“The mountains are calling…” G. A. Fedoseev 53 years ago, in the summer of 1962, as part of a tourist group of 9 participants, I first climbed to the top of Mount Munku-Sardyk.
Yes, a lot was different then. Only now did I realize how poor our equipment was and how enormous the risk was. But our main trump card was youth and we were led forward by the powerful spirit of love and romance. Every year the flow of people wishing to climb the Mountain, as it is often called, increased, especially in the spring in May.
Main part
More than once I had to watch how, early in the morning, a continuous line of mountain climbers with assault backpacks, ice axes, ropes and crampons rushed up the steep icefalls of Muguveka. Bright sports jackets, overalls and hats made the gloomy gorge of the Muguvek stream seem to become brighter. Here I would like to recall the words of Sergei Baldanov, who, unfortunately, tragically died during one of the ascents in the Big Mountains: “Every resident of Buryatia must conquer this peak, just as every Japanese considers it obligatory to climb Fuji.” … And people went — from schoolchildren to veterans — to meet the mountain Giant.
On dangerous sections of the route they were insured by Buryat and Irkutsk rescuers. According to legend, Munku-Sardyk is considered a sacred place and to climb to the top means to undergo purification and receive benefits. Below, on White Irkut, near the erected suburgan, a mass prayer service is held to honor Buren Khan, the owner of the sacred mountain. Let us help, friends, to preserve this good tradition.
About Seryozha Baldanov, I want to say that thanks to his courage, perseverance, and the support of like-minded friends, he managed to do a lot during his short life in the development of active tourism and mountaineering in the republic, being the president of the Federation of Tourism and Mountaineering of the Republic of Belarus. His friends and comrades acted correctly and responsibly by naming one of the three-thousanders after Sergei Baldanov. Let this peak in the Munku-Sardyk mountain range be an eternal monument to which the tourist trail will not be overgrown. After all, Seryozha loved the mountains.
Have a safe journey everyone and don’t be intimidated by the difficulties of the route — the finish will, without a doubt, give each of you a wonderful feeling of kindness, love and well-being.
@nevsky_alexander
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