Climbing Northern Ushba - one of the most difficult ascents in Caucasus mountains

[@georgianextremeways]

Amazing! This is our country 🇬🇪

[@seyedhasanzolanvar]

I'm happy you made it and returned safe and sound🤠

[@NucLe4rCZ]

Amazing! Week ago I was standing under this mountain at Ushba Glacier 2500m ... I was thinking how it is even possible to climb here :D Big respect guys!!

[@canopus7777777]

Браво, ребята! Лучше гор, могут быть только Ушба!))

[@EduSanjuan777]

One of the best videos on Ushba on youtube hands down. Should have way more likes

[@nenuobodu]

Thanks!

[@AALLXX22]

The music is annoying

[@ДмитрийЛесной-о5з]

Congratulations! Great video! Beautiful mountain!

[@ticklefritz5406]

That really looked like a sweet climb, nice job!

[@morozmountains]

Well done, congratulations

[@samchoudhary7951]

Lucky man who climed it😍😍

[@0legtion440]

Bro do you have any gps data or logbook of climb i want to climb the icy route but dont have any idea of route

[@lordprzemo]

Hey man! Do you have any topos, description or general info about the climb and getting there? Maybe you could help out with some tips?

[@nenuobodu]

Hey! For topo maps I've used Gaia GPS app. I had some key waypoint coordinates from the internet that gave us the general idea of the route. I've tracked most of the climb, so I've got (a rather messy) gps track that I could share. Some general tips: - PAPERS. The track crosses Georgian/Russian border (we actually built a camp in Russian territory before summiting) so you have to get some papers in advance and show them to border security at the start of the trail. I do not exactly remember the procedure, but you should plan to have at least one work day down in the city to get the papers done as on weekends the officials do not work. Tourist info or mountaineering centre should help with all the details. - GLACIER. Even with the key points or the GPS track - you'll have to find a safe path, as the glacier and its crevices are constantly changing and the route that we took might be un-passable. There was literally a segment that looked like a maze of crevices, also be mindful of shooting/falling rocks, we had some close calls. - SUMMITING was rather straight forward but time consuming - with lots of climbing on a rather steep ice, so for me, having more technical crampons with front facing points added more convenience and assurance (of course it depends on the weather and personal preferences). Let me know if you need more info or the GPS track.

[@alexf2008]

Do the russians check your papers on the Georgian side??

[@ad2249]

Good afternoon, what is the name of your marmot tent?thaks

[@nenuobodu]

Hi, we lived in a gray Naturehike tent you can see at the end of video where it is broken and flailing in the wind. Marmot tent belonged to another group of mountaineers that we’ve met. I’m not sure what exact model of marmot tent that was, but by the looks of it seems to be Marmot Tungsten.

[@105rogue]

I've seen many videos of people climbing and advertising the Northside. Do people clib the south side? Can you?

[@nenuobodu]

Yes, as far as I know they do climb south side as well. But I haven’t researched that enough to provide routes or details.

[@105rogue]

@@nenuobodu your climb was amazing and so glad safe

[@jacekk8815]

Hi :) amazing footage! can you advise on which route you took to get through the initial part of the icefall? (3000-3200 m asl)? From the video I'm assuming that you kept walking on it's right side (orographic right side) through the debris field and rapelled down onto the ice from the side (roughly in the section where the glacier turns south-east). We tried it few weeks ago, but we found the icefall too cracked for us to get through in 1/3 of the way up. and I'm asking, as I can see you have gone around this intial icefall completely, which makes sense. Also, how did you descent that section afterwards? Thanks a lot! :)

[@nenuobodu]

Hi! Yes we’ve tried walking around cracked ice but we’ve walked ourselves into a “corner” when there was no further passage only descent down or going back. So we’ve lost quite a lot of time descending down there, also if I remember correctly, we ice climbed one small section. On our way back though we managed to find a pass through the labyrinth of the cracks and crevices without much problems. Ice changes constantly, so maybe now it is more difficult to pass, anyway here’s our down track: connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3952000659

[@fyodorchkalov6070]

Great video, looks like an amazing climb. Was doing the traverse to the 2nd peak ever part of your plan or were you just going for the north peak only?

[@nenuobodu]

Thanks! The second peak was not in our plan this time, we were going only for the Northern one. Maybe someday in the future.

[@Lobster1999]

Great views and nice climb! How do you like these ice tools?

[@nenuobodu]

Thanks! I I really like the tools, they’re comfortable and technical enough for steep walls. This is subjective, but I prefer this grip over other brands I’ve tried (not so many to be honest). My only complaints are that the rubber on the handle tears off rather quickly when using heavily; and if using with leash carabiners straight to the attachment points, the carabiners sometimes get stuck in awkward positions. But these are minor issues. I find these tools to be a sweet spot considering weight, comfort and price.

[@justanotherdude491]

What is Route that u used?

[@nenuobodu]

I don’t know if there’s any name for that route, but it’s the most popular one. We started from Mazeri and took a hiking route up to the glacier. Spent a night on a camping site. Next day we hiked on the glacier trying to find a way between crevices, hiked beside icefall and reached the camp. And then climbed the route as showed in video camp to top: connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3951991904 This is our way from a camp back to Mazeri: connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3952000659 Hope that helps

[@fatpositron]

Grats, for sure its iconic mountain and classic route and "bucket list wish". But its not even a mile close to most difficult, there are 100+ routes from both Russian and Georgian part of Caucasus which are frequently climbed

[@nenuobodu]

I’m not claiming it to be THE most difficult. It is ONE OF the most difficult iconic peaks. I’m sure there are plenty of harder routes. And yet this one is both hard and iconic.

[@05chmps]

Your descent was in the dark. That's scary. Did you have fixed rope on that steep wall? And did you leave ice screws in marked by willow wands the rest of the way?

[@nenuobodu]

We did not want to leave ice screws as there were quite a lot of pitches to descend. So on our way back on that steep wall we fixed the rope with abalakov threads. We wanted to get down to the wall till the dark as the wall itself was rather straight forward to descend with good ice for anchoring. Of course it took us a while to do all those abalakovs, but the steep wall night descent felt safe, although tedious and tiring.

[@HassanAlkadi79]

Nice climb and video ... in which month did you climb ?

[@nenuobodu]

Thanks! We climbed in mid-August

[@roldsergey4075]

31 час. Это очень, очень много.

[@nenuobodu]

Yes, that’s a lot, we had some problems with equipment as detailed in description. Nevertheless we decided to continue and summit.