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.