Komito
4,261 m
Georgia, Russia
Also known as ქომიტო, Комито - ქომიტო, +1Also known as
ქომიტო · Комито - ქომიტო · Комито
- Elevation
- 4,261 m
- Prominence
- 707 m
- Difficulty
- 5/10
- Easy alpine
- Best Season
- Jul–Aug
- Routes
- 1
Routes
1Sources differ: 2B (Russian), easiest route as graded by L. I. Maruashvili's party in 1937 (Eastern Caucasus guidebook (poxod.ru))
A seldom-climbed slate-and-snow dome on the Georgia–Chechnya border above Pirikita Tusheti. The easiest line, graded Russian 2B since the 1930s, climbs from the Tusheti side to a steep ridge of upended slate plates with patches of ice and a small snow summit dome. No modern route description exists.
About 100% of this line is approximate (no mapped trail; drawn from the terrain). Check it against a map before relying on it.
Why? 7 check notes
- danger scan: Cheso → Komito summit ridge: DEM line 1070 m off the straight axis
- danger scan: Komito summit ridge → Komito: DEM line 522 m off the straight axis
- 100% approximate geometry
- low confidence 0.3
- Cheso → Komito summit ridge: dem (snap_failed, 8.4 km)
- Komito summit ridge → Komito: dem (snap_failed, 3.0 km)
- unresolved waypoints: Chesostskali valley
Elevation Profile
approximate line- Distance
- 11.4 km
- one way
- Ascent
- +2,599 m
- −284 m lost on the way up
- High Point
- 4,261 m
- Time Up
- 10h 40m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- 7h 34m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
Komito (Komitodattakhkort on the Chechen side) is the second-highest summit of the Pirikita Range after Tebulosmta. The only detailed published description is in a Soviet-era guidebook to the Eastern Caucasus, which records the first ascent by Gottfried Merzbacher in 1892 and a solo ascent by the shepherd Efim Tavberidze in August 1937 'by the easiest route', followed two weeks later by L. I. Maruashvili's party, who graded that line 2B. The same text describes the final section along the main ridge: a steep crest of vertically upended slate plates, locally icy, leading to a snow dome; the summit cairn sits on the ridge rocks about 5 m below the top. Climbs from the north (Chechen) side approach 4th category. From Georgia the logical approach is from the hamlets of Cheso and Parsma on the 4WD track up the Pirikita Alazani valley from Dartlo towards Girevi. The Chesostskali valley leads north from Cheso towards the main ridge south of the summit; the guidebook mentions it as the descent from the Shaikh Pass (about 3,800 m, 2B) west of Komito. Camp high in the upper valley and climb to the ridge and along it to the dome. This approach line is inferred from the guidebook and map, not from a route description. The ridge is loose, the glaciers are small but crevassed, and the summit is on the international border. Descend by the route of ascent.
Start
Cheso1,946 m
- Shared 4WD from Alvani or Telavi to Omalo over the Abano Pass (mid-June to mid-October), then a hired jeep up the Pirikita Alazani valley via Dartlo to Cheso
Waypoints
- Trailhead: Cheso1,946 m
On the 4WD track Dartlo–Girevi; also reached from Parsma
- Feature: Komito summit ridge3,679 m
Steep ridge of upended slate plates with patches of ice
- Summit: Komito4,261 m
Key Passages
- Upper Chesostskali valley
- Slate-plate summit ridge
- Summit snow dome
Equipment
0/9 packedDownloads
Route confidence 30%Overview
A 4,261 m slate-and-ice dome on the Georgia–Chechnya border, the second-highest summit of the Pirikita Range above Tusheti. First climbed by Gottfried Merzbacher in 1892 and graded Russian 2B by its easiest line; today almost never climbed.
Komito rises on the Pirikita Range, the frontier crest that separates Georgia's Tusheti from Chechnya to the north. Along with Tebulosmta (4,493 m), Danosmta (4,174 m) and Diklosmta (4,285 m) it is one of the high points of the range, and from the Pirikita ridge and the Nakaicho Pass trekkers see it as a broad, glaciated mass on the northern skyline. The Chechens call it Komitodattakhkort.
Like its neighbours it is built of dark Jurassic slate, so the ridges are broken and loose and the glaciers are small, tucked into north-facing cirques. The Pirikita peaks were popular with Georgian climbers in the 1930s but dropped out of Soviet route lists afterwards, and little has been published since. Expect true wilderness mountaineering: no huts, no marked approach and no recent beta.
The Tusheti side is reached over the Abano Pass road, one of the most notorious mountain roads in the Caucasus, open only from about mid-June to mid-October.
Climbing Notes
Allow about a week from Tbilisi: a day to Omalo over the Abano Pass, a day up the Pirikita Alazani valley to Cheso or Parsma and on to a high camp, a summit day, and spare days for weather. You need to be competent on loose, exposed rock and snow with crampons and ice axe, and able to belay on poor slate; there is no rescue service nearby and no mobile coverage. Register with the Border Police (passport) before heading towards the frontier. A Tusheti-based guide or a Tbilisi mountaineering club with experience of the Pirikita peaks is strongly advised.
History
Gottfried Merzbacher made the first ascent in 1892. In early August 1937 a collective-farm shepherd, Efim Tavberidze, climbed it alone by the easiest route and brought down Merzbacher's note; two weeks later a party led by the geographer L. I. Maruashvili repeated his route and graded it 2B. Maruashvili wrote that routes from the north approach 4th category.
Season
Best Jul–Aug- January: Not advisable
- February: Not advisable
- March: Not advisable
- April: Not advisable
- May: Not advisable
- June: Possible
- July: Best (best window)
- August: Best (best window)
- September: Good
- October: Not advisable
- November: Not advisable
- December: Not advisable
- Jan
- Tusheti cut off; Abano Pass road closed
- Feb
- Road closed
- Mar
- Road closed
- Apr
- Road closed
- May
- Road closed
- Jun
- Abano Pass usually opens mid-June; much snow higher up
- Jul
- Best period
- Aug
- Best period; ridges drier but looser
- Sep
- Often settled; colder nights
- Oct
- Road closes mid-October
- Nov
- Road closed
- Dec
- Road closed
Access & Permits
- Permits
- Georgian Border Police registrationRequired
Pirikita Tusheti borders Chechnya. Registration at the border guard station in Girevi (about one hour) is mandatory for routes towards the frontier; carry your passport.
georgia.travel - Border Police entry permit (border zone and border line)Required
The summit is on the state border. Tourists entering the border zone (up to 5 km from the border) or the border line (500 m) need a special permit; the group leader submits the official form with the planned route and passport copies to the Border Police (12 Kandelaki St., Tbilisi, a regional division) or by email to bpol@mia.gov.ge. On-the-spot registration at valley posts is the usual practice on trekking routes, but a climb to the border crest should be covered by an advance permit.
bpg.gov.ge
- Rules
- The summit lies on the Georgia–Russia (Chechnya) border. The Russian side is a closed border zone with no legal crossing here; stay on Georgian territory.
- No huts or facilities above the Pirikita villages: wild camping only
- Getting There
Omalo (Tusheti); Telavi for supplies
Tbilisi (TBS)
- By 4WD only: Alvani/Pshaveli–Abano Pass (2,826 m)–Omalo, open roughly mid-June to mid-October; shared jeeps run from Alvani and Telavi in summer
- Omalo–Dartlo–Cheso–Parsma–Girevi by 4WD dirt track or on foot (Dartlo–Girevi about 17 km)
Hazards
- Glacier
- Crevasses
- Rockfall
- Altitude
- Exposure
- Weather
- Remoteness