Tergun Bogd

  • Tergun Bogd
  • 3957 m
  • Prominence 1979 m
  • Mongolia,
  • Location: North 44.99477, East 100.23089 (GPS)
  • Difficulty: YDS 2
  • Climbed August 28. 2024.

Information:


How to get there:

We parked just below the highest normade huts, location N44.97208, E100.18783, elevation near 2660 meter. The local people living there are used to people climbing and in fact, they knew Gangaa. There are good spots for camping, but gear may have to be carried about 50 meter from the cars, too many (big) rocks make iot difficult to park immediately next to the tents.
Route description:
The standard route ascends the ridge seen in the middle of this picture, from the base (small white normad hut) until it reaches the (flat) mountain plateau near the top. The standard route crosses the dry river, then makes an ascending traverse (right) at what appears as the very end of the ridge. One may follow small trails here, the terrain is far better than the look from below. Once on top of this steeper slope, the ridge continues nicely uphill- There is a trail, you bypass a few local (small) tops and eventually reach more complex terrain, the upper part of the ridge consists of larger (yellow colored) boulders. The best way to proceed is to avoid these and do a pretty long, ascending traverse on the right hand side of the ridge (looking uphill). Stay near the border line between smaller, black rocks (below) and the larger (yellow) boulders above. Continue this line until you reach the summit plateau, the very last part going up a wide gully with a small creek (running water when we were there).
Once on the (flat) plateau, head across towards the only hill of some significance, the summit is there.
Comments:
Here is a quick summary of peaks climbed in Mongolia August 2024.
We arrived the day before, early evening. Gangaa knew the local people and we drove all the way to their hut. A warm welcome and the customary polite visit inside their hut followed. The spots that are good for tents are, unfortunately, about 50 meter away from where one can easily drive, thus a bit more work to carry everything in order to establish camp. A nice and quiet evening, we agreed to have breakfast at 0600 the next morning.
We started at 0630, crossing the dry river, then traversing uphill following a small trail at the end of the ridge. Gaining the ridge proper, we had an easy uphill walk until meeting larger (more yellow) boulders. Steven was up ahead and out of sight. Manlei had never climbed this peak before and he quickly got himself (and me!) into complex terrain near the highest line of the ridge. Class 3 with some class 4 moves, progress was minimal. We finally (should have done it much earlier), climbed part-way back and down on climbers right. It was pretty obvious that a somewhat lower traverse here near the border between blackish and yellowish rocks would have saved quite a lot of time.
Continuing the ascent eventually got us up on the plateau, quite a contrast to the ridge. A huge, pretty flat area with a smaller hill, obviously the summit, quite some distance away. The walk was easy and we arrived at the cairn around 10:40.
Steven was there, having waited while we wasted time on a bad route on the ridge. He just wanted to tell that he would descend to the col separating us from the neighbor peak, climb this one then descend the ridge across the valley back to camp. As soon as this was agreed, he set off.
Manlei and I had a 20 minute break before going back down. This time I made sure to stay much lower on the left (when descending) of the ridge. A bit loose and ugly, but much better than fighting big boulders higher up. I reconnected with the main ridge just right, immediately below the point where the yellow boulders would begin. The rest of the descent was easy and I was back down in 3 hours. Steven had arrived shortly before, all in all a very successful climb.
We stayed a second night, observing the daily cycle when goats returned from the mountains, another nice meal prepared by Gangaa, then a nice sunset to complete a very successful day.

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