At the crest of Sugan Range

The snowstorms kept coming in May 1984, and our mountaineering plans turned into a strange routine of waiting out a storm, watching the avalanches roar after the Sun was back, moving the camp in the ever-increasing trailbreaking depth, and .... here comes the next storm. Finally we couldn't wait any longer. Pre-dawn chest-deep trailbreaking - first the ice ax crushes the wall of snow, then the knee compacts in, finally the boot - and we are enjoying the sunlight at the crest! Laboda Peak shines ahead in the Main Divide of the Caucasus. No time to revel though, we gotta be down in the valley before the Sun unleashes the avalanches again.