Altai

This team selected the South Chuyski Range of the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia as a more exploratory area for climbing than the Alps, in the hope of making first ascents or new routes on peaks between 3500m and 4000m. They discovered that all rock routes presented significant and continuous objective dangers in the form of loose and crumbling rock, so major difficulties were soloed without leader-placed protection. Five routes were climbed on four different peaks, at grades from F to AD, at least one – the N Ridge of Dzhaniktu (3942m) – being a first ascent.