Trip Reports

Mongolia Climber - 6 to 21 Aug '06

Written by Leader Joe Gittins, September 2006

After an early landing in Ulan Bataar, we drove through the capital to our hotel. The landscape around the capital is beautiful and seemingly never ending. The city itself is a rapidly developing entity with a mixture of old style Yurts in their own little yards, monasteries, shrines, industrial units and European style housing developments.

We were then whisked away to enjoy a historical tour of Mongolia which is impressive if not brutal in part. The museums are full of interest and our guide was very informative. The next day we visited the Terelj National Park and climbed one of the four holy mountains surrounding the capital. On the way there we stopped to see Mares being milked, a Mongolian delicacy is derived from this, fermented Mares milk! In an alpine setting, granite tors towered impressively above carpets of numerous beautiful flowers. Tsetseguun sits at 2,256m and is a good acclimatisation walk. At the top we had great views and ate our lunch beside a Shamanic holy site.

Flying to Olgii, we then drove in Jeeps across an awesome landscape, driving for several hours until we reached the road head. This was to be our first sample of Yurt living! Although, now in a Kazakh area, these Yurts are actually called Gers. After the heat of the capital, the cooler air was welcomed! The next day was our first trekking day and we set off to base camp. Walking up the valley from the road head, crossing a shallow river, we passed over a col and got our first close views of the mountains. As the weather came in we made our way along the valley wall and down into the small ablation valley where base camp sits. The hot tea and biscuits were welcomed in our new Gers. The views were now spectacular. Mount Snow Church is very impressive sitting at the end of the Alexander Glacier and the summits of the Potaniin Glacier could also be seen, Khuiten, Nairandal and Malchin, our three objectives.

We acclimatised by walking up onto the north side of the valley, above base camp, to the Russian border. Just over 3,500m, we had great views of endless mountain ranges and our three summits to be climbed.

After a rest day, the walk up to high camp proved to be a hot one! Even with an early start, the morning heat was felt and sun cream was definitely needed. The glacier was in excellent condition, there were barely any crevasses to be seen and we enjoyed an easy walk to high camp The high camp sits at the top end of a Rognon, sat in the middle of the glacier and gives excellent views of the surrounding summits and the valley below.

Unfortunately, our first night at high camp turned from a very pleasant evening into a very windy storm with a lot of snowfall. The tents just managed to stay up in the strong winds and a disturbed sleep was had by all. Deciding not to attempt Khuiten today, we turned our attention to Nairandal. Half way up the glacier to the summit we were engulfed by a ‘white out’, which soon turned into a blizzard. Climbing the wall to the col, once there we made the decision to return, as the last short summit section was heavily corniced and dangerous in these conditions. High camp was a welcome sight in the worsening conditions, so we jumped into the tents, ate, drank, sorted kit and prepared for Khuiten the following day. Unfortunately, the weather only got worse and we weren’t given an opportunity to even attempt Khuiten. Instead, the next morning, we broke camp in high winds and returned to base camp. The weather there was a lot better, but we could still see huge wind devils peeling off our summits. The next day, after waiting for the clouds to rise, we made an attempt of Malchin, only to be beaten back by high winds on the lower shoulder from the summit. The weather proved to be a real pain, our timings unfortunately coincided with a bad weather cycle, stopping our summit attempts. The team were fairly philosophical about this, enjoyed the mountain experience, learnt new skills and left with a greater understanding of the mountain environment.

We left base camp on horseback and enjoyed a comfortable ride down to the road head. There, we visited a Golden Eagle hunter family, who use eagles to hunt for their food during the winter months. The patriarch was proud to show us his eagle, a very impressive bird, some also elected to hold the eagle too, 8kg of bird! I’ve never felt such a strong grip before, bad luck for any unsuspecting marmot or squirrel! We also got to drink the fermented Mares milk, not as bad as expected, in fact some really enjoyed it!

Driving in Jeeps back towards Olgii, we stopped at a site to see some petroglyphs and a stone man of worship. We stayed the night at a hotel in Sagsai, near Olgii were the beer flowed and the sauna was very much appreciated.

Back in Ulan Bataar we took in a culture show, with contortionists, throat singing and dancing. There was also a battle display as it is the 800th year anniversary of the Great Mongolian Empire.

Although we were defeated by weather in the mountains, this did not detract from the fact we all thoroughly enjoyed Mongolia, the place, people, culture and mountain arena. It is a very different land to any I’ve seen before, I’ve never seen so many eagles, horses, yaks and big marmots! It is the land that time forgot, if you’ve not been then get there soon, before it changes and looses some of its timeless qualities.

Joe Gittins, Expedition Leader« Previous report | Next report »

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