From August 6 to 10, and in a total climbing time of 57 hours, Alexander Parfenov, Alexey Sukharev, and Vjacheslav Timofeev, from Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk, Siberia, climbed a new mixed route on the north face of Pik Alexander Blok (5,239m). The climbers started up the rounded pillar between the Efimov and Lavrinenko routes, with around eight pitches of difficult free and aid climbing, leading to an almost vertical ice-filled chimney. Two pitches up this, with an exit to the right, brought the pair to a junction with the Efimov Route. However, they soon left it and slanted up left for several pitches on a steep, narrow ice ramp, until more rock climbing led to the east ridge. Around 200m of vertical gain along the ridge (II–IV) brought them to the summit. The total height of the route is 890m.

The Siberian trio named their new route Rereading Classics (25 pitches, 6A, 6a A3+ WI5/6). About 430 aid points were used. After the first part of the wall there are small ledges for semi-sitting bivouacs, so a team climbing fast could dispense with a portaledge. The Siberians bivouacked at the top of pitches five, eight, 17, and 23.

Unlike nearby Rocky Ak-su (Ak-su North, 5,217m), whose famous 1,500m north face is topped by a snow and ice cap that produces considerable objective danger in summer, Pik Alexander Blok does not have such a feature and is considered safe. For other lines on this face, see AAJ 2014.

– Anna Piunova, www.mountain.ru, Russia