SAMAYA x KBF
MOUNT COACH PROJECT 2023
The KBF, the Belgian equivalent of the French Alpine Club (CAF), carried out the Mount Coach 2023 project in Kyrgyzstan with a team of six young mountaineers. Throughout the summer, this well-trained team was able to establish new routes in this remote region. For Samaya, Annelore Orije recounts their expedition and its fair share of mishaps.
"We were in southeastern Kyrgyzstan, where only a few other groups of mountaineers had been, which meant there were plenty of unclimbed mountains to explore. We had a base camp in the Kaichi Valley, just before the Djangart Valley. From there, we trekked to the Djangart mountain range in search of beautiful mountains to climb.
We were a team of six young mountaineers, aged 22 to 30. Over the past two years, we have been following an intensive program called Mount Coach, run by the Flemish mountaineering federation, KBF. Together, we spent many weeks training in the mountains, gaining the experience needed for the expedition. By spending every vacation together over the last two years, we became a tight-knit team, which also made the expedition easier.
In total, we stayed for 5 weeks in the Djangart mountain range. We managed to complete a few first ascents in rock climbing and summit some previously untouched mountains. Three of us climbed Pik Illumination, a mountain that was first ascended in 2010 by an Anglo-American expedition. This mountain reaches just over 5,000 meters. Christian, Cédric, and Miel took a variant of the original route, estimating the difficulty at D.
The Djangart mountain range is quite rocky, and the snow line is higher than what we are used to. Our base camp was located at about 3,300 meters, mainly in the middle of a grassy landscape next to a large, wild river. As it was just before the start of winter, there was no snow below 4,000 meters.
We were lucky to be alone in the region, with the nearest settlement 60 kilometers away on an unpaved road. We didn't see anyone for the first few weeks, which made us feel like we were totally alone with the mountains. Unfortunately, we soon realized that wasn't really the case.
One day, Niels and Miel were attempting to climb a rock face in the Djangart Valley, with their tent set up at the foot of the mountain. They were nearly 150 meters up when they suddenly saw horses approaching in the distance.
The Djangart mountain range is vast, but these riders seemed to know exactly where they were going: straight toward the only small tent pitched in the valley. Five soldiers and a dog stopped at their tent, looking up at Niels and Miel in the distance. Astonished by the visit, our two climbers quickly decided to set up a rappel to descend as fast as they could, while the soldiers took the liberty of searching their tent.
The soldiers were satisfied with what they had found, took one last look at the climbers, and rode off.
Upon arriving back at the tent, Niels and Miel checked the gear, but it seemed the soldiers hadn't touched anything.
When we all reunited at base camp, we were stunned to hear the story. We asked our cook if he had seen the soldiers too. He confirmed: they had even come over to chat and share a cup of tea.
In a single day, the team of soldiers had found our base camp, which was quite advanced, as well as our supply of gear that was out of sight from the valley. It must be said: these soldiers know what they are doing.
Our best guess is that they were checking to see if we were hunting without a permit. Seeing that we were simply harmless mountaineers, they left the scene, having enjoyed a few sausages they had taken from us."
