Marcin Tomaszewski and Damian Bielecki battle up Frozen Fight Club on Uli Biaho Gallery, Trango

The imposing Trango massif in Pakistan’s Karakorum is generally visited by mountaineers in the summer months with their eyes set on illustrious prizes such as the striking Trango Tower, Shipton Spire or Uli Biaho, and it is unusual therefore to see these huge granite needles ascended in the colder months.

The recent ascent carried out by Marcin Tomaszewski and Damian Bielecki goes very much against the trend therefore, as from 05 to 16 December the Poles forged a new line up Uli Biaho Gallery. This is a huge buttress that guards the formidable Uli Biaho Great Spire and was probably first climbed in 2012 by Florian Dertnig, Martin Krasnansky and Jakob Schweighofer.

The original plan had been to climb a route on Shipton Spire with Paweł Hałdasie, but when he couldn’t make it right at the last minute they were forced to quickly reconsider and their choice fell on a line in the center of Uli Biaho Gallery, to the left of FreeTanga Ecuatoriana (Felipe Guarderas, Roberto Morales 2014) with which it shares the penultimate pitch.

The pair spent 11 days climbing capsule style, battling up technical terrain and against what can only be described as extreme  conditions. The route faces NE and received practically no sun whatsoever, and as the thermometer dropped down to -32°C they breached difficulties up to A3 aid and, towards the end of the route, M7. They placed just 9 bolts for hauling and the rappels.

After the ascent big wall veteran Tomaszewski commented "We were very lucky and we managed not to make any mistake, and that's a lot." The new route has been called, quite aptly, Frozen Fight Club.

Links: www.marcintomaszewski.pl, CAMP - Cassin