By Vladimir Komissarov PhD, Adrian Nelhams

The Range is located in the South-West part of Kyrgyzstan on the border of Tajikistan and China. It is part of the northern Pamir which is called the Pamiro-Alay. The Zaalaisky Range administratively refers to the Chon-Alay and Alay districts of the Osh oblast of Kyrgyzstan. The length of the Range is more than 200 km in an east-west direction. The border with Tajikistan and China extends along the axial watershed part of the Range.

The Zaalay Range is one of the most famous climbing areas in the world because Lenin Peak (7134m) is located here. Lenin Peak is one of the most accessible and technically easy peaks in the world with an altitude of more than 7000m. However, despite the easy access, this region is largely unexplored in general, with the exception of the Lenin Peak area. This is the one summit which is more than 7000m in this region, a further 57 summits are more than 6000 in height and there are many peaks in the range of 4000-6000m, with most of them still unclimbed (virgin). The paraxial (central axis) part of the Range consist of metamorphic rocks, which changes to sediments in the lateral part of the Range such as limestone, dolomites, sandstones and conglomerates. The northern slopes of the Range, which face Kyrgyzstan, are ice covered. Glaciers flow from the tops and ridges widely covering the lower slopes. There are many snow-ice climbing routes in the Range. The best season for climbing is the period from July to October when the weather is the most stable. The climate of the Zaalay Range is considerably less harsh than that of the Tien-Shan. The mid-temperature in the Achiktash base camp (located at an altitude of 3600m) in the period of July – August is +10°С.

Precipitation is greatest in the period from April to early June; the least rainfall being in August – September

We can divide the range into four parts according to the level of exploration, landscape features and accessibility. The central part of the range is the place of two regions location:

1) Lenin Peak and Achik-Tash Valley;

2) Korzhenevskiy Glacier; the next is

3) the eastern part of the range located to the east direction from Kyzart Pass and

4) western part of the range located to the west direction from Achiktash Gorge. The approach from the Osh City (which has an international airport) to the Alay Valley goes along high quality asphalted highway through the Taldyk Pass (3615m) up to Sary-Tash Village. The distance is 180 km takes about 3 hours. From here the various approaches to the different regions of the range are accessed.

The exploration of the Zaalay Range started in the beginning of 19th century with various Pamir expeditions from the Russian Empire led by Fedchenko, Mushketov, Korzhenevsky, and Severcev and these were continued into the first half of 20th century by Soviet expeditions. Lenin Peak was discovered in 1871 by the Fedchenko expedition and called Kaufman Peak (who was Governor General of Turkestan Region of Russian Empire at that time). Climbers of a Russian-German-Austrian expedition, Karl Wien, Eugene Allwein and Erwin Schneider made the first ascent in 1928 and renamed the summit Lenin Peak. Exploration of climbing in the region commenced then and was initially concentrated around Lenin Peak

and the Korzhenevsky glacier. In 2000, alpinists started a more intensive exploration of the eastern part of the area from the Kyzart Pass eastwards.

As of 2018, the western part of the region remains unexplored by climbers. This is reflected in the list of first ascents below. However, it should be noted that mountain tourists commenced an intensive exploration of this region after 2000 using long trekking tours through mountain passes, although these itineraries avoid the more technically difficult summits.

Expeditions’ supply

There are only a few tour companies operating in Kyrgyzstan (mentioned in AAE-N #30, http://asian-alpine-e-news.com/asian_alpine_e-new_issue_no30.pdf ) which can provide the necessary services and support for independent expeditions to the Zaalay Range. In the immediate area of Lenin Peak there are six tour companies operating who can provide all the needed services.

Transport. Please take into consideration that a cross country (off-road) vehicle is required to access the gorges of the Zaalay Range, while there is an asphalted highway to Sary-Tash village and further along to the Zaalay range to the east and to the west, you can only reach the base camps of Achik-Tash valley by this road. There is no possibility to hire a cross country vehicle in the Alay valley and there is no such type of transport available in Osh. Consequently, it is necessary to hire this type of the vehicle in Bishkek.

Horses. It is not a problem to arrange horses for an expedition; these are widely available in the Alay villages through the CBT Association (http://cbtkyrgyzstan.kg/ ). Also, there is in Achiktash Valley possivle to find horses from local nomads for deliver of load or riding.

Food. Basic foodstuffs such as bread, sugar, flour, cereals and fresh meat can be purchased in the Alay Valley villages. However, the range of the food here is limited and not sufficient to support an expedition and therefore it is recommended that, as all the tour operators operating in the Alay region do, the majority of foodstuffs are purchased in Osh.

Expedition Staff. Cooks to work up to the altitude of 4000m, low level porters, local guides and horsemen for trekking can be hired in Alay Valley through the CBT Association. Other more specialized staff such as high mountain guides, alpinism instructors, high altitude porters and cooks etc. to work at the altitude more than 4000m, can be hired through the local tour operators

Expedition equipment. This specialized sort of equipment – tents (base camp and high altitude), mobile kitchens, kitchen equipment, electric supply, USB-stations, satellite phones, replacing missing climbing equipment (for instance, by reason of lost baggage) – can be rented from the tour operators mentioned above.

Communication. The mobile phone network of most of the Kyrgyz providers is available almost everywhere. However, for some remoter parts of the Range, a connection is only possible via a satellite phone.

Formalities. All climbing areas of the Zaalay Range are located in the border zone and consequently a border permit is required. It is recommended that passport registration (if required) is arranged in one of the big cities upon arrival (e.g. Bishkek or Osh). Passport registration is also possible to arrange through tour operators in Darautkurgan the capital village of the Chon-Alay district.

13.1. Achiktash Gorge

The Achiktash Gorge is one of the most famous climbing areas in the world. It is here that, what is widely considered to be the most technically easy summits over an altitude of 7000m, Lenin Peak (7134 m) is located.

This area is located on the northern slopes of the Zaalay Range, on the Tajik border, 32 km to the south of Kashkasu Village. The area is widely snow-covered, with the slopes and mountain tops covered with ice and snow. The base altitude is in excess of 3000m. Typically the routes here are on snow and ice and are not technically difficult. It provides an opportunity to undertake a high altitude ascent without requiring a high level of technical climbing skills.

The road to the Achiktash base camp from Sary-Tash Village by vehicle goes along an excellent asphalt road up to Kashkasu Village (65 km) and then across the Kyzylsuu River bridge and along a 32 km dirt road up to the location of the Lenin Peak base camps.

The Lenin Peak massive is located between the Razdelny Pass (altitude of 6080m) from the west and the Krylenko Pass (altitude of 5820m) from the east. Overall, the length of the massive from pass to pass is some 9.5 km, and the length from the western shoulder of the summit (6442m) to the eastern shoulder (6601m) is 6.5 km. The northern slopes of the massive are ice covered and these flow down to form the Lenin Glacier in the Gorge.

There are now 19 itineraries to the summit of Lenin Peak; 10 routes go from the northern side (Kyrgyzstan) (Pic. 13-5) and 9 of them go from the southern side (Tajikistan). The safest and most popular itinerary is the route from the north, going from Achik-Tash through the Razdelnaya Summit (6148m).

The summit was first described in 1871 by the Russian geographer and traveler A.P. Fedchenko, who called the summit Peak Kaufman after the local governor-general of that time. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkestan). In 1928, the first ascent to the summit was done by a Pamir Russian-German expedition, the climbers being the German pair of Karl Wien and Eugene Allwein and the Austrian alpinist Erwin Schneider. They renamed the summit Lenin Peak. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin ). Two further ascents to the summit were done before the Second World War. A new stage of exploration of the area started after the Second World War and went through until the end of the 1960s, with the latter part of this era being marked with organization of numerous mass high altitude ascents. Mass international jubilee mountaineering competitions took place in 1967 and these were unprecedented for a summit of such an altitude. Competitions were dedicated to 50th anniversary of Soviet revolution, when 301 persons, including 60 climbers from other countries, reached the summit via a number of different routes (4 routes were climbed first time). More mass ascents to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin took place in 1970. Regular ascents to the summit started in 1972 when the first Soviet Union International Mountaineering Camp (IMC) was arranged in Achiktash. This camp received tourists from across the world.

Today, hundreds of mountaineering tourists from the different parts of the planet come to the area to attempt an ascent of Lenin Peak, to undertake trekking or to just enjoy the high mountains. Six Kyrgyz travel companies set up their own base camps to provide services and support for climbing and trekking. In addition, the local government administration together with the Kyrgyz Alpine Club (www.kac.travelasia.kg) and Kyrgyz Mountain Guides Association (http://mguide.in.kg/) arrange annual ethnic-folklore festivals for local people and foreign climbers. A photo report of one of these festivals, which took place on August 5, 2018 and was dedicated to 90th anniversary of first ascent to Lenin Peak, can be seen below in Annexe 2.