Mt. Karatash, North Face, New Route. Mt. Karatash is situated in the northeast part of the North Chuyskiy crest in the Aktru Valley of the Altai range. Organized by the sport committee of the town of Biysk, a team led by A. Afanasiev and comprising N. Ziatkov, A. Salin and I. Slobodchikov put up a new route (6A) in the center of the north face of Mt. Karatash. The route was 1030 meters long on a steep rock face. Ropes were fixed from May 3-4, and the route was climbed from May 6-10. The route is composed of three almost vertical rock buttresses. The mountain still has the potential for about five more hard new routes.

Vladimir Shataev, Russian Mountaineering Federation