rest and make radial exits into the surrounding gorges. We are returning home.

Program specifics: Belukha is a difficult, dangerous mountain that requires a focused climb with days to spare. She doesn't like it when people try to grab her. It is necessary to acclimatize well before the ascent and during the ascent do everything with concentration, slowly, leaving time to wait out bad weather.

Moreover, in our opinion, these mountains require a clear, focused state of mind, a kind of immersion in the area, which should be carried out gradually and with pleasure.

And then there is the greatest likelihood that the Belukhin event will remain in memory as something solid, beautiful with an even beginning, a brilliant middle and an even ending.

This is precisely the main quality of our program - a gradual approach to Mount Belukha, as a result of which the group receives excellent acclimatization. Join us!

Travel schedule:

20.07. Evening departure from Novosibirsk.

21.07. Arrival in the morning in the village. Tyungur. Preparing loads for horses. If desired, an acclimatization hike to one of the surrounding peaks.

22.07. With. Tungur - r. Kucherla - Elan tract - Kucherlinskaya site. From the village Tungur backpackers travel by car to the town of “Elan” (10-12 km), then the road ends, the group puts on backpacks and then walks 2-3 hours to the “Kucherlinskaya” parking lot.

23-24.07. R. Kucherla - per. Karaturek - Akkem Lake. Follow the path that leads to a wide gravelly ridge. Along it we go out to the Karaturek pass, from which a stunning panorama of the entire Belukhinsky massif opens, headed by the king-mountain Belukha Eastern. Visibility from the pass in good weather is tens of kilometers! Descent along the trail to Lake Akkem.

25.07. Preparing for the ascent. Radial acclimatization exit into one of the surrounding gorges.

26.07. lake Akkemsky - Akkemsky glacier - Tomsk sites. Transition in full gear (personal and public equipment, food, personal belongings) to a place called the Tomsk parking lot. These are platforms on a rocky hill in the middle of a glacier. They go to them first among grassy hills, then along rocky screes and then along an open (not covered with snow) glacier.

27.07. Tomsk parking lots. Day. Training. Training in ice climbing skills necessary to reach the top.

28.07. Tomsk parking lots - lane. Delaunay - Berelsky glacier - saddle of the Berelsky saddle pass. Climbing an ice slope 220 m long and 35-50 degrees steep. Then move together along the snow fields of the Mensu glacier to the wide snow camps “Berel Saddle”.

29.07. Climbing Belukha. Morning departure (2-3 am). Ascent along the fields of the Mensu glacier, then, depending on the snow and ice situation, the following options are possible:

• ascent through the Belukhinsky pass (ice-snow slope with a steepness of 40-50 degrees, length 500 m),
• snow pillows of the central slope (snow-ice slope 600 m long and 30-40 degrees steep),
• rock-ice ridge of Berelsky (600 m, steepness - 40-50 degrees).

30.07. Saddle of the Big Berelskoe saddle pass - lane. Delone - Tomsk sites - lake. Akkemskoe.

31.07. Spare day. Allotted to wait out bad weather during the approach to the mountain and ascent. If we do not use it, then on this day we will have a radial exit into the surrounding gorges to choose from - Yarlu Gorge, Karaoyuk Gorge (Lake of Spirits), Seven Lakes Gorge.

1.08. Akkem Lake - r. Akkem (Terrace parking lot). Movement along the path.

2.08. R. Akkem (Terrace parking lot) - r. Akkem (“Three Birches” site). Movement along the path.

3.08. R. Akkem (site “Three Birches”) - lane. Kuzuyak - s. Tyungur. Movement along the trail and mountain road. If desired, backpacks can be sent by all-terrain vehicle (for a fee). Bathhouse.

4.08. Departure to Novosibirsk.

5.08. Arrival in Novosibirsk.

Included in the price:

• moving "Novosibirsk - Tungur - Novosibirsk";
• all permits for visiting the area;
• rental of horses for public cargo and products;
• food on the active part of the route;
• accommodation in the village Tyungur;
• washing in the bathhouse in the village. Tyungur (at the exit from the route);
• public equipment (tents, boilers, burners, etc.);
• public special equipment (ropes, ice screws, etc.);
• satellite phone rental;
• work of certified instructors-guides.

The price does not include:

• accident insurance;
• food on the way from Novosibirsk to Tyungur and back;
• additional baths;
• personal equipment (crampons, harness, etc.);
• horses for the rider or for personal equipment.

Information on the active part of the route:

Required documents: Valid Russian passport, insurance.

Transport: Travel according to the program by bus and local transport.

Accommodation: On the route - in a tent. On arrival and departure - tents in a private courtyard. Tyungur. If necessary, a hotel in the village. Tungur for an additional fee.

Nutrition: Three meals a day on the route: hot food - in the morning and evening, at lunch - a snack with hot tea.

Insurance and medicine: The guide will have a first aid kit with basic medications. If you have any specific diseases, be sure to take your medications with you! It is recommended to have a small personal pharmacy, which may contain: bandages (2 pcs.), wide adhesive plaster, analgesics (analgin, Nise, Citramon), cold soother tablets (Strepsils, etc.), vitamins (ascorbic acid).

Weather: The weather in Altai is little predictable. There will be sun. It may rain below, snow above. In the snow-ice zone, temperatures can drop to -10-15°C.

Hygiene and medicine:

• toilet paper;
• wet wipes;
• sunscreen + sunscreen lip cream;
• toothbrush, toothpaste (a small tube or one for two or three to save weight), chewing gum (it is not always possible to brush your teeth, especially in a snowy and icy zone, and chewing gum will come in handy in this case);
• soap (small piece);
• personal first aid kit (see section “Insurance and Medicine”).

Cloth:

• a set of “traveling” clothes (will remain in the village of Tyungur);
• thermal underwear set;
• down jacket;
• windproof jacket and pants (Gortex, nylon);
• rain cape (no need to take it if you have a membrane or waterproof jacket and pants);
• Polartek/fleece jacket and pants;
• lightweight trekking trousers (for the trekking part);
• trekking T-shirt or shirt (for the trekking part);
• warm trekking socks;
• thin trekking socks (2 sets);
• light gloves;
• warm mittens;
• polar/fleece hat;
• cap or Panama hat;
• T-shirt, long sleeve shirt (2 pcs.);
• shorts;
• flashlights (gaiters).

Shoes:

• mountain boots;
• trekking boots (you can use the same boots for both trekking and climbing);
• trekking sandals for camp.

Special equipment:

• telescopic poles;
• Sunglasses;
• safety system;
• 2-3 carbines;
• helmet;
• cats;
• zhumar;
• trigger device.

General camping equipment:

• backpack 90-120 l;
• rain cover for backpack;
• polyurethane foam mat;
• sleeping bag at -15-20°C + sleeping bag insert (optional);
• headlamp + extra batteries;
• personal utensils (KLMN - mug, spoon, bowl, knife);
• thermos;
• seat (hoba, “fifth point”, butt).

To keep things sealed, it is advisable to either have a moisture-resistant liner in your backpack or pack things in bags, such as garbage bags.

Ekaterina and Daria

Belukha August 2019

Thanks a lot! We really enjoyed the tour and really liked the work of the instructors along the route. They are wonderful professionals, wonderful people, attentive, caring, always supportive both with advice and physically when they were very tired, with a sense of humor, responsible - very good instructors! Thanks a lot! Personally, I had a hard time going from the Three Birches camp to Ak-kem, where it was 22 km along a forest path; it seemed that such distances at such a pace were difficult. It was the hardest day of the entire journey, and he was defeated! On the way back, I had the pleasure of flying in a helicopter. We didn’t get any photos from the top - we climbed there before dawn, 4.27. And there's a little underneath. Thank you very much again for this tour!

Ivan Alekseev

Everything was wonderful, we are very pleased! And we are even more pleased that everything worked out for us. The guys who were our guides were all wonderful. We were lucky with the weather. But we still waited at Berelsky for three days. We met very good fellow travelers. We reached the top at approximately 4:30.

Sergey Shabalin

The climb was great. We were lucky with the weather: throughout the approach and assault it was sunny and without precipitation. It rained a couple of times after descending from the mountain. Belukha let us in. We were the first to climb the mountain and caught the sunrise in all its glory. For me this was the hardest climb so far. Despite the fact that the mountain is relatively low, it has a very difficult approach: 6 days of clean sailing there and back. Kazbek, for example, is taller, but much easier in approach. In total we walked about 120 km back and forth, including acclimatization trips.

The guides are excellent, the team is great. Well, the people we met along the way were friendly. Belukha itself is very beautiful. Most of all I remember life in the assault camp on the Big Berelsky Saddle (I never spent the night in the snow). And there is real “winter life”: a tent buried in the snow, from which you cannot leave without glasses, otherwise you will go blind, even the toilet is digging in the snow.

Alexander Yulov

The program is excellent with first class guides. Throughout the route, the guides provided due care and safety to the best of their ability. The hike to the foot of Mount Belukha is difficult, but can be overcome even by unprepared participants. But the ascent takes place on the edge of human capabilities, both physical and physiological.

The whole hike was difficult from the point of view of physical activity, but the first day was especially difficult, on which we covered 22 km with 30 kg backpacks (we took a lot of extra stuff). The most memorable experience was conquering a height of 4506 m. And in the evening of the first day of the hike at the Vysotnik base, drinking herbal tea and eating a pie with potatoes (I’ve never eaten anything tastier in my life). The mood was fighting throughout the entire campaign: no one gave up or lost heart. We were lucky with the weather almost all the way, only on one day, when descending from the conquered peak, it started to rain and hail. On rest days, guides took us on excursions.

Alexei

The program is very interesting and rich, the long approach allows you to more than enjoy the beauties of Altai, and from the moment when Belukha begins to loom on the horizon, you begin to understand how big the mountains are waiting for you) If desired, the program can be diversified with river rafting, horses or even a helicopter. The organization of the ascent itself was top notch. Special words of gratitude to the guides Ivan and Danila! You can tell and describe a lot, but it’s better to go once and see how everything really is there - I liked it) As you asked, I’m attaching a few photos)

Olga Prokopyeva

Everything was wonderful, despite the fact that the first week it rained every day, but the second week the weather was generous! There was an excellent team, guide Vladimir did everything to make us feel in good shape, conducted mountaineering classes, showed us a lot, etc. Unfortunately, before the first ascent (there were two), I got a little beaten and was only able to climb the first peak. Altai is a fabulous nature reserve. We stayed for 2 days in the town of Semiozerye and this is a real piece of paradise! Along the entire route there are many waterfalls and streams with fresh water. And in general, brushing your teeth in the morning and at the same time admiring the snowy peaks, the colors of Lake Akkem, inhaling the clear air - this is a fairy tale that was our reality! And how many different people we met along the way: from yogis who were not fed to a Hare Krishna who baked us pancakes over the fire! And there was also a strange black preacher who went to Akkem to Shambola and supplied everyone on his way with very funny letters, etc. In general, I can talk for a long time, because... the delight of the soul has not yet faded and she sings! Gurin Alexander

Everything was great!

I am one of the participants in this ascent, and I want to note the following: excellent distribution of load along the entire route, and as a result, whole backs and reserves of strength. Sufficient amount of gas. No expense was spared on “heavy” products that were purchased at the Akkem camp. Good work of the guides on the slopes, despite the dense flows of oncoming groups. Many participants themselves helped in this work, and in general, they were happy to do any social work. The team was always positive and well-coordinated. Because there was a goal, desire and will to win. An “additional” contribution was added from myself in the form of an evening fire, fried butter (“test!”), an excursion to the “Yarlu” valley and some stories about Altai. Thanks to all participants, especially Zhenya Pismenny. I hope for further cooperation!

author: Ilya

The purpose of the route was determined two weeks before the start. I spent both weeks shopping, and in the end I started to get bored, but I still bought everything, except for very small things that I could do without. We bought a new tent, sleeping bags for -10 degrees, new membranes, completely waterproof suits, as we wanted, thermal underwear, fleece, warm vests, boots, socks, flashlights, crampons, ice axes, ice screws, jumars. They even took an ice drill. I found very decent compression bags, almost airtight. It was very difficult to get good stew, but in the end they found it. We sent an application to Ust-Koksa to visit the border region (I sent it a month in advance, as expected). They put it all in a pile and, of course, did not understand how it could be carried away. And to hell with it, we'll sort it out on the spot.

We started in the morning along the route Ekaterinburg–Tyumen–Omsk–Novosibirsk–Barnaul, etc. to Ust-Koksa, and then to Tungur. Just about 3 thousand kilometers. In general, up to and along M-51 and further along M-52. Route options appear only when entering the mountainous part of Altai, and they are all approximately equivalent. The asphalt part of the path is interesting only insofar as there is nowhere in particular to look. The asphalt was more or less tolerable, there was absolutely no time to see the sights of transit cities (except for grocery stores), the weather was quite suitable for flying, so we drove almost non-stop.

In the evening of the first day of travel, we caught up with a huge thundercloud, there was no more rain, but everything around was flooded with water, lightning flashed ahead, blackness up to the very sky. I didn’t want to climb into a cloud, so we spent the night in a field, finding an excellent exit and setting up a tent. We had to spend the second night in the car - there was nowhere to go, and somehow there were no hotels. In the morning, having passed Barnaul, we entered the Altai Territory.

The path in that direction through the mountainous part of Altai was vaguely remembered, since I felt sleepy all the time. Up, down, up, down, then asphalt, then crushed stone, then primer. The road goes along river valleys, climbs passes and again through valleys. Lush greenery, a sea of ​​flowers, blue sky, hills, slides, valleys, rushing rivers. Very beautiful. Funny animals, like chipmunks, sit in columns on the road, scurry along the side of the road, and hide in holes when a car approaches.

About 80 kilometers before Ust-Koksa the road ends at a checkpoint. A few minutes later I find out that since we are going not to the border region, but to the border region, the pass must be issued at the outpost in Ust-Koks. The border guard at the checkpoint gives a temporary pass to Ust-Koksa and advice: no one is officially allowed to Belukha (it is right on the border), so indicate Lake Akkem as the final destination of the route in the application.

It’s difficult to understand what the outpost in Ust-Koksa, fifty kilometers from the border, is doing, but the pass was issued quickly and after 80 kilometers, having finally crossed the suspension bridge over the Katun, we entered the territory of the Vysotnik tourist center.

On the territory of the camp site there is a hotel, a shelter, a dining room, a bathhouse, a tent campsite, sites for tents, a summer kitchen, a washroom, etc. Everything is quite cozy. We took a room in the shelter and went to bed, not understanding how tomorrow we would carry all the junk we brought with us. Dinner and a walk to the village of Kucherla showed that you can take your junk to Kucherla in your own car, but further…

In the morning, Kuzuyak's problem resolved itself. We were offered to go rafting before the start of Akkem. Great. We accept the offer, load all the junk into the car that will go along the shore (to pick up the raft from below), get into the raft and set sail. The Katun is a fast river, there are no rapids in this part, there are standing waves that throw the boat funny. The water is blue and very cold.

The banks rush back and two hours later, after a short crossing, we unload on the right bank of the Katun at the mouth of Akkem. According to the raft guide, the bridge over Akkem is intact, and we decide to walk along the right (orographic) bank of Akkem.

We walk through fields and meadows, sometimes it rains, but overall the weather is pleasant. I hope we will have good luck with her in the future.

The bridge over Akkem is in good health, although it is unclear where and why people travel across it. The water in the river is cloudy and has a soapy taste. Not suitable for drinking. Therefore, all parking areas are only near streams. The ascent to the left bank of the valley exhausted my reserve of strength by ninety percent. We use the remaining ten to get to Three Birches.

We didn’t get to Three Birches a little, even Roma ran out of interest, who this time was not at all childishly loaded. We stood in a clearing near a stream. We cooked dinner. I think we would have reached as far as we could if we had gone through the pass. There is no desire to draw conclusions. We go to bed with gloomy forebodings.
The next day, the gloomy forebodings were fully justified. With great effort, by 3 pm we had only reached the Black Stones. It is only 5 kilometers from Three Birches. Movement speed is 1 km per hour. I probably walked the last two hundred meters for about forty minutes. The sad thing is not even this, but the fact that there is no strength left at all. A more or less long rest is needed. We cook dinner and go to bed for two hours. Yes, the load is truly unbearable. Okay, morning is wiser than evening. Around six o'clock, having thought that if the load is too heavy, then the distance is quite okay, we decide to make a transfer. We leave Roma in the camp, take Vanya and half of the load each and go forward. After a morning nightmare, twenty-kilogram backpacks are not felt at all. We fly forward as if on wings. At first they wanted to walk for an hour, then they added another thirty minutes. We walked a total of six kilometers. We hide our equipment in the moss and almost run back.

We arrive in the dark.

That's better. Tired, of course, but at least without overload. The morning was blessed with beautiful weather. We have breakfast, pack our equipment and set out on the route. In daylight we look at what was passing by indiscernibly yesterday. The trail gradually descends down to the shore of Akkem and no longer goes far from the river to the lake itself. Yes, we had a great run yesterday, we only get to the bookmark before lunch.

We quickly set up camp, hang things out to dry, and cook lunch. There is no time left to “lounge” at all. We take out the bookmark, throw it into our backpacks, leave Romka in the camp and again run, run, run.

At one of the turns in the path, the peak of Belukha flashed in the distance.

The bookmark was dragged to a waterfall on the stream. It became noticeably colder. On the slopes of the mountains surrounding the Akkem valley there are snowfields from which noisy streams flow. We are looking at an ancient bathhouse, probably built by the first climbers. We run back and dismantle the camp with lightning speed. I really want to get to the bookmark, we pass several beautiful places to spend the night, just like in a fairy tale: a stream, a clearing... We admire the opening panorama of Belukha. How we will climb there, we don’t think yet.))) Another couple of kilometers, but... night falls, it starts to drizzle, and we stop for the night in the middle of the forest, in some kind of swamp. It’s sad, but potatoes and stew quickly restore your mood to the proper level. We are far behind schedule, but we have not left the route plan - we have many spare days. At this speed, we should be on Lake Akkem tomorrow.

The sunny morning showed that the clearing was not wet at all, and the swamp was very beautiful, and I had never seen mosquitoes and midges in Altai. No one. We dry out a little and get ready to go straight to the lake. The swamp ends quickly, we follow winding paths. A huge number of tourists pass by us. In one of the groups we counted 40 people. They go in twos, threes, ten, twenty; children, boys, girls, grandparents. And everyone is stomping merrily, skipping and saying hello.))) Hello, hello! What do they have there? Nest? Finally we meet the first climber. The fact that this is a climber can be seen not by the ice ax and rope, but by the fact that he is not hopping, and his backpack is not a toy. Let's ask. Was at the top. There is a lot of snow, little ice. There are even fewer people. Yep, we're on the right track.

However, there is no time to look around yet. From the bookmark we walked no less than 12 kilometers. We need to go back for the bookmark and bring it to the parking lot. About 4 hours until dark. Leaving Roma to set up camp, we almost run along the path in the opposite direction. After two and a half hours we pick up the bookmark and go to the lake again. Yes, and twenty kilos to the forty kilometer breaks his back. We decide not to rush too much: when we come, then we will come. It gets dark quickly and gets very cold. It feels like 10 degrees, or even less. We emerge from the forest onto the wide Moraine Rampart. The Akkem glacier once lay here and left huge rounded boulders. Now the glacier has retreated almost 15 kilometers, and the moraine is gradually being eroded by the Akkem River. We dragged ourselves to camp in the thick twilight. The sky is clear. The top of Belukha stands out like a white block against the darkening sky. Beautiful. I wish there was such weather for climbing!

The weather is fine in the morning. We dump all our things into a pile and start sorting: what to take with us and what to leave at the bottom. “Leave” gained 15 kilograms, and that’s good. I put my things in a slightly leaky shelter and take them to the rescuers’ house. Re going. The weight is decent, but no longer lethal. We cross the bridge over the waterfall and along the foot of the huge moraine ridge we begin our climb up the Akkem. The trail crosses several moraines, crosses from shore to shore a couple of times along rickety bridges and reaches the upper lake. A moraine ridge dammed the river flowing from under the glacier. There was once a lake here, but now there is a large silted basin. There is also a small chapel - a place of pilgrimage for almost all lake tourists. We pass the upper lake on the left, along the edge of the river we rise higher to the end of the Akkem glacier.

The glacier wall rises ten meters above the bed. On the upper edge there are stones that from time to time fall down with a roar. A dirty, dirty stream flows from under the ice - this is the source of Akkem. The glacier is alive, it moves and grinds stones into powder with its sole. This powder is carried away by meltwater streams, then it ends up in the river. This makes the river in Akkem muddy. But the snowfields along the edges of the Akkem valley do not move, they just lie there. Therefore, the water in them is clean, clean. Some of the lake tourists reach the end of the glacier. Some of them somehow climb onto the glacier, get lost, wander among the cracks, run wild and howl at night. We saw it ourselves.)))

It’s just around lunchtime and it’s starting to rain. In some places you can find streams of more or less clean water, so we decide to cook lunch here. We put on waterproofs, fill the pot with water, sit under the largest moraine boulder and cook buckwheat and stew. The rain is now stronger, now weaker, and by the end of lunch it stops completely.

Looking up, we understand that we will no longer need sneakers, we put on mountain boots, and hide the sneakers under a “conspicuous stone.” Access to the glacier is quite difficult, since the sides of the valley are cut by deep cracks (the glacier continues under the moraine) with steep edges. We had to climb high on the side of the valley, walk forward, and then descend down onto the glacier. We put on crampons. Roma is simply burning with curiosity, and so am I. We tie up and go out onto the glacier. The first steps on crampons - and what, it’s very convenient. The glacier is open, without cracks, cut by hills of bizarre shape. A little further, where the steepness decreased and the ice field became wider, large and small stones appeared along the edges, rolling down from the sides of the valley. Some are several meters across and stand on a tiny platform. It seems like push it and it will roll down. They pushed - it doesn’t roll.))) Streams, rivulets, streams of water flow along the glacier. There is a “squeak” of melting ice in the air.

It seems to be standing strong. It's warm and quiet inside. We cook dinner, drink tea with sweets and cookies. Order. Now only bad weather can stop us. There is no strength to wash the dishes, and there is no water - with the sunset, all the streams disappeared amazingly quickly, not a single one remained, the water was only in puddles, which were not reachable from the tent. I throw all the cups into the vestibule - the morning is wiser than the evening, and we go to bed.

The wind howled all night, avalanches and rockfalls rumbled along the slopes of Belukha. By morning it was relatively quiet. When I woke up, I looked out into the vestibule and was horrified. Overnight, the surface of the glacier around the tent dropped by ten centimeters, not a trace remained of the snow cover, the ice screws screwed in up to the ears in the evening had almost completely melted, not a trace remained of the snow cover, the wind was blowing in the vestibule, the canopy was splashing in the wind, you can see through the hole Akkem Lake. On the bare ice, pots, cups, mugs and spoons were prepared for the downhill slide. I still don’t understand what prevented them from rolling out into the wild and flying down. I quickly hide everything and run to restore the covering of the vestibule.

I count the dishes with horror. There is only a small mixer bottle for powdered milk. Yeah. The tent was not demolished only because I also twisted the ice drill with all my heart, but it was not able to melt completely.)))

We cook porridge, wash the dishes, get dressed and go upstairs. Our plans for today are to get to the Tomsk overnight stops and spend the rest of the day at Arbuz. We go left - to the edge of the icefall. Deep cracks have appeared that have to be worked around with large hooks. The left tongue of the glacier is covered with rather dense snow. While getting dressed in the morning, we came to the unanimous conclusion that we would no longer need nylon pants. I tie them with a rope and place them under the second “noticeable” stone. We continue our climb with short breaks. Several melted trails are visible. The snow holds, we almost don’t fall through. We climbed a little higher than the Akkem icefall and sat down to drink tea. Above us everything is covered with clouds. Sometimes there are gaps of blue sky. And the sky is getting closer and closer.)))

Watermelon is very beautiful. At the foot, the wall of ice is almost vertical, and higher up it quickly flattens out. We learn how to wrap drills, organize a station, practice ascent on a jumar and descent with a basket. We try to make ice lugs and rappel down on a double rope. All this is relatively easy. Since there is no bottom belay and the slopes are small, we decide to use a jumar secured with a carabiner as the main belay device. At the end we practice self-arrest with an ice ax.

Due to the late lights out, we woke up only at ten o'clock. I laid out my things to dry, had breakfast, put on cream, got ready and went to the Delaunay Pass. You should have gone out earlier! The day was sunny in the morning, the snow was blowing away in the sun. We walk along the semblance of a path, periodically falling above the knee. Periodically - this is every third step. Sweat pouring out, not enough air. Two people are walking far away. Let's approach; this is a guy and a girl. “Have you been to the top? - They weren’t - she didn’t let me in. We stayed in a snowstorm for three days and came back.” Wow! Quite tired, we approach the climb to the pass. The climb is covered with snow, there is no ice. The first part of the climb up to the crack we just walk with our feet. I can go further - the angle is about 45 degrees, but I decide to hang the railing. I take a couple of ice screws, hook a rope and climb up with my backpack. It's hard, though. After 50 meters I turn the station, the guys rise. No, you can't get through with a backpack. I leave my backpack at the station and climb without a backpack. It’s better this way, but it takes longer, and then you have to go back down and lift your backpack, helping yourself with your jumar. The next move up is made by Vanya, who proves that he knows the matter tightly - the ice screws he has twisted can only be unscrewed with an ice ax. Roma is the most cheerful of all, he understands the rope at a time without smoking breaks. I make the last rope up. I press myself against the rocks to the left, find a platform, reach the ice, spin, the guys rise. A little to the left of the pass we find a site for a tent. It has already been used. I fasten myself to the rope, go down to get my backpack, get up, roll up the rope and crawl on all fours to the platform to catch my breath. I'm just awfully tired.

We decide to spend the night here. We clear the area, set up a tent, prepare both lunch and dinner at once - we simply throw two cans of stew into the pan. As soon as we got into our sleeping bags, a snow charge hit the tent. It snows all night, flowing off the tent in streams. From time to time I wake up to check if I have fallen asleep; I really don’t want to go out and dig it up. My head hurts, Roma also complains.

The morning greets with absolutely blue skies and hot sun. There wasn’t much snow at night—about a quarter of a meter, and even less in the basin. We have breakfast, get ready and run downstairs. During. Yesterday's group is already approaching the pass; I have no desire to contemplate them on their course all day.

We applied cream and put on glasses. The sun is burning, your glasses are fogging up, your eyes refuse to look without glasses, the snow is deep, your backpack is heavy. It's hot like the equator. They took off their jackets, took off their hats, and put on panama hats.

This is not a plain, here the climate is different, there are avalanches one after another... Avalanches, indeed, are coming, now from the left, now from the right, and the rockfalls are roaring. Overall, it's fun. The cold of millennia emanates from the giant ice dumps. We passed the icefall of the Mensu glacier. Far below you can see green hills, alpine meadows, rivers, lakes, flowers growing there. And here is the kingdom of eternal snow, absolute whiteness. How much ice is below us: ten meters or all one hundred? Somewhere there sleep bottomless cracks, and in them are frozen mammoths.))) In order not to become frozen mammoths, we walk in bundles. We reached the ascent to the Barel Col and sat down to drink tea.

Half an hour of sweet afternoon sleep is quickly coming to an end. There was noise and commotion behind the tent - the previous group had caught up with us. We pack up and head out, hoping to get to a place called TKT. The trail goes along the left slope of the mountain, crossing numerous avalanche blowouts, one of which is very large and completely fresh. I really don’t want to lose the height meters I’ve gained so hard. I turn down and make a new path around the longest avalanche tongue. It's terribly hard to walk. Vanya, and then Roma, come to the rescue, overtaking me on the climb, so gradually I find myself in tow at the end of the bunch. It’s much easier to follow the tracks, but I still can’t catch my breath properly. Top-top, began to count steps, a hundred steps, then look up, then another hundred steps. Periodically, clouds roll in, visibility disappears, and it becomes stuffy, like in a bathhouse.

After an endless climb, giving our last strength, we go out to the icefall of the Berel glacier. The icefall is covered with snow. On the island between the cracks, someone had cleared a large area for a tent. We decide to stop here. The beluga whale is not yet visible - clouds are swirling above the site. We set up the tent, securely fasten the guy ropes, and build higher walls around the tent in case bad weather happens at night.

The evening is surprisingly quiet. The top of Belukha opened before sunset: the clouds had gone, leaving an absolutely blue sky. We have one day left to climb. Will you be lucky or unlucky? Having asked the Belukhin shaman for the weather for tomorrow and setting the alarm for 5 am, we go to bed. At night I had a headache, the wind howled, so I fell asleep only in the morning, constantly waiting for the alarm to ring.

Before the alarm clock, we were awakened by creaking steps behind the tent. These are climbers coming from Vysotnik. It is not known what the instructors told them there, but they looked so brave that my “hello!” they ignored. I look at the sky. Oh yeah! The weather (so far, pah-pah) is simply fantastic. The same as yesterday morning. There will be no lunch, so we have breakfast with a double portion of semolina porridge with breadcrumbs, fill a thermos of tea, take Snickers (yes, yes, we have Snickers, crumpled ones, but they are there!), leftover dried apricots and nuts, dress tightly, throw warm vests in the backpack , close the tent and go out. We have only one attempt at climbing, so we won’t invent anything, we’ll follow in the footsteps of the previous group - their instructors know exactly where they are going.

We go out cheerfully. The snow is completely hard this morning. Cats only leave scratches. We walk as if on asphalt. There is absolute whiteness underfoot, absolute blue in the sky. Fine. Having overcome a small crack and climbed up to the rise of the icefall, we discover the stunningly beautiful southern wall of Belukha. Huge blocks of ice hang from it. What happens if this one falls?

The weather is warming up and things are going well. We are suspiciously quickly catching up with the group from Vysotnik. They have been standing still for an hour now. A steep climb begins, we work with the rope. There is no ice. I go up, making steps, then I clean the area, hammer in an ice ax, sit on it, Roma climbs up, belays himself with an ice ax, then Vanya. Then everything repeats itself. We are catching up with the stranded tourists. Yeah, they're not stuck, they're just slowly walking along the rope. Their bases are made of rope loops around stones. A couple of times, having asked to go to their base, we quickly overcome the rocky slope and climb out onto the frying pan. Who called her that? This is just a flat platform in front of the summit dome.

There are no steps to the top. There are barely visible traces of previous climbers. We look this way and that – it seems normal, we can go the same way. Before storming the summit, we refresh ourselves with Snickers and finish our tea. The site offers stunning views of Altai. The entire mountain region is below us, and above us are clouds. The beauty is indescribable.

We are going to attack according to the same scheme. There are approximately 3-4 ropes on the dome, closer to the top the slope becomes steeper, hanging on an ice ax is a bit scary. I get to the ice and spin. That's better. I take, as it turned out, the last photo from the ascent. I look around and am horrified! A black cloud is flying towards us from the west - a thunderstorm. Faster, faster we run to the top. I waddle over the ridge. The highest point on the right is about twenty meters. Roma rises, then Vanya, and immediately then a cloud with a charge of snow swoops in. It is getting very cold, there is a strong wind and flows of snow pellets - visibility is 3 meters. We connect and go to the right to the top, fortunately it’s nearby. Well, it seems like the very top and then it’s only down. Sad "Hurray!"

Let's go back a little lower. The wind howls, it snows, wet things freeze. We put on vests: they don’t help much on top, and I don’t risk putting them on underneath in such a wind. We gather together and decide: wait 10 minutes, if it doesn’t inflate, we’ll go down. I regret that we don't have puffs.

The first tourists from Vysotnik appear at the top. Despite the bad weather, they stubbornly climb up. And we were frozen, especially Roma’s legs. The snow just falls from the sky in streams. It fills your palms like a boat in a minute. It’s clear that there will be no weather, and we won’t be able to see Altai from the top like our own ears. Well, okay, we thank Belukha for at least letting us come here. Now we need to go down.

Vanya fastens himself to the rope and runs down. I use a basket as insurance. Fun, 50 meters in 30 seconds. For some reason he's been fiddling with the station for a long time. Finally, he gives the signal, and just as quickly I lower Roma. I stick two ice axes into the snow myself and just slide down to the station on my stomach. The descent is repeated. Yeah, that’s why Vanya took so long - he twisted two ice screws so that I could barely unscrew them with the tip of the ice ax. Yes, Vanya doesn’t know his business well. At the next station, I am convinced that Vanya knows the matter even more thoroughly than I thought - he dug a huge hole in the slope, dug to the ice and again tightened the ice screws to the very lugs. Let's go down. There are several more tourists from Vysotnik waiting for their turn. Where are they going in this weather?

While we were descending, the direction was clear, but as we descended into the frying pan, the question arose: where to go? Nothing is visible, and the tracks are almost covered over. Somehow, following the remains of the tracks, we reach the stones. Visibility has already appeared here, and it has become warmer. Continuing the descent in the same way, we pass a rocky section, and then we go without insurance, in a bundle.
Also, we almost run through the avalanche-prone area and after 15 minutes we approach the tent. There is no wind, no snow, no cold. Yes, we are already warmed up. The descent took two hours. We look at the top: the weather is still raging there. It looks like things have only gotten darker. We climb into the tent, cook food, boil tea. Beauty.

We climb into our sleeping bags and have fun for two hours. I look out of the tent. The bad weather rose a little higher, but the top of Belukha was tightly covered by a thunderstorm. Sometimes it thunders there. It's already 10 pm. It's starting to get dark. The group from above did not return, and the summit was still covered by a cloud. Finally, around 11 pm, the clouds melt into the approaching night, and far away, at the very top of the rocky area, the figure of a man appears. Wow, they still have two hours to go down.

Already in the darkness, creaking steps were heard near the tent. I get out and the people are so frozen that only their eyes can move. Congratulations on your ascent and offer you some tea—I specially prepared a whole thermos of sugar. However, the female instructor proudly answers for everyone: “We’ll get there,” and leads her group down. I can’t stand the instructors, the poor guys have to walk another hour and a half to the tents.

At about 6 am there was a terrible roar. The mountain shook. It was another block of ice falling down. I look out of the tent and look up with some apprehension: what if it comes all the way here? But the earthquake quickly subsides, and absolute silence hangs over the mountain again.

In the morning, the top of Belukha, as if nothing had happened, shines with dazzling whiteness. But it's time for us to go down. Today we want to reach the Tomsk overnight stays. Going down is much easier than going up. We again go around the avalanche runouts at the bottom, and generally slide down from the Barel saddle on our butts, one after the other. Again we steam under the sun to the basin of the Mensu glacier. However, by the time we reached the pass, everything had changed. The weather has become violent again, a large and black cloud is approaching our backs - another thunderstorm. Therefore, the ascent to the pass went somehow unnoticed, and as soon as we began to descend, dirty gray shreds of snow flew over the top.

We descend from the Delaunay Pass in the same way as we descended from the top. The hardest part was the section from the foot of the pass to the rescuers’ house. The snow has completely melted, my legs sink to my knees, and there is water below. The boots are completely wet. We walk in zigzags, trying to choose harder areas. Finally, I fell waist-deep into a crack full of water, after which I didn’t give a damn about the path and walked at random. We arrived at the house at the end of the day. We cooked both lunch and dinner at once. We've eaten.
Gradually a group of commercial tourists approaches. They sit down at the table, loudly congratulate each other on a successful climb, etc.

In the morning the weather is gloomy. The clouds are flying low and it rains from time to time. We left late, but there was no frost in the morning. Doesn't hold snow at all. We walk on top of the glacier, trying to stay on the rocky areas, but still fall through to the water many times. It took a lot of time to descend from the glacier onto the moraine: steep slopes, large stones, an unstable ridge. Somehow, having made a big detour and bypassed many cracks in the sides of the moraine, we descend from the glacier to the river and try to find the sneakers that were placed under a “noticeable” stone. It turns out that all the “noticeable” stones are similar to each other. We search for a long time, in the end we find it, change our shoes and stomp down more joyfully. We arrived at the parking lot by the lake so exhausted that we decided not to go any further. We set up camp, dry things, cook a large pot of pasta and potatoes with stew. The beluga whale was apparently offended by us: the peak was completely covered by clouds, although it was warm below and the sky was blue.

We dedicate the evening to contemplation. The only moment on the route when we don’t need to rush. Roma is about to post another round, but then thinks better of it. We make ourselves some poop and have fun. We take out toothbrushes and brush our teeth - that’s also good.

The next day the plan is to reach the black stones. We break up camp and stomp down Akkem. It's going well. Near the waterfall (where the old bathhouse is) we get up for lunch and rest, and in the evening, almost exhausted, we reach the black stones and settle down at the highest parking lot. Tomorrow we need to begin the assault on the Kuzuyak Pass. Somehow I can’t believe it.

The expectations were justified. We were only able to reach three birches. Then the strength ran out. We sit and think about how we will go through the pass. With our speed and remaining prowess, this is three days, no less. Help comes unexpectedly. A family of tourists comes to us and offers to cross the pass on... a tractor, especially since the tractor is already here. This is salvation! We load into a tractor cart, and Belarus, puffing and shooting smoke from the locomotive chimney, drags us along crooked mountain paths, first up and then down into the Katun Valley. There is a huge amount of red currants around, everything is just red. Along the way we meet several horse caravans. Dejected horses walk sadly up the slopes, dragging riders and bales of cargo on their backs. Next year we also want to go on the horse route, but not on sad fillies, but on hot horses.))) There are tourists who, apparently, did not get a horse. Looking at their starved appearance, I am glad that we happily avoided this fate by agreeing to raft to the mouth of the Akkem.

By evening we reached Vysotnik without incident. We occupy two hotel rooms, order a bathhouse for the evening and go to bed for two hours. Having rested a bit, we head to the cafe, order everything on the menu, and overeat. I got the Belukha badges for the children, and the Vysotnik instructor solemnly presented them with certificates for conquering the Altai peak. In two hours we go to the bathhouse. The bathhouse consists of a large dressing room, a cold sink and a hot steam room, in which there is a huge iron stove up to the ceiling. The heat is so hot that you can bake in a minute. Fortunately, I already have some experience in dealing with such baths. I wet two sheets and hang them next to the stove. After 10 minutes, the steam room becomes quite comfortable. With great pleasure we steam and wash ourselves several times in a row, and then we go to the hotel and sleep soundly until the alarm clock rings.

We made our way back along the same route. This time I was able to get a good look at the Altai Mountains from the driver’s seat. Beautiful, nothing to say. We will definitely need to come again, especially since we didn’t get the view from the top. It began to rain near Novosibirsk and continued to rain almost all the way to Tyumen. Thousands of kilometers were drowned in endless slush. Only in the evening of the third day did we see a narrow strip of light sky on the horizon, which was gradually getting closer and closer, and finally our car drove out from under a huge rain pie. We looked at this “pie” from the side - it occupied the entire space from the ground to the sky and was multi-layered, white and gray. It was raining under the pie, but here it was completely dry and the sun was shining.

We arrived home late at night. The entire journey took 19 days.

Photos and other albums can be viewed here.