Harvard Borkoldoy Expedition

Written by Administrator

Abstract: The Harvard Mountaineering Club celebrated its eightieth anniversary by sending an expedition to seek first ascents in the little-explored Borkoldoy Range in southeastern Kyrgyzstan. The team of eight succeeded in climbing nine peaks in two valleys over the course of fifteen climbing days. Searches in recent American Alpine Club publications, the internet, and a request for information from the Kyrgyz Alpine Club turned up no previously recorded ascents of our peaks. In the following report, a proposed name, the coordinates, and altitudes for each peak climbed are followed by a route description. In the absence of other reports, we consider these climbs to be the first recorded ascents. This report is submitted to the Harvard Mountaineering Club, the Kyrgyz Alpine Club, and a summary is submitted to the American Alpine Club in order to aid mountaineers planning their own trips to the Borkoldoy Range.

The Idea and the People

The expedition was conceived in a discussion between then-Harvard Medical School Instructor in Psychology Bjarne Holmes, his wife Kelly Faughnan, an education graduate student, undergraduate Corey Rennell ‘07, and physics graduate student Adilet Imambekov following a slideshow Holmes gave at the Harvard Mountaineering Club in December, 2004. Holmes heard about the Borkoldoy Range from Martin Gamache of the Alpine Mapping Guild, freshly back from mapping the nearby Kokshal-Too for the American Alpine Club. He proposed the idea to HMC President Lucas Laursen ’06 before the new year. That core group recruited George Brewster ‘03, Laura Fox, then a researcher in psychology at MIT, and wilderness medical instructor David Krause to round out the team. Attempts at recruiting two other undergraduate members of the HMC failed, and the team of eight set out for Kyrgyzstan.

West Kokshal-Too Expedition 2006

Written by Pat Littlejohn

MEMBERS: Pat Littlejohn, Adrian Nelhams, Vladimir Komissarov (guides), Ulrik Andersen, Ben Box, James Bruton, Joanne da Silva, Greg Paul, Todd Siemers, Nick Wheatley.

At the start of September we made the now familiar trip via Naryn to the Kokshal range and established base camp at the delightful lake below the west side of the Navlikin Glacier. On our first full day the full team walked 5 hours up the glacier to recce and acclimatise, then the weather closed in and snowed heavily for 24 hours, putting 30cm of snow at BC and much more higher up. Once the weather cleared we made an exploratory trip to the Malitskovo glacier immediately to the east. This revealed a cluster of excellent unclimbed peaks. After a 'council of war' one team led by PL decided to attempt Pk 5611 (peak adjacent to Grand Poohbah) at the head of the Navlikin glacier, and the two other teams led by AN and VK decided to attempt peaks around the Malitskovo glacier.

Kyrgyzstan Mountaineering Expedition September – October 2006

Written by Mark Weeding

Mark Weeding and Dave Molesworth traveled to Kyrgyzstan in September for a month’s climbing. Generally this is considered too late for reliable weather for alpine routes but in fact we enjoyed Scottish spring weather of sun and snow making for an excellent trip in this beautiful mountainous country.

After a few days acclimatizing in the Ala Archa national park we headed for the Borkoldoy Mountains in the south east of the country, a long two day journey on increasingly deteriorating tracks, and close to the Chinese border just north of the Kokshaal-Too. En route we met Pat Littlejohn, Adrian and other members of an ISM trip and, following their generous advice, went to a previously unvisited valley in the south western corner of the range.

A base camp was established just beyond the narrow entrance at 3300m. The first day’s activity ascended the steep ridge on the southern side. This was followed for 3 hours to a distinctive whaleback plateau visible on the drive in, marked with a distinctive set of gullies in the shape of a chicken’s foot on it’s front face. The flat glaciated plateau led onto a narrow snowy ridge with a line of sharp peaks linking to the highest summits in the valley.

Ak-Shirak on Ski Expedition 2007

Written by Dave Wynne-Jones

Scent of lilac drifts about the overgrown parks and leafy streets of Bishkek, while above the marble facades and golden cupolas of Ala Too square shimmer jagged snow peaks of the Kyrgyz range like an unexpected cloud mirage. A day’s travel later, apple blossom is opening in irrigated orchards punctuated by an occasional pink froth of peach or nectarine on the arid shores of Lake Issy-kul. Again, above, the sky mountains are piled all the way to the Chinese border. It is spring in the valleys, winter in the Tien Shan.

We drive up the Barskoon gorge through herds of sheep and goats, cattle and horses, driven by nomads in who ride like they were born in the saddle, heading for higher pastures. But this is early April and as we approach Kumtor goldmine I realise that not only is the road clear but most of the slopes below 3800m, hugely different from what I’d found in 2003.

Fortunately Lake Petrov is frozen solid, so 40 minutes and 2 km after setting foot on the ice we are setting up camp 1 on a sandy beach beneath the snout of the Petrov glacier. At 3730m. we have jumped 2000m in a 5 hour drive; headaches are obligatory.

Gold Mines & Nature Reserves

Written by Administrator

Not a good combination perhaps but that is now the situation surrounding the Kumtor gold mine in the Ak Shirak range of Kyrgyzstan. It now embraces a nature reserve. Fortunately, the new entry restrictions have reduced access to hunters, and others, and thus increased the numbers of rare fauna such as bharal, wolves and snow leopards. Despite many tracks we saw only bharal, fox, marmots, lemmings and various raptors, including lammergeier.

The original plan was to ski tour in Tibet, but rioting in Lhasa led to the withdrawal of our permits only a short while before we were due to leave. Kyrgyzstan was familiar, and offered a choice of interesting objectives. The agency did a marvellous job of logistical arrangements at the last minute! Our party of two AC Members (Dave Wynne-Jones, the expedition organiser, and myself) together with three Eagle Ski Club Members (Jerry Seager, Mike Sharp and Robert West) travelled to Bishkek from where we drove in an ex-military, 6-wheel, all-terrain vehicle to just outside the gold mine boundaries.

Starting off in poor weather we skied with pulks over the Ak Bel Pass until we were able to access the main Kara Su valley which we had previously visited in 2006. This time, however, we took the right glacier branch after skinning up the frozen river bed. On this new ground we were able, from a high camp at 4237m, to climb three virgin peaks; Pik Stepi (Stepped Peak, 4790m, PD), Pik Volk (Wolf Peak, 4980m, AD-) and Pik Prospekt (Outlook Peak, 4767m, PD). From Pik Volk in particular it became obvious that our intended route over the Koyonde Pass was unfavourable on account of poor snow coverage at lower altitudes.