Fast hiking and dynamic activity shoe, suitable for off-road adventures where traction, protection and high cushioning are required. The Vibram Traction Lugs with Megagrip sole offers surprising grip and cushioning.

Alessandra and Camilla will use them for the approach trek to the walls.

It redefines a new standard of multipurpose footwear for technical and fast mountaineering. It uses Dynamic Fit technology to dynamically adapt the heel tension to your stride, the Vibram sole offers stability and precision, even in the most technical passages.

The product to use when greater lightness and dynamism are required..

Lightweight, agile, precise and extremely comfortable. CRODA DFS GTX is a mountaineering shoe ideal for challenging climbing and trekking in mixed environments with rock and ice.

They will support our ambassadors in the most complex phases of the climb.

I set off for the last pitch, halfway up Ale shouts that it's late, to place the belay and descend. But there I turned off my brain, I wanted to get up, even if I was tired, even if it was late... in the end I see it: the precarious peg of Ulug, the route that runs alongside ours, that for us was the finish line. I place a bolt and with a heart full of joy we begin the descents to avoid the advancing darkness. At the last descent, shouts of happiness resound in the valley: Ale and I made it! I'm happy to have climbed our route, in that remote corner of the world, surrounded by immense walls that make you dream. I'm happy to have done it with Ale: being friends with a common goal meant that in times of need we were always there for each other, overcoming our limits, physical and mental. Ale and I experience the climb dreaming of these vertical, mysterious and fascinating walls. However, we are always ready to seize the opportunity for different adventures. It seems that we do everything in a chaotic and disorderly way, but after all we follow the flow and the passing of life, never ordered or schematic, but free and in continuous evolution.

We decide to climb in the early afternoon with a vague risk of rain, we have been wanting to climb for days and so, despite the risk, we go! From the start it is clear that nothing will come of it and so we hide in the cave. During dinner thunder worries us and in no time an incessant rain arrives, a bomb of water. The wall in front of us is covered with waterfalls mixed with debris. We can't do anything, getting out of there is worse. The colouir from where we had climbed has become a mousetrap, with no escape route. We patiently waited and towards late evening it stops raining leaving us with the hope of being able to complete our little dream the following day. We set off around 7.00 and climb all the pitches trying to free climb, even if with poor results for the key pitch. We open two more pitches and the objective is nearby: not the actual summit of Peak 3850 m, but a pre-summit of the mountain.

The continuation of the route turns out to be longer than expected. The following day we are still up and we manage to advance to the 4th pitch where we find a solution by traversing to the right on exposed but well-secured passages: straight ones were not possible! We bivouac on the wall in a natural cave but in the morning climbing with an upset stomach is not the best thing in life… Unfortunately we put aside the ethics of free climbing and to continue we use aid on a few points: this is also Kyrgyzstan! The third day on the wall welcomes us with uncertain weather and we prefer to go down to base camp and attempt to close the route at the first window of good weather.

After settling into this magical valley we feel ready to start our project. We start to scan all the mountains, right and left side, from the long approaches to the short ones. We glimpse a wall, hidden by a buttress in front and a waterfall. With our backpacks on, the next morning we set off full of energy. The sun is beating down hot and after about three hours we are in front of the base of the wall: here we find a line, you can't go back down and then start over again, right? We play it by chance: it's Ale's turn to start and he chooses an attack with thin cracks, very nice. I start and do the second, not difficult, it takes us to a large ledge where we decide to leave the material and go down to the base camp and then return the next day with food and bivouac material. By now the die is cast, we are concentrated and focused on our project: to live an adventure that is only ours and leave our mark on this beautiful valley.

The next morning it is already time to leave. After a long journey by jeep between military checks and continuous stops to cool the engine we reach the end of the road: beyond only on horseback. We understand that comfort is a relative concept when our “pillows” are left in the cars… The long caravan finally decides to leave for a six-hour approach through spectacular gorges and mountain landscapes. They are “our mountains", they are the reason why we are here and we can't wait to be able to climb those enormous walls that seem compact and without weak points. Arriving at the base camp we find an environment full of other climbers with whom we will share impressions, tiredness, victories and defeats: the good time of adventure has arrived.

At the first light of dawn, tired and with few hours of sleep behind us as always happens on intercontinental flights, we landed in Bishkek , the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
Our driver, accompanied by a twelve year old boy, speaks only Russian, we immediately adapted to make ourselves understood with gestures and a few words of English . The journey to our guest house winds through barren deserts and villages of miserable shacks. Finally a stop, we park and stretch our legs: it's nice to breathe different air thousands of kilometers from home . We set off again with a new driver: the boy has taken the wheel confidently and happily. Ale and I look at each other in amazement but everything goes smoothly and we arrive "home" safe and sound. A kind woman welcomes us and, following Muslim customs , makes us comfortable in her house offering us one of the first Kyrgyz meals: peanuts, yogurt and vegetables, in a welcoming home, all covered with soft carpets. We are ready for tomorrow!

After days of intense preparations including packing, testing AKU footwear - and a run home for what had been forgotten - Alessandra and Camilla are finally flying towards the great Adventure in Kyrgyzstan! Ready to explore the valleys and peaks of the Asian country, pushing their AKUs to the limit.

Alessandra with CRODA DFS GTX, the footwear provided by AKU for the expedition. CRODA DFS GTX is a mountaineering shoe ideal for climbing and challenging trekking in mixed environments with rock and ice, perfect for the objectives of the expedition.

To prepare for Kyrgyzstan, Camilla is opening new routes in the Alps and testing the CRODA DFS GTX that she will take on the expedition. The sole of the CRODA DFS GTX is created specifically by Vibram: Croda Litebase offers stability, grip and precision, even in the most technical passages, and allows the use of traditional or semi-automatic crampons.