Aylama (4547 m) above the clouds

View from Sella Col (4250 m) in Bashkha-Auz Divide South of Mizhirgi. Yes, it is named after Vittorio Sella, the crazy Italian who climbed here in 1889 to shoot the first photographic panorama of Bezengi. This is the view to the other, less frequently photographed side. Krumkol Glacier descends to the East, and an obvious saddle of Spartak Pass connects its upper reaches with Dykhsu Glacier (which is where we are heading). And Aylama towers head and shoulders above everything else in this direction. No wonder since Aylama is the highest summit of the entire stretch of the Cacucasus Crest between the Bezengi Wall and the Tsey Group. The name means Whore in Balkar language, with the legend explaining that a girl once ran away with her boyfriend, and, when her father gave chase, hurled a rock at him. For such a horrifying misdeed, the shameless girl was turned into stone. What's amazing that there is exactly the same legend in Georgia, and the respective mountain is called Unamuso, the Shameless. And it is but a mile away from Aylama! I guess the two peoples assumed that they were talking about the same mountain, but couldn't match views from the North (where Aylama stands out) and from the South (where it has a crowded entourage of lesser peaks. August 1987