Kyrgyzstan Expedition 2024
The expedition's aim was to explore and establish new climbing routes in the Ashat Valley of Kyrgyzstan. After warming up in the Ak-Su Valley with repeats of established routes including Perestroika Crack, La Voie de Droite, and Reluctant Chief/Missing Mountain, they made a five-day trek to the less developed Ashat Valley. Here they were faced with unsettled weather, with regular afternoon thunderstorms and snowfall above 3,000m. Despite this, the Hill brothers succeeded in establishing a new limestone route of 9 pitches up to E3, which they named 7 O'Clock Sharp. Elmer and Harvie attempted an obvious looking corner system, but were forced to retreat due to extremely poor rock. The persistent poor weather meant that the team focussed more time on exploring the valley's incredible bouldering.