Altai. Belukha is the highest peak in the Altai Mountains. Its height reaches 4506 meters. The Belukha Mountain is located at an equal distance from the three oceans - Pacific, Atlantic and Indian. Its name was not accidental. It is all because of the top is always covered with snow. And it looks like white “belukha” for native citizens.
If compare Belukha with the highest peaks of Pamir, Tien-Shan, Caucasus, it looks very modestly. The Peak of Communism is 7495 meters at a height, the Peak of Victory – 7439 meters, Elbrus – 5642 meters, Kazbek – 5033 meters. But despite this it is considered to be severe and unreachable. Due to its unique natural features, Belukha is recognized as a very, very severe peak. This explains by the harsh climate of Belukha: it is always cold, a bitter wind is blowing, glaciers descend almost a kilometer lower than in other highlands. In addition, the Belukha area is located on the border of the zones of 7-8 points of seismic activity. Micro-earthquakes which occur here very often cause rockfalls, breaking of glaciers, avalanches and ice-slips. But the aura of Belukha is so alluring that during many centuries it attracts travelers, tourists, writers, artists and scientists. Belukha - "the queen of Altai" can’t leave anyone indifferent. It is so beautiful, majestic and graceful, that causes a storm of feelings and emotions.
The first time I saw Belukha was in 1979 when I was in hike of IV category of complexity. At those times the peak of Belukha and the peak of Everest were for me of the same difficulty.
In 1983 in the hike of V category of complexity on the descent from the pass, the stone crushed my foot. I “went” two passes, jumping on one leg. Three days I spent at a meteorological station at the base of Belukha on the Akkem Lake, waiting for a horse from the village of Tungur to take me to the bus. From the window of the room in which I lived Belukha was shining with its snows.
In 2005, when climbing the Belukha in an ice crash, died my friends - Georgy Moskalev, Vladimir Belanovitch, Kirill Korshak and Alexander Prokhorov. I had to go with them on this trip too, but because of my daughter's illness I stayed in Minsk. The bodies of Georgy Moskalev and Cyril Korshak were never found that year.
In 2006 the closest friends of the dead men including me went to Belukha. We wanted to do searches on the ice fields of the peak and set up a commemorative plaque. We spent three and a half days at the Big Berel Saddle (BBS) pass at an height of three and a half kilometers in the severe weather in a snow blizzard and icy cold. And it was in July. Belukha did not let us go to the top - she didn’t even allow us to go to the place of tragedy happened last year. Having installed a plaque on the rock near the footpath, along which climbers go up the mountain, we returned home. Belukha remained in our dreams.
In 2010 I reached Elbrus, in 2011 – Kazbek, in 2012 – the highest peak of the Southern Hemisphere, Southern and Northern America – the peak Aconcagua (6962 m).
Climbing the peaks as a rule is the collective work of a group of like-minded people, united by a common idea and the goal of conquering themselves and climbing to the top. There are no random people here - each one entrusts his life to each other. It's not enough to want to make a climbing by yourself. You need to have a strong team of the same willing and able.
And finally in 2017 tourists of the Minsk tourist club "Helios" got ready to go in a mountain hike of the VI category of complexity in the Altai. When I learned about their plans to climb the Belukha, I realized that this is my chance. But the sixth mountain category is not for my age any more. Then the idea of a hike of the V category of complexity with the ascent to Belukha with Helios was born. And, as it turned out, there were young and strong guys and girls in Helios who also dreamed of Belukha. That's how the stars came together in the sky. Natasha Novik, Sasha Titova, Sergey Kovalenko, Dima Grakovic and the author of these lines went to the Altai as the leader of the group.
10th of August. Assault camp on the pass BBS (3520 m). Those who were on duty rose up at 1.00. The output is at 3.00. Ascend by the snow-ice fields to the Berel pass, then along the snow-covered rocky edge to the ice fields near the peak. 11.10 - the top!!! A twelve-year-old dream has come true!!! Descent along the path of ascent. Extreme care and one-hundred-percent coverage on rocks and on ice. Came in the camp to tents about 18 hours. Almost 15 hours of extreme physical and mental stress. The nose, lips, cheeks - all face, despite the special sunscreen, solid sunburn. It all will heal a few more weeks, but the main thing is we were on Belukha! All the rest we will survive.
In this hike we drove more than 1,500 kilometers by car across the Altai Territory, walked on the Altai Mountains more than two hundred kilometers during 16 days, crossed 5 passes and climbed to the highest point of Siberia. To accomplish such a difficult task alone can’t even superman. In my not so young years to cope with all the hardships of this trip helped enthusiasm of my young participants, before whom it was impossible not even to seem tired, but all the time it was necessary to keep a smile and drive them forward and upward.
Head of the department "Electric stations", candidate of technical science, associate professor,
Candidate Master of Sports in Tourism
I.V. Novash
At the peak of Belukha
The view at the tops Delone and Belukha (in the back) from the glacier Mensu
The top of Delone (4260 m), East Belukha (4506 m) and West Belukha (4435 m)
Akkem wall of the top of Belukha
The group on the Kucherlinskoye lake
On the pass Druzhba
A climb to the pass Druzhba
Crossing ice bridge
Photos by I. Novash and S. Kovalenko
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