Peak Free Korea, Variation. Two summits caught Bernard’s and my attention: Mt. Korona (4860m) and Mt. Svobodnaya Korea (4740m). The first one is a granite tower surrounded by a vast glacier. Many difficult lines remain untouched, while various rock routes of 20 to 30 pitches in length have already been climbed. Mt. Svobodnaya Korea (a.k.a. Free Korea Peak) has a very impressive north face with an overhanging wall. As we had no information on the area, we decided to explore the northeast spur of Mt. Svobodnaya Korea. The north face has a magnificent spur that rises to the west summit of the mountain. An 1100-meter couloir, the Lowe Route, which has never been skied before, runs parallel to this spur. The lower part of the spur has many steep ice or mixed possibilities that finish high on the spur. After one night spent in a bivouac that reminded us of the golden age of Soviet alpinism, we started to move early in the morning of July 7, 1996. That night we approached via the Ak-Sai glacier to the bottom of the face on foot. After crossing a bergschrund, we went up the first slopes without any troubles. To be as light as possible, we brought a nine-millimeter rope, four screws and three pitons. The climb rapidly became engaging in the vertical ice pitch. I joined the spur after ten hours of intense climbing. We stopped for a while in the sun, then continued on easier terrain on the spur. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm was dampered by huge quantities of new snow that reached my belly, making progress impossible and dangerous. We decided to descend by the Lowe route. Hours later we finally arrived on the glacier. The northeast slopes were avalanching all day long, and Andrei, who had watched our progress from the hut, took us in his arms and gave us tchai, the local sausage, upon our arrival.

The north face of Mt. Svobodnaya Korea can be easily compared to Les Droites in the Argentiere basin in the Alps. I can now better imagine what went on in the heads of the first climbers in the Alps.

Alan Delizee, France