Altai mountains - Climbing Mt.Belukha

Mountain Adventures - Altai mountains

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Climbing program, Mt. Belukha, 4506 m, Altai, 12 days:

The highest peak of Siberia, Mount Belukha is divided by the «saddle»(col) into Western Belukha (4440 m) and Eastern Belukha (4506 m). 

Altay - mt. Belukha "en face"

On this expedition we will have some days of moderate to strenuous hiking on varied terrain. We will also spend a few days mountain climbing, which will require good physical condition and mountaineering skills (using ropes, crampons, etc..). The climb to the top of Mt. Belukha is is rated as a 3A (In Russian climbing route rating system the overall grade of a route is defined within a scale of 1 to 6, with subdivisions A and B).
Altay - mt. Belukha and Akkem lake, view from above


Itinerary of  Mt. Belukha climb

Day

Program

Day 1

Arrive in Barnaul, the capital of Altai Krai. A representative of «TST» meets you at the airport.
Transfer by bus to reach the base camp «Vysotnik». 750 km, 12 hours. A «welcome» dinner.

Day 2

Trekking «Vysotnik» (850 m) – mountain pass Kuzuyak (1513 m) – the Ak-kem river (1100 m). Today we start our trek, passing through Kucherla, last populated area on the way to the mountains.
We will follow a path through the forest and observe plenty of mushrooms, berries, various kinds of trees and grasses, and may even spot a hare or a deer.
We have to overcome the Kuzuyak pass. The pass isn't high but the walking is pretty hard — it is a test of our stamina. We make camp on a nice «Three birches» night place. It takes 4-5 hours, 17 km. Overnight is in the tents. Food is cooked on the fire.

Day 3

Trekking «Three birches» – the base camp « Ak-kem» (1950 m). Ascent along the river to the base camp «Ak-kem» , the second base camp. 7-8 h.

Day 4

Trekking the b.c.«Ak-kem»–the Ak-kem glacier–«Tomskie Nochevki» (3000 m). After ascending alongside the River and later the Ak-kem Lake, we will reach a moraine and the glacier. Overnight in tents at «Tomskie Nochevki». 7-8 h.

Day 5

Ice training on the «Arbuz» glacier. If the weather is favourable, we will have climb to the Delone mountain pass (3400 m).

Day 6

Early start. Ascent «Tomskie Nochevki» — the Delone mountain pass (3400 m) — the Mensu glacier – the Berelskoye Saddle mountain pass (3520 m) — the plateau (3800 m). A snow-ice wall of mountain pass Delone has 35° — 45° slope. We will spend the night in tents on the glacier. 7-8 h.

Day 7

Summit attempt. We will start at 6 in the morning, heading towards the Belukhinsky mountain pass (3A). After climb the pass, which has a slope of 40°- 45°, we will walk along a ridge for 250 metres, reaching the summit after 10-15 min. We will follow the same path coming down from the summit. 7-9 h.

Day 8

Rest day or spare day for Summit.

Day 9

Descend the plateau — the Mensu glacier — «Tomskie nochevki» – the base camp «Ak-kem» . Rope parties of 2-3 pax the Delone pass using at . Banya (Russian sauna)

Day 10
Day 11

Trekking to the b.c. «Vysotnik», from which we started our trekking (we could possibly complete it for a day depending on the group's level of fitness). Russian sauna.

Day 12

Transfer to Barnaul. Departure.

Altay Mt. Belukha and Ak-kem lake

EQUIPMENT

TST  provides the group with

  • expedition tents,
  • cooking pots,
  • ropes,
  • ice screws,
  • caribiners,
  • gas, gas stoves .


For the ascent you should bring:

  • a helmet,
  • plastic boots,
  • sleeping mat,
  • sleeping bag,
  • crampons,
  • ice-axe,
  • 2 ice-screws per pax,
  • 3 carbines per pax.

TREK & CLIMB CONDITIONS OF THE MT. BELUKHA CLIMB

Maximum altitude gain is 1000 m a day.
The trekkers either carry all their personal belongings plus 4-5 kg of communal equipment (tents, cooking pots, gas) and food for 2 days or hire horses for the luggage transportation.

MEALS

3 meals a day are provided for participants .
At the Base Camps meals are at a cafe. On the trek the food is cooked on the open fire, ascent on the gas.

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