Cherepov, I A
Mysteries of the Tien Shan
Title: Buy the book "Mysteries of the Tien Shan": feed_id: 5296 pattern_id: 2266 book_
Mysteries of the Tien Shan
(From the history of the discovery and conquest of Pobeda Peak.
Expeditions of A. Letavet 1937-1938)
Impenetrable mountain steeps, ever-snowy, with almost steep slopes, the highest peaks, piercing their sharp peaks into the blue sky, severe glaciers and snowstorms have guarded the geographical mysteries of the Tien Shan for many centuries.
The honor of studying this mountainous country belongs to our domestic science.
The first explorer of the Tien Shan was the famous Russian geographer P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, who penetrated into the very heart of the Heavenly Mountains, to the Tengri-tag massif. Following P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, this little-studied region of the country was explored by N.A. Severtsov, I.V. Mushketov, I.V. Ignatiev and other Russian scientists, who made an invaluable contribution to the study of the Tien Shan. But, not having the means to organize large expeditions and not meeting support from the tsarist government; lone explorers could not penetrate the hard-to-reach areas of this mountainous country.
The Great October Socialist Revolution radically changed the lives of the peoples of the former Tsarist Russia. In the Soviet Union, the national economy, science and culture reached their peak. From the first days of Soviet power, the scientists of our country were provided with comprehensive state assistance, hundreds of large scientific institutions were created, large complex expeditions were organized to study many regions of our great Motherland.
Soviet people also came to the peaks of the Tien Shan. Neither stormy rivers nor high mountain ranges stopped them - they penetrated into the kingdom of eternal winter and ripped off the mysterious covers from the mountain giants.
The discovery in 1943 of the peak of Pobeda, the main peak of the Tien Shan, 7439 m high, was one of the largest geographical discoveries of the last twenty years.
In this book, the author, a member of the Tien Shan expeditions of Professor A. A. Letavet, tells how a group of Soviet scientists and climbers, having penetrated into the unexplored high-mountain regions of the Soviet Tien Shan, unraveled its geographical mysteries and thereby helped Soviet researchers discover the peak Victory.
The book consists of two parts Part I. The Peak of the Stalinist Constitution and Part II. Peak of Victory. They are preceded by an Introduction that briefly outlines the history of the development of the Tien Shan, reminding the reader of the orography of this most interesting region of our Motherland.
The author takes this opportunity to express his great gratitude to his companions and comrades on high-altitude expeditions in the Tien Shan, Professor A. A. Letavet, V. F. Mukhin, E. I. Ivanov, A. V. Bagrov and E. M. Kolokolnikov, for their help with the book.
I. Cherepov.
INTRODUCTION
The vast mountainous country of Tien Shan lies in the heart of Asia. Its mountain ranges stretch from west to east for more than two and a half thousand kilometers.
The spurs of the most western ranges of the Tien Shan - Talas, Chatkal, Ferghana and Kuraminsky descend to the capital of the Uzbek SSR city Tashkent. The Fergana, Chatkal and Kuraminsky ranges enclose the Ferghana Valley from the north. The eastern spurs of the Tien Shan ranges reach the western edge of the Gobi Desert.
A characteristic feature of the Tien Shan is the latitudinal elongation of both the entire mountainous region as a whole and most of its mountain ranges and ranges. In the meridional direction from north to south, the borders of the region extend only for 300-400 km, and all of it fits within 40-44 deg. northern latitude.
From the south, the Tien Shan is separated from the mountainous regions of Kun-lun and Altyn-tag, adjacent to Tibet, by the wide sandy Takla-makan desert. The Western Tien Shan is connected with the Pamirs by the Pamir-Alay mountains; The border between them is the fertile Ferghana Valley.
The high ever-snowy ridges of the Soviet Tien Shan feed many large rivers of Central Asia - Ili, Chu, Naryn (upper reaches of the Syr Darya), Ak-sai, Uzengegush, Sarydzhas, Tekes. A common feature of all the drains of the Tien Shan is that not a single drop of their water reaches the ocean, feeding the internal basins of rivers and lakes of Central Asia.
It is customary to divide the entire mountainous region of the Tien Shan into four parts. The Western Tien Shan includes mountain ranges and ranges located to the west of Lake Issyk-Kul. The Central Tien Shan includes the highest ranges of the mountainous region located to the south of Lake Issyk-Kul, as well as to the east of it all the ranges up to and including the Meridional. The Kungei and Zailiysky ridges, located north of Lake Issyk-Kul, rise in the Northern Tien Shan. To the north-west of the Trans-Ili Ala-tau rise. Chu-Ili mountains. Western, Central and Northern Tien Shan are located on the territory Soviet Union.
The Eastern Tien Shan includes all the mountain ranges located to the east of the Meridional Range and located mostly on the territory of the western provinces of the People's Republic of China.
The Western Tien Shan is a widely branched system of mountain ranges and ranges, located mainly on the territory of the Kyrgyz and partly the Kazakh and Uzbek Union Republics. These include the Kirghiz, Talas, Chatkal, Fergana, Kuramin and a number of smaller ranges and their spurs, located on a wide area from west to east from Tashkent to Lake Issyk-Kul and from north to south, from the Ili river valley to the Fergana valley.
In the Western Tien Shan, in the wide valley of the Chu River, the capital of the Kirghiz SSR, the city of Frunze, is located. The ridges of the Western Tien Shan are relatively accessible and explored. In terms of mountaineering, the Kyrgyz Alatau is the most studied, on the ever-snowy peaks of which many ascents have been made. Soviet climbers also visited the peaks of the Chatkal ridge more than once;
To the north of Lake Issyk-Kul, on the territory of the Kazakh SSR, there are two mountain ranges of the Northern Tien Shan, Zaili Ala-tau and Kungei. Ala-tau, connected with the Chiliko-Kemin mountain junction into one powerful mountain system On its northern slopes, facing the valley of the Ili River, the capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Alma-Ata, is located. The part of the Trans-Ili Alatau adjacent to the capital is the most studied and mastered by climbers.
There are several climbing camps in this area, numerous peaks have been climbed, and the training of Central Asian climbers is mainly concentrated here.
The Central Tien Shan includes the highest mountain ranges and ranges. Here is the region of the most powerful glaciation.
South of Lake Issyk-Kul, on the territory of the Kirghiz SSR, there are two large mountain ranges of the Tien Shan - Terskey Ala-tau and Kok-shaal-tau
Between them, on a vast upland, there are several smaller ridges Naryn-tau, At-bashi, Ak-shiryak, Chakyr-korum, Borkoldoy and others.
Kokshaal-tau is the southernmost and, perhaps, the least explored and mastered by climbers Tien Shan ridge with peaks of about 6000 m (Kzyl-asker 5899 m, Dankov peak 5978 m, Alpinist peak 5782 m, etc.).
In terms of height, shape of peaks and inaccessibility, this entire area is of great scientific and sports interest, so it attracts the attention of researchers and climbers.
To the east of Lake Issyk-Kul is the highest and most inaccessible part of the entire Tien Shan - the Khan Tengri massif. Here is the largest (60 km) Tien Shan glacier - Southern Inylchek. In this area there are many peaks above 6000 m, the highest of them is Khan-tengri - 6995 and Pobeda peak - 7439 m, the second highest mountain peak of the Soviet Union. The northernmost peaks on the globe are seven-thousanders, covered with masses of ice and snow; they naturally give rise to both the most severe conditions and particular inaccessibility. Many centuries ago, people passed by these mountains, from afar they saw a cluster of ever-snow giants, but could not get close to them. Therefore, human fantasy populated them with mysterious spirits and gave them the appropriate names. Thus, the entire mountainous region is called Tien Shan, which means "Heavenly Mountains" in Chinese, the Khan-Tengri massif has a local name Tengri-tag, translated from Uighur - "mountains of spirits", and the top of the massif acquired the name Khan- tengri - in Russian "Lord of Spirits".
The Khan Tengri massif, consisting of a series of ridges and peaks, occupies the eastern part of the Central Tien Shan and until recently has attracted the attention of scientists and climbers, promising them a lot of unknown. The peaks of its ridges are extremely numerous, but the ascents made in this massif can be counted on the fingers.
The orographic structure of the Khan Tengri massif is very peculiar. In its eastern part, there is the Meridional Range, which crosses this part of the Central Tien Shan from north to south. From this ridge in the latitudinal direction, the highest ridges of the Tien Shan depart to the west - the Stalin ridge, Sarydzhas, Boz-kyr (Eastern Kok-shaal-tau); to the east - Northern and Halyk-tau.
The Terskey Alatau ridge departs from the Sary-Dzhas ridge to the northwest, and the Kuilyu-Tau ridge serves as a continuation of the Sary-Dzhas ridge in the west. From the Boz-kyr ridge, the Inylchek-tau ridge branches off to the west, and from it, in turn, the Kaindy-katta ridge departs.
The highest peaks of the massif are located near the Meridional Ridge and on it itself. Pobeda Peak rises in the Boz-kyr ridge, and to the north of it, in the Stalin ridge, there is Khan-tengri peak.
The Southern Inylchek Glacier flows west from the Meridional Ridge and receives tributary glaciers from the slopes of the Stalin, Sary-Dzhas, Boz-Kyr and Inylchek-Tau Ridges.
There are many forests in the Tien Shan. Alpine valleys, plateaus and mountain slopes are covered with lush grasses. Rich herds of collective farms and state farms graze on mountain pastures. The abundance of wild animals - mountain goats (tau-teke) and rams (argali) - creates favorable conditions for the wide development of hunting. In the bowels of the Tien Shan, many minerals have been explored, promising broad prospects for the development of the mining industry.
The proximity of the snowy ridges of the Tien Shan to the capitals of the Kazakh and Kirghiz Union Republics provides a wide field of activity for the development of mountaineering in them, one of the favorite sports of brave Soviet people - this kind of school of courage. The governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan pay due attention to the development of mountain sports in the republics, mountaineering in the region of the Zailiysky Ala-tau ridge, near the city of Alma-Ata, ranks second after the Caucasus, and the mountaineers of Kyrgyzstan became famous for conducting mountaineering mass climbing training trips.
In the area of the Khan Tengri massif, on an area of about 10,000 sq. km concentrated the highest peaks, the largest glaciers of the Tien Shan. Deep valleys separate the ranges. Their powerful glaciation is often associated with common firn pools.
The inaccessibility of the Khan Tengri region delayed its exploration for a long time. People did not go deep into this kingdom of eternal winter and told fairy tales and legends about the mysterious country of Tengri-tag.
Only in 1856-1857. the great Russian geographer P. Semenov managed to lift the veil of mystery that covered this part of the Tien Shan. He was the first explorer who managed to see Tengri-tag and step onto its glacier. The remarkable description of his journey to the Tien Shan, compiled by him, still serves as an example of the work of scientific thought and strikes with clarity and breadth of observations and conclusions.
Unfortunately, P.P. Semenov did not go into the depths of the Khan-Tengri massif, and this area, until very recently, kept many mysteries. P.P. Semenov visited the Tien Shan only twice, but in the course of his further activity he sent many Russian scientists there who continued his work. In 1886, IV Ignatiev visited the Tien Shan with the special purpose of penetrating the Khan Tengri massif. In addition to the Semenov and Mushketov glaciers, flowing north from the Sarydzhas ridge, I. V. Ignatiev was in the Inylchek valley, but did not reach the huge glacier lying in this valley. Without special equipment, he could not overcome the stone cover of his twenty-kilometer surface moraine. Other explorers of the Tien Shan were also scared away by its impregnability for a long time. The fame of the entire massif, especially the peak of Khan-tengri, attracted several foreign scientists and climbers to it, but they also failed to unravel its secrets. So, in 1899, the Hungarian zoologist Almashy went to the Sary-dzhas valley, but he failed to unravel the most complex orography of the Khan-Tengri massif. The following year, Swiss guides appeared with the Italian climber Borghese, but they also failed to climb the Inylchek glacier, which seemed impassable to them.
In 1902, a well-known explorer of the Altai and Tien Shan mountains, professor of botany VV Sapozhnikov, visited this area. He did not limit himself to work in his specialty, but, according to the tradition of famous Russian travelers; covered a very wide area of research, made measurements of many peaks of the Khan-Tengri massif, climbed glaciers and passes.
He determined the height of the Khan-Tengri peak at 6950 m, having reduced its actual height by only 45 m, and did this much more accurately than many previous and subsequent researchers.
V. the same time, in 1902-1903. The Khan-Tengri massif was visited by the German geographer and climber Merzbacher. He managed to make several ascents to secondary peaks and even climbed the South Inylchek glacier to the foot of the Khan-tengri peak, the height of which he determined to be 7200 m. This scientist took panoramas and made descriptions of the places he really visited. But, unfortunately, he put some of his hypotheses and assumptions, later refuted by reality, on a par with the facts. This caused great confusion in the orography of the Tien Shan, which had to be sorted out and put in final order by Soviet scientists and climbers.
To solve many of the mysteries of the Tien Shan, Soviet scientists and climbers penetrated deep into the Khantengri massif and overcame all its difficulties and dangers. Merzbacher justified his failures by saying that "the high peaks of the Tien Shan are not the right place to satisfy the love of mountaineering." Soviet climbers managed to prove that they do not single out love for mountaineering as something self-sufficient, but always subordinate it to the main tasks set before the development of the Soviet physical culture movement. Very often they put their mountaineering activities at the service of scientific research goals. And if we talk about the love of sports, about the satisfaction that athletes get from mountaineering, or about what attracts them to high and harsh mountains, then Soviet climbers have their own measure for this. They get the more satisfaction, the more difficult the ascent was, the higher and more inaccessible the peak was, the more interesting information was collected for scientists, the more obstacles were met and overcome, the more friendly and stronger the team was, p. who share the joy of victory.
A lot of work on the study of the Tien Shan was carried out by Soviet scientists and climbers in a very short period. In 1929, the Tien Shan map was still full of white spots, which were to be filled by subsequent expeditions, specially trained and equipped to work on glaciers and peaks.
Soviet climbers came to Tien Shan together with scientists and entered its unexplored areas not only for sporting purposes. They solved scientific research problems, unraveled the complex orography of the region, studied glaciation, and compiled maps.
M. T. Pogrebetsky, now an honored master of sports in mountaineering, headed the organization of the Ukrainian expedition to the Tien Shan, which worked in the Tengri-tag region for a number of years - from 1929 to 1933. At first it was a mountaineering sports group. Later, it grew into a complex Ukrainian government expedition, which did a great job of topographic survey; geological exploration and geographical study of the Khan-Tengri massif.
Pogrebetsky set the main sporting goal of his climbing group ascent to Khan Tengri Peak. After two years of work on Inylchek, detailed reconnaissance of approaches and study of the route, on September 11, _1931, the Lord of Spirits was defeated. Soviet climbers climbed to its summit, dispelling the myth about the inaccessibility of Khan Tengri and conquering the first seven thousandth peak. Soviet Union Pogrebetsky's group made this wonderful ascent along the route laid out from the South Inylchek glacier.
In 1929-1930. on the other side of the Stalin Ridge, from the Northern Inylchek glacier, Khan Tengri was stormed by Moscow climbers V. F. Gusev, N. N. Mikhailov and I. I. Mysovsky. They were the first to lead horses to the South Inylchek glacier. However, in 1929 they were stopped by Lake Merzbacher, which separates the tongue of the Northern Inylchek Glacier from the Southern Inylchek Glacier, and they decided to change their route. In 1930, they found a pass in the Sary-Jas ridge (the pass of the Soviet (Proletarian) press) and went through it to the Northern Inylchek glacier, explored it and explored the approaches to Khan-tengri. The following year, a group of G.P. Sukhodolsky went to the Northern Inylchek glacier through Lake Merzbacher, using a rubber inflatable boat, and along its rocky shores. The group climbed the slopes of Khan Tengri from the north to a height of about 6,000 m, but retreated, making sure that there was no way to the top from this side. Having completed the task of reconnaissance, she went downstairs.
In 1932, the work of Pogrebetsky's expedition to Tengri-tag continued. At the same time, a climbing group of the Moscow House of Scientists headed by Professor A. A. Letavet appeared for the first time on the Tien Shan. This small group, consisting of only 4 people, visited the sources of one of the main water arteries of Central Asia - the Syr Darya River, climbed Sary-tor (5100 m) - the main peak of the Ak-shiryak ridge, then went south, to the sources of the Dzhangart River. Here Letavet and his companions saw large glaciers and groups of high and difficult peaks of the Kok-shaaltau ridge. From here, by another pass, through the Terskey Ala-tau ridge, they returned to Przhevalsk, then crossed the northern ranges of the Tien Shan Kungei Ala-tau and Zailiysky Ala-tau and ended their route in the city of Alma-Ata.
Thus, the group crossed the entire high-mountainous Tien Shan from south to north and, with this kind of reconnaissance, determined several of its routes for the future.
In the next two years, a group of A. A. Letavet visited the sources of the Uzengegush River, in the middle part of the Kokshaal-tau ridge. On the way to this southernmost and most remote ridge of the Tien Shan, climbers climbed one of the peaks of the Borkoldoy ridge, near the junction of it with the Chakyr-Korum ridge.
They penetrated this area by going to the headwaters of the Jagololamai River, and found there a kind of mountaineering reserve - a group of glaciers and peaks up to 4500 m (5200) high. -korum; the earth here seemed to bristle with an endless number of needles and thorns "
"Dry fog" - the dust of the Takla-makan desert - hung over the mountains and made it impossible to inspect the peaks of the Kok-shaal-tau ridge from afar, and the group of A. A. Letavet moved further to the Kubergenty pass. From this pass, the sources of the Uzengegush and Ak-sai rivers were visible, collecting their waters from the glaciers of the northern slopes of the Kokshaal-tau ridge, rising here with peaks close to 6,000 m in height. Having examined this part of the ridge, the climbers mapped a number of glaciers and peaks, gave names to the nameless peaks Kyzyl-asker (Krasnoarmeyets, 5,899 m), Dzholdash (Tovarishch, 5,782 m) and named the large glaciers of the sources of Uzengegush in honor of Soviet geographers S. G Grigorieva and N. N. Palgova.
In 1934, the Letavet expedition again headed for the Kok-shaal-tau ridge, to the Kyzyl-asker peak, and also somewhat east of it to the place where the Uzengegush river broke through the ridge. The composition of the expedition was replenished by young climbers I. E. Maron and L. P. Mashkov.
The group made an attempt to climb the Kyzylasker peak. In two days, climbers passed the glacier and climbed the slopes of this majestic peak to a considerable height. However, deep loose snow and the beginning of bad weather delayed the rise, and on the third day, the group descended into the valley, heading east, downstream of the Uzengegush River, to the sources of its right tributary, the Chon-tura-su River. A glacier named after N. L. Korzhenevsky was examined here. In the middle of the glacier, the group discovered an isolated peak with a height of about 5,000 m and named it Alpinist. Having climbed one observation peak with a height of 4,900 m, Professor Letavet finished his work. A two-day snowfall covered everything around with deep snow, so we had to leave this little explored area, which still has many mysteries and awaits a well-equipped climbing expedition prepared for difficult sport climbs.
In 1936, A. A. Letavet paved the route of his next expedition to the main peak of the Terskey Ala-tau ridge - the Karakol peak (5250 m) and to the Kuilyu-tau ridge. This year, the group of expedition members was replenished with V. S. Klimenkov and V. A. Kargin.
The Kuilyu-tau ridge remained little explored until 1936. Its snowy peaks were clearly visible from all the surrounding ridges and passes, but none of the explorers has yet entered the depths of the Kuilu-tau massif except for Professor V.V.
The Hungarian traveler Almashy, who also observed this ridge only from a distance, expressed an unlikely, but intriguing assumption for scientists and climbers, that the main peak of Kuilyu-tau is only slightly inferior in height to Khan-tengri. The exploration of this ridge was, therefore, the main goal of the expedition. The Karakol peak was of great sporting interest. It attracted climbers with its height, steep icy slopes, sharp ridge and trapezoid-shaped peak.
This peak is located in the depths of the gorge of the Karakolka River, only 40 km from the city of Przhevalsk. Approaching its foot, climbers overcame the ice wall for two days and reached a long summit ridge, reaching almost 5000 m in the lowest eastern part of the peak. height.
On the south side of the summit ridge, one could see the Kuilyu-tau ridge and a glacier covered with a dense network of cracks with the Kuilyu River flowing from under its tongue. Pointed peaks of Kuilyu-tau, half-covered. clouds approaching from the west, looked impregnable, and the climbers tried in vain to determine the gorge along which they could approach them. It was obvious that the Kuilu glacier in the western part of the range could not serve as a way to the main peak, and the "keys to the door" should be sought in the east.
For the purpose of further reconnaissance, the Letavet expedition passed Terskey Ala-tau through the Chon-ashu pass to the Ottuk valley and, further, through the Tornu pass to the Kuilyu river valley. From the Tornu pass, the peaks of Kuilu are comparatively; far away, but they were obscured by overcast clouds.
From the beginning of the Sary-Jas gorge, the expedition turned into the gorge of the Malaya Taldy-su River and settled in a clearing near the tongue of the glacier of the same name. On the second day, Letavet's group passed the entire Small Taldy-su glacier and found an accessible pass in its upper reaches leading to one of the glaciers of the Terekta river system. Near the glacier, there was not a single prominent peak that could be mistaken for the lava peak of the ridge. The disappointed climbers, having returned to the camp, decided to change the further exploration plan in such a way as to exclude the descent to the Sary-Jas valley and the long ascent to the neighboring gorge. This could be done by crossing the spur separating the gorges of the B. Taldy-su and M. Taldy-su rivers, and send the horses as a guide around, towards. And so, the next day, the climbers achieved their goal. The brilliant completion of exploration replaced all doubts and disappointment. Letavet himself speaks well about this: “We decided to try to find a passage directly to the upper reaches of the Bolshaya Taldy-su River, directly to the glaciers that feed it.
Climbing up the right (eastern) branch of the Small Taldy-su glacier and forcing a rocky ridge towering above the glacier cirque, we really ended up at the pass point of the ridge separating the gorge of Malaya and Bolshaya Taldy-su. Below, under our feet, lay the Bolshaya Taldy-su glacier, and right in front of us rose a powerful trapezoidal peak sparkling with ice, rising about a mile and a half sheer wall above the glacier. However, this peak could hardly be the one we were looking for. Its contours did not correspond to the descriptions of travelers who observed the summit from the upper reaches of the Sary-jas.
We quickly descended along the steep rocky slope to the Bolshaya Taldy-su glacier in order to immediately begin the ascent to the saddle visible in its upper reaches. The last section before the saddle is very steep. Holding back the excitement, we quickly force it. An involuntary exclamation of amazement breaks out of ours and right in front of us in the rays of the evening sun sparkles, amazing in its beauty, a slender peak. With a two-kilometer wall, it rises above the glacier and is almost not connected with the surrounding mountain system. Climbing it should present exceptional difficulties. The peak is very close - we are separated only by a narrow circus of a glacier flowing south and obviously belonging to the Terekta river system. It is quite obvious that this, finally, is the same peak, in search of which we went to the heart of the Kuilyu ridge. But it is also obvious that its height can hardly exceed 5,500 m above sea level. Evening creeps up unnoticed. We set up our tent on the snowy platform of the saddle. Despite the severe frost, we do not fasten the tent for a long time and we all admire the peak in the light of the moon, it is even more beautiful. Indeed, this is one of the most beautiful peaks I have ever seen. We decide to give the peak the name of the peak of the Stalinist Constitution. We name the massive ice peak, which we saw from the pass, in memory of the then deceased President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Alexander Petrovich Karpinsky.
The group did not attempt to climb the newly discovered peaks due to the obvious difficulty of the route, the need to select a much stronger climbing team and better equipment.
Returning from this expedition, Letavet filled out a notebook with calculations for organizing an expedition to the peak of the Stalinist Constitution next year.
The excellent materials brought by Letavet from this reconnaissance facilitated the involvement of climbers in solving this mystery of the Tien Shan. All their doubts instantly fell away after the first glance at the photograph of the peak, which conquered their climbers' hearts with its beauty, inaccessibility of icy rocks and snowfields furrowed by avalanches. Climbers viewed photography as a challenge to fight, and Letavet had no shortage of candidates for a new expedition.
THE PEAK OF THE STALIN CONSTITUTION
Letavet's expedition of 1937 was a natural continuation and development of the exploration of 1936, which provided valuable information about the main peaks of the Kuilyu-tau ridge. Since serious sports tasks were set this time, in order to solve them, it was necessary to strengthen the climbing group. To participate in the expedition, S. I. Khodakevich, N. M. Popov, V. F. Mukhin, I. A. Cherepov, G. I. Beloglazov, E. V. Timashev, I. N. Osher and V. I. Razek. In total, 9 climbers went along with the chief.
The main task of the expedition was to climb in the Kuilyu-tau ridge to the peak of the Stalin Constitution and Karpinsky peak. In addition, in order to explore the new area, an additional task was set - climbing the main peak of the Inylchek-tau ridge - Nansen Peak. This ascent was supposed to help to understand the mountain junction of the upper reaches of the Kan-dzhailau glacier and, from the highest point of the Inylchek-tau ridge, to examine the Kaindy-katta and Boz-kyr ridges located to the south of it.
According to the existing tradition, climbers must earn their right to participate in this interesting sport and research event. There were a lot of people wishing to go on an expedition organized by the central bodies directing the development of the physical culture of sports in the USSR (VKFKiS and VTsSPS). Preference was given to those who worked to train personnel for Soviet mountaineering.
Thus, four arrived in the Tien Shan after conducting courses for junior mountaineering instructors in Altai, and three after conducting reconnaissance and climbing Manas Peak in the Kirghiz Ala-Tau Range in order to prepare routes for mass mountaineering events of the Kyrgyz SSR.
Three members of the expedition Popov, Beloglazov and Ratseku. those who were released much earlier managed to complete one of the tasks of the expedition before the gathering of all the participants in Przhevalsk - to make the first ascent to the main peak of the Terskey Ala-tau ridge Karakolsky peak.
All climbers of the expedition before leaving for the distant Tien Shan received excellent training and acclimatization during their previous work in the mountains. In the future, this was of considerable importance for the fulfillment of the plan and the good sporting achievements of the 1937 expedition.
BLUE LAKE
At the beginning of August 1937, the main group of Professor Letavet's climbing expedition left the city of Frunze up the valley of the Chu River.
In a few hours, a one and a half ton car crossed a fertile wide valley and turned into the picturesque Boom Gorge. Here the Chu River roared in deep gorges, rolled over stones and deepened its channel, cutting through a high ridge. A winding ascent led the road to a height of about 1,600 m, and two hours later the car reached the village of Rybachye, located on the sloping western shore of Lake Issyk-Kul.
A wonderful lake surrounded by high mountains is located in the very center of the Soviet Tien Shan.
The first thing that strikes you when you see Issyk-Kul is the richness of its coloring. Jumping off the car, the climbers went to the shore, where they were surrounded by everything penetrating, bright blue. The blue sky closed on the horizon with the dark blue surface of the lake. Closer to the shore of the lakes it became lighter, becoming completely transparent at the very feet. Even when swimming, every pebble at the bottom is visible, every movement of swimmers in the blue water is visible.
Salt Lake Issyk-Kul is a peculiar, small high-mountainous sea. It fills a deep depression surrounded by mountain ranges, stretching 184 km in the latitudinal direction, and 50 km in the meridional direction. The depth of the lake is 702 m near the southern shore, 300-400 m - in its middle. The lake has no outlet. Many rivers and streams flow into it from the surrounding mountain ranges.
In 1856-1857. P.P. Semenov visited its shores and, with his characteristic scientific insight, explained the conditions under which the lake lost its flow - the Chu River. Once upon a time, the lake stood much higher, took in the Kochkur River, and Chu flowed out of it. In this distant period, the Tien Shan glaciers were more powerful, the rivers were full of water, and the Chu dug a deep Boom gorge, deepened its channel and drained part of the lake's water. Then the Chu River moved away from the lake and it lowered its level even more and was left without a drain. The reason for the departure of the Chu River from the lake has not yet been scientifically explained.
The Kungei Ala-tau ridge with the main peak Chok-tal (5168 m) runs along the entire northern shore of the lake. Behind it, the Zailiysky Ala-tau ridge stretches in the same direction, on the northern slopes of which the capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Alma-Ata, is located just 70 km (in a straight line) from the lake.
The Terskey Ala-tau ridge runs along the southern shore of the lake, the main peak of which is called the Karakol peak (5,250 m). To the east of the lake is a wide valley. It contains the city of Przhevalsk.
60 km east of the lake, the valley closes with a ridge, leaving convenient passages for caravans to the territory of China and Central Asia. The famous Russian traveler and the first explorer of the Tien Shan P.P. Semenov-Tian-Shansky and the first explorer of Central Asia N.M. Przhevalsky passed along these paths through the San-tash pass.
On the shores of the lake, the treeless slopes of Kungei Ala-tau and the dark green wooded slopes of Terskey Ala-tau attract attention. This feature is inherent in all the ranges and spurs of the Tien Shan. Only grasses grow on the sunny, sunny slopes of the southern slopes, while lush forests grow on the shady northern slopes, where there is more moisture.
The shores of the lake are relatively densely populated. Here are excellent conditions for animal husbandry, good for arable farming, horticulture and fisheries. There are a lot of fish in the waters of the lake - carp, osman and marinka, Issyk-Kul species of chebak. Minnow, minnow, etc., and there are a lot of trout in mountain rivers.
A highway is laid on the northern shore, steamboats go along the lake.
The climbers plunged with all their luggage onto the bow of the deck of a small steamer. The water splashed merrily along the sides of the ship. A few hours later, when the village of Rybachye had already disappeared over the horizon, the breed began to frown. The wind picked up, and waves with white scallops began to roll across the lake. Fragments of clouds swept low over the water. Now the bright sun shone, then it became overcast, then a dense fog briefly covered the ship.
Suddenly we saw a very interesting phenomenon a few kilometers south of the steamer. A dark column of water also rose from the sea. It reached a height of about 100 m, and maybe more, the column was at least a meter thick. Its top unfolded like a mushroom cap and seemed to connect with one of the low clouds. At such a distance, it was impossible to see the turbulence and rotational movement of the water column, which gave the whole phenomenon even more mystery. We soon realized it was a waterspout. He held on for quite a long time and, finally, remained behind the stern. We did not notice when the tornado disappeared from our eyes, and, perhaps, crumbled. The origin of this phenomenon is explained by the fact that the mountains around the lake favor the formation of air turbulence. From the salty wind, the bright sun, from the waves running like in the sea, I wanted to sing.
Over the seas, over the waves,
Today here, tomorrow there.
This song was replaced by another, climbing
Steep rise and rocky,
And the backpack is heavy.
The climber sings a song
Cheerful and cheerful.
What are you cheerful, answer
Forgot your tiredness?
At the top by chance
We drank a little.
We didn't drink wine there.
Joy sipped
Breadth and depth of friendship
Happiness was stirred up.
Similar songs are composed by Soviet climbers in all our camps. Usually they take the motive of a famous song, and come up with the words themselves.
More than 10 kilometers from the pier on the eastern shore of the lake to the city of Przhevalsk, a supply was required. We agreed to leave in an hour, but for now we climbed to the high bank, where there is a monument to N. M. Przhevalsky.
Soviet climbers never go to Tien Shan, so as not to visit the grave of their great compatriot along the way. The whole life of this remarkable researcher was devoted to the service of science. Before him, there was no map of Central Asia yet. He filled in this huge blank spot, tracing it with the routes of his expeditions, stretching over 30,000 kilometers. He spent about ten years in these parts, studied and mapped dozens of mountain ranges, rivers, lakes, deserts, and left wonderful, detailed descriptions of the routes of several of his travels to mankind.
The significance of the selfless work of Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, the results of which are still being studied by scientists, is very great.
For Soviet climbers-researchers, the great traveler Przhevalsky serves as an example of patriotism, dedication, scientific inquisitiveness, diligence, simplicity and modesty.
On the high shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, Przhevalsky found his last refuge. In 1888, he was preparing to leave Karakol (the old name of the city of Przhevalsk) on his fifth journey. Seriously ill, he asked to be buried on the way of the explorers of Central Asia. Favorite student and follower of Przhevalsky P. K. Kozlov fulfilled his last will.
A wide view of Issyk-Kul Lake opens from the high bank. Far on the horizon, blue waters meet blue skies. The ever-snowy ridges go into the distance, and their outlines dissolve in the blue of the sky. Mountains close the wide valley, caravan roads leading to Xinjiang go to the passes. Climbers take with them the image of an eagle on the rise, crowning the monument to the great traveler.
We walked to the city of Przhevalsk, putting our backpacks on the cart. Cultivated fields all around. Here, at an altitude of 1,600 m above sea level, bread, vegetables and fruits ripen well. There are many orchards with wonderful apple and pear trees in Przhevalsk itself and its environs. But they ripen here much later than on the plains, and we had to be content with berries and early-ripening varieties of apples.
Several days were spent preparing the caravan. Some prepared pack bags and boxes, stacked, tied, compiled an inventory, others hired caravaneers and picked up horses from collective farms. It took a lot of time to adjust the personal equipment brought from Moscow, among other luggage of the expedition. It was necessary to combine new boots, crampons and shoe fittings in such a way that one complements the other.
Letavet demanded that the crampons fit snugly on unshod shoes, and the crampons occupied space on the welts and soles more free from crampons. Shoes were selected with the expectation of an insole and three woolen socks. We were preparing for ice routes, deep snow, frosts and winds of the high Tien Shan. It was strange for visitors to the dekhanin's house to see people in shorts and hats in the sun, in the middle of the yard drying warm winter socks, mittens and downy sleeping bags.
The news of the arrival of the climbing expedition in Przhevalsk quickly spread throughout the city. The House of the Dekhanin (House of the Collective Farmer), which was the base and headquarters of the expedition, has become a kind of magnet that attracts the curious, especially young students.
Collective farmers Dyushembay and Amasbay were attracted as guides and caravaneers. In addition to these experienced guides, as a caravaneer and cook, the Expedition attracted a wizened, old Uzbek who knew his business perfectly; on bivouacs, he filled the leisure time of his comrades at a time when they were waiting for the climbers to descend from the peaks, telling wonderful oriental tales, of which he knew a great many.
The city, built on a small slope, with ditches on every street, a mass of forest plantations and gardens, captivated us with its oriental flavor. Przhevalsk gives the impression of a large forest, or rather a park. Huge poplars grow much higher than buildings. The houses are spacious, surrounded by gardens. Shadow and water meet and see off the traveler at every step.
In our free time, we went to the market. There were Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Chinese. The bazaar sold fruits, vegetables, items of national toilet. Musicians and singers also performed here, dexterous craftsmen sat on the ground, repairing broken porcelain dishes with copper rivets, chasers carved intricate designs on copper jugs, and cooks prepared dishes seasoned with fiery pepper. Gourmets tried various Chinese dishes and for a long time remembered the white halva, which turned out to be very sweet, but so heavily peppered that until the evening the throat and tongue burned like burnt ones.
VISION ON THE SARY-JAS RIVER
The Terskey Ala-Tau ridge was the first obstacle on the way to the goal. Bypassing its northern spurs, the expedition passed a fertile valley, passed several mazars (burial grounds), reminiscent of small fortresses in their architecture, turned into a wooded gorge of the Turgen-ak-su river.
After several days of hiking, we said goodbye to cozy overnight stays under the dense Tien Shan fir trees and went to the Chon-ashu pass. From the nearest peak of this pass, the Khan-tengri peak, the ruler of the Heavenly Mountains, was clearly visible, although about 100 km remained to it in a straight line. Even at this distance, the clear edges of the majestic pyramid made an impressive impression.
Here is the top! Is there really no way to it from the north?
Until now, climbers have climbed to the summit only from the southern branch of the Inylchek glacier. In 1931, Sukhodolsky's group tried to climb from the north, reached a height of 6000 m, but a large avalanche danger forced them to retreat before reaching the summit.
The task remained unresolved, and the northern face of Khantengri is still waiting for new groups of Soviet climbers.
After descending into a shallow valley, we turned east and went up again to the Berkut pass, located in the southern spur of the Terskey Ala-tau ridge.
Having instructed Dyushembay and his comrades to lower heavily loaded horses onto Sary-jas, Letavet gathered the rest of the expedition and led them to a small hill on the south side of the pass. It was a good panoramic point overlooking the valley of the Sary-dzhas river and the Kuilyu-tau and Sary-dzhas ranges.
Directly to the south of the Berkut Pass, a little to the right of the Sary-Jas River, a high snowy peak with steep slopes rose like a slender white temple. Before it in a straight line was about 30 km, but the usual optical illusion in the mountains reduced this distance several times. The low mountains around this beautiful peak, as it were, lifted it above themselves and created the impression of airiness, a mirage, a ghostly vision.
We kept our eyes on the summit, trying to remember its contours, as if we were afraid that this vision would suddenly disappear. Letavet looked with a smile at the excitement of his companions, and from the gentle warmth radiating from his slightly narrowed eyes, it was clear that he was very fond of both our impressionability and our love for the beautiful mountains of the Motherland.
Before us stood in all its severity, complexity and beauty one of the most beautiful peaks of the Tien Shan - the nickname of the Stalinist Constitution. Climbing it was our main task. This was the first riddle of those that we had to solve and which we can consider solved only after we make the first ascent to its summit.
The shape of the peak, its height, steepness, traces of avalanches, the brilliance of ice slopes, the sharpness of rocky ledges and the canopies of snow cornices tell the climber a lot about the upcoming difficulties, but until he overcomes all obstacles, many unknowns remain that can be recognized and solved. only on the spot
Of the ridges of the Central Tien Shan, the Kuilyu-tau ridge has been studied less than others. So far, no one has climbed this ridge.
Topographers and geographers visited almost all the gorges of Kuilyu-tau, but did not visit its high-mountainous regions. The Hungarian traveler Almashy, who saw the peaks of the Tien Shan, but did not have enough strength, desire and courage to climb them, suggested that the main peak of Kuilyu-tau is only slightly lower than the peak of Khan-tengri. But this is hardly the case. It is possible that Almashi looked at this peak from the same place where we are standing, but he did not confirm his statements with any measurements.
It must be said that the main peak of Kuilyu-tau makes an equally strong impression from all sides, and at the sight of its steep slopes, weak in spirit, brought up in the warm and relatively low Alps, foreigners can classify it as the highest peaks that are impossible to climb.
In the last two years, A. A. Letavet devoted several of his campaigns to the study of the Kuilyu-tau ridge. Finally, last year he managed to find the key to this riddle - the approach to the very foot of the main peak from the gorge of the Bolshaya Taldy-su River.
Here is what August Andreevich told us about this campaign.
At the junction of the glaciers that give rise to the rivers Ayu-tor and B. Taldy-su, from the pass leading to the glacier of the neighboring gorge, the peak is visible very close at a distance of some five kilometers. It looks like a grandiose two-kilometer sheer wall, on which a peak rises in the form of a pointed pyramid with a small shoulder. This peak, the most beautiful of all seen in the Tien Shan and the Caucasus, was called the peak of the Stalinist Constitution.
Its location in the ridge is interesting. It seems that it suppresses all the nearest mountains and, as it were, rises above them. So it is in fact. But from below, from the gorges, it is nowhere to be seen. From a distance we determined its place, then approached the ridge, went deep into many gorges and lost sight of our peak. The fact is that it does not stand in the upper reaches of any gorge, but is located on a spur and is surrounded by side ridges. But we are all
could only figure it out when they passed almost the sixth gorge to the end. So far, its actual height is unknown, but limits can be assumed from 5000 to 6000 meters. In any case, it will become clear only on the spot, after the ascent. We have such a serious task ahead of us that, following our plan, we will first climb the main peak of the Inylchek-tau ridge to Nansen Peak.
Part of its snow cap peeked out from behind the Sary-jas ridge, but this peak did not make a strong impression on us. All heads turned towards the peak of the Stalinist Constitution, which turned pink in the rays of the setting sun. Having started the descent from the pass, we involuntarily glanced in its direction until it was closed by the crest of the side ridge.
Finished the descent into the valley already in total darkness. While the slope was steep and the path was still visible, they led the horses on a leash. But below, in the darkness of a narrow and deep gorge, so as not to stray from the path, they mounted horses and, relying on their instincts, let go of the argument. Indeed, the horses in the darkness made no wrong move, and soon the smell of smoke warned the campfires. We stopped in a wide clearing near a stream. His feet sank into soft, thick grass. It was not lush meadow grass, but almost dry, thin and soft, like a thick carpet.
The night was warm and starry, so no tents were set up. We often recalled this overnight stay on a grassy feather bed on stones, glaciers and snowfields during the search and the construction of a flat place for a tent.
Dawn caught the camp duty officer Khodakevich performing his duties at the fire. The indefatigable Dyushembay helped him to collect the scarcer fuel - dung and dry grass. Soon the smell of boiling coffee spread and the attendant woke up the climbers with an invitation to the table.
This time, the role of the table was successfully performed by boxes covered with a piece of tarpaulin. Bouquets of white flowers with sharp silvery petals stood in cans between beautifully arranged dishes. Today, Alpine climbers could envy the decoration of our table. They climb the rocks for a long time in search of this rare flower, and our table was decorated with hundreds of silver edelweiss. We have so many of them in Tien Shan that you stop paying attention to them. And not only in Tien Shan, but also on the Chuisky tract of Altai, these flowers grow along the highway along the banks of the Chui River.
Early in the morning the caravan entered the wide valley of the Sary-jas river. Not a tree around, just a bush. Abundant dryish grasses covered the bottom of the valley and the adjacent slopes. The river has carved a winding, shallow canyon. In those places where the path went away from the coast, the river was hidden, even the sound of water was not heard.
Crossing a wide bend of the river, we set off on our horses at a gallop and broke away from the pack part of the caravan.
Stop! Argali! Razek shouted.
From the ledge of the bend, across the caravan, a herd of argali rushed. Apparently, they did not want to remain cut off on the banks of the river, and, hoping for the speed of their legs, they went to break through the gap between the group of climbers and the rest of the caravan.
We turned our horses and, whooping, galloped across. No one even thought about hunting, but everyone was satisfied with the rare opportunity to look at shy animals that ran 20-30 meters from us. Lowering their head, crowned with helical horns, the mountain sheep rushed towards the nearby mountains. Breaking out of the encirclement, they ran another 300 meters and then walked at a pace.
Having descended to the place of crossing on the banks of the raging river, we carefully examined all the channels, trying to determine the depth and nature of the bottom from the surface of the water.
The guide Dyushembay drove his obedient horse into the foamy water and pulled two pack horses behind him, behind which we also joined. The river flowed along a wide flood in three channels. They were separated by narrow islands of beds of stones. Dyushembay chose the path, trying to go where there is less water and smaller stones. Both had to be guessed from the surface and color of the water in shallow places, it was lighter, and above large stones it rose like breakers.
The first two channels crossed safely. The water barely touched the belly of the horses, and they did not lose their balance. The last, narrowest, channel turned out to be deeper, and the water immediately overturned two pack horses walking ahead of the caravan. Dyushembay, Ratsek and Mukhin got pretty wet while they were rescuing the animals and dragging them ashore. For the rest of the horses of the caravan, they arranged reliable insurance with the help of a climbing rope and escorted them one by one. The difficult crossing took a lot of time and effort, so I had to spend the night on the left bank of the Sary-Jas, in an open area. In the evening a cold wind blew from the mountains and we set up tents at the entrance to the valley.
Soon everyone fell asleep, only at a small, with slightly smoldering dung fire, Letavet was talking quietly with Amasbay. Amasbay advised to take rubber pack bags with you when collecting the next caravan. He reassured Letavet, saying that the horses that had fallen over today while crossing the river had not injured their legs and were quite healthy.
Convinced of the successful outcome of the incident at the crossing, Letavet breathed a sigh of relief, since the loss of horses at the very beginning of the journey could jeopardize the entire further work of the expedition. He wrote in his diary that it was necessary to find the best ford on Sary-jas. That evening, the head of the expedition fell asleep with thoughts about the upcoming acquaintance with Inylchek, another powerful and treacherous Tien Shan river.
THE SECOND MYSTERY OF THE TIEN-SHAN
Retreat from a close goal is always unpleasant. In mountaineering, it is often temporary, but sometimes the retreat from the summit is due to bad weather and the deadline for returning has been exhausted. This time we had to retreat from the Tyuz pass. The condition of ice and snow turned out to be so heavy that in half a day they did not have time to pass the glacier. In deep snow, we trampled the road, then saw off, in the lead of the horses. Horses slipped, fell, they had to be restrained and insured. Halfway through the glacier, it became clear that the pass would not be reached before nightfall, and Letavet gave the command to retreat. We left the glacier and unpacked the caravan on the nearest ridge of the terminal moraine. The horses were sent down to pasture, located on steep grassy slopes dotted with large stones.
We knew perfectly well that in the morning, on well-frozen snow, it would be much easier to walk. But, having set about arranging a level place on the large moraine stones, they still could not overcome the feeling of annoyance of the mouth at the unforeseen delay.
A cold wind blew continuously from the pass and hurried us to set up a bivouac. Unfriendly Inylchek.
Finally, having a quick bite to eat, we climbed into the tents, closed the entrances and lit candles in order to climb into sleeping bags, write something in a notebook and recharge our cameras. In the evening there were no songs and jokes. This high Tien Shan pass showed that even more serious trials are ahead of us, and set the climbers in a serious mood.
Not everyone managed to sleep peacefully through the night. The wind mercilessly ruffled the tents, the cold made its way into all the cracks. We woke up more than once and, grumbling at the bad weather, tied up the tattered guy lines of the tents.
At dawn we entered the glacier and without delay overcame the area prepared in the evening. But further, instead of deep snow, there was bare ice and ice axes had to be used. For horses, they cut long (0.5 m each) steps every 30 centimeters. The horses stepped on the first steps with distrust, but then they went calmly. All horses were led by the reins.
On the crest of the pass, the snow and ice suddenly ended and the dry southern slopes opened up. Letting the caravan go ahead, Letavet gathered climbers to inspect the pass from the pass and chart the way forward.
The southern slope of the Sary-Jas ridge cut off from the pass with small screes, and then it turned green with grasses to the very bottom of the Inylchek river valley. The wide, flat valley was gray with a monotonous covering of sand and pebbles, cut through by the winding ribbon of the river.
Opposite the pass rose the array of Nansen Peak. Retreating from the Inylchek-tau ridge, he blocked the tops of the main part of the ridge and dominated the entire gorge. From the height of the pass, at a distance of 15-20 km, the entire peak of Nansen was visible, at a glance, in all its grandeur from the very foot to the top.
Rare top. It stands so well that it can be immediately captured by the eye, like this nickname. Its powerful northern wall breaks off in the gorge of the Inylchek River at 2800 m. The glaciation of the peak, like a huge white octopus, covers the peak and embraces its slopes with tentacles of glaciers descending far down. About a dozen tongues descend to the north to about half the height of the slopes of the peak, cutting through them and ending in strings of white foamy streams. Streams rush among the rocks, fall in waterfalls, irrigate the emerald grassy slopes. Approaching the valley, they hide in the dark green forests of the Tien Shan spruce, filling the depths of the gorges. The foot of the peak is outlined by green vegetation and abruptly breaks off at the bottom of the valley with sheer cliffs of old talus, conglomerates cut by Inylchek.
A series of buttresses support the steep slopes of the peak, like the buttresses of the walls of a huge building. Between them you can see forests and rivers flowing from them. The foot of the peak occupies more than 20 km of the left bank of the Inylchek and extends from the deep ledge of the next neighboring peak Inylchek-tau to the east to the canyon of the Kan-dzhailau river, cutting off the peak from the west.
The shape of the top of the Nansen Peak is extremely characteristic - it resembles a white cap pulled down deeply over the forehead of a giant. The view is impressive. At an altitude of 5,700 m, there is something for a climber to work on. As a training top, it is even too good.
Suddenly, everyone's attention was attracted by a cloud of snow dust rolling down from the western shoulder of the summit. Gradually expanding, white masses of dry snow filled the upper field, then rolled down the glacier and grew into huge clouds of clouds. It was an avalanche that had jumped over a low rocky ridge. She rushed along the black rocks down to the tongue of the next glacier, rolled along its old channel and through the green grassy slopes reached the upper border of the forest. When the cloud of snow dust that stood over the forest dissipated in the air, one could see in it a new wide clearing covered with snow.
The avalanche cut off the path of the planned ascent in two places. This led us to think that it was better to ascend from the east; True, there is more snow, but it is a little delayed. Perhaps it is difficult to go this way without snowshoes, but it will be convenient to dig snow caves. The head of the expedition A. A. Letavet decided
The north side of Nansen is an interesting sporting challenge for the future. But until the first ascent to the top is made, we should look for a more convenient way. Therefore, the northern slope should be left alone for the time being, and we should start by examining the southern slopes and look for more convenient ways there. We will bypass the Nansen peak from the west and penetrate to its southern slopes along the powerful Kan-dzhailau glacier.
In the southeast, a peak was visible, rising much higher than the snow giants located at a closer distance in the eastern part of the Inylchek-tau ridge. This peak attracted our attention from the moment we reached the pass. Looking at the Nansen peak, we looked in its direction and exchanged remarks about the intriguing, unknown peak.
It was a sharp peak, cut off to the north by a steep wall of ice. Its southern slope seemed a little delayed. The base of the face was hidden by the surrounding ridges. Judging by the light haze that softens the outlines of the summit, it could be about 50 kilometers in a straight line.
To clarify, Timashev takes a map, orients it on the ground using a compass and refines it using Nansen Peak. Then it takes an azimuth to an unknown peak, calculates it and plots it on the map.
Climbers gather around Timashev and wait with curiosity for the result of the young geographer's calculations.
Timashev makes a notch on Khan Tengri and checks the first notch again. However, Khan Tengri was not so easy to see. On its pyramid, partially covering it, almost the entire Stalin Ridge is projected, separating the Northern and Southern Inylchek glaciers. Finally, the notch was made and checked on the map. There are no deviations. The serif is checked again, - now everything seems to be correct. This peak is not marked on the map.
We are surprised that the peak is not marked on the map, which is not only perfectly visible, but can even be taken as a landmark when shooting, terrain. After all, it is undoubtedly not lower than the peak of Nansen.
A. A. Letavet confirms that this peak is really not marked on any map and represents an interesting and, perhaps, the biggest mystery of the Tien Shan. He says that he suspected of its existence and that our ascent to the Nansen Peak was not planned at all by chance. From the highest point of the Inylchektau ridge, it is planned to examine the ridges located to the south, take a notch to this peak and, if possible, see the gorges leading to it and neighboring peaks. To solve this problem, it is difficult to find a point in the Tien Shan more convenient than Nansen Peak.
On the instructions of Letavet, geographer Timashev and engineer Popov repeat and check the azimuth marks and try to take elevation marks with the help of our eclimeters.
While the comrades are fulfilling the task of the chief, the rest continue to look at their main goal - Nansen Peak.
Amazing peak. How many features does it have? Such a height, steepness and variety of relief, and everything is immediately visible. Particularly interesting is the huge circus opening to the west from the western shoulder of the summit.
From our position, it seems that along the entire eastern ridge of the summit and its steep fall, wide gaps of ice are visible, covered with dry soft snow. The glacier is a continuous icefall about 5 km long with a fall of 1.5 km. Visible part Inylchek Valley - an area 5 km wide, 30 km long, through which a winding river flows. On an irrigated area of 150 sq. km - sand, stones and not a patch of grass grows. The tongue of the glacier is visible to the left. For no less than 20 km, the entire glacier is covered with stones. The abundance of stones on the surface of the glacier indicates its rapid retreat. The complete absence of a terminal moraine also speaks of the continuous and rather rapid retreat of the glacier. And such an abundant surface moraine also speaks of the intensity of weathering of the adjacent rocky slopes, of continuous rockfalls that cover the glacier and its tributaries almost along their entire width.
Cutting off the meanders of the path trodden by horses, we went down and in two hours caught up with the caravan. Rare drops of rain fell from a cloud that straddled the Sarydzhas ridge. Nansen Peak and the entire Inylchek-tau ridge were free from clouds, and the bright sun flooded the snowy slopes, forests, meadows and rocky valley.
From the depths of one of the grassy gorges of the slope along which we walked, a bright column of a rainbow rose, curving under an overhanging dark cloud, towards a clear sky. It was only one third of the arc, but it shone with such bright colors and so close that the photographers could not resist and snapped their camera shutters.
It took about two hours to find the ford. Finally, they found a spill with a small branch in the channel. This time the crossing went smoothly. Having crossed the river, they turned towards the desired forest. Five kilometers on pebbles seemed to us longer than ten on grassy slopes.
Having entered the bed of a small stream flowing from the slopes of the Nansen Peak, we climbed to a clearing surrounded by fir trees. Not as big trees grew here as on the slopes of the Terskey Ala-Tau ridge, but all of them were saturated with odorous resin, sparkling droplets protruding on the bark and needles. We were attracted by the rest in cozy tents on warm and dry ground. No one was waiting for special invitations or retreat orders, and soon it became quite quiet in the Inylchek valley.
NANSENA PEAK
When the sun warmed the slope, we had to part with a hospitable overnight stay. The resinous smell of the forest accompanied us all the way to Inylchek. We went downstream, along the left bank of the river, now approaching a noisy foamy stream, now moving away from it for several kilometers.
The Southern Inylchek glacier is separated from the Northern Inylchek (Reznichenko) glacier by a large glacial lake named after Merzbacher. This lake collects water flowing from the Northern Inylchek glacier, and part of the melt water from the right bank and from the right side of the Southern Inylchek glacier. The ice dam, which holds back the waters of the lake from the side of the South Inylchek glacier, breaks every year during the period of the greatest melting, and the waters of the lake rush into the valley of the Inylchek River. At the same time, the river overflows and breaks through a new winding channel in the sand, pebbles and boulders that cover a wide and flat valley.
Sticking to the foot of the Nansen Peak, the expedition caravan passed along the steep slopes of the conglomerate washed away by the river.
The monotonous clatter of horse hooves on the pebbles did not interfere, but rather helped to think about the upcoming ascent. Much has remained unknown until now, whether we will find the way to the top, which the southern slopes of Nansen promise us, how far and high the caravan can go, whether the path of its ascent will pass through the snow or the rocks? Involuntarily, we recalled the Caucasian peaks with icy northern slopes and dry rocks on the southern side. Letavet was not yet on the Kan-dzhailau glacier, but he had information that the Moscow climber Tamm had passed it in 1936. Tamm's group went to the Kan-dzhailau glacier southeast of the Nansen peak through the saddle connecting the peak with the neighboring giant in the chain of the Inylchek Range. To designate this southeastern neighbor of Nansen, climbers later used the name of the polar explorer Amundsen, and the neighbor from the south with a bizarre tower on top was called the name of some other polar explorer. This name involuntarily came to mind due to some similarity in the shape of the top with a warm shoe, which was used at one time; this polar explorer.
Along the foot of the Nansen peak, along the Inylchek valley, we had to walk about 15 km before turning into a narrow gorge through which a stream from the Kan-dzhailau glacier made its way.
On the flat valley of Inylchek, abundantly strewn with pebbles, the riders let go of the reins, and the horses, choosing the road, violated their usual caravan formation. They dispersed about a hundred meters to the sides, without losing their general direction. Having given freedom to the horses, and the choice of the general direction - Letavet, we did not look at our feet, but rather looked up at the surrounding peaks and rocky slopes.
Suddenly we were stopped by an extraordinary gift from Inylchek. It was a rare surprise. During the flood, the river filled a shallow hollow with a sandy bottom. Soon the river bed went several hundred meters away, and about a hundred trout remained in the hollow, huddled in a small puddle, no more than one meter in diameter. The aquarium, created by nature itself, teemed with fish, like a cauldron prepared for fish soup. Climbers-fishermen splashed fish on the sand and rejoiced at unexpected luck. Ten minutes later, all the fish were caught, and the party continued on its way, anticipating a pleasant variety on the lunch menu.
Having passed the Kan-dzhailau gorge, we climbed several hundred meters along the grassy slopes and set up bivouac fires in the last thin wood, near the tongue of the glacier. There were still a few hours left before dark, but the need to feed the horses before going to the glacier forced them to stop at the last pastures.
By evening, the reconnaissance sent by Letavet returned from the glacier and reported on the possibility of leading horses to the glacier. However, for this it will be necessary to cut steps on the steep icy slopes of numerous hillocks, hollows, trenches and cracks that cut the surface of the glacier.
The order of the head of the expedition to prepare for the exit to the glacier was short - Khodakevich to prepare packs with equipment for a five-day assault. All climbers with ice axes go ahead of the caravan and cut through the road. The higher up the glacier climbers can lead horses, the more of their strength they will save for the assault on the summit.
Sunrise found the whole group on the glacier. The sound of ice axes, sparkling ice shards and shouts of encouragement to anxious horses disturbed the peace of the Kan-dzhailau glacier.
This glacier fills a wide valley that runs almost parallel to the Inylchek valley and is securely fenced off from it by the massif of Nansen Peak. The Kan-dzhailau glacier is not visible either from the Tyuz pass or from another part of the Sary-dzhas ridge, just as it is not visible from the Inylchek river valley. The glacier is partially fed by the firn, southern slopes of Nansen Peak, and mainly by the northern slopes of the part of the Inylchek-tau ridge, along which this glacier flows from east to west, for about 20 kilometers. In the upper part, the glacier originates from two cirques of the wide southern cirque of Nansen peak and, separated by a spur, the western cirque of the neighboring peak, which is a connecting link connecting the spur of the Nansen massif with the Inylchek-tau ridge.
Horses with packs managed to be brought to the circus of the southern Nansen glacier, which unfolded in a wide amphitheater towards the Kan-dzhailau glacier.
The whole day was spent in the hard work of leading four-legged helpers through the glacier. It was necessary, in addition to cutting down the steps, to insure the horses on steep places and clear the path on the terminal moraine. When pulling out a horse wedged in a narrow crack, it was necessary to use ropes and combine the efforts of the entire small detachment. Some of the horses mastered the ice technique better than others and, to the approving exclamations of the climbers, bravely climbed slippery ice mounds, carefully used the steps carved in the ice, jumped through the gullies and the crack. With the help of horses, it was possible to throw assault equipment and food more than 10 km up the glacier, to a height of 3,700 meters.
The main camp was set up on ice in the middle of the glacier, opposite the southern cirque of Nansen. It was a very wide circus, cut across its entire width by a powerful icefall towards the glacier. The purity of the ice and the almost complete absence of moraine, with the exception of rare fragments along the edges of the icefall, attracted attention. For the members of the expedition, who are well acquainted with the mountains of the Caucasus, it was especially surprising to see the southern slopes of the peaks and the glacier flowing down from them, not cluttered with stones, without traces of rockfalls. Rare rocks, in some places protruding on the slopes of the summit, from a distance seemed monolithic. The snow dome of the peak was cut off from all sides by steep slopes. From the west, under the dome, blackened rocks. From the circus, a path was outlined for climbing a steep snowy slope between cracks and faults to the western shoulder of the summit. The exit to the eastern shoulder was no longer possible due to the excessive steepness of the upper part of the slopes and. their obvious avalanche hazard.
We studied this whole picture in detail at that time, while we were setting up tents, clearing and leveling the ice, hammering ice hooks for stretch marks and preparing our unpretentious dinner on stove stoves. When Letavet gathered everyone for a meeting, each climber already had his own opinion and his own plan for the ascent.
But since there were no people on the Nansen peak yet, we could choose the route for the first ascent along the simplest path. Therefore, the main task of the meeting was to appoint a chief assault group, who was entrusted with the final choice of the route, its implementation, as well as the selection of the composition of the climbers.
The solution of this question did not cause a lengthy discussion, and half an hour later I got into my sleeping bag already in the position of commander of the assault group and, before falling asleep, I managed to think over the tasks of preparing the assault again.
The whole next day - August 24 - was devoted to reconnaissance, gathering and rest before the assault. The full moon made it possible to pass at night relatively difficult sections from the south.
way. In order not to get confused in the labyrinth of a large icefall during the ascent, Letavet, Khodakevich, Mukhin and Ratsek passed its lower part during the day, memorized the places of turns, outlined landmarks and determined the time for passing the upper snowy part of the circus at night or early in the morning, due to frost.
Another group - Timashev, Popov, Beloglazov and I went to the western circus of the neighboring peak, to the very upper reaches of the Kan-dzhailau glacier, to the pass to the neighboring glacier, descending into the Inylchek river valley. We were convinced of the accessibility of the pass, but were dissatisfied with the exit from it to the eastern ridge of the Nansen peak. This path turned out to be much steeper and more difficult to reach the western shoulder. At the same time, the ascent from the eastern shoulder to the dome of the summit did not seem difficult, however, the ascent from the western shoulder to the dome was not visible. The possibility of overcoming the group of rocks, on which the dome of the summit rests from the west, remained unclear. Not finding a point from which it would be possible to view this obscure section of the path, we nevertheless decided to climb over the western shoulder of the summit. Obvious difficulties on other climbing options pushed aside a vague fear of encountering an impassable area on the western side of the dome.
A cold moonlit night foreshadowed good weather. Leaving two tents at the site of the main camp, at 2 o'clock in the morning the entire expedition team entered the icefall. The firn, bound by frost, held strong snow bridges well over numerous cracks, the crampons dug into the hard snow, and we walked quickly. Sunrise caught the whole group above the icefall in the circus before starting the ascent to the western shoulder.
This climb turned out to be steeper than it seemed from afar.
The sun warmed and melted the surface of the firn, The pace of movement slowed down. At an altitude of 5000 m, one of the climbers complained of a headache, and the group began to look for a place to bivouac. Having risen to a height of 5,200 m under a large drop, they leveled the edge of the crack and set up tents. There were 200-300 m left before the exit on the shoulder, one hour of walking. But it was hardly rational to go out now on a ridge open to the wind and tear the strength of the participants. We unanimously welcomed Letavet's suggestion to stop, even because climbing 1,500 m in a day with heavy backpacks on our shoulders was sensitive for everyone. The 5200 m bivouac turned out to be very successful. Everyone soon got used to the fact that on one side of the tent there was a bottomless crack, and on the other, a steep, kilometer-long slope.
On the next day, a day was planned for acclimatization purposes.
In the early morning, while the deep valleys were still filled with thick darkness, the sun shone on two small tents. Harbingers of bad weather - high cirrus clouds turned pink in the southern half of the sky in the form of stretched, broken translucent flakes. A worsening of the weather could be expected, but not as sharp as it would be in the Caucasus if the same signs were present.
I once again reminded the main composition of the assault group. Timashev will go with me. The second deuce - Popov and Ratsek. How far the rest will go will be decided tomorrow, as we do not yet have a complete idea of the complexity of the further route. There is also no certainty, judging by today's signs, in the stability of the weather.
The day passed, as usual days spent in tents at an altitude of more than 5000 meters pass. Most of the time we did not get out of our sleeping bags, we ate, listened to endless stories about the ascents of our comrades, told ourselves, laughed together at the funny stories and anecdotes of the inexhaustible Seryozha Khodakevich. Looking out of the tents, we discussed in detail the climbing possibilities of the majestic panorama of the Central Tien Shan, partially opening to the south.
In the foreground, the Inylchek-tau ridge was visible. Behind it, the peaks of the Kaindy ridge clearly protruded. Farther away, the outlines of the peaks of the Boz-kyr ridge could be seen. There were several dozen peaks in the field of view.
more than 5000 m high, and the grandeur of the panorama aroused our climbing passions. In front of us was a reserve of five thousand peaks, a large area where no human foot had yet set foot. These beautiful peaks are waiting for Soviet climbers, waiting for explorers. The next day we had to climb to the top, look from there to the east, west and north, see many of the same beautiful peaks not taken by climbers and not studied by researchers.
Tien Shan is a vast area for new geographical research and a wide field for mountaineering. We are only pioneers and we are trying to untie only the main knots. For other Soviet scientists and for their climbing assistants, there is still a lot of research and sports work here.
The sun has set in the clouds. At night, overcast clouds enveloped the summit, and instead of the usual early exit, we had to expect a clearing. As soon as gaps appeared in the clouds, the group left the bivouac, leaving two sick Mukhin and Osher in the tent.
The ascent to the ridge from the bivouac had approximately the same character as the previous ascent from the circus.
Climbers familiar with the Caucasus compared this section with the ascent of the Bezingi wall to the top of Katyn-tau and found many similarities. This comparison of one of the most severe northern snow walls of the Caucasus with the southern slopes of the Nansen peak to some extent determined the snow features of the high Tien Shan. On the southern slopes up to a height of 5,000 m, we encountered a rather compact and non-avalanche snow cover. Higher up, the snow became looser, and at an altitude of 5,400 m, when I reached the ridge, I fell into a crack and stayed on the surface only thanks to Timashev’s attentiveness, who quickly plunged an ice ax into the snow and pulled the rope. Then proceed more carefully. Heavy snow cornices hung over the ridge and for a long time did not allow them to approach the edge. Finally, we reached a part of the ridge with collapsed cornices and looked down. Far, far away, at the bottom of the gorge, the winding thread of the stormy Inylchek was silvering. A three-kilometer cliff with traces of avalanches and collapses made an impressive impression from above, and everyone involuntarily wanted to move away from the edge. Here you will break - you will not collect bones! We went further, along the ridge, prudently bypassing the cornices. The ridge suddenly ended, resting against the rock. In the direction of the Inylchek valley, this rock broke off with a steep two-hundred-meter wall, while in the direction of the Kan-Dzhailau glacier, the steep rocks gradually turned into an equally steep ice slope, in some places sprinkled with snow and with traces of recent avalanches. The snowy dome of the summit covered the rocks with what seemed to be a large white hat. To complete the resemblance, overhanging the rocks were hat fields made of white firn ice sliding down from the dome. In the place where the crest of the western shoulder of the peak rested against the rocks, a massive ice canopy protruded over it for 20 meters.
There was something to think about for climbers seeking to reach the dome. At an altitude of 5500 m we met one of the most serious obstacles.
I, as the commander of the assault group, decided to climb up along a large crack in the dome above the rocks. And to get to this crack, you have to climb icy rocks and go under a canopy. Of course, this is not an easy task, but it must be done. The support group will remain at the foot of the cliffs until the rest get out onto the dome.
Difficulties met sooner than expected. The icy rocks turned out to be covered with a thick layer of loose snow, in which the ice ax did not provide the necessary assistance. On gentle slopes, we sank in knee-deep soft snow. But on the steep part of the ridge under the drop, I went into waist-deep snow and climbed very slowly, trying to put my crampons more securely on the ice and rocks covered with deep snow. I pressed my left hand into the snow up to the very shoulder, and with the ice ax in my right hand I pierced the snow mass and tried to find with a bayonet some depression or crack in the rocks, so that, unlocking on its edges, create an additional point of support. When my leg broke, I hung on my hands and again scratched the smooth rocks under the snow with my cats until the teeth of the cats caught on and it became possible to take a new step. I covered a distance of 50 m in two hours, breaking through a deep snow trench. Tired of such work, I significantly slowed down the pace of progress. At the same time, an excess of pride did not allow me to fully realize the complexity of the situation, and without losing confidence, I encouraged myself with such thoughts. It is difficult, difficult, but I will get through here anyway. I'm going upstairs against all odds!
Timashev, who was following me, began to feel cold, apparently he fell ill. Overcoming the malaise, he carefully insured me, passing the rope through an ice ax stuck in the trampled snow, but he could not overcome the feeling of dissatisfaction with my slowness. From a long stay on the edge of a three-kilometer cliff, he began to feel dizzy. Occasionally he looked down. The clouds, descending, covered the Inylchek valley, but could not hide the huge danger in the form of an ice thousand-ton cornice above our heads and the edge of the abyss one meter to the left.
The second deuce - Ratsek and Popov followed us closely on the trodden snow, were freezing and obviously also silently annoyed at my seeming slowness.
There was less snow under the very cornice, white ice and rocks were exposed. I wanted to get out of the deep snow as soon as possible. He was breathing heavily. It was hot from prolonged exertion. Ahead was a black rock ledge sticking out of the ice, and I really wanted to get to it as soon as possible and take at least a small respite. Having cut down a dozen steps, he finally approached the ledge, sat on it, hammered a long ice hook above himself, tied himself to it and breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, it became possible to replace a sick companion and get some rest.
After 10 minutes Timashev was down at the foot of the rocks and tied to Letavet's rope, and after another 15 minutes Beloglazov was on the ledge next to me and belayed me during the usual climbing on icy rocks. Popov and Razek caught up with us and also entrenched themselves on the ledge.
After driving another intermediate hook, I again went ahead and went 16 m to the right from under the ice canopy, simultaneously clearing the rocks from the ice crust. The surface of the rocks, consisting of gray marble, is badly destroyed, but all the cracks are sealed with ice. When it was necessary to hammer in another hook, I preferred to strengthen it in clean ice.
The exit from the rocks into the ice crack was not difficult. But climbing from below between the two ice walls was much more difficult. Resting with crampons against one wall, and with my back and arms against another, I overcame this obstacle, gouging out ledges-supports for hands with an ice ax. Then, having found a new support for the back and left arm in the ice wall and thrusting the crampons into the opposite one, right hand I used an ice ax to chisel ledges from the left side or over the left shoulder. Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief when that icy fireplace ended.
In order to climb out onto the dome, it was necessary to sit down and arrange a ladder on four ice axes driven one above the other into a sheer firn wall. Beloglazov was the first to reach the dome, followed by me. Popov and Ratsek got up after us. We walked knee-deep in snow for a long time along the wide, gentle slope of the dome, and on August 27 at 5 pm we were at the top (5,700 m) of the peak. Following the advice of Letavet, we carefully looked to the west, north and east, but, unfortunately, we did not see anything. Overcast clouds obscured everything around. Heavy clouds enveloped everything in thick fog. It seemed to be snowing below, although only a few snowflakes swept past at the top. There was almost no wind.
Not finding a single stone on the top, they did not write a note about the ascent, limiting themselves to notes in their books. Sitting on the soft snow, we waited for half an hour to no avail for the weather to clear up.
The highest point of the peak was determined by its bulge, by the presence of a depression around and cracks, usually cutting through all the domes of snowy peaks.
The most important thing that attracted us to the top of the Nansen peak was the desire to look southeast towards the mysterious peak, to see a mountainous region where no human foot had yet set foot - we could not fulfill this. On the descent went not satisfied with the results of the ascent. Suddenly everyone felt very tired, became laconic and angrily looked at the surrounding clouds.
The descent to the camp was much faster. It was possible not to go out to the side under the overhanging ice, but to descend from the crack. With the help of a rope straight ahead, along steep icy rocks.
The comrades greeted us as winners and treated everyone to a large mug of hot cocoa.
Well done! How did you manage to climb onto the dome on such a sheer wall? We watched your acrobatics with bated breath.
From the praise of Letavet, the heart became warmer and the sharpness of the disappointment that had befallen smoothed out.
Climbing the Nansen peak, made in cloudy weather, in the absence of visibility, significantly reduced the results of our work. Only sports content remained, while we wanted not to tear mountaineering from the research tasks of studying the mountainous regions of our Motherland. It was a pity that we didn't bring photos, didn't bring azimuths to pave new routes in the Tien Shan mountains.
The third night at the 5200 m bivouac we spent calmly. Everyone slept soundly.
During the night the clouds disappeared, and the bright sun illuminated the morning preparations. The improvement of the weather has directed our thoughts to yesterday's failure. I wanted to repeat the ascent to the peak. But the instability of the weather and the lack of food forced us to abandon a second assault. The vagaries of the weather led to several joking remarks about the fact that the peaks of the mountains are waging a fierce war with the climbers who storm them and are hiding from them with clouds like a smoke screen.
The next descent was fast. The condition of the snow made it possible to walk wide and even slide in some places. Thus, in two hours we went down to the circus, where the traffic slowed down sharply after two falls into the cracks. Bridges "released". My feet sank into deep snow. Only in the afternoon we reached our camp on the Kan-dzhailau glacier.
Soon Amasbay arrived with two horses, bringing a fair amount of fried take meat, and the hungry climbers paid tribute to the delicious mountain goat meat.
Breaking camp and loading backpacks on horses, we went down.
Looking back at the top of the Nansen Peak, we were very sorry that we did not repeat the ascent. Other researchers will not come here soon. We had to repeat the attack. Letavet met Timashev's questioning gaze and understood it without words - Yes, they made a mistake. Will have to fix it.
ON THE APPROACHES TO THE PEAK OF THE STALIN CONSTITUTION
After a difficult ascent, irresistibly pulls down to the grass, stream, forest and sun. Ice, snow and bare stones, cold and daily hard work, dangers and obstacles at every turn, a constant sense of comradeship - the closeness of a faithful comrade, a strong friendly team - all this leaves an indelible impression for life. To emphasize the experiences on the way to the summit, one must remember not only the harsh, but also the joyful moments when tired climbers, having descended from the summit, find themselves in wonderful corners of the mountains, bask in the sun, swim, pick berries - in a word, they behave like in a day rest after a week of hard work.
In anticipation of a close rest, Letavet's group descended from the Kan-Jailau glacier.
The trail on the glacier turned out to be well developed, and only once did we have to belay the horses. Descending from the tongue of the glacier, we crossed the terminal moraine and came out onto a grassy slope. After the glaciers and rocks, the smell of flowering herbs seemed intoxicatingly strong.
The Green Camp tents appeared around the corner. A lawn with large boulders, several fir trees and cascades of a stream descending from the western slopes of Nansen Peak - this is what climbers were striving for now.
We knew that our guide Amasbai had been given five rifle cartridges from the funds of the expedition for hunting the teke. And with the five bullets he received, he killed five mountain goats, one small and four large. Five rounds - five take. Moreover, the smallest goat weighed at least 50 kilograms.
Amasbai looked at us proudly as we admired his marksmanship. He was happy to show us the places on the surrounding slopes where the teke had been shot. I must say that Amasbai had to climb behind them over rocks and grassy slopes to a height of up to 4-4,500 meters. Down he dragged the dead goat along the grass, and threw it off the rocks to the place where he left the horse.
A successful hunt saved us from canned food for several days and replenished our food resources.
The teke meat was so delicious that pans and cauldrons were not removed from the fires until late in the evening, in which regular portions of fresh meat were fried and boiled.
The next day, our caravan left the gorge of Kan-dzhailau and moved down the Inylchek valley. We went in the direction of the Kuilyu-tau ridge. Another big test lay ahead. We could now consider the ascent to the Karakolsky peak and the Nansen peak as a training for the upcoming big business.
At this time, it seemed to us that the weather began to deteriorate. The sun brightened up. Everyone paid attention to the fact that the surroundings were covered with a light haze. The sharp outlines of distant objects softened, the sky lost its pure blueness and became noticeably gray. For several days, the finest dust hung in the air - the breath of the Taklamakan desert.
After the glaciers of the Nansen peak in the wide, sun-scorched valley of Inylchek, it seemed unbearably hot. We took off our attack jackets and shirts and sunbathed on our horses, dismounting only to wet our heads in some stream.
In order to tan more evenly, Mukhin sat on a horse, facing forward or backward. Such an extraordinary situation evoked jokes and laughter from his comrades.
Vitamin lovers promoted prickly sea buckthorn berries, which quench their thirst well. It seems that these were the only berries growing in abundance along Inylchek. They taste sourer than cranberries, but are popular with unpretentious climbers who want to drown out the insipid taste of glacial water.
Amasbay and Ratsek, with the permission of the chief, took a small-caliber shotgun and deviated from the path along the hunting route. At the bivouac they caught up with us and cooked a stew of two birds with one stone for dinner. Bunnies were small, gray. In addition, the hunters got a few marmots, dried their skins and collected melted marmot fat in cans. As before, a lot of teke could be seen on the slopes, but after Amasbay's successful hunt for Kan-dzhailau, we had no shortage of meat, and Letavet did not issue more cartridges.
The place for the ford was chosen near the mouth of the Inylchek, where the river overflows widely before joining its muddy water with greenish light waves of the Sary-jas river. Inylchek roared, foamed and rumbled with stones rolling under water, and we had to spend the night in front of the ford.
Preparations for the crossing began at dawn. By morning the water had subsided considerably, but it was still too deep for our short mountain horses. Near the shore, one of the horses was knocked over, the packs got wet, and the crossing had to be stopped.
At that moment, a rider appeared on the other side. He crossed the river calmly and confidently, holding a large black golden eagle on his left hand. It turned out to be an acquaintance of Letavet - a collective farm hunter Torgoev. Berkut was sitting, clutching his leather mitten with his claws. The bird was tied by one leg, and a leather cap was put on its head to cover its eyes. Torgoev went hunting for foxes. Usually the hunter does not release the golden eagle at random, but tries to find the game himself. Seeing her, he frees the golden eagle and removes the cap from his eyes. The tamed predator soars up, then falls like a stone on the game and grabs the prey. Very often he catches not the game that the hunter saw, but a completely different one, not noticed by the hunter. While the golden eagle is fighting with his prey, the hunter quickly puts a cap on his head and takes the prey away, not allowing it to be tormented. If the game escaped from the claws of a tamed predator, then he always returns to his master.
Before saying goodbye, Torgoev showed where it is better to cross the river. It turns out that the channel was washed out by large water and the direction of the ford changed. Taking advantage of his instructions, our detachment crossed without new incidents, and the caravan entered the Sary-jas gorge.
The Sary-Jas River, on its way through the Central Tien Shan, cuts two powerful ridges with deep canyons. In the south, it cuts off the Kok-shaal-tau ridge from the Boz-kyr ridge, and near the mouth of the Inylchek river it cuts off the Kuilyu-tau ridge from the Sary-dzhas ridge. In this place, a narrow path rises from the river to the rocks and winds so high above the steep banks that the river is not visible from it, and only the rumble of water coming from below indicates that it flows between the harsh rocks. At a high altitude, along a narrow bridge from rock to rock, the mountain path passes to the right bank of the Sarydzhas River.
Where the gorge widens, climbers descended to the shore. Soon the caravan turned from the river Sary-jas into one of the gorges of the Kuilyu-tau ridge, from which the small river B. Taldy-su flowed.
Gorge B. Taldy-su met us with thickets of black currant. There were so many berries that twenty minutes was enough to satisfy our appetite and collect some more currants for the road.
The B. Taldy-su valley is very peaceful. Sloping grassy slopes, a sparse forest, sandy banks, a calmly flowing stream, and only in the upper reaches are snowfields of low peaks visible. A herd of teke crossed our path, not even looking back at the hunters who laid siege to Letavet with requests for ammunition. It is interesting that argali love to frolic in meadows and gentle slopes, while teke prefer to choose their pastures and places for walking on steep slopes.
Along the well-known path, traversed by him in 1936, A. A. Letavet confidently and quickly led the caravan to the moraines and screes that closed the upper reaches of the wild gorge.
Leaving the horses on the upper meadows, with heavy backpacks on our backs, we passed a steep scree, a small glacier and a steep snowfield of the pass. Having reached the pass (4300 m), for the first time we saw the goal of our journey so close and in all its beauty. The setting sun illuminated the peak of the Stalin Constitution, emphasizing its harmony and grandeur with oblique rays. The two-kilometer-long eastern wall went into shadow, and at the top sparkled the snow cone of the peak and the saw of the gendarmes of the northern shoulder leading to it.
Having set up our tents on the pass so that the peak could be seen from them, we began to identify accessible approaches to it.
The option of climbing to the top along the southern ridge for the first ascent was no longer possible due to the obvious steepness, complexity and distant approaches to the exit on the ridge.
The eastern wall is two ice-covered Shkhelds placed one on top of the other - the option was rejected as obviously fantastic.
The north ridge seems more accessible, but this option includes the entire gendarme saw on the shoulder and is not avalanche tested.
But since the western side of the peak was out of our field of vision, of all that we saw, the northern option seemed more accessible and occupied all the thoughts of the climbers.
NIGHT ON THE SNOW Eaves
The next day we saw the peak of the Stalinist Constitution, festively sparkling in the rays of the rising sun. The morning lighting helped clarify the route to the northern ridge and mark several avalanche roads, their detours and crossings.
The composition of the main part of the assault group remained the same with the replacement of Beloglazov by Viktor Mukhin. All the rest remained with Letavet, except for Timashev, who fell ill at the pass and was forced to go down to the lower camp. This time, the interaction of the expedition groups was built differently.
Simultaneously with the movement of the main group, the Letavet group was supposed to climb the peak named after Karpinsky (5050 m), standing south of the pass 4300 m in the same ridge, opposite the peak of the Stalin Constitution. Such a distribution of forces allowed the members of one group to observe the ascent of the other and, if necessary, come to each other's aid.
At noon, the main group left the pass, having received the last instructions from Letavet about conducting a deep reconnaissance of the path to the top. Warning us about the avalanche danger, Avgust Andreevich allowed us to climb only if conditions were favorable.
Those who remained on the pass stood for a long time on the edge of the cliff and looked after their comrades. They were not left with a sense of anxiety for friends leaving for an untraveled route. It was quite obvious that they would meet many difficulties, but no one knew whether they would be able to overcome them all. They forgot that tomorrow morning they themselves will go on an unknown path.
At the foot of the northern shoulder of the peak, the main group carefully examined the slope, outlined the path for further ascent and set up a bivouac approximately at the height of the passed pass - about 4,300 meters. From the tent, set up on soft, slightly trampled snow, one could see the passed glacier, moraine, pass, jagged rocky ridge to the left of it, and to the right, a snowy ridge studded with cornices leading to the top of Karpinsky Peak.
According to the calculation of the ascent route, the group had to leave this bivouac no later than four in the morning in order to overcome a significant part of the avalanche-prone slope before sunrise. Well explored avalanche roads were conveniently managed in the upper part of the slope. But below, special care and attention were required, since a powerful avalanche could overflow over the edge of the ill-defined couloirs and cross the direction of the expected ascent of the group.
It was the evening of September 4th. Extremely warm and windless, it did not bode well, stable weather. By seven o'clock we finished all the day's chores, had supper, and even heated a pot full of water from the snow, so that breakfast could be prepared sooner in the morning. The bowler hat was placed near the tent on a bed of rope and carefully covered from the frost with an assault jacket. Not trusting the calm weather too much, we checked the pitching of the tent. Then they climbed into sleeping bags, placing under them zigzag ropes and all their belongings, which that night could serve as a layer protecting them from the cold from below.
In order not to crush goggles, they were usually left on the neck, and cameras, medicines, matches and some products in fragile packaging that required careful handling and protection from moisture were placed behind the headboard or hung from the ceiling.
Of the items of climbing equipment, rope and backpacks were always taken into the tent, but cats, bottles of gasoline, pots of water were expelled from it. Shoes required special care. They had to be taken off, cleared of snow and put with you in a sleeping bag so that they would not freeze and dry a little. It must be said that it was a very unpleasant neighborhood, but in the end we got used to the need to dry or thaw something in our sleeping bag every night. Rarely did climbers in the Tien Shan have such warm nights on their ascents that they could put their shoes off instead of a pillow. These trifles of climbing life have long become so familiar that they did not interest us.
Soon everyone was quiet and fast asleep. But at about two in the morning we were suddenly awakened by the roar of an avalanche. A strong gust of wind tore the tent, then immediately both the roar and the wind subsided.
The avalanche passed close to us, and the weight was waiting for the second one along the same trail.
The dream was finally shattered. Apparently, in seven hours everyone had enough time to rest and, waking up, thought that in two hours they would part with the tent and go somewhere up, towards the avalanches.
The second avalanche rumbled when the stove rustled merrily in the tent. At first, everyone looked in surprise at the even blue flame, but, making sure that the roar was not caused by the stove, they continued to dress. By the light of a candle in the pre-morning silence, all preparations were quickly completed.
At the beginning of the ascent, we had to cross a fresh avalanche cone. In the dark, the transition through the clods of a frozen avalanche seemed excessively long and caused disapproving remarks. Then we came to a very steep, wide snowy ridge. In fact, it was not even a ridge, but a weakly expressed buttress of the snow wall. We have chosen this route as safer from avalanches and as a landmark for movement directed to a certain part of the summit ridge.
Feet sank into soft snow higher than knee-deep. Such deep snow covered this part of the slope until the very exit to the summit ridge. We went up straight, without zigzags. The one in front quickly got tired, and every hundred steps a change was made.
The slope became steeper, soft snow crumbled underfoot. The rate of ascent was reduced to about 50 m per hour. It wasn't until noon that the group got to the ridge and took a break on a hard ledge. From here we had to climb the icy ridge to the northern shoulder of the summit. Glancing at the western slope, we were convinced that the steepness of these slopes exceeded the technical capabilities of the group, so that the question of bypassing the gendarmes from the west was eliminated.
The second part of the climb to the shoulder, in contrast to the first, passed through hard snow, alternating with stripes of bluish hard ice. I had to cut steps and often replace the belay through the ice ax with belay on ice hooks. Ice-covered rocks were exposed before the exit to the shoulder. It was again, similar to the one encountered at Nansen Peak, gray marble, cut with numerous cracks and cemented by ice. Rocky hooks in it did not hold at all, and ice ones - they chipped off large blocks of marble flying downhill. There are no ledges, the hooks will not wind, I will have to go further without intermediate insurance.
Such an organization of movement, when the belay is carried out from below and the climber leaves the insurer for the entire length of the rope, is called on parole, because the rope may break when it breaks. Rarely are conditions so unfavorable that the climber in front has to take risks to ensure the safety of the movement of his comrades. Leaving his backpack below and concentrating on not making a single wrong move, the advanced climber demands close attention from his insurer and thus overcomes the obstacle in front of him.
After a tense, difficult and risky ascent, it is especially pleasant to get to the top of the ridge, wrap the rope around a solid ledge, drive a reliably ringing hook into a rock crack, snap a carbine in it and shout down to a friend
Everything is good! Tie a backpack - I can pull.
It was about 5 p.m. when all four of them reached the shoulder of the summit to the foot of the first gendarme. Tiredness from 14-hour work and the approach of the evening made me think about food and rest. We looked around, but did not see the slightest resemblance of a site suitable for a bivouac nearby. The sharp northern summit ridge to the east broke off into the abyss completely vertically, to the west - with an ice slope of about 75 degrees. steepness, and at the top consisted of a series of pointed rocks, the gaps between which were filled with large snow cornices hanging over the abyss. The summit ridge retained this character along its entire visible length for about 80 m to the first large gendarme.
When the wind started that day, we did not pay attention to it, but on the ridge the wind was clearly increasing. Clouds clung to the top. The weather was getting worse.
The first bunch was resting, and Popov and Ratsek went on reconnaissance in search of a flat place to set up a tent. They climbed the ridge to the gendarme, climbed to its top in half an hour, but descended back, as they say, not slurping salty, because behind this gendarme there was a gap of 100 meters, then another similar gendarme stood, but there was no platform anywhere.
Evening came. There was no more time to search. I had to settle down somewhere nearby. For a sitting overnight, you can tie ropes to ledges, clear a step for your feet and sit on a backpack, but this is a bad way out. So sometimes you can spend the night on the rock of the warm Western Caucasus, but here you can freeze with such comfort.
Since there was no other way out, they chose a large cornice for the night. He sat rather firmly on the crook of the ridge between two reliable rocks. They cut down a step per meter in this cornice, and on the other side they paved snow and small stones, also about a meter, to make a platform for setting up a tent. This was my suggestion. It was carried out as an order of the commander, but did not meet much sympathy because of its obvious danger. Therefore, having made a platform on the ledge, I decided to lie myself on the left side of the tent above the abyss. With reliable insurance, it will not be as dangerous as it seems.
The design of the designed site turned out to be so convenient and easy to implement that in exactly an hour all the chores were completed and the tent was set up on the ledge.
Finally, it was the commander's turn to take his place above the abyss. I tied the middle of the free rope behind a secure ledge and threw the ends into the open entrance of the tent. The three climbers quickly tied the rope I had abandoned, turned on their side and instantly fell asleep.
The wind blew in gusts and blew rustling grains of snow onto the thin roof. The stretched guy wires trembled, and sometimes hummed in a bass voice. This music in the mountaineering sense was of the most lullaby character, but I could not sleep. Unresolved worries never left my mind.
We reached the shoulder of the summit, but there is still no data on the possibility of overcoming all the gendarmes. And the worst thing is that it's getting warmer and, apparently, the weather is getting worse. Products can be stretched for four days. But how long can you sit on this ledge? I wanted to reduce such a bivouac to one single night. After all, in the event of a collapse of the cornice, the whole four will hang on the ropes over the abyss and lose half of the equipment. It will be a complete failure, and all the results of the expedition will go down the drain.
Why were the comrades not visible at Karpinsky Peak? Several times I looked at the comb, but I did not see anyone. Obviously, they are blocked by cornices, and the distance, apparently, is not less than 10 km, and therefore it is difficult to see them.
It seems our intended interaction will be zero.
I thought about my fellow climbers, about their selfless passion for this harsh sport. What attracts them and many more of our workers and engineers, students and scientists to mountaineering? Are they drawn to the mountains by the struggle with nature or the desire to uncover its secrets? One does not exclude the other, but complements. Among our Soviet people, who find in sports one of the means of strengthening and developing the remarkable moral and physical qualities inherent in all our people, the craving for mountaineering is quite understandable and natural. With these thoughts, I fell fast asleep.
I woke up at five o'clock in the morning, parted the floors of the tent and, seeing a continuous fog around, did not wake up the duty officer. The strength test of the snow cornice continued.
SEVEN GUARDS OF THE BEAUTY KUILYU
The fog was so thick that the surrounding mountains could not be seen. Raising the floor of the tent, we realized that today there was nowhere to hurry.
Popov, looking at the aneroid and consulting his notebook, reported that we had descended lower. Yesterday, when we got up here, the height was 5050. In the evening it turned out that we were sleeping at an altitude of 5110. And now we went down to 5050. This was a sign of improvement in the weather. The test of our snow eaves should not be too long.
At this time, in the gap between the clouds, as in a window, the cone of the peak of the Stalinist Constitution appeared, illuminated by the sun, sparkling with snow. The bright blue sky behind him set off the purity of the freshly fallen snow. Soon the window closed again and the vision disappeared as if it had never been. In a continuous white fog, not a single speck was again visible.
It wasn't until midday that the clouds finally parted. We have 6 running hours left. It is clear that we will not have time to complete the ascent during this period. We go out on reconnaissance in order to chart a path through the gendarme and not stray tomorrow morning.
The first gendarme, having removed the crampons, was defeated in 20 minutes. Racek and Popov went ahead. The top insurance was given for both ligaments. They went down the same way. In some places, ice blocks had to be chipped off and huge pieces of marble had to be thrown off.
The second gendarme at the foot was completely iced over.
On the right, along the sheer cliffs of this gendarme, ice fast ice went obliquely and upward, sprinkled with a layer of snow that had melted in the sun. On this ice, it was only 50 meters to the base of the third gendarme. The steepness of the ice was about 70 degrees .. And the gendarme stood in a wall about 100 meters high. Then I decided to try a detour on the right until our cats got very blunt.
Having cut a small step, I hit the rock with the beak of the ice ax.
Too small!
Further on, the ice became thicker, but when I started to cut the sixth step, moving three meters away from the belayer, a wide layer of ice broke off under a lot, along with all the cut steps. Having managed to shout Hold! - I slid down.
Mukhin belayed well and delayed me, setting off only a meter and a half of the rope. Comrades standing nearby were able to pull me out.
Then we launched ice axes. We slightly cleaned the ice armor of the second gendarme, but climbed on it without removing the crampons. It was impossible to remove the ice from all ledges. It was evident that on the north side of the rock it had been lying for centuries. The cats creaked as they scratched the rocks, and their hands slipped on the icy ledges. One way or another, but an hour later, Popov was the first to get to the top of the cliff and helped the rest to climb. The descent to the south side of the gendarme was easier.
Wise with experience, we did not bypass the third gendarme. They took him head-on in 30 minutes and gathered at the top. It was the same marble, icy block as the previous ones, only smaller.
Further obstacles of a different nature were visible. The fourth and fifth gendarmes were completely covered with snow swept from the west, and grandiose cornices hung from them over the abyss. The canopies of these cornices protruded 10-15 meters, their height was about the same. The base of the cornices was visible along the line of stones that stood out in some places from the western side.
The sixth gendarme was not fully visible. It was an ice cone, but the snow mounds around it made it possible to hope for the possibility of bypassing it.
Behind the sixth gendarme, a shallow but rather wide saddle was visible, and behind it was the slope of the ice dome of the summit.
On the western edge of the dome were visible ledges of small rocks. All the participants had sufficient experience in walking along the cornice ridges, therefore, in view of the late time, we decided not to go further and end the reconnaissance at this point.
Satisfied with the results of exploration, we; before dark, in a good mood, they returned to their cozy cornice. Before climbing into the tent, we very carefully checked the condition of the eaves and did not find any reason for concern. If it did not collapse during the day, one must assume that at night, when the snow freezes stronger, it will not fall either. Everyone agreed with this, but the insurance was not neglected.
The sun was sinking behind the jagged ridges of the western ranges. The snow slopes of the surrounding peaks turned pink, and from below, from the deep valleys, darkness was already approaching and gradually swallowing the slopes. A clear sunset foreshadowed better weather. After a successful reconnaissance, everyone was in such a good mood that no one began to reproach the duty officer for burnt milk. After dinner, we sat peacefully and remembered how pleasant it was to swim in the warm sea and gorge on fruits, and what kind of eccentrics you have to be in order to climb this steep instead of a sea beach, sit hungry on an icy ledge and risk your life a hundred times. And yet it is good in the fight against nature to pave the way for science, for explorers and climbers. In the Caucasus, for example, you go to Ushba - this is the most wonderful route - at every step you see traces of the work of generations of climbers. The hooks are clogged, the platforms are made, the gendarmes are familiar from the descriptions, the stones are dropped. And here in the Tien Shan, most of the routes are untrodden, each ledge must be cleared, the character of each gendarme must be studied.
Warmed by friendly conversation, we sang the well-known climbing song
If you raise your eyes to the map,
To look at the contours of the country,
No coverage
Immense this width.
And everywhere - to the Far East,
Like a stern guardian of native fields,
Mountains rise high
On the borders of my homeland.
Let readiness shine in your eyes
Become a wall for your homeland,
Who is not lost in the snowy mountains,
He will not be afraid in any battle!
The next morning, it was September 7th, at sunrise we went on the assault. In two hours, three rock gendarmes already familiar to us passed. The fourth, snowy, demanded more attention, as it was difficult to organize insurance on it. It is impossible to use an ice ax under a thin layer of snow, there were rocks. You can’t score a hook either - there wasn’t a pure ice, no ice-free rocks. These features of the path tormented us further. With great difficulty, we cleared individual ledges of ice and snow, laid a rope on them, or plunged our ice axes into a crack between the cornice and the rocks of the ridge. Reliability
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
XML error: XML_ERR_NAME_REQUIRED at line 343
Tien Shan- majestic mountains in the heart of Central Asia. People come here to lose their heads from the beauty of landscapes, leave a piece of their soul in deep gorges and lose peace forever, falling in love with dense coniferous forests and crystal lakes.
Tien Shan mountain system spread from east to west across the territory, and. The northern part of the Tien Shan, marked by the Ketmen, Zailiysky Alatau, Kungei-Ala-Too and Kirghiz ranges, stretches from China through the territory of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Most areas are easily accessible either from Almaty(Kazakhstan) or Bishkek(Kyrgyzstan). Eastern, including the ridges of Borohoro, Iren-Khabyrga, Bogdo-Ula, Karlyktag Halyktau, Sarmin-Ula, Kuruktag - is almost completely located in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) China. The ridges of the Western Tien Shan - Karatau, Talas Ala-Too, Chatkal, Pskem and Ugam begin in Kyrgyzstan and end in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan. This popular tourist destination is accessible from both Kyrgyzstan, so from the capital of Uzbekistan - Tashkent. The southern and southwestern border of the Tien Shan - the Fergana Range - frames the Fergana Valley. Pearl of Kyrgyzstan - inner (Central) Tien Shan- surrounded from the north by the Kirghiz ridge, from the south - by Kakshaal-Too, from the west - by Ferghana, and from the east - by the Akshiyrak massif. located here Lake Issyk-Kul attracts guests from all over the world. It is easily accessible by car, bus, train and even plane.
The Tien Shan is one of the highest mountains on the planet - more than thirty peaks here exceed the mark of six kilometers. It is no coincidence that the name of these mountains is translated as "heavenly" or "divine" mountains.
An extensive chain of foothills, gentle slopes and picturesque valleys and lakes have made these mountains attractive both for life and for recreation. And thanks to trails of varying complexity and configuration, developed infrastructure, these mountains have become a magnet for active tourism. There are routes for, light and heavy, ecological and ski tourism winter, interesting holiday on the shores of lakes in summer, as well as architectural monuments for lovers ethnographic tourism.
The mountains
Climbers and athletes aim at - the highest point of the Tien Shan and the northernmost seven-thousander of the planet - and its rival - one of the most beautiful mountains on Earth. In addition to them, in the Tien Shan, especially in its Chinese part, there are still unconquered peaks.
Victory Peak(7439 m) on the border of Kyrgyzstan and China remained unmeasured and unexplored for a long time due to the fact that mountain ranges cover it from all sides. The height was accurately determined only in 1943. Due to the smoothed and stretched peak, the mountain seems calm, but in reality, strong winds fly under the clouds, fog descends from above, and avalanches often come down. There is an opinion that Pobeda Peak is one of the most difficult seven-thousanders. Climbing this mountain requires a good physical form, equipment, but most importantly - endurance and courage. At the same time, more than a dozen athletes managed to get here, which means that Victory still submits to the brave and persistent.
known from time immemorial. The correct pyramid directed upwards with a height of 6995 meters is clearly visible from the whole area. In ancient times, it was believed that a deity lives on top - Tengri. Hence the name. There is one more - Kan-Too or "bloody mountain". At sunset, Khan Tengri turns bright red, the snow cap remains crimson even when the neighboring mountains plunge into twilight. The Khan-Tengri rock contains pink marble - that's why it seems that the bloody sunset rivers, sparkling and shimmering, flow down the slope.
The proximity of the state borders of Kazakhstan and China for a long time made the geographical belonging of Khan Tengri controversial. As a result, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China agreed that vertex- the common property of the three states.
Athletes have been successfully storming this six-thousander since the mid-1930s. The classic route follows the western ridge. The weather here is unstable, severe frosts can suddenly hit, wind blows, so a trip to Khan Tengri can be a strong test of strength. It only irritates climbers. The popularity of Khan Tengri has another reason. Geographically, when viewed from the north, the location of Khan Tengri (6995 m) and its western lintel (5900 m) to Chapaev Peak (6371 m), although two hundred meters lower, are still very similar to giants Himalayas: Everest(8848 m), his southern saddle(7900 m) and neighboring Lhotse Peak(8516 m), also called K2. Therefore, they also go to Kyrgyzstan to work out the Himalayan “classics”.
Those who are not confident in their form can try their hand at trekking to the base camp on the Southern Inylchek Glacier. From here you have a stunning view of the Tien Shan mountains. By the way, South Inylchek is the largest of the 7.3 thousand km2 of Tien Shan glaciers. Its neighbor - North Inylchek is a little smaller. At the junction of two ice sleeves there is a mysterious "disappearing" Lake Merzbacher. Every year - in winter and summer - in a week, the lake with a roar completely loses water, dumping it into the outflowing rivers. At the bottom there are ice blocks of icebergs. It is difficult to get around the lake during the full-flowing period - it is surrounded by rocks. The age of the reservoir, as well as the mechanisms of its occurrence and discharges, have not been fully studied. That is why both adventurers and scientists strive here. Tien Shan glaciers studied in connection with global warming. Changing of the climate led to their rapid melting, so shape of glaciers and their size is carefully measured.
The Tien Shan Mountains are a popular destination for lovers snowboarding, freeride practicing . The ski season here lasts from December to April, while the weather is mild and sunny. Ski resorts Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan have enough tracks that differ in both complexity and configuration. There are popular destinations and new routes. Organize descent from mountains and glaciers and transfer to the top by helicopter. High-mountain ski resort operates in Kazakhstan Chimbulak. Resorts have made a name for themselves in Kyrgyzstan "" "Kashka-suu", "Orlovka", "Oruu-sai". Known in Uzbekistan "Chimgan", "Beldersay", under construction ski complex "Amirsay". The infrastructure of such resorts is getting better every year, they are guided by European experience. Favorable difference between the Tien Shan and ski resorts in Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy because there are fewer tourists. In Tien Shan everyone can get unique ski holiday.
Gorges
Tien Shan gives everyone a chance. In Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, tourists are waiting for peaks and picturesque passes, ready to surrender to those who are stubborn and believe in themselves. Here you will not need professional equipment, enough comfortable clothes and shoes, you will not have to spend time on long acclimatization. And do not be afraid of the attractiveness of these places among tourists - the Tien Shan is so vast and so beautiful that there are reserved corners, little-known destinations and untrodden paths.
AT mountains of Kazakhstan popular destination - Almaty region, in which it is located sports complex "Medeo", Assy-Turgen observatory. For picturesque views in the Kazakh Tien Shan go to Kolsai (Kulsai) lakes. Three reservoirs are hidden among the green spurs in gorge Kolsai, 10 km north of the border with Kyrgyzstan.
In Uzbekistan, modest indicators of peaks (3309 m) and Peak Okhotnichiy(3099 m) are compensated by the scenic passes Ottoman, Kumbel, the beauty of the plateau Pulatkhan and mountain routes for every taste, many of which do not require serious sports training. Moreover, at the May Alpiniade they teach the basics of mountaineering. And along the shores of the local resort - Charvak reservoir (Charvak)- there are excellent hotels and comfortable guest houses.
Directions for , horse trips and runs on mountain bike waiting in Kyrgyzstan. Incredible panoramic views open up from the passes, and higher up in the mountains along the course of the Ak-Suu and Tash-Tekir rivers, the swift rivers turn into alpine waterfalls Sharkyratma, cascades of Kuldurek waterfalls, Archaly-Tor and Takyr-Tor waterfalls, as well as many other famous and nameless, but invariably beautiful. Mountain ranges covered with dense coniferous forests Turksey-Alatoo and Kungei Alatoo change the idea of mountains as a stone kingdom. A dense carpet of tall trees and herbs rules here, and in spring the slopes are completely painted with a bright palette. Beauties Tien Shan firs- giants with dark green needles. Another local attraction - relic nuts- appeared here in the Cretaceous period, more than 50 million years ago. Scattered along the spurs of the Tien Shan and concentrated in a tract in Kyrgyzstan, these trees are striking in size and still bear fruit.
The spurs of the Tien Shan are a network of interesting gorges. Red slopes of the gorge Jety-Oguz awaken the artist in everyone. Skazka Canyon, reminiscent of one of the American Grand Canyon, and the other of Jordanian Petra, appears special for each visitor, the play of light and shadow creates bizarre, each time different shapes and outlines. The most beautiful gorges Ak-su, Barskoon, and Chon-Koy-Su- this is the kingdom of herbs and stormy mountain streams.
in the gorges Chon-Ak-Su (Grigorievsky) and Semenovskoe break in the summer yurt camps. Yurt- fabric tent-house, traditional dwelling Asian nomads. Here you can enjoy the pristine nature, take a break from the city noise, get acquainted with the life and culture of the descendants of Tomiris, Attila and Genghis Khan. 
The Kyrgyz are sensitive to their history, cherish their customs and culinary traditions. AT yurt camps they introduce guests to traditional costumes, music, cuisine, organize horseback riding around the area.
Gorges Chon-Koy-Su and Tamga and completely turned the idea of \u200b\u200bthe mountains. Chon-Koy-Su - the abode of ancient people who left behind numerous drawings- petroglyphs, telling about their life, the animals that lived here. And Tamga got its name (from the Turkic - “sign”) thanks to the ancient Buddhist symbols that the local religious community carved on the stones a long time ago.
The gorges will be of interest not only to those who love, but also to those who like to tickle their nerves on mountain rivers. Ideal for alloy and rafting swift Angren, Akbulak, Ili, Koksu, Kyzylsu, Maidantal, Naryn, Oygaing, Pskem, Tarim, Chu, Ugam, Chatkal and others. They pass through many rapids, only in some areas they go out onto the plains, and in the upper reaches and lowlands they go along narrow rocky canyons.
valleys
As a direction for camping, tracking, paragliding high mountain valleys and pastures are suitable jailoo (jailoo). This is a protected world of lush herbs, mineral springs and crystal lakes.
One of the largest and most famous A triangular crystal, squeezed in the vice of the Kyrgyz Range, Suusamyr-Too and Dzhumgal-Too, is a magnet for lovers extreme and "black" holiday. In winter, they ride here skiing and snowboarding, including on wild trails, with a drop from a helicopter to mountain peaks covered with dry and crumbly "Tien Shan" snow. Summer enjoy trekking tours from campground or fly to paragliding, covering the beauty of the valley from a bird's eye view.
Valley - majestic alpine meadows overlooking the picturesque alpine plateau Arabel. This lake district was formed due to glaciers. There are 50 reservoirs of different sizes. However, the most picturesque is the crystal lake. Kashka-Suu, like a mirror reflecting the mountain peaks directed upwards.
Valley Manzhyly-Ata known not only for its picturesque landscapes. Pilgrims and lovers of relaxation at mineral springs come here. Here are located stone age petroglyphs, Scythian burial grounds, medieval ruins and Buddhist inscriptions. According to an ancient legend, Mother Deer lived here, giving rise to the Kyrgyz tribe Bugu. And the valley of Manzhyly-Ata is named in honor of the Muslim preacher, Sufi and miracle worker who spread Islam here. Numerous mineral springs gushing out of the ground keys, according to testimonies, help to heal from diseases.
Alpine lakes
There is a place in the Tien Shan for a calm beach summer vacation.
It ranks seventh among the deepest lakes in the world. This crystal surface, framed by mountain ranges, is the pride of the Tien Shan. The name translates as "hot lake". Although the temperature in the region drops below zero in winter, and water bodies are covered with ice, the brackish warm Issyk-Kul remains without an ice cover all year round. The first mention of Issyk-Kul was left by Chinese travelers in the 2nd century BC. They called it "Zhe-Hai" - "warm sea".
Issyk-Kul today - resort, active all year round. In summer, people come here to soak up the water - there are more sunny days here than on Black Sea, and the infrastructure - beaches and piers, hotels, shops and restaurants - offer a choice for every taste and budget. In winter, lovers of extreme recreation go to the vicinity of Issyk-Kul - skiers, snowboarders, freeriders.
Not far from Issyk-Kul, you can even experience something that is possible only in one place on the planet - on dead sea in Israel. Kyrgyzstan has its own dead lake- Kara-Kul, located 400 meters from Issyk-Kul. The salinity of the water is more than 70 percent or 132 grams per liter - enough to have a rejuvenating and healing effect, as well as allow the vacationer to "lie" on the water surface without any effort.
lovers outdoor recreation, as well as birdwatchers those interested ecotourism, will appreciate the numerous alpine reservoirs of Kyrgyzstan.
hidden among the green western spurs of the celestial mountains so asks for the artist's canvas. Located at an altitude of 1878 meters above sea level in the conservation area of the same name, Sary-Chelek is one of the deepest reservoirs of the Tien Shan - in some places to the bottom of 220 meters. However, the water is so clear that in a smooth mirror you can see what is at the very bottom. Its name - translated from the Kyrgyz "yellow bowl", the lake received due to the colorful cover of bright flowers and shrubs reflected in the water.
The green western spurs of the Tien Shan are full of numerous counterparts of the bright Sary-Chelek. In the northern part of the Chatkal ridge, small reservoirs-pearls are hidden. Calm lake Aflatun, lost among the green spurs, and like stones strung on a thread of an alpine river, lake Kara-Tokoy- the lower one, famous for its underwater forest, and the upper one, squeezed into the vice of the gorge of the same name.
A different landscape opens from the reserved shores of lakes Chatyr-Kul and (Song-kyul). These reservoirs of the Central Tien Shan, located at an altitude of more than three kilometers, are squeezed by gray stone peaks in tectonic depressions among flat high-mountain valleys and green pastures of jailu. Both are covered with ice for the winter. And in spring, summer and autumn, birds flock here from all over Eurasia. Ideal destinations for mountain tourism, lovers of pristine nature and its feathered inhabitants.
Monuments of history
Tien Shan would not be Tien Shan without the people who left their mark here. Evidence that these regions have been inhabited since time immemorial remained in the tract Saimaluu-Tash or Saimaly-Tash ("Patterned Stones"). Here in the highlands gorge near Kazarman More than 107,000 drawings carved on rocks dating back to the 2nd-3rd millennium BC have been discovered. Similar artifacts related to the III-I millennium BC. e found on Chumysh rocks on the spurs of the Ferghana Range. Rock galleries of "younger" and smaller scale are also found in the Issyk-Kul, Naryn and Talas regions of Kyrgyzstan. Stone paintings tell about the life of the peoples who lived here and depict the beauties of nature.
Those interested in history will appreciate that in the Tien Shan, along with Muslim ones, artifacts of local and Turkic beliefs, Buddhism, Christianity-Nestorianism have been preserved.
In the Middle Ages, the Tien Shan was a milestone on the caravan routes from Europe to China. Silent witnesses of that era were the ruins of a fortified settlement Koshoi-Korgon and also mysterious caravanserai Tash-Rabat. Situated among picturesque mountains, they continue to attract attention with unanswered questions.
Legends of the Tien Shan
Kyrgyz Olympus
The ancient Turks and Mongols revered the god Tengri as the organizer of the world together with the goddess Umai and Erlik. They called him the deity of the upper zone of the world and believed that he writes the fate of people, measures the term for everyone and determines who will be the ruler of people. Khan-Tengri Peak was considered a kind of Olympus - the home of the supreme deity.
Tien Shan and Issyk
Beautiful legend talks about the origin of the names Tien Shan and Issyk-Kul. Allegedly, in ancient times, when there were no mountains here yet, a strong, like a hero, a shepherd Tien Shan and his beautiful and modest wife Issyk lived in green valleys. And their descendants would glorify their happiness for centuries, but only the faithful companion of the Tien Shan attracted the evil sorcerer Khan Bagysh. The sorcerer's henchmen kidnapped the blue-eyed Issyk in front of frightened children. In the evening, Tien Shan returned and did not find his wife in the yurt. He took a bow and arrows and went to the sorcerer's palace. Bagysh sent countless troops against him, but the shepherd scattered them all in righteous anger. The sorcerer was frightened, turned into a giant eagle and raised Issyk in his claws to the blue heights. And he sent a spell on the hero to turn him into a stone. The mighty Tien Shan felt his legs and arms grow numb and heavy and decided on the last desperate attempt - he put an arrow on the bow - and fired. A well-aimed arrow pierced the eagle's wing. Bagysh released the desired beauty from his claws. Out of anger, he cursed her, wishing Issyk to become water, and went underground, not getting to anyone. Tien Shan rushed to catch his wife. The shepherd petrified, turned into mighty mountains, and his wife became a crystal lake. The children turned into swift mountain rivers, forever remaining with their epic parents.
In the summer, the combined team of the MAI Tourist Club and the State Customs Committee “Citadel” (Brest) visited the mountains of the eastern part of the Central Tien Shan. Despite the fact that not all of the initial plans were realized, the campaign was a success. We got acquainted and fully imbued with the area, passed several beautiful passes and climbed the three highest peaks of the Tien Shan. See below for a photo report of our trip.
I'll tell you a little about what we wanted and what happened to go through. The acclimatization stage went according to plan. It included the passage of two survey passes of the Seven Muscovites (1B, 4130) and Chontash (2B, 4570) and the first ascent to the summit of Explorers of the Tien Shan (4490). Then, having reached the South Inylchek glacier, we climbed up it and through the Komsomolets glacier climbed out to the Schmidt Plateau pass (3B, 5270), which had not been visited for a long time. From its saddle we passed the traverse of the untrodden peak 5650 and, ahead of schedule, descended through the Proletarsky tourist glacier to MAL on South Inylchek.
At the next stage, we planned to pass three high-altitude traverses. But because of the problems with my back and the paramount desire of the team to climb the seven-thousanders, they refused to continue the planned route. Later we switched to separate ascents in the upper reaches of the Southern Inylchek, sometimes for convenience dividing into subgroups. As a result, through the Razorvanny glacier we climbed the Eastern Saddle of Khan-Tengri (5800 m) and made an attempt to climb into. Tent Western (6511), climbed Khan-Tengri (7010) and Pobeda (7439), climbed the western peak of the peak of Military Topographers (6815).
The way from the base camp to the Semenovsky glacier takes 2.5 - 3 hours. The tents of the first camp are not located directly at the confluence with the South Inylchek, but a little lower, hiding from large avalanches from Khan Tengri and Chapaev Peak behind a rocky spur.
Feeling some euphoria from going on the route, we got carried away and talked until late in the evening. The degree in the blood also interfered with sleep. As a result, we passed out at ten, and got up at midnight for the early passage of a narrow and dangerous section between the peaks of Chapaev and Khan-Tengri, popularly called the bottle.
Evening snow covered all traces. The ascent began almost in the dark. The flashlight snatched out only 50 meters of the glacier in front of my feet. We went straight up, focusing on the silhouettes of large mountains. I was on Khan Tengri 8 years ago, but now everything has changed. Instead of deep snow - firn, powdered with snow. Yes, and we went down for the most part along the opposite side.
Before the beginning of the dangerous place we were overtaken by a bunch. One of the men in its composition was on Khan last year and in general terms he imagined where the standard ascent path passes.
The surrounding landscape brightened, and the mountains woke up.
On the way to the neck of the bottle from the Chapaev Peak, an avalanche began, which went lower, but kept us in suspense and covered us with snow dust.
A little higher we saw a tent with a crazy man who decided to put it in such a place.
Tent - dot in the center of the frame
Someone is coming down
Camp 5300 is located a little higher than the icefall of the Semenovsky glacier. Considering yesterday's gatherings, we could not deny ourselves the desire to boil tea there and take a nap for an hour.
The upper reaches of the Southern Inylchek and the peak of the Military Topographers (6873)
The rest cheered us up a little and we climbed relatively fresh into the bergschrund under the Western Saddle of Khan-Tengri. Here, at an altitude of 5800, the tents of the assault camp are located. The further route along the western ridge of Khan-Tengri is almost entirely fixed with stationary railings. There are also small sites for spending the night at 6350 (for one tent), 6400 (for two tents), at 6600 (for 1 tent), near the summit.
Compared to 2009, now most of the tents at 5800 are located in a wide covered berg under the saddle, and caves are being torn off there. It's less windy and safer. 8 years ago, from the saddle to the north, almost from under our feet, a giant cornice flew off, breaking off right along the path with poles.
A simple ascent to Khan Tengri could not give normal acclimatization. Therefore, we decided to climb with bivouac equipment to 6400, set up a tent, go to the top, and then descend and spend the night. Maybe in terms of load, such a plan was not entirely ideal, since it would be more competent to spend the night at 6400 first, and then climb the mountain the next day. But we were afraid of the worsening weather that the forecast promised. We decided to make the most of our first outing.
We packed up the camp and at about 3 o'clock in the morning we went up from 5800 m. I was lucky at the start to slip through a group of foreign climbers, and Misha stood behind them and later bypassed them one by one. On the way to 6400 I overtook a few people, whom I didn’t see more on the way to the top and on the descent, they probably turned back.
In 3 hours I climbed to the site at 6400, where one tent was already standing. The weather was nasty, visibility was limited, and a gusty wind was blowing. Therefore, I did not dare to set up our tent alone and started leveling and completing the site. Together with Misha, who soon came up, we set up and stretched out a tent, in which we left our belongings and equipment.
It must be said that climbing Khan-Tengri along the classic route from the Western Saddle is not quite sporty. The almost continuous thread of the railing allows you to climb and descend from the top in almost any weather. Modern equipment reliably protects even from strong winds, and the lack of visibility deprives you of pleasure, but does not interfere with the ascent. So we, of course, remembering the “cold - wind” from Vladimir Stetsenko, decided that there was no reason not to go upstairs.
If up to 6400 even with a backpack I felt quite fresh, then continuing the ascent already light, I noticed that the pace had dropped. Misha, on the contrary, added and went a couple of pitches ahead. I tried to find motivation to climb to the top, where I had already been before, along a fixed route and in the absence of visibility. I persuaded myself to continue climbing for the sake of further acclimatization. In front of the “trough” I caught up with Misha, who ran into a line on the railing.
We clearly lacked acclimatization, since the previous climb was a traverse of the Bagpipe peak (5650) with an overnight stay at 5300. I looked at the people in front, going noticeably slower and still resisting and continuing to move up. And I understood that if they endure, then I can endure a little.
We went to the top together with the people of Alma-Ata. The climb from 6400 took about 5 hours. Physically and psychologically, he was given hard. After a couple of weeks, we went to Pobeda easier and with much more pleasure. I dragged a heavy DSLR upstairs for nothing, taking only a couple of shots. We never saw the northern Inylchek behind the clouds.
Misha on top
We went down to the tent at 6400, where we had lunch and settled down to rest. The forecast was predicted to be negative, but we did not deny ourselves a high overnight stay.
We woke up at one in the morning and hurried down. Having passed the bottle before sunrise, at 5 am we were at South Inylchek.
On the left is Pogrebetsky Peak (6527)
Meanwhile, our main team climbed the East Saddle of Khan-Tengri through the icefall of the Razorvanny glacier. And having made an attempt to climb the Western Tent, in bad weather, she was forced to turn around and go down to the camp on the saddle. And there was no time left for a second attempt, as the deadline for our meeting in MAL was running out.
Vazha Pshavela (6918) and Nehru (6742)
Khan Tengri (6995)
Having reunited with the team, they began to jointly build further plans. It became clear that we no longer had time to continue the originally planned route and in the end go to Pobeda. As a result, we decided that it would be easier and more interesting to go to individual peaks. In addition, at that moment there was still hope for a possible traverse of the Victory.
The guys who were not on Khan decided to go there. And Misha and I were joined by Vanya, who was already a snow leopard, and we planned a walk to the upper reaches of the Zvezdochka glacier.
Here, in the Inylchek region, the main focus is on Khan Tengri. This year, more than a hundred people climbed from the south alone. Another part of the people is trying to climb the Pobeda Peak. The rest of the interesting and easily accessible peaks, which have a not so attractive height, are deprived of attention. Climbers visited many six-thousanders of the Meridional Ridge 1-2 times. In the area of the glaciers Komsomolets, Shokalsky, Putevodny and other glaciers, there are a lot of untrodden five-thousanders. The third highest peak of the Tien Shan - the peak of the Military Topographers (6873 m) is climbed extremely rarely, 1-2 groups in 5 years.
Since we didn’t have any descriptions, we decided with our subgroup to go up to the upper reaches of the Zvezdochka and already there decide what to do next. They planned to choose between Military Topographers and Eastern Victory, depending on what they saw.
The path to the upper reaches of the Zvezdochka leads along a marked path to the icefall at the turn of the glacier. Then it passes by the first camp of Pobeda under the pedestal of the Abalakov route and further up under the walls of Eastern Pobeda.
Abalakov's route goes from left to right
In the center of the frame, the western peak of the peak of the Military Topographers
There are many lakes in the central part of Zvezdochka. The glacier is broken not strongly. A small icefall opposite the spur of the Shipilov Peak goes along the right side of the glacier. In order not to fall through, after dinner, we put on snowshoes and went further in them.
Western Summit of Military Topographers Peak (6815)
Avalanche from the Victory balcony. To the right is Zhuravlev's route
The rocky walls of the Eastern Victory impress with their steepness and scale. The sun practically does not illuminate them. Of the four routes laid here, none is repeated.
About 4 kilometers did not reach the Chonteren pass, located between the Eastern Victory and the Military Topographers the day before. In the morning Misha complained of being unwell. Probably not fully recovered after Khan Tengri, and yesterday at 9 o'clock was not easy. We approached the pass take-off, but did not rise higher. Since they considered that the rest will be much more productive below.
The next day, the condition and mood is excellent. Chonteren climbed almost on foot, hanging 50 meters of railings at the top of the takeoff. From the Chinese side, too, there are no big difficulties. Therefore, the tourist category of the pass 3B is very conditional.
Shipilov Peak (6201)
The advantage of the route to the summit of Eastern Pobeda (6762 m) is that from the saddle of the pass (5500 m) it is light and with the current state of snow it takes a day. We, having a certain margin of time, decide to go to the peak of the Military Topographers located further.
Behind the crest to Eastern Pobeda
A narrow cornice ridge goes straight from the pass in the direction of the peak of the Military Topographers. Walking along it in a bunch in a small group is a pleasure.
Above the ridge expands, turning into a snowy slope, which leads to a small plateau. On the edge of the plateau there is a group of picturesque ice seracs. Vanya dubbed them Julie's, since in Anatoly's reports he often saw similar landforms. Large pieces of ice break off the edge of the plateau and gradually slide into the abyss. While lunch was being prepared, we had time to walk and climb a little.
Victory Array
Walls of Military Topographers Peak
Between the seracs is Pobeda Peak
The camp was set up at an altitude of 6050 under the slopes leading to the western ridge of the Military Topographers. While the guys were setting up the tent, I managed to trail up and take some pictures of the mountain. The entire path of the traverse of Valery Khrishchaty's team from Pobeda to Khan opened up before my eyes.
Peaks of the legendary traverse in one panorama
Panorama from Pobeda to Khan
The plans to traverse the summit, which had arisen, were postponed until future trips, since Misha, motivating the decision by the preservation of strength for the Victory, refused to accompany us on the ascent.
In the morning, new adventures awaited us. About 5 o'clock shook a couple of times. As it turned out later, these were the echoes of a seven-magnitude Chinese earthquake. Where there was a small bergschrund the day before, a 3-meter ice wall appeared. Our entire plateau sank, deep ice funnels formed on the slope. There have been landslides here and there. As the guys from our second subgroup, who were descending from Khan at that moment, later said, avalanches descended from Chapaev and Khan Tengri at the same time, a cloud of dust flew to Inylchek. And just a few minutes before that, they managed to leave the Semenovsky glacier around the corner.
During the evening reconnaissance, the first rock gendarme of the western ridge of the Military Topographers seemed rather difficult. For its passage it would be necessary to hang a railing. Therefore, we decided to climb the ridge in a new way, leaving already above the gendarme.
South view
The amount of snow on the slopes was decent. Sometimes there were spots of crust, but mostly we had to trail and not forget about the avalanche danger. It went hard. Initially, having taken with them an additional rope and some kind of rock equipment, they left it all on the shelf. Because we realized that if we encounter serious technical difficulties, then in the current state we will not make it to the top. And everything that is easier, we will climb in a bunch.
The upper reaches of the South Inylchek
From the place of exit to the ridge under the rocky rise to the second gendarme there is a long section with cornices. We were more embarrassed not by them, but by the real chances to leave with an avalanche on the sheer cliffs of the Chinese side. At some point, they even tied up the entire length of the rope in order to be able to alternately release each other and tuck it behind protruding stones.
The weather didn't help the climb, but it didn't make us turn around either. Hoods and windproof masks saved from the gusty wind. Having passed the cornices, we approached the rocky gendarme. The lower part was climbed. I climbed higher, tensing a little in the fireplace, and threw off the rope to Vanya.
Above the gendarme, the crest expands and becomes simple. But the wind and deep snow made it difficult to go. We climbed to the Western summit of the Military Topographers (6815 m) in the absence of visibility. In the tour, they found a note from Kirikov-Oleynik-Parshin dated 2005, who, in turn, removed the note from Sergey Lavrov from 1999.
According to the navigator, there were still 400 meters and 60 in height to the Main Peak, but there were no thoughts of going there without visibility.
It cleared up on the descent
We went down to camp 6050, where Misha met us with an awesome borscht, by 18:30 in the evening.
We got up early in the morning, went down to Zvezdochka and ran to the base camp, where we were already met by the guys who had successfully climbed Khan Tengri.
In the evening, an Iranian woman came to talk to us, which the guys actually saved on the Khan. According to stories, during an overnight stay at 6400, at 8 pm, she went down to the ledge to their tents and remained seated. The girl no longer had the strength to continue the descent. Initially, she refused the invitation to go into the tent, as well as the offer of tea. But in the end, they put her in a sleeping bag, warmed her, gave her a drink, and sent her downstairs in a normal condition in the morning.
After resting for a couple of days, they began to gather for the Victory. The weather is over by now. After August 10, not heavy but frequent snowfalls began, and winds blew up above. We understood that there could be no eternal bad weather and a window would definitely appear, we only needed to guess the exit to Vazha Pshavela by this moment. And from there to the top day. Part of the team also did not want to give up the idea of a traverse so easily, so they took an additional arc tent upstairs, all together intending to live in a tent.
There are seven of us left on the team. Zhenya flew to work after trying to climb the Western Tent, and Maxim after climbing Khan Tengri. And three guys from Novosibirsk and Moscow joined us. We decided to go up the mountain autonomously, but climb together, trying to help each other.
Dmitry Grekov gave us a radio station and further helped by maintaining and reporting the current weather forecast. This attitude was very pleasant, especially since we were not Ak-Sai's clients.
While the weather was on the Tien Shan, the people, believing that the time had not come, acclimatized on the Khan, rested and talked in the base camp. As a result, when everyone was ready to go up, the weather turned off. Before us, three people climbed through Vazha, who unsealed the mountain this season, and four guys from the Novosibirsk team passed the traverse, climbing the Zhuravlev route and descending the classic.
We went upstairs on August 14th, believing that just in time for the possible window on the 18th-19th, we would row up to Vazha.
The first obstacle on the way to the summit is the icefall of the Wild Pass. Unlike the further route, every year the first climbers on the mountain hang it with new railings. The icefall itself is normal. Above a steep step in one and a half ropes, everything is walked on foot. Dangerous approach under the hanging dumps and ice at the beginning of the railing. Therefore, it is advisable to pass the icefall either early in the morning or in the late afternoon, when the peak of solar activity is behind.
Leaving the base camp after lunch, we stopped for the night about a kilometer from the icefall. It is scary to stop closer because of possible avalanches and landslides from the slopes of Pobeda.
Having passed the icefall in the morning, we went through the snowy fields to a small trough on the Dikiy pass. While dinner was being prepared, the stragglers approached. Since the weather was not promised for tomorrow, the goal on this day is to climb to the caves at 5800, in order to comfortably wait for it to improve there.
View of the Western Saddle of Khan Tengri
Exit to the Wild
The slopes above the Wild are gentle, but overloaded with snow and avalanches. Plots of deep snow alternate with a firn board. Put on beepers and snowshoes. Trying not to cut the slope, we went up, breaking the path.
In the center of the frame we passed the traverse of the top of the Bagpipe (5650)
According to the information we have, two caves were dug on the slopes for three and six people. Coming to the bottom of them at an altitude of 5700, as it later turned out to be less, they expanded it to seven people. Three guys from the parallel group went to spend the night higher.
By evening the weather had deteriorated and it was very cold. While expanding our cave, we met a team of people descending from above. The weather prevented them from going to the top. To the question: “Where are you from?”, Ilya, who led the group, replied: “From hell!”.
At night, they dug up the entrance to the cave a couple of times. The whole next day the revenge continued. Our walkie-talkie quickly sat down. Left without weather and without a forecast, they began to try to get information by satellite phone. In response to an SMS with a request, one of our friends wrote that heavy rains were expected at Pobeda, another sent a long text in English, copied from the site, saying that everything would be very bad, but not without specifics. We were also interested in specific figures for cloudiness, precipitation and wind strength.
Seeing what was happening on the street, and having no perspective, the idea of a traverse of the summit was finally abandoned, switching to a radial ascent. Extra things and an additional tent were left in the cave and closer to dinner on August 17, when it was a little more visible, we went upstairs.
There are several rocky belts on the ridge of Vazha from 5800 to peak 6918. The first is at 5800 - 6000, the second is 6100 - 6250 and a couple of small areas above 6400. There are traditional places for a tent at 6100 under the protection of small stones, and at 6400. There are no places protected from the wind. In case of heavy snowfalls, the rocks at 6100 and 6400 do not fully protect against avalanches either. In fact, a small arc tent can be put up almost everywhere, breaking off part of the slope. You will have to tinker with the platform for the tent.
The rocky sections of the ridge are fixed with railings. But they are not updated and only sometimes they are duplicated by the forces of enthusiasts with newer ropes. In some places the rope is broken or without braid. The rocks are simple, so it is better to climb on your own, insuring yourself with a jumar.
In the evening we went to the sites at 6400. Three guys walking in parallel found a ready place for their arc redfox. We began to expand the site next to our large tent. After some time, they came across a human body, as it turned out later, perhaps it was Alexander Popov, who was covered here in 2012 by an avalanche. Having dug it with snow, they went 50 meters to the side and dug a place on the slope.
We are building a site at 6400
The bodies of those who died at the Victory are a little tense. It is clear that there is simply no strength and opportunity to go down. But it's one thing when a person is wrapped in an awning and a tent and conditionally buried away from the path. Another, when at 7250, in the trough under the gendarme, a dead person just sits. It is not so difficult to wrap it in an awning, but you need to know about it in advance and have an awning with you. On a ridge covered with fir, you can’t just bury it in the snow and you won’t take off your puff.
Behind the peak of Nehru
Climbing the peaks of the Northern Tien Shan.
“In the struggle with the summit, in striving for the immensity, a person wins, acquires and affirms, first of all, himself. In the extreme tension of the struggle, on the verge of death, the Universe disappears, ends next to us. Space, time, fear, suffering no longer exist. And then everything can be available. Like on the crest of a wave, when, during a violent storm, a strange, great calmness suddenly reigns in us. This is not spiritual emptiness, on the contrary, it is the warmth of the soul, its impulse and aspiration. And then we realize with certainty that there is something indestructible in us, a force that nothing can resist.
Lucien Devi. President of the French Mountaineering Association Preface to the book Annapurna by Maurice Herzog.
Excursions in the mountains of the Northern Tien Shan.
In terms of mountaineering, in the Zailiisky Alatau mountain range, which is one of the ranges of the Northern Tien Shan, it is customary to distinguish three independent mountain regions: Left, Middle and Right Talgar.
In the south and east, the headwaters of the Left Talgar river limits the main range of the Zailiysky Alatau. After the nodal peak of A. Berezovsky, the ridge stretches to the east, bordering the cirque of the Dmitriev glacier. Peaks rise above the heavily glaciated crest of the ridge: K. Ovcharova (4230 m), two trapezoidal peaks of E. Abalakov (4468 m and 4332 m), then the peak of CSKA (4434 m). Further on rises the powerful peak of the Constitution (4580 m), which stands out in relief due to its pyramidal shape.
Between the peaks of CSKA and the Constitution is the peak of Dmitriev (4510 m), its shape resembling a gable tent. Its crest is elongated in the meridional direction and is the beginning of the Chiliko-Keminskaya lintel connecting the Zailiyskiy and Kungei-Alatau ridges.
A short but high spur of the Constitution separates the basins of the Dmitriev and Constitution glaciers. It is crowned by the Karakaursyn (Black Pen) peaks - 4404 m. Zhanatau (New Peak) - 4242 m and Leningradets Peak - 4015 m.
Further to the north-east from the peak of the Constitution, the peak of Ivan Miroshkin and the plateau-like peak named after the 10th anniversary of Kazakhstan (4526 m) are known. The saddle between them serves as a way from the Constitution glacier to the Dzhangyryk glacier.
The northern spur of the peak of the 10th anniversary of Kazakhstan delimits the Constitution and Toguzak glaciers. In its middle part it has a rocky peak - Inetau Peak (4038 m). The ridge of the Zailiisky Alatau to the north-east of the listed peaks is a wide firn plateau, gently descending towards the Dzhangyryk glacier and breaking off to the north to the Toguzak glacier. Above it rises the peak of Muztau (4556 m).
Between the beautiful rocky peak Sovetsky Kazakhstan (4464 m) and the top of Toguzak (4444 m) there is a decrease - the Popov Pass (4294 m) - quite difficult, the closest path from the upper reaches of the Left Talgar River to the sources of the Dzhangyryk River passes through it.
From the top of Muryntau (4510 m) the ridge takes a northerly direction, and a powerful spur of the Zhusandy-Kungei departs to the east. Through the Toguzak pass (4283 m) there is a path from the glacier of the same name to the huge Bogatyr glacier, and behind the pass the destroyed ridge of the Konrtau peak (4443 m) rises, behind which rise the nameless, still unconquered peaks 4555 m, 4536 m, 4568 m high, and the peak Kolesnik (4548 m), the basin of the Left Talgar.
Two more peaks rise above the side spurs. This is the peak of 4455 m and the South Bogatyr. From the nodal peak of Stalsky the ridge turns to the east, and in the meridional direction a New spur 25 km long departs from it, which is the watershed between the Left and Middle Talgar rivers.
The new spur is strongly dissected. It is decorated with the peaks of Kishkenetau (4307 m), Dzhambul (4355 m), TEU (4240 m), Koptau (4152 m), Dynamovets (4193 m). Damalaktau (4250 m), Strelok (3900 m). Yubileinaya (3941 m) and Fizik (3850 m).
On the northern slope of this peak, the glaciation of the New Spur ends. Numerous lowerings of the crest of the spur serve as passes, of which the most convenient are TEU (4020 m) and Teke (3750 m), leading from the Levy valley to the Middle Talgar valley.
The new spur is branched. The first major branching is at its very beginning. Here, the Frunze ridge with the peak of the same name (4420 m) and the KazTAG peak (4334 m) departs to the west. In the branching of this ridge lie the Marble and Frunze glaciers.
The Frunze spur, in turn, forks, its northwestern branch has two more rocky peaks - Bezbozhnik (4360 m) and Bezymyannaya (about 4150 m). The short western spur of the Kishkenetau peak separates the Stalsky and Dzhambul glaciers.
At the top of Koptau, the second branching of the New Spur occurs, forming a cirque of the Tagiltsev and Rusakov glaciers. There is a beautiful ice peak named after academician Kurchatov (about 4100 m), crowned with two rocky obelisks.
To the east, the New Spur scatters only short ridges that limit the hanging valleys of the Northern and Southern TEU and Damalaktau glaciers. Solnechny, Strelok and Jubilee. Among these spurs, only two (in the region of the TEU glacier) have peaks: Karatas (4055 m) and Sypuchaya (4206 m).
The sources of the Middle Talgar River from the south and east are closed by the main ridge of the Zailiysky Alatau, which forms the cirque of the Shakalsky glacier and reaches maximum heights and glaciation in this area.
Four short ridges form five chambers of the Shakalsky glacier, and the first of them from the west resembles a rock saw with a peak named after the first Kazakh scientist Chokan Valikhanov (4294 m).
Powerful spurs depart to the southeast. The Issyktenchokhu spur separates the Bogatyr and Korzhenevsky glaciers, it contains the peaks Akgyul (4500 m), White Peak (4700 m), Issyktenchokha (4850 m), Vsevobuch (4550 m) and several nameless peaks.
The spur of the GUVVO (Main Directorate of General Military Training) has the peaks of GUVVO (4550 m) and Egiztau (4500 m). To the north of the Surovoy pass (4523 m), the ridge gets a northeasterly direction, its height increases sharply, reaching a height of 4754 m in the Aktau ice pyramid.
The northwestern spur of the same name separates the Shakalsky glacier from the cirque of the Kroshka glacier. It has three interesting peaks - Dmitry Salanov (4406 m), Chekist (4408 m) and Karaulchitau (4365 m).
After the saddle of the difficult pass Aktyuz (4450 m) rises Trud Peak (4650 m), known for its western wall. The Talgar massif (5017 m), towering above all the surrounding peaks, looks menacing.
If you look at the Talgar massif from the northwest, you can clearly see its trapezoidal outline. The slopes of the Talgar massif are steep. The western wall is especially grandiose, reaching almost one and a half kilometers in height.
The southwestern and northeastern ridges rise with five hundred meter plummets above the firn fields of the Korzhenevsky glacier, the largest in the northern Tien Shan. Its length is 12 km. In two short spurs extending to the west, the peaks of Klyshtau (4268 m), Abai Kunanbaev (4381 k) and Ushbastau (4274 m) rise.
They delimit small lateral valleys, in which the Southern Talgar, Northern Talgar and Kopr glaciers are located. Between the glaciers Kopr and Ozerny stretches a small spur with the peak Sportivnaya (4000 m).
Of the three southeastern spurs that form the chambers of the Korzhenevsky glacier, only the southernmost one has significant peaks - South-Eastern Talgar (4841 m) and Gorin Peak (4760 m). After the rocky peak Kopr (4631 m) there is a monumental peak Metallurg (4760 m), which is the northernmost point of the lateral ledge of the axial part of the ridge.
Two spurs depart from the nodal peak of Metallurg: the Northern one separates the valleys of the Middle and Right Talgar and Talgar, stretching between the rivers Right Talgar and Issyk. The northern spur (Alatas) is relatively short, about eleven kilometers.
Several peaks rise in its southern part: Karatau (4140lm), named after Viktor Kolokolnikov (4100m), GTO (4050m). After the Severny pass (3500 m), the spur loses height and glaciation. Let's move on to the description of the Talgar spur, which limits the valley of the Right Talgar River in the east.
In the place of its separation from the main ridge, the spur has a strong depression. This depression can be used as a pass connecting the Metallurg and Zharsai glaciers. The pass is difficult, icy.
At its beginning, the Talgar spur stretches to the northeast, above it rise the rarely visited peaks Panoramic (4100 m) and Rocky Dome (4000 m), at the foot of which there is a small Volnisty glacier.
After the Sedlo pass (3650 m) there are five more heavily destroyed peaks, almost devoid of glaciation. Then the Talgar spur is divided into two branches. The western branch limits the valley of the Right Talgar from the north, and the eastern branch stretches further north for about fifteen more kilometers, ending in the area of the city of Issyk.
A beautiful rocky peak Kyz-Emchek (3700 m) rises above its middle part.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Tien Shan - "Celestial Mountains" - spread over a vast area. More than 2,500 km of its ridges stretched through the central part of Asia, more than 1,200 km are within the former USSR.
The central part of the mountain system is the highest, where the almost parallel latitudinal ranges of the eastern Tien Shan, which lies within China, merge. The entire central and western parts of the Tien Shan are located on the territories of the former Soviet republics. Here, in a complex interweaving of ridges, the greatest peaks of the Tien Shan rise: Pobeda Peak (7439m) and Khan Tengri (7010m).
From here, the ridges diverge again in a westerly direction.
The northern ridges of the former Soviet part of the Tien Shan - Zailiysky and Kungei Alatau go around the large high-altitude lake Issyk-Kul from the north. Further to the west stretch the ranges of the Kyrgyz Alatau, Talas, Ugam, Pskem and Chatkal, not counting the less significant ones. This series of almost parallel ranges borders the Ferghana Valley from the north.
From the east, the Central Tien Shan is fenced by a relatively short chain of mountains directed from north to south - the Meridional ridge. To the west, latitudinal ranges depart from it: Sarydzhassky and Terskey-Alatau, Stalin, Kaindy and the huge Kokshaal-tau, covering the central part of the Tien Shan from the south. In the west, this part of the mountain system ends with the Ferghana Range, which stretches from the southeast to the northwest.
Within these boundaries are many mountains. They are crowned either by snow cones or by pointed peaks. But not the entire Central Tien Shan is an area of high snowy mountains. They are concentrated mainly between the Meridional ridge and another Akshiryak ridge, almost parallel to it. Further, a significant part of the space is occupied by rounded, mostly snowless mountains, interspersed with vast hilly plateaus - syrts.
From the southwestern corner of the Central Tien Shan, another series of ridges extends to the west, which have the common name Pamir-Altai. Many scientists consider them also to belong to the Tien Shan system. This is, first of all, the rocky Alai Range, bordering the Ferghana Valley from the south. At its western end, the Alai Range forms a powerful knot and branches into the Zeravshan and Gissar Ranges. From the first of them, the Turkestan Range further branches off.
Central and inner Tien Shan
According to the orographic structure, the Tien Shan is usually divided into Northern, Western, Central, Inner and Eastern (the latter in China). Tourists and climbers usually, in their classification of the Central and Inner Tien Shan, consider the region of the Kaindy, Inylchek-Too, Sary-Jaz, Tengri-Tag ridges to be the eastern part of the central Tien Shan, and the Kuilshu, Akshiirak, Dzhetymbel, Naryn-Too, Borkoldoy ridges , At-Byshi and the rest of the Terskey Ala-Tau ridge just to the Central Tien Shan.
HISTORY OF RESEARCH OF THE CENTRAL TIEN SHAN
The foothills of the Tien Shan, as well as other regions of Central Asia, have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Traces of the stay of an ancient man were found in many valleys of the Tien Shan, including in its high-mountainous part; some finds date back more than a millennium BC. Even at the bottom of the high mountain lake Issyk-Kul there are remains of ancient buildings. However, information about the mountains of the Tien Shan, especially about its high central part, seeped into geographical science very slowly. Knowledge about the Tien Shan was accumulated in the same ways as about other mountainous regions of Asia. From this point of view, the high-mountainous Tien Shan was, perhaps, in even more unfavorable conditions than the Pamirs. The Mongolian peoples from the eastern part of Asia moved west to the north of the main chains of the Central Tien Shan, through the Dzungarian gates. Trade routes linking East and West also bypassed these ranges, but from the north or south.
South, in the river basin. Tarim, there was the legendary land of the Issedons "Serika", through which Chinese silks went to the western countries. The Greek geographer and historian Herodotus mentions the journey to these countries of Aristas Proconesus (7th century BC), and, according to him, to the north of the places inhabited by the Issedons and their western neighbors the Agrippas, there is a little-known high and inaccessible mountainous country . Somewhere in these same places passed the route of the journey described by Maeom Titianus.
Earlier it was said that the first reliable information and ideas about the geography of Central Asia were obtained by Chinese travelers. In particular, Zhang Zang, during his "journey to the Ferghana Valley (126 BC), apparently crossed part of the Tien Shan and visited Lake Issyk-Kul. Chinese geography of the Han Dynasty (114 BC). BC) already definitely mentions the Muzart mountains (now the Muzart pass is known in the western part of the Khalyktau ridge, in the eastern Tien Shan - Richthofen believes that Zhang Tsang passed through it) and Lake Issyk-Kul. the northern route through the Tsun-lin (Onion Mountains, which included the Pamirs and the western part of the Tien Shan), leading west to Kokand and northwest to the Aral Sea region.
The first Chinese Buddhist travelers undoubtedly made their way to India along the southern foothills of the Tien Shan. The famous Xuan Jiang (7th century) began his journey from China along the northern road to Hami, then turned west, passing along the southern foot of the Tien Shan to the city of Aksu. From here he again moved north and crossed the ridges of the Central Tien Shan, and subsequently the first to describe these snowy mountains. It is difficult to establish exactly which pass he used. Since it is believed that he went to the eastern shore of the lake. Issyk-Kul, it is believed that the traveler used the Muzart pass. This conclusion is also supported by the name Shin-Shan given in the description, which means an ice (or snow) mountain.
As you know, in the Turkic language, this corresponds to Muz-tau, and, accordingly, the ice pass - Muzart. But from Aksu, he could just as well move to the Bedel pass. This very difficult transition left a lasting impression on Xuan Jiang. The pass was especially dangerous. Many of Xuan Jiang's companions died in the mountains. The traveler describes the peaks of the Tien Shan in this way: “From the beginning of the world, the snow accumulated here turned into ice blocks that do not melt either in spring or summer. Smooth fields of solid and shiny ice stretch into infinity and merge with clouds. The path often passes between overhanging on both sides by icy peaks and through high ice masses."
Xuan Jiang warns that in these places you can’t wear red clothes, you can’t talk loudly, otherwise the traveler will face incalculable troubles, snow and stone landslides, etc.
Over the next millennium, almost no new information about the high Tien Shan comes to science. Starting from the 8th century, when the dominion of the Arab conquerors was established in Central Asia, and until the invasion of Genghis Khan in the 12th-13th centuries. Tien Shan lies away from trade routes and is not visited by scientists and travelers. The meager information about this country in the Arabic geography of that time is essentially no higher than the level of knowledge given in Chinese sources of the 7th-8th centuries.
Only in the XVIII century. ideas about the Tien Shan were somewhat replenished. In 1708, Jesuit missionaries began, on behalf of Ikhun Lung, the emperor of China, to draw up a map of his possessions and neighboring countries. For ten years, Gallerstein, Felix Aroga and Espinius, with the help of very knowledgeable Chinese surveyors, studied the country. The map compiled as a result of this work was published in 1821. However, the western part of China was mapped somewhat later, in the middle of the 18th century. To collect material on this area, the researchers got to the lake. Issyk-Kul and visited the valley of the river. Or. The map had a remarkable feature: its compilers relatively accurately determined the geographical position of many places they visited by the stars, a method that had long been known in China. Therefore, their work served as the basis for many other later maps for many years.
Some information about the Tien Shan was also known to the Russians. So, for example, in the well-known "Book of the Big Drawing" (end of the 16th century), the compilation of which was begun at the behest of Ivan the Terrible, the upper part of the river. The Syr Darya is depicted more faithfully than even by the English traveler Wood (1838). This is not surprising: it is known that trade relations between the Muscovite state and the countries of Asia have existed since very ancient times. Not only merchants, but also embassies, who had a special order to describe the visited countries, penetrated from Moscow to the East. So, for example, O. I. Baikov, the ambassador of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, passed through Dzungaria on his way to Beijing.
With the beginning of the XVIII century. Russians are becoming more and more familiar with Central Asia, in particular with its eastern part, to which the Tien Shan belongs.
Peter the Great seeks to establish relations with India along the river. Amu Darya. Two expeditions went to Asia: Colonel Buchholz to Siberia and Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky to the Transcaspian region. Both expeditions are known to have been unsuccessful. Among the many participants in the defeated Buchholz detachment who were captured by the Kalmyks was the Swede I. Renat. After being in captivity for 17 years (1716-1733), he became well acquainted with Dzungaria. Renat returned to Europe with a map he had compiled of Dzungaria and adjacent parts of Siberia and Central Asia. This map was unknown for a long time, its copy was found only in the late 70s of the XIX century. in one of the Swedish libraries and then published in 1881 by the Russian Geographical Society. Even at the time of publication, the map was in many ways superior to later ones.
The well-known journey of F. Efremov gave a lot for the knowledge of Central Asia. In 1774 he was taken prisoner to Bukhara. There, Efremov became an officer in the Khan's troops and made a number of trips to neighboring countries. Homesickness made him flee. The way to the west was closed, and Efremov moved to the east: through Kokand and Kashgar he made his way to , from there to Kashmir and India, and from India to England. He returned to Russia only in 1782. Efremov was the first European to pass through the Terekdavan Pass.
Since the beginning of the 1930s, the influence of the Russian state among the feudal lords of the nomadic tribes of the so-called "Kirghiz steppe" (Northern Kazakhstan) has increased so much that travel to the eastern part of Central Asia has become more accessible, and therefore relatively frequent. If Captain Unkovsky in 1823 compiled a map of Dzungaria according to interrogated data, then already in 1832 Lieutenant Colonel Ugryumov was able to map this region of Asia based on personal observations.
Both for other regions of Asia and for the Tien Shan, the period of collecting fragmentary information ends with the appearance of major generalizing works by A. Humboldt, K. Ritter and, somewhat later, Richthofen. A. Humboldt was the first to make an attempt not only to generalize all the information about the geography of Asia, but also to build a then still hypothetical system of orography of the mainland.
An important role in this construction was assigned to the Tien Shan, which Humboldt ranked among the main latitudinal chains of the mountains of Asia. The scientist had a very peculiar idea of these still almost unknown mountains. In his description, this is a chain of real volcanic mountains. The Tien Shan intersects with the legendary Bolor ridge, and further to the west continues with the Asferk ridge, which ends at the meridian of Samarkand. Not far from here in the ridge is the volcanic group Bothm. This volcano was also reported by the Arab geographer Idisi. To the east of Bolor, Humboldt calls the Tien Shan Terek-tag, Kok-Shal, Temurtu-tag, Bai-Shan, Turpan volcanoes, etc. The chain ends at the Khami meridian and disappears in the sands of the Gobi desert. The author is inclined to consider the Tien Shan as a more extensive mountainous country, believing that the Caucasus is the western continuation of this chain of mountains, and to the east, beyond the Gobi, it should include the In-shal mountains, stretching almost to the coast Pacific Ocean. The geology of that time had a very pronounced "volcanic direction". Perhaps that is why, and also because of the inaccurate information of ancient authors, but, in any case, Humboldt considered the Tien Shan to be a major center of active volcanic activity. The scientist was not stopped by the fact that this violated the basic pattern according to which volcanoes on the Earth's surface are found mainly on islands and near the shores of large sea basins.
Humboldt distinguished several centers of volcanic activity in the Tien Shan. Especially intense, in his opinion, it should be in the east, near Urumqi, near Kulja, Turfan, near Lake. Issyk-Kul. The scientist considered Bogdo-olo and the huge volcano Bai-Shan to be the centers of the volcanic region.
It is curious and characteristic of the geography of that time that Bai Shan, a mountain known from Chinese sources, was considered a volcano on the grounds that some authors called it Ho Shan (Fiery Mountain). Another traveler, Meyer, mistook Mount Urten-tau for a volcano only because of its name, which in translation means Burnt Hill.
Already in 1840, A. Schrenk, during his trip to the Dzungarian Alatau, proved that the Aral-Tube island in the lake. Alakol is not a volcano at all, contrary to the opinion of Humboldt, based on the incorrect testimony of other travelers. Twelve years later, the mining engineer Vlangali, visiting the same places, also found no traces of volcanism and volcanic rocks. There remained a high-altitude and still inaccessible part of the Tien Shan. If there are no volcanoes on the outskirts of a mountainous country, then perhaps they are in its center? But science answered this question relatively quickly.
In the early 50s of the century before last, Russian troops occupied the so-called Trans-Ili region. In 1845, in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau, the Verny fortification was founded (now the city of Almaty (Alma-Ata). Russian scientists gained access to the Tien Shan.
Only the first house in Verny was completed, clashes between the warring clans of the Kirghiz continued in the mountain valleys, but the young scientist botanist P.P. ).
P.P. Semenov belongs to a galaxy of remarkable Russian travelers of the 19th century, researchers with a broad and versatile background and interests. Being a botanist by profession, he nevertheless collected and summarized interesting and important materials on the orography and geological structure, the fauna of the visited country, and described its population. “My main attention,” P.P. Semenov wrote to the Geographical Society after the end of the expedition, “was turned to the study of mountain passes, since their height determines the average height of the ridges, and the cut determines the geographical profile and structure of mountain ranges, not to mention their importance as means of communication between neighboring countries. Finally, I paid no less attention to the study of the common features of the orographic and geognostic structure of the country and to the vertical and horizontal distribution of vegetation. "
Having left St. Petersburg in the spring of 1856, P.P. Semenov reached the Verny fortification only on September 1. In the evening of the next day, accompanied by a small detachment, he went east along the foothills of the Northern Tien Shan. How wild these places were at that time can be judged at least by the fact that while Semenov made an excursion up the valley of the river. Issyk, his companions hunted a tiger.
Having crossed the Zailiysky and Kungei Alatau ridges, a small detachment reached the eastern shore of the lake. Issyk-Kul and, having stayed here for only a few hours, turned back. Somewhat later, Semenov managed to visit the western shores of the lake. This allowed him to find out important questions of the hydrography of the Tien Shan.
In 1856, the explorer failed to penetrate the Central Tien Shan. He only watched from a distance its snowy ridges rising behind the lake: “From the south, this entire blue basin of Issyk-Kul was closed by a continuous chain of snow giants. The Tien Shan seemed like a steep wall. and since their snow-white bases, beyond the distance in the south-west, were hidden behind the horizon, the snowy peaks seemed to come straight out of the dark blue waters of the lake.
After spending the winter in Barnaul, Semyonov returned to Verny in the early spring of 1857; this time he explored a much larger part of the Tien Shan, mainly to the east and southeast of the lake. Issyk-Kul. Having reached the southern coast of the lake, he crossed the Terskey-Alatau through the most accessible Zaukinsky pass (Dzhuuka pass) and ended up in the syrt region of the upper reaches of the Naryn. From here the traveler turned back to Issyk-Kul. Then the detachment moved up the river valley. Kokzhar to the pass of the same name.
From the pass before Semenov's eyes, a panorama of extraordinary grandeur opened up: “When we got to the top of the mountain pass at about one in the afternoon, we were blinded by an unexpected sight. Directly to the south of us rose the most majestic mountain range I have ever seen. all, from top to bottom, consisted of giant snow giants, of which I could count to my right and left no less than thirty. That entire ridge, together with the gaps between the mountain peaks, was covered with a nowhere, interrupted veil of eternal snow. Just in the middle of these giants rose one snow-white pointed pyramid sharply separating between them in its colossal height, which seemed from the height of the pass to be twice as high as the other peaks...
The sky was completely cloudless on all sides, and only on Khan Tengri was a small cloud visible, a light crown surrounding the dazzling whiteness of the mountain pyramid a little below its top.
The scientist spent three hours at the pass. Descending into the valley Sarydzhaz, Semenov explored its upper reaches and climbed, as he writes, on the northern slopes of Tengri-tag, apparently, the northern slope of the Sarydzhas ridge).
The researcher spent several days in the Saryjaz valley. At the source of the river, he passed part of a huge glacier, which he called the "Ice Sea", which, as it seemed to him, descended from the slopes of Khan Tengri. Subsequently, Ignatiev named this glacier after Semenov.
P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky was the first scientist to penetrate the Central Tien Shan, discover and describe the Khan-Tengri group. He did not have to explore Tengri-tag and other mountainous regions in more detail. It fell to the lot of other scientists. Semenov never managed to visit the Tien Shan again. But what he managed to do went down in the history of geography as a scientific feat.
Semenov, of course, never found volcanoes in the Tien Shan: "The result of all my intensive searches was that I definitely did not find any volcanoes, or even volcanic rocks in the Heavenly Range." On the other hand, the traveler discovered large modern glaciers, especially in the Tengri-tag group, and established the height of the snow line in this mountainous country, which differs significantly from its known values for the Alps, Pyrenees and the Caucasus.
Semenov compiled the first, based on factual material, scheme of the orography of the Tien Shan. Before him, there was an idea of a single mountain range in the eastern part of the mountainous country, which, behind the Muzart Pass, branched to the west into two divergent ridges. Lake Issyk-Kul was drawn to the north of this branching of the mountain ranges. Semenov, on the other hand, had a fairly accurate idea of the ranges of the northern part of the Tien Shan: the Zailiysky Alatau and Kungei Alatau (he called the latter the Southern Range of the Zailiysky Alatau). He pointed out that these ranges are interconnected by the Kemino-Chilik bridge. As for the Central Tien Shan, the researcher imagined it as a mountain range stretched in the general direction from the NE to the SW with numerous spurs. To the south and almost parallel to the first, in his opinion, another chain was stretched - Mustag. In the Tengri-tag region, this chain branched into two to the west, between which lie the sources of the river. Naryn. The Sary-jazz valley is located between the Tien Shan ridge and the Tengri-tag group. Semenov depicted the ridges as almost straight; the researchers established their arched character only later.
Within ten years after the expedition of Semyonov, the studies of the Tien Shan were much more modest. None of the travelers could penetrate deep into the Central Tien Shan and Dzungaria. The maps of that time did not yet take into account the materials collected by Semenov. For example, the famous geographer M.I. Veshokov, after visiting the valley of the river. Chu and lake Issyk-Kul in the same years published a work on the Asian borders of the Russian Empire. But his orographic ideas about the Tien Shan are a step backward even in comparison with Semenov's data.
Among the travels to the Tien Shan during this period, the most remarkable is the route of Shokan Valikhanov (1857-1858). Disguised as a merchant, he crossed the Central Tien Shan with a caravan from Verny, past Issyk-Kul, through the Zaukinsky (Dzhuuka) pass to the lake. Chatyrkul and further to Kashgaria. Going on a journey at the request of P.P. Semenov, Valikhanov sought to obtain information about the fate of the German explorer Schlagintveit, who penetrated into Kashgaria from the south and, according to rumors, was killed by one of the local khans. Unfortunately, Valikhanov died shortly after his return, unable to process the valuable geographical materials he had collected. In 1859, the captain of the General Staff, A.F. Golubev, identified 16 astropoints near the lake. Issyk-Kul and in the valley of the river. Tekes. According to his calculations, Lake Issyk-Kul is located at an altitude of 1616.5 m. Thus, the basis was laid for compiling the first accurate maps of the Tien Shan. Three years later (1862-1863), the captain of the General Staff A.P. Protsenko went to Issyk-Kul to survey the passes in the Terskey-Ala-tau ridge. Based on personal observations, he described the passes of Dzhu-uka, Barskoon and Ulakhol and the valleys of Kochkara, Dzhumgal, Lake. Sonkul and Naryn; according to inquiries - the Top and Konur-Ulen passes.
During these years, the conquest of the eastern part of Central Asia by Russia was completed; in 1865 Tashkent was taken. The military authorities decided to link the line of the Syrdarya fortifications with those of Semirechye. All this greatly facilitated the travel of scientists to the Tien Shan. Moreover, the tsarist administration even provided assistance to researchers: to consolidate the gains in Central Asia, peasants were evicted from Ukraine and the central regions of Russia. It was necessary to identify places suitable for settlement.
Taking advantage of the changed situation, N. A. Severtsov, already a well-known explorer of Central Asia, made a number of trips around the Tien Shan. The first trip in 1864 was dedicated to the Zailiysky Alatau, Lake. Issyk-Kul, the northern foothills of the Kyrgyz Alatau and partly Chatkal. In 1865-1866. he makes a number of routes in the vicinity of Tashkent, in the region of the Kara-tash mountains and the Ugam ridge. However, the most interesting and fruitful was his last journey through the Tien Shan in 1867.
In mid-September, the detachment set out from Verny, almost in the same way as Semenov, he rounded the lake from the east. Issyk-Kul and went to its southern coast. Here, Russian troops had already built several fortified posts (Karakol, Aksu at the mouth of the Turgen-Aksu River, etc.), which could serve as a base for traveling deep into the Central Tien Shan.
Then Severtsov went west along the southern coast of the lake, turned into the valley of the river. Barskoun and through the pass of the same name entered the region of the Central Tien Shan syrts. Having penetrated in this way to the sources of the Naryn, the traveler saw to the east the meridional group of Akshiryak mountains. Going down the river Targay is slightly below the place of its confluence with the river. Kurmesty, he then crossed the river. Naryn, moved to the south-west and through the Ulan pass got into the valley of the same name. Severtsov also managed to inspect the valleys of the Atbashi and Aksay rivers, that is, he almost reached the southern border of the Central Tien Shan. The harsh cold of the winter that was setting in the mountains forced Severtsov and his companions to turn back. The traveler returned to the west, along a different path. He surveyed the middle course of the river. Naryn, moving to the north, passed west of the lake. Issyk-Kul and arrived in Tokmok on October 29.
The map of the Northern and Central Tien Shan, which N.A. Severtsov published after his travels, was compiled taking into account not only the information he collected, but also the data of all travelers up to 1869 inclusive. The map already shows in some detail a large number of ridges and mountain ranges. Here, with the exception of the easternmost part of the Central Tien Shan, where no one has been since Semyonov, we can find almost all the features of the modern map.
The collected materials allowed Severtsov to draw some general conclusions about the structure of this mountain system and all of Asia as a whole. The scientist came to the conclusion that the famous Chinese traveler Xuan Jiang most correctly described the Tien Shan. Severtsov himself orographically divided the Tien Shan into two main parts: eastern and western, delimited by the Khan Tengri mountain group. The eastern part is one main range, a watershed between the Ili river basins in the north and the Tarim river basin in the south. In the western part there is an intricate system of plateaus-syrts and individual more or less short ridges. Severtsov considered this feature generally characteristic of the orography of Asia. The researcher completely rejected Humboldt's ideas about the volcanic nature of the Tien Shan and put forward the theory
the slow rise of its ridges, which was revolutionary for the geological science of that time.
In 1867, a little earlier than Severtsov left on his last trip to the Tien Shan, the reconnaissance parties of Kraevsky, who had passed the middle part of the river valley, went there. Naryn, and Poltoratsky, which almost completely crossed (for the first time after Valikhanov) the Tien Shan from north to south. Together with Poltoratsky, who explored the Muzart mountain pass, the botanist F.R. Osten-Saken traveled, who collected a rich collection of the flora of the Southern Tien Shan.
The following year, Buyanovsky determined barometrically the heights of a number of points in the Tien Shan, and in 1869 Kaulbars made a long journey through the southern part of this country, investigating possible routes crossing the Tien Shan. This expedition included topographers Petrov and Reingarten. Travelers moved past the eastern edge of the lake. Issyk-Kul to the Naryn valley. They explored it up to the source of the river in the Akshiryak ridge, then moved west along the Kokshaal-tau ridge past the lake. Chatyrkul. From here the expedition turned north and completed its route in the Talas valley. In the Akshiyryak ridge, a number of glaciers were discovered and described: Muz-tour, Petrova, Akshiyryak, Iirtashsky, and others.
Beginning in 1869, the center of gravity of research shifted to the more western regions of Central Asia, mainly to the Pamirs and the territory of the current Turkmen SSR. Travels in the Tien Shan until the very end of the 19th century. are mostly episodic in nature and are sent to certain areas of this mountainous country.
In the period 1870 -1872. Kaulbars, then A. Shepelev and L. Kostenko survey the area of the Muzart pass, east of the Khan Tengri group. In 1884, professor of botany V.V. Sorokin made a short (18 days) trip to Issyk-Kul, to the gorges of the northern slopes of Terskey-Alatau and further southwest to Lake. Sonkul and, finally, through Dzhumgel and Susamyr to the lower reaches of the Naryn - to the city of Namangan.
The most interesting was the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society undertaken in 1886 on the initiative of P.P. Semenov and I.V. Mushketov, headed by the mining engineer I.V. Tengri-tag, the Terskey-Alatau ridge and the eastern continuation of the Tien Shan - Muzart. In addition, the researchers had to find out a number of geological features of the area, as well as to study the modern and ancient glaciation of this part of the Tien Shan. On July 16, the expedition caravan left Przhevalskaya and moved through the Turgen-Aksu valley to the river. Sary Jazz. Having penetrated to the sources of the river, the expedition climbed the glacier, which P.P. Semenov figuratively called the "Ice Sea". Ignatiev proposed to rename it in honor of Semenov. The mighty contours of Khan-Tengri rise above the upper reaches of the glacier. The members of the expedition decided, just as Semenov did earlier, that the glacier flows down from the slopes of this peak. Moving further south, in the upper reaches of the river. Adyrtor, a tributary of the Sarydzhaz, Ignatiev found a large glacier parallel to the Semenov glacier. The expedition named this glacier after Mushketov, a well-known explorer of Russian Turkestan.
Bad weather prevented Ignatiev and his companions from climbing to the upper reaches of the Mushketov Glacier, and they set off further. A few days later, having crossed the Sarydzhaz ridge, the travelers ended up in the valley of the river. Inylchek - the next tributary of the same Sarydzhaz. The Inylchek River flowed out from under the mighty glacier discovered by Ignatiev. Its entire surface is covered for many kilometers by a chaos of heaps of stone fragments. And this glacier, it seemed to Ignatiev, flows down from the same mountains as the Semenov and Mushketov glaciers. Ignatiev's expedition failed to reach Khan-Tengri Peak. The riddle of the mountain knot remained unsolved.
Ignatiev's failure is natural. To successfully move up the vast glaciers, it is not enough to be an energetic explorer. It is necessary to have a good command of the methods of movement on ice, which are usually used by climbers; you also need to have special equipment. From Ignatiev’s report it is clear what difficulties even a small excursion to the Semenov glacier presented for him and his companions: After resting, we had to descend from a steep icy slope, which presented new difficulties: with a steep slope, up to 30 degrees, it is very difficult to hold on to the poles, the iron ends of which slid along hard ice, as well as horseshoes with spikes on our boots; I had to cut down steps, We moved forward generally safely, although we could not do without falling and rolling down steep slopes.
From the Sarydzhaz valley, through the previously unknown pass Narynkol, the travelers got to the valley of the river. Tekes. On August 16, they arrived in the village of Okhotnichiy, from where they made an excursion to the lake. Beardboswig. From here, Khan-Tengri Peak was photographed for the first time. On August 22, Ignatiev moved to Muzart, and the topographers of the expedition, who were in the Bayankol valley, determined the height of the peak - it turned out to be 24,000 feet. (7320 m).
Significant success was achieved by the botanist A. N. Krasnov, a member of the same expedition. In the river valley He discovered an unknown glacier in Kuil (he discovered seven other glaciers in the Mirtash mountain group), Krasnov completed his route by crossing Bedel to Kashgaria.
As a result of the work of Semenov and Ignatiev, it was believed that Khan-Tengri is a node from which the Tien Shan ranges diverge like rays in all directions. Therefore, it is natural that most of the subsequent expeditions to the Central Tien Shan sought to penetrate precisely to this peak.
In 1889 Pevtsov's expedition crossed the Tien Shan through the Barskoun and Bedel passes. Ten years later, the French explorer Saint Yves passed through the mountainous country to the west, along the valley of the river. Naryn, and through the Yaasy pass reached Ferghana. In the same year, the caravan of the Hungarian expedition of Almasi and Dr. Stummer-Trauenfels approached the Tengri-tag massif. The expedition spent two months in the Saryjaz valley and its environs, hunting and collecting ethnographic and zoological collections. Almasy made no attempts to penetrate up the glaciers.
In the summer of 1900 climbers first arrived in the Saryjaz valley. Prince Borghese and Dr. Broquerel with the famous Swiss guide Zurbriggen decided to gain fame as the winners of the Khan Tengri peak. With difficulty they led their caravan through the Tyuz pass. The expedition reached the Inylchek valley, but the approaches to the glacier and the way along it turned out to be so difficult that the travelers retreated. They made sure that with horses they could not go over the glacier; there were not enough porters. Then Borghese decided to look for approaches to the peak from the south, from Xinjiang. But the climbers were not destined to get there either. First, the caravan was stopped by the turbulent waters of the Kuyukap River. Soon the news of the war that had begun in China forced the travelers to turn back.
Borghese, Broquerel and Zurbriggen made several ascents. Trying to see the Khan-Tengri peak from other peaks, they made mistakes more than once, mistaking one or the other peak for it. Finally, they were happy. They climbed to the saddle between the peaks of Kaindy-tau and Kartysh in the Kaindy ridge separating the Kaindy glacier from the Inylchek glacier. From the saddle - they called it the Akmoynak pass (4560 m) - the climbers saw that the Inylchek glacier had two branches, and decided that the path along it was the only approach to Khan Tengri. Borghese and his companions pursued only sporting goals and did not draw any conclusions about the orography of the area.
In 1902, two expeditions moved almost simultaneously to the heart of the Heavenly Mountains. One of them left the city of Tomsk, headed by professor of botany VV Sapozhnikov; another expedition of the famous German geographer and mountaineer Professor Merzbacher.
Sapozhnikov began his first journey through the Central Tien Shan from Verny on May 23. The explorer crossed Terskey-Alatau. Having visited several valleys on the southern slopes of the ridge, he again returned to Issyk-Kul in the city of Przhevalsk, and from here along the valley of the river. Turgen-Aksu moved deep into the Central Tien Shan. Having passed the Karagyr pass, part of the valley of the river. Ottuk and Terpu pass, Sapozhnikov reached the river. Kuil. Climbing up its valley to the Kuilyu pass, he examined the Arpatektor plateau and the valley of the river. Kurusai, the right tributary of the Kuilyu. Several glaciers met here, and in the upper reaches of the Kuilu and in the ridge of the same name, rising above the valley from the south, a number of snowy peaks over 5000 m high, including. The highest peak at the eastern end of the ridge is Eduard Peak (about 6000 m) (The name was given to Almasi, who saw the peak from the Sary-Jazz valley). Sapozhnikov descended through the Kuilyu pass into the valley of the river. Iirtash and went through its entire upper part to the mouth of the river. Ortotash. Here the researchers turned to the north and crossed the Terekty ridge by the pass of the same name, from which they managed to examine the southern slopes of the Kuilu ridge. Thus, for the first time, a large mountainous region was surveyed between the valleys of the Kuilyu and Iirtash rivers, to the west of the Sarydzhaz valley. Analyzing the direction of the ridges of this part of the mountainous country, Sapozhnikov also decided that "all five folds in the east converge in the Khan-Tengri group ...". This conclusion coincided with the opinion of Semenov and Ignatiev. Sapozhnikov is not limited to this; further he points out: "... in the west they gather into two mountain knots, and the Western Akshiyryak covers the smaller one in the upper reaches of the river Kuilyu and Terekty...". It "accepts, counting from north to south... Terskey-tau, the Ishigart and Kokshaal ridges; the Terekty knot connects... the Kuilu and Terekty ridges". Both nodes are connected by one of the folds of the Terskey-Alatau ridge. The researcher also analyzes the orography of the area adjacent to the Akshiryak group from the west.
At the last stage of the work, the expedition visited the Saryjaz valley, passing it from the Kuilyu valley to the upper reaches, from where the travelers penetrated the Bayankol valley through the Ashuter pass (near Sapozhnikov - Naryn-Kol). Along the way, Sapozhnikov climbed the Semyonov glacier to a height of 3783 m, where the open ice was replaced by a solid snow cover. Khan Tengri could not be seen from here, it was covered by clouds. To determine the height of the peaks, on July 7 Sapozhnikov climbed the right slopes of the Ashutor valley. A panorama of mighty snowy peaks opened before the researcher: "I have never seen such an abundance of snow anywhere before or since"3. The height of Khan-Tengri, determined by Sapozhnikov, turned out to be 6950 m.
During the expedition, Sapozhnikov and his companions, especially M. Friedrichsen, surveyed the area, which served as the basis for compiling a map of the Central Tien Shan. Naturally, the image of the ridges in the area immediately adjacent to the Khan-Tengri peak is very indistinct on it, although on the whole the map has introduced a lot of new things.
Sapozhnikov did not try to penetrate to the peak of Khan-Tengri. Merzbacher, one of the greatest climbers of his time, set himself this goal. His companions also had outstanding mountaineering training.
At first, Merzbacher tried to penetrate to Khan-Tengri from the Bayankol gorge, but soon became convinced that the valley would not lead him to the goal: another large peak closed the gorge, rising up with a two-kilometer wall. Merzbacher called it the "Marble Wall" - layers of excellent marble were visible in the steep slopes of the peak.
The first failure did not disappoint the researchers. To clarify the position of Khan Tengri, travelers made a series of ascents to peaks up to 5500 m high. But this did not work either: the peaks, as it turned out, were chosen unsuccessfully, the approaches to Khan Tengri could not be unraveled. It was necessary to look for other points for review. Then the expedition went to the Saryjaz valley. Having climbed almost any of the surrounding peaks here, you can see the Khan-Tengri pyramid and the gorges extending from the peak to the east. But which of them to get to the foot of the peak? Merzbacher did not know this.
It seemed to Merzbacher's predecessors that the Semyonov Glacier was flowing down the slopes of Khan Tengri Peak. Merzbacher read about it. To test this conjecture, he climbed to the peak rising above the northern shore of the glacier. the same marble wall.
The next to the south was the Mushketov glacier. But even in its upper reaches there was no mysterious peak. The fight against the harsh nature of the high-mountainous Tien Shan is not an easy task. During one of the ascents, which almost ended tragically, the climbers - members of the expedition had to experience the insidious properties of dry powdery snow, which is so characteristic of the Tien Shan. They were already close to the summit when, under their weight, the dry snow, which was loosely lying on the slope, began to slide down. There was an avalanche. A powerful stream of snow carried away four climbers and rushed down with ever-increasing speed. People escaped by chance: having flown about two hundred meters with an avalanche, they fell into a crack on the slope. Having got out of the snow, the climbers did not dare to continue the ascent. If they had been more persistent and still reached the summit, they would have seen the Northern Inylchek glacier and the Khan-Tengri peak in its upper reaches. But... they retreated.
After examining the basin of the Mushketov glacier, Merzbacher went to the Inylchek valley, but did not ascend to its upper reaches. The expedition went through the Muzart Pass to China. The search for the elusive peak was abandoned until next year.
The expedition with a large number of porters climbed the Inylchek glacier. The caravan traveled about 18 km, making its way through the piles of stone fragments that hid the ice. The travelers stopped: the valley forked ahead. Another mighty ice stream crept out of the side valley, leaving to the northeast. Above him, leaving in the sky with snowy peaks, a chain of high mountains rose.
It turned out that Almasi was right: Inylchek consists of two branches separated by a high ridge.
Which gorge to move on? Observations said that it was necessary to look for Khan Tengri in the upper reaches of the northern branch. Travelers walked along the left, southern edge of the glacier. To approach the confluence of the northern branch, it was necessary to cross the entire glacier, which spreads over a wide gorge for more than 3 km.
It seemed that the goal was close. But ... the mouth of the Northern Inylchek was blocked in its entire width by a large glacial lake. Beautiful icebergs floated on the greenish water; steep rocky shores broke off to the lake ... The path was securely closed: it was impossible to cross or bypass the lake. The solution already found slipped away. It was possible to climb further along the southern branch, but did that path lead to the peak?
A tried and tested technique helped: one more ascent, and from one of the peaks on the southern shore of the Merzbacher glacier, he managed to discern the contours of the already familiar peak pyramid of Khan Tengri. We had to move forward, and move quickly: food supplies were running out, and it was far from the base camp.
Exhausted, hungry porters of the expedition climbed another fifteen kilometers up the glacier. They didn't go any further. Only Merzbacher moved forward with two Tyroleans (Alpine guides, from the expedition). Soon they came to the firn fields, which lay here already in a continuous cover. It was much easier to walk on dense snow.
Five hours of continuous brisk walking in the snow. Spurs descending from the ridge limit visibility. What is behind them? Perhaps again the travelers will be disappointed and the riddle of the peak will remain unresolved?
Almost suddenly, from behind a ledge of rocks, a peak sparkled with snow appeared. A few more quick steps, and the marble pyramid of the "Lord of the Spirits" rises unhidden in front of the travelers. It is now visible all, from the foot to the top.
It immediately became obvious that Khan Tengri is not only not a knot of the largest Tien Shan ranges, but does not even belong to any of them and is located in an independent short range that separates both Inylchek glaciers. Merzbacher determined the height of the peak at 7200 m.
Trying to figure out the location of the Tien Shan ranges, he decided that the knot was the Marble Wall he saw in the Bayankol Gorge. And although Merzbacher was wrong, his opinion was shared by all geographers for many years. Merzbacher again visited the Tien Shan in 1907, but was no longer near Khan Tengri.
After 1903, expeditions to the Central Tien Shan are rather rare, in any case, there is not one equal in importance to those undertaken by Merzbacher and Sapozhnikov. In 1906, the Hungarian geologist G.Prinz, having set off from the city of Andijan, passed along the Central Tien Shan: through the valleys of Naryn, Sarydzhaz, Bayankol and Tekes. On the way back he visited the lake. Issyk-Kul. Turning from here to the south, he crossed the valleys of the upper reaches of the Naryn and went to the Kokshaal-tau ridge. Three years later, the Prince again arrived in the Tien Shan, this time he immediately headed to the northern slopes of the western part of Kokshaal-tau. Here the traveler visited the little-explored Aksai plateau, crossed the ridge and went south to Kashgaria. The prince explored the unexplored valleys of the Uryuk-Sai and Kontavtau rivers and reached the river. Kokshaal. In the same 1909, Greber also visited the southern slopes of Kokshaal-tau, and the mining engineer K.I. Argentov made a number of routes in the area of Lake. Chatyrkul and in the Atbash and Aksai valleys, i.e., on the northern slopes of the same ridge. In 1910, expeditions of the Resettlement Administration began to work, but they first went to the western part of the mountainous country, and only in 1912 did one of them, led by V.V. Sapozhnikov, penetrate the Central Tien Shan. This time the researcher began with a survey of the area of the Ketmen Range (to the northeast of Alma-Ata). He visited the valleys of the Tekes and Bayankol rivers. Having finished work in this area, the expedition moved to the valley of the river. Saryjaz. Unable to climb the Mushketov glacier (it was hidden by clouds), Sapozhnikov moved further south, crossed the Sarydzhassky ridge (Tuz pass) to the Inylchek valley, then through the At-dzhailau pass to the valley of the river. Kaindy. Here the members of the expedition climbed the glacier and walked along it for more than four hours, but they did not reach the end of the surface moraine, the "pure ice". From the Kaindy valley, the travelers moved further south, through the Uchchat and Kara-archa passes and reached the river. Karaarcha. An attempt to penetrate further along the river gorge. Chichar failed: the narrow canyon turned out to be impassable. Thus, Sapozhnikov penetrated into the southern part of the ranges of the Khan-Tengri group as far as Merzbacher and Borghese. The way back of the expedition lay somewhat to the west and led it to the lower reaches of the river. Inylchek. Having passed the Tyuz pass, she again found herself in the Saryjaz valley. Sapozhnikov visited the lower reaches of the Kuilyu valley and examined its northern tributaries. On this route in the Central Tien Shan ended: through the Terpu pass, the Ottuk valley and the Karagyr pass, the travelers arrived in the Turgen-Aksu valley and the city of Przhevalsk.
In the same 1912, the Turkestan military district conducted a topographic survey of most of the Tien Shan. The topographers approached the tongues of the glaciers of the Khan-Tengri group, but their detachment was very small and poorly equipped. "With the presence of 5 workers and 2 Cossacks, it was impossible to make attempts to at least briefly explore these ice spaces, and shooting, even only route, is possible if a special expedition is organized, properly arranged." There were no climbers among the topographers.
According to the survey data of 1912, the height of Khan-Tengri was equal to 22940 feet. (6992 m). For a long time this figure was on the maps. However, the topographers were wrong by only a few meters.
Years passed. The mountains stood in stern silence. Avalanches crashed down the steep slopes. Stormy rivers carried their foamy waters. But no one tried to penetrate again to the mysterious heights of Tengri-tag. Under the conditions of tsarist Russia, it was not possible to organize a real study of this interesting area.
In 1914, in the area of \u200b\u200bLake. Geologist N. G. Kassin worked in Issyk-Kul, and the following year V. V. Reznichenko visited Kapkak, Tekes and Karkara with a hydrological party. He collected significant material on the geology and glaciation of the northern part of Tengri-tag.
By the time Soviet travelers and scientists began to explore the Central Tien Shan, there were still many unclear questions in its orography. Most of the gorges and glaciers in the highest, eastern part of the mountainous country, near the Khan-Tengri group, have not yet been passed by travelers. There were only very general ideas about the Kulyut and Akshiryak groups. Most of the glaciers and especially the mountain peaks in these areas and in the central part of the Kokshaal-tau ridge have not yet been set foot by a researcher. No one tried to go through the canyons cut in Kokshaal-tau by the rivers Sarydzhaz and Uzengigush. Naturally, just as for deciphering the "white spot" of the Pamirs, the participation of climbers was required here. That is why, obviously, research was resumed primarily in the Khan-Tengri region. In parallel, an in-depth comprehensive study of the nature of the Central Tien Shan was going on. An important role in this matter was played by the Tien Shan Geographical Observatory, built by the Academy of Sciences in the valley of the river. Kumter, 6 km from the Petrov Glacier.
The first groups of Soviet travelers went to the Inylchek glacier in 1929. At first, these were only reconnaissance of climbers and tourists, but since 1931. A number of scientists of various specialties are already working in the Ukrainian expedition. Gradually, the structure of the ridges of the region, the features and details of its exceptionally powerful and peculiar glaciation were revealed.
In 1929, N. N. Palgov made a very interesting journey to the northern slopes of the central part of the Kokshaal-tau ridge. Here, in the upper reaches of the Aksu and Uzengi-gush rivers, he discovered a number of large, undescribed glaciers; before him, in this area, only topographers who surveyed in 1912 noted significant glaciation.
In 1932-1933. in connection with the 2nd International Polar Year (IPY), the number of expeditions to the Central Tien Shan has increased. For two years, expeditions led by S.V. Kalesnik worked in the region between the Terskey-Alatau and Barkolda ridges. Based in the area of the observatory, they studied the glaciation of these places, discovered and described in detail a number of glaciers of the Akshiryak ridge, revealed the structure of the relief and the geology of the area. They also visited the Semyonov glacier in the Sarydzhaz valley. In 1933, it was planned to explore the northern slopes of Kokshaal-tau, but due to the late start of work, the expedition was forced to limit itself to a small section of the Kokshaal-tau ridge between the Pikertyk and Bedel passes. In 1934, the nature of the syrt of the Central Tien Shan in the region of the Arabelsu plateau was examined by a small group of Leningrad University headed by Professor D. N. Kashkarov.
A more detailed survey of the glaciers of the Barkoldoy Ridge, and then the northern slopes of the Kokshaal-Tau Ridge, fell to the lot of tourists from the Moscow House of Scientists, headed by Professor A. A. Letavet. Having penetrated in 1933, through the Kubergenty pass to the Kagalachay tract, the group visited the Komarov glacier discovered by Palgov and the neighboring, not yet explored Palgov glacier, and then moved east, downstream the river. Uzengigush. Turning south, into the gorge of the river. Jurek, the tourists were exploring another unknown glacier. They named him after S. G. Grigoriev. The following year, A. A. Letavet again came to these places and moved further east. He sought to explore the breakthrough of Kokshaal-tau by the river Uzengi-gush. Visiting the gorge Chonturas, tourists discovered a large glacier there, surrounded by a number of beautiful peaks. The glacier was named after Korzhenevsky. The group soon turned to Return trip, and failing to break through to the canyon of the river. Uzengigush, Alpinists visited these places again only in 1938 - it was a sports group of the Wings of the Soviets society, headed by B. Simagin. Climbing the Grigoriev glacier, the climbers went to the top of the peak, which they called "Wings of the Soviets". Bad weather prevented them from reaching the highest point of the mountain.
Research in the area of Khan-Tengri peak continued all these years. Having completed the main survey of the Northern Inylchek glaciers, the climbers headed to the valley of the river. Kuil. Here the faces of the Soviet Constitution and Karpinsky were conquered. The first peak is the highest in the range, apparently the same one that was previously called Edward's Peak. The climbers found that its height was determined incorrectly, it reaches only 5250 m, and not 6000 m, as previously assumed.
During the ascent to the peak of Karpinsky, A. A. Letavet drew attention to a previously unknown peak. "It could be seen far to the east, somewhat south of the Khan-Tengri peak and, it seemed, was not inferior to it in height." The following year, in 1938, an expedition was organized to climb this peak, which was called the peak of the twentieth anniversary of the Komsomol. In 1943, with an accurate topographic survey, it was found that it was the highest in the Tien Shan and the second highest in the country. Then it was renamed Pobeda Peak (7439 m).
Climbers and subsequently visited the Kuilu valley. In 1951, a group of E. A. Kazakova and V. V. Nemytsky visited it, and two years later the climbers of Uzbekistan repeated the ascent to the peak of the Soviet Constitution.
The glaciers of the northern part of Tengri-Tag, flowing into the Bayankol valley, were examined for the first time after Reznichenko by members of the expedition of 1935. Then the group of V.V. Nemytsky opened a pass through the Terskey-Alatau ridge, passing them to the Semenov glacier and into the Sarydzhaz valley. The survey of this area in 1943 and the research work of the sports expedition of A. A. Letavet in 19.46 played a big role in solving one of the last unclear questions of the orography of the Central Tien Shan. It was found that the Marble Wall Peak is not a node from which the Tien Shan ridges diverge radially. And in 1953 and 1954. the expedition of Kazakh climbers, and then the group of V. F. Gusev, accurately established the junction of the Terskey-Alatau and Sarydzhaz ridges.
Since the mid-1930s, researchers of the Central Tien Shan have been increasingly moving from traveling with the tasks of a general geographical description and clarification of the orography of the country to a systematic and in-depth study of its structure and nature. As before, the Tien Shan Station of the Academy of Sciences plays a leading role in this matter.
RELIEF
The Tien Shan is one of the largest and highest mountain systems in Asia and around the world. Most of the Tien Shan ridges have a typical mountain-glacial "Alpine" relief, however, along with sharp ridges and sharp peaks in the central and inner Tien Shan, there are syrts - leveling surfaces, flat, gently dipping wide valleys preserved in the upper belt of mountains, and intermontane spacious depressions located in the middle and lower mountain belts. The syrts and bottoms of the high mountain valleys in the Inner and Central Tien Shan are covered with grassy vegetation and are pastures. On the slopes of the ridges, erosion processes are intensively developing, screes, rockfalls, landslides are formed, and mudflows are formed in the gorges.
CLIMATE
Remoteness from the oceans, significant elevation and complex, highly rugged relief determined the continental climate of the region. Characterized by significant temperature fluctuations both by season and during the day, reduced or moderate rainfall and relative dryness of the air.
High mountain ranges make it difficult for moisture-bearing air currents to access, and in most of the Central Tien Shan, on average, from 200 to 300 mm falls annually. Precipitation. However, in the middle and especially in the highlands, there is more precipitation. So, at an altitude of 3000m, about 420 mm of precipitation falls, at 3500m - up to 570 mm, at 4000m - more than 750 mm. The bulk of precipitation (about 85%) in the region falls on the warm season - in May-July, the minimum - in December-January.
According to the long-term data of the Naryn meteorological station, located in the valley at an altitude of 2049m, the annual air temperature is 2.5°C, the January temperature is 17.4°C, the absolute minimum is -32°C. The sum of active temperatures is 2082°, the duration of the frost-free period is 144 days, the period with temperatures above 10° is 142 days. Relative humidity in the warm season ranges from 40 to 55%, and in winter it reaches 80%.
The snow cover falls in mid-November, its average height by the end of February - the beginning of March reaches 25 cm. Snow melting begins in the first decade of March, and it finally disappears at the end of April. The last spring frosts occur at the end of April, and the first autumn frosts at the end of September. Eastern and western winds prevail, their highest speed (up to 20-25 m/s) is observed during the day in the second half of summer. In winter, as a rule, there is calm calm weather.
In the mountains, the climate is harsher. Humidity increases, the duration of the frost-free period decreases. At altitudes of 3400-4000 m, frosts can be repeated throughout the warm season, and precipitation, as a rule, falls only in the form of snow. In the middle mountains, the air temperature in July is 10-15?. Winter in the mountains is longer and colder. In January, the air temperature in the middle mountains is -15-20° below zero, the absolute minimum here is -45°. On the steppe slopes of the southern exposure, in ordinary winters, there is practically no stable snow cover. On the slopes of the northern exposures, it is quite deep and lasts throughout the winter. Avalanches often come down in early spring, foreshadowing the imminent awakening of nature.
VEGETABLE WORLD
The vegetation cover of mountain-steppe landscapes, common at altitudes from 2200 to 3000 m, is represented mainly by turf and feather-grass mountain steppes. Rocky outcrops and screes are often found here. Mountain steppes, occupying the warmest slopes, remain without permanent snow cover almost all winter, which attracts herbivores here.
In summer, the mountain steppes are characterized by the highest air and soil temperatures in the region. At this time, the growth of wormwood, thyme, ephedra, etc. begins. At the end of July, when the vegetation of the mountain steppes begins to dry out, the slopes acquire a monochromatic yellowish-gray hue, only shrubs and semi-shrubs turn green.
Mountain-meadow complexes are a fairly common occurrence in the Central Tien Shan, they are very diverse. The composition of mid-mountain meadows on chernozem soils is very rich; there are up to 30 species of grasses on an area of 1 m2.