Monkeys on the wall
A year ago, the entire climbing world watched Golovchenko and Nilov tackle the unknown southwest ridge of Gasherbrum IV. They did it in true Alpine style, taking everything they needed with them and heading for the summit. They had no porters, no rest stops, no handrails for climbing up and down. Every day they climbed higher and higher, packing their tent and gear into their backpacks.
— Alpine style is basically the natural behavior of a “monkey” on the wall, said one of its precursors, Wojtek Kurtyka, who achieved something extraordinary on Gaszerbrum IV, which I will discuss in a moment.
In the late 1960s, it seemed that conquering the highest mountains in this way was impossible.
Dima and Sergey had been climbing like this for years. They never publicized their expeditions widely and always had trouble finding money for them. They were not social media stars, they did not sign lucrative sponsorship deals, although they were surrounded by a cloud of fame.
Golovchenko grew up climbing at the famous Demchenko Alpine Club in Russia. Its founder, Alexander Demchenko, instilled in his students the idea of a fast and courageous mountaineering, completely different from that practiced for years in the USSR and democracies, where expedition leaders ordered the encirclement of mountains, laying kilometers of handrail ropes, and on expeditions led dozens of climbers competing for a place at the forefront of the attacking peak.
This was no Golovchenko fairy tale. Nor was Nilov, whom Dima met at Demchenko’s house and with whom he tied himself for better or worse for the next two decades. They gained notoriety in 2011 when, together with their colleagues, they became the first to conquer the north face of the incredibly smooth Nameless Tower in the Karakoram.
Over the years, Dima and Sergey organized smaller and smaller expeditions, choosing peaks where they could be alone. They practiced mountaineering at the highest level, a discipline rarely covered by the mainstream media, for whom the magic of the eight-thousanders is easier to explain than technical climbing on slightly lower mountains.
They have twice received the Golden Ice Axes, the most prestigious award in the world of mountaineering. First for the first ascent of the northeast ridge of Muztagh Tower (2012), and then for blazing a new route on the north face of Thalay Sagar (2016). On this second mountain they climbed the so-called direttissima, the shortest possible route from the foot to the summit, a line that could be traced by a drop falling from the summit. This route is every mountaineer’s dream.
No fear
The Poles got to know Dima and Sergei better thanks to the film “Wall of Shadows” by Eliza Kubanska, which was set against the backdrop of their attempt to climb the unclimbed eastern face of Jannu (7,710 m above sea level) for the first time. The Russians fled there to die. Marcin Tomaszewski, a specialist in huge walls, was supposed to climb with them, but he judged that the risk they were willing to take was too great for him and that he had not acclimatized enough.
The Russians had no problem with this.
After 13 days of climbing, Dima and Sergei decided they could not continue. The conditions were terrible, it was snowing and an avalanche could hit them at any moment. They had to descend, but they could not follow their own tracks, it was too dangerous. They managed to reach the south summit of Jannu. They began their descent via the French route, which was unfamiliar to them. They were exhausted, they could not orient themselves because they did not know the topography of this part of the mountain and they wandered for five days, guided by radio by the film crew and the Sherpa who was helping the expedition. Somehow they survived. Although they did not reach the summit, they were the first to conquer the virgin wall.
“Do not be afraid,” they later repeated the maxim.
Dima spoke about this expedition in a small cinema hall at the Lądek-Zdrój mountain festival. His voice was emotionless, as if the near-death experience had no effect on him.
A few years later they announced that they would go to Gasherbruma IV (7,925 m above sea level). Each attempt on this mountain is something unique, although its summit does not exceed the magical height of 8,000 m above sea level.
The road of no return
The first conquerors of Gaszerbrum IV were the legendary Italian climbers Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri in 1958. The climbers reached the summit via the northeast ridge and further along the north face.
However, it is the western face of this mountain that is the apple of the mountaineering world’s eye. Huge, steep, golden and sparkling in the sun. Two and a half kilometers of climbing, with no way back. Anyone who entered knew that either they would reach the place where the wall connects with the ridge of the summit, or they would die because they could not descend the same way. However, the ridge connects to the wall just below the peak.
In the early 1980s, the excellent team of Jerzy Kukuczka and Wojciech Kurtyka was on the Light Wall, but did not dare to start climbing.
Kurtyka returned there in 1985 with Austrian Robert Schauer. The adventure lasted 10 days, three of which they did not drink anything and four of which they did not eat. Seven days up, three days down. Both accepted death aloud and tried mental tricks – for Kurtyka, the sound of a rope dragging on ice reminded him of Barbra Streisand’s stunt.
His route was never repeated and the prestigious magazine “Climbing” recognized this ascent as the most notable climbing achievement of the 20th century.
A tent on a cliff
Returning to Golovchenko and Nilov, they decided to climb Gasherbrum IV via an unknown ridge from the southwest. They had never climbed so high before. They started at the end of August 2023 and after nine days they reached 7,600 m above sea level. The peak was lost in thick fog, the wind was strong and sometimes freezing. On August 31, the summit was still 300 meters above them.
A moment later, their path would have connected with the ridge; further would have been easier, but a difficult night was coming. The ledge where they wanted to pitch the tent was too small for it. They tried to make it bigger by placing snow and rocks underneath. They spent the night on that ground, but they knew that the pitch was unreliable – they had to secure it on cracked and frozen rock. During the night, they felt the tent begin to slip. Sergei untied himself from the rope they were tied to and went out to fix the fastening. Before he could finish, he heard his friend scream.
– Sergei, I’m coming down!
Dima flew towards the glacier with the tent. The rope to which he was supposed to be attached was hanging over the abyss.
Sergei survived until morning on a narrow ledge. He had no equipment, food or drink with him. He attached himself to the rope and began to slide towards his friend’s body. Finally he found him, wrapped him in a tent, carried him to the middle of the glacier and left him in one of the crevasses. Then he continued walking, sleeping in snow caves, wrapped in two sleeping bags. The stove he found on the glacier was broken and the remains of his food were eaten by birds. Five days after the accident, he arrived at the base and flew to Moscow for treatment for frostbite.
For the body of a friend
A year later, Nilov returned to Gasherbrum IV together with Mikhail and Sergei Mironov (they are not relatives), Yevgeny Yablokov and Alexei Bautin. They wanted to find Dima’s body, left in a crevice a year ago, and take it to Russia, where an Orthodox family was waiting for him.
We still know little about what happened on August 17. The available information shows that as Nilov and the Mironovs were crossing the broken glacier at the foot of Gasherbrum IV, seracs – giant blocks of ice – fell.
The accident occurred at an altitude of approximately 6,300 m above sea level. Nilov’s body was not found. The Mironovs were injured, but managed to reach their tent 100 meters below. The next day, helicopters took them to a hospital in Skardu.
— Like a Greek tragedy. A twist of fate led to the bitter end of one of the greatest mountaineering duos in history under the beautiful, difficult and magnetic peak of Gaszebruma IV, – wrote Italian journalist Federico Bernardi, who has been reporting on Russian expeditions for years.
In the article I used articles by Federico Bernardi to climbing.com and alpinist.com.
