From the beginning of our journey in Kyrgyzstan we have had what seems like a never ending series of challenges, including a lost ski bag that took Turkish Airlines 8 days to recover and deliver. Although we couldn’t ski, we made the most of our waiting time learning about Kyrgz culture from villagers young and old; we spoke with them about their country and their pride in their mountains and glaciers. The part these surroundings play in the everyday lives of Kyrgyz people is significant, primarily as a water source to support their livelihoods as farmers. The glaciers that they used to be able to see from their homes are disappearing; white being replaced with brown. They told us that the amount of snow that falls in a winter directly affects the water supply for the coming year. Throughout the week we gained an appreciation and respect not only for these beautiful mountains, but for how connected these people are to their land and how deeply they understand and feel the gradual changes each season brings. This year the At-Bashi range is experiencing extremely low snow levels, reflecting what the villages told us about changing winters. The low snow levels also meant that we needed to change our intended ski route. The East side of the range received more snow (about 70 cm) compared to the middle and West side of the range (about 20cm). A ‘normal’ snowpack in this region would be about 1.5 m. We looked at new route options and came up with a plan taking us up a valley never explored before on skis (the local shepherds graze their herds in these valleys in the summer months). The skis finally arrived and we were off! I should mention that while we were waiting for the ski mystery to be solved, we had incredible weather; blue skies and sun every day. The days leading up to our departure cold weather warnings were issued for all of Kyrgyzstan and the morning we left for our trip we found out that school across the country was cancelled due to the incoming cold weather! We were dropped off just East of the town of Taldy-Suu and began to make our way up our chosen valley. Of course, this involved some first-time navigation difficulties such as crossing a stream with the help of the nearby farmer (highly amused by our oversized packs and skis) and being howled at by another farmer to warn us about the local wolves (much to Gabby’s horror). After these minor delays, we found a shepherd’s path which saved us from too much trail breaking. We continued up on the true left of the valley up to our camp spot for the first night in a gladed area, full of wolves! In reality, it was completely fine but Gabby didn’t get much sleep that night (Nicole may have cried wolf once or twice). Day 2 dawned and we were happy that the temperature wasn’t as cold as we had anticipated. We continued up true left of the valley, heading towards a saddle from which we hoped to get a better view of surrounding peaks, ski lines, and potential base camps. While we were all having great fun breaking trail in knee deep snow (not easy with 25 kg packs), we noticed significant depth hoar and facets buried beneath two wind crust layers in the snowpack. We carried out some test pits and found that the depth hoar layer ranged in size from 5-15 cm on all aspects we ascended. None of us had ever seen depth hoar quite like this before. For those unfamiliar with depth hoar, it is large crystals occurring at the base of a snowpack that form when uprising water vapour deposits onto existing snow crystals. It forms when there is a large temperature difference (gradient) between the ground and the air through the snowpack. For us that meant an unstable snowpack and potential for avalanches to occur. As we ascended we were careful to stay on very low angle terrain and managed our track up carefully. The low light conditions didn’t help and our progress was slow. Once above the saddle, we made our way to a flat section where the valley forked and there were safe spots for us to setup our basecamp. Day 3 we set out to gather intel and determine what we would be able to do in the valley safely considering what we had observed the day before. Again, the visibility was poor and we carefully chose lines to gain elevation up the valley. We had spent hours in the tent the previous night looking at ridge lines and peaks that might be safe for future days if the conditions were right. On our way up the valley that morning we saw a potential spur that looked grassy and that we could use to safely access a ridgeline. We were all rather divided in opinion at this stage about what terrain might be safe to ski or climb and as a result had some poor team communication, something which none of us are proud of. Our thoughts were split between the seriousness of the signs from the previous day and our desire to ski. We had been planning this expedition for so long we didn’t want to go home without skiing but yet were nervous about the conditions and putting one another at risk. We all agreed we needed to dig a pit to gather more information. We ended up heading for the base of the spur we had previously mentioned. Upon approaching the slope, however, we remotely triggered an avalanche which propagated 20 m on the slope above us and 80 m in breadth behind us. It was really scary. A muffled roar and a white wave pulling the ground into it. Maz and Gabby were carried down the slope slightly, further back Nicole was only pushed slightly. Gabby was buried up to her shoulders and after she had been dug out we quickly moved to a safe area and reconvened. We were obviously very shaken and disappointed in ourselves. Even though the spur we had been eyeing looked grassy we had triggered a slab avalanche from the valley floor. The wind slab previously mentioned slid on the depth hoar and propagated across to the face next to the spur. At that moment, we all realized the seriousness of the situation, all available aspects were unsafe to ski. We were thankful we had planned our route with safe exits in case of high avalanche danger. We returned to our basecamp and had a proper debrief, despite our earlier disagreements, we quickly decided we needed to work together to get out safely. It was then that we discovered that the locals we had been spending time with had left us with another important lesson: to be happy and grateful for what you have. Moreover, to adapt to the situation. We had an even greater respect for these mountains that they love and cherish. From the valley that we were in we could see incredible ski lines, potential for gullies, faces, and peaks to climb. Our search for these opportunities turned into appreciation for the beauty of the area rather than a hunger to ski it. Day 4 dawned bright and freezing cold and we made the most of the first day of good visibility and blueish skis to follow our route from the previous day slightly further up the valley again to get another look at what we couldn’t see yesterday and be in awe of its beauty. We took pictures, tried to fly the drone (even though it too was in the process of freezing), replotted and scoped a safe route back down the valley and tried to manage the cold realizing that clear skies can be a curse as well as a blessing. Then we retired to the tent for multiple games of cards and frustration over an MSR cooker which wouldn’t hold pressure in its fuel bottle. Having exhausted our activities in the valley, we packed up camp on Day 5 and headed out a day early. Our route down was really safe and we all made it down without twisting any knees in the multi-layered snow. There were even some average, but token turns on the final descent down to the ever-amused farmers house. We exited the mountains that day feeling very relieved and grateful to be on flat ground, having learnt a lot along the way. Some of our key take home messages from this trip: to recognise and appreciate different communication styles, to listen fully to each other’s thoughts and concerns, to be able to put aside our original goals, and to be able to adapt to the conditions we were experiencing and to be happy with what we have.
4 Comments
Bob Campbell
2/2/2018 09:27:37 am
Sometimes the best trips include the detours and changes made due to unforeseen things that happen. The villages visited the people met and time spent with them. Form afar you cannot plan those things.
Reply
Sheryl
2/2/2018 10:42:08 am
Sounds like you guys are having an amazing adventure. Stay safe xx
Reply
Caitlin
2/3/2018 02:21:11 pm
Glad to hear you guys are ok, sounds like scary stuff!
Reply
Lizzie
2/9/2018 11:28:34 am
Wow, what an amazing adventure. Safe travels xx
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMarian Krogh Archives
August 2019
Categories |