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ESC Mongolia Altai expedition May 2011

The Objective of this expedition was to explore on ski the remote and rarely frequented area of the Mongolian Altai that borders Russia and China and contains the country’s highest peaks.
We aimed to make the first repeat of the achievement of the (all-women’s) expedition in 2002 that first skied all 5 of the Holy Summits or Tavn Bogd that give this part of the Altai its name. As it turned out a very windy, dry winter had left the snowslopes on Naran & Chinggis that we had hoped to ski as unskiable sheets of ice so our primary objective was not feasible. Nevertheless we skied the other holy summits amongst the 9 peaks and one pass we summited as we explored the Potanina and Alexandrov glaciers.
Our agent believed that we were the first self-sufficient ski team to go into the Tavn Bogd and it certainly opened up possibilities with that level of flexibility. It is a fine remote mountain area, eminently suitable for ski-mountaineering, with some challenging descents, and the Mongolians we met were friendly and helpful with an integrity born of a strong sense of self reliance.

Added 18 Nov 18 by admin

Ulan Batoor
Eagle Hunter
On the Potanina Glacier heading for camp 1
Camp 1
On the summit of Friendship Peak
Skiing off Frienship peak
Skinning towards Khuiten
Climbing up the final meters of the North (frontier) Ridge of Khuiten 4374m
Gaining the summit of Khuiten
Sking back down the North Ridge of Khuiten
Traversing the summit of Nairamdal
Khuiten & Nairamdal
On the summit of Peak 4117m
Approaching Peak 4152m
Descending the ridge to the ski depot on Peak 4152m.
Skiing Peak 4152m
Climbing Malchin 4051m with Peak 3926m in the background. The steep couloir just left of centre in the backgound was skied in descent by 4 of the team.
Derek Buckle & Howard Pollit on the summit of Malchin
Iona Pawson ripping the steep couloir on Peak 3926m
Leaving Camp 2 for a day exploring the Alexandrov glacier.
Booting up the last meters of the North Ridge of Peak 3962
Steep skiing on the descent of Peak 3962m
Gaining the pass on the West Ridge of Chinggis
The Potanina Glacier with Malchin on the right, Naran on the left, and Khuiten left of centre in the background from the moraine near traditional base camp on our way out.
Heading for home!