Mt. Shkhara, North Face, New Route. Mt. Shkhara (5068m) lies in the Besengi region of the Central Caucasus. Valery Shamalo and Robert Krymskiy from St. Petersburg climbed a new route via the north face through the so-called “Bottle” from July 22-27. The route on the 1500-meter snow/ice face climbs along very steep rock and ice slopes in the shape of a bottle. During the climb, in the lower part of the face, a small avalanche caught the group, but they were not hurt. They took a few short falls on the fixed rope and were hit a few times by rockfall. The beginning of the steep rock face had a waterfall section that soaked the climbers.

Vladimir Shataev, Russian Mountaineering Federation