Khan Tengri peak

The ridge of Tengri-Tag, in the eastern part of which located the Khan Tengri Peak on the border of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China, starting in the west of the confluence of the north and south branches of the glacier Inylchek vertex 5211 m steeply rising rocky cliffs, called ironclads, which separates the glacier flows Inylchek. Within the first 8 km height mountain range rises to 5860 meters and reaches its maximum lift at the peak of Khan Tengri (6995 m), from which the same powerful, almost lost its height, ridge extends east. The total length of the ridge Tengri-Tag with its eastern extension is of 63 km. The famous Khan-Tengri is not included in the 170 tops – “eight-thousanders” of the globe. In Khan-Tengri, it is not enough just five meters to go to the number of vertices of the so-called “high-ranking” – “seven” – and “eight thousanders”. However, Peak Khan Tengri it is famous among geographers and climbers from all over the world. The following facilitated this unusually beautiful shape tops – pointed pyramid, the upper part of which is composed of pink and gray marble, and its popularity since antiquity. Very few peaks on all continents of the globe, which would in ancient times, had names that have survived to the present day. Among these known peaks include, for example, Mount Olympus, Fuji, Mount Vesuvius, Demavend, Elbrus, and the like. Khan Tengri can be attributed to their number (for fame), although it was lost in the distant and remote mountain site.

Residents of the neighboring valleys called Khan Tengri “Kan-Too (” Blood Mountain “). At sunset, the right marble pyramid apex turns into the sunset glowing charcoal. In the mountain running shade from the clouds, descending sun simulating the flowing blood. This lighting effect and gave rise to the name “Blood Mountain.” The Kyrgyz, as well as all the inhabitants of the mountains, very aptly given name geographical features, putting them characteristics of natural features. However, either the geographical coordinates or simple descriptions of the location top of the discoverers have left. It took more than 1,200 years, is a well-known Russian traveler Semenov, subsequently to its simple Russian surnames proud prefix “Tian Shan” in 1857 did not see a crest Terskey-Alatau chain of snowy giants, among them well known to antiquity top. “Khan-Tengri” – exclaims Semenov saw right in front of the top of the pyramid-shaped brilliant. He approaches her, encountering on the way of the glacier, the glacier later called Semenov, giving rise to p. Sarydzhas, one of the origins of the famous Central Asian district -Tarim. However, Semenov did not find the way to the foot of Khan Tengri. The glacier, which met a traveler, not coming down from the slopes of the famous peaks. It closed the upper reaches of the ridge crest Sarydzhas with peaks 5,860 meters. However, it was not the Khan Tengri. As an open glacier, the top later received the name of Semenov. “The whole ridge intervals between mountain tops – wrote Semenov – was covered nowhere interrupted shroud of eternal snow. Just in the middle of these giants heaved a sharply between the seceding for their tremendous height, snow-white pointed pyramid, which pass from the height exceeds the height of the remaining vertices half. The sky was on all sides completely cloudless, and only on the Khan-Tengri noticeable was a small cloud, light surrounding the crown, its dazzling whiteness, mountain pyramid slightly below its peak “(Semenov, 1946).

For the first time, to the foot of Khan Tengri walked Soviet researcher Michael T. Pogrebetskiy. M.T. Pogrebetskiy, starting from 1929, led several successful expeditions to study and development of climbing the Central Tien Shan, organized by the Ukrainian Scientific Association of Orientalists, the People’s Commissariat of the Republic, the Supreme Council of Physical Culture and the Republican Council of Sports Society “Dinamo”. One of the expeditions, namely the expedition of 1931, set itself the task of conquering the top of Khan Tengri. “The possibility of climbing Khan Tengri no more than five percent. I now have the courage to say that this top is not available. An attempt by Russian expedition did not reach the top “- Costner wrote Merzbacher expedition member, before going MT Pogrebetskiy in Central Tien Shan in 1931.

The ridge is composed mostly of limestone and marble. Already on the way to glade Merzbacher (last green fields on the way to the top of Tengri-Tag, on the northern slope of the ridge Inylchek, twenty kilometers from the glacier tongue) appears long shaft huge wreckage of a light yellow marbled limestone among moraine on the glacier surface. Mostly pieces of rocks under the influence of weathering and decay forces on the ground remains a heap of shiny crystals. In the floodplain. Inylchek (glacier far below) are often found to break in a pebble and whole boulders with a brilliant, if artificially polished surface.

Even the first climber to Khan Tengri MT Pogrebetskiy noted that the geological structure of the top of a large part taken the marble and marbled limestone. Not by chance, the famous peak is also called “marble pyramid.” According to VA Elchibekova twice visited on the slopes of the mountain, marble output begins within 6 thousand meters, and as you move up becomes a solid monolith, ending at an altitude of 6700 m. Climbers find it difficult to climb “Marble edge” – western buttress of Khan Tengri, giving the legendary top complete pyramidal shape.

On the opposite northern slope of Khan-Tengri, visible outputs of the two layers of marble, particularly clearly visible in those rare days when the snow is, deflated hurricane wind. “Coffee Belt” Khan Tengri continues to the east, in the Meridional crest of the ridge, where the peak of ” six thousand’s”, since the beginning of the XX century has been called “Marble Wall” (6146 m). Its western slope facing the Khan Tengri, also built of thick pale yellow marbleized limestone. Marble layer several hundred meters thick, and is located on the opposite side of a mountain valley in the northern slope of the ridge Kokshaltau in Victory peak. Thus, the entire eastern corner of Tengri-Tag, or the eastern part of Central Tien-Shan, an area of ??more than two thousand km2, complex strata of marble and marbled limestone.

Of the 26 groups of climbers from 1931 to 1974 inclusive have been 9 groups on the new routes. These routes are clearly divided into South Inylchek glacier and passed a glacier Northern Inylchek (Reznichenko) due to the latitudinal location of the ridge Tengri-Tag, in which the top.