The beautiful pyramid of Khan Tengri is without doubt the Jewel of the TienShan. It is the second highest mountain in this most northerly and remote of the great Asian mountain ranges. Among the local people, the white peaks are known as 'The Mountains of Heaven'. Khan Tengri was first climbed by a Soviet expedition in 1931, via the West Col and West Ridge. Since then, most of its ridges and faces have been climbed - all by Soviet teams.
We offer a classical route - from the south, gaining the Western Col from the Southern Inylchek glacier. This approach is most popular among climbers. Depending upon the conditions prevailing at the time, it is likely that 3 camps will be used to climb Khan Tengri.
Route description
The West Ridge of Khan Tengri is a classic route that presents a reasonable objective for competent mountaineers. The ridge rises from the West Col, which is very enjoyable, straightforward 'scrambling' for the most part, with steep rocky steps linked with snow patches. There are only a couple of sections which require more care; such as the vertical rock step of about 50ft at 6,800m and the knife above. In terms of equipment needed once on the route, a single ice axe is sufficient, although the addition of a ski pole might be useful.
From the snowcaves (near the West Col) a short snow/ice slope of 40o, which is fixed with rope, leads up to the West Col (6000m). The Col is narrow and heavily corniced and the top of the fixed ropes should be carefully noted. A traverse along the Col leads to the mixed ground of the West Ridge where the angle steepens. The route then follows the West Ridge via a number of small bivouac sites at 6200m, 6400m and 6700m.
Almost the entire ridge is fixed with rope, but these need to be used with caution as their condition and the anchors are variable (the ropes are renewed at the beginning of every summer season by local guides). The route follows the crest of the ridge with snow and scrambling interspersed with steeper rock sections until 6,700m. Here a traverse rightwards across snow slopes reaches a steep rock step of some 20m which is severe in standard.
Above this the route climbs into a snow basin and then traverses out rightwards again to exit onto a short steep knife edged snow ridge of some 50m which is very exposed. This is followed leftwards to a steeper section of mixed ground. Above this, the fixed rope ends and there remains around 300m of easy snow climbing for half an hour to reach the summit. The true summit is rather difficult to find, being a large flat snow dome, so the summit point is marked by a metal tripod. The descent from the summit is very quick using the fixed ropes. The snowcaves can be reached in about 3 hours.
Your Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Bishkek, accommodation in a hotel. (B) (L) (D)
Day 2: Transfer Bishkek –Karakol (390 km.), accommodation in hotel. (B) (L) (D)
Day 3: Transfer Karakol – At-Jailoo BC (2750 m.), accommodation in the lodge. (B) (L) (D)
Day 4: Ascent to any peak about 4000-4500 m. for acclimatization. Overnight in the lodge. (B) (L) (D)
Day 5: Helicopter flight to the base camp at 4050 m. Preparation for climbing Khan-Tengri Peak. (B) (L) (D)
Day 6: Acclimatization day. (B) (L) (D)
Day 7: Climb to the camp #1. 4200 m. (B) (L) (D)
Day 8: Climb to the camp #2. 5300 m. (B) (L) (D)
Day 9: Climb to the camp #3. 5700 m. (B) (L) (D)
Day 10: Descent to the base camp. (B) (L) (D)
Day 11: Preparation day. (B) (L) (D)
Day 12: Climb to the camp #1. (B) (L) (D)
Day 13: Climb to the camp #3. (B) (L) (D)
Day 14: Climb to the camp #4 6400 m. (B) (L) (D)
Day 15: Ascent of the summit 7010 m. and descent to the camp #3.
(B) (L) (D)
Day 16: Descent to the base camp. (B) (L) (D)
Day 17: Additional day in case of bad weather. (B) (L) (D)
Day 18: Additional day in case of bad weather. (B) (L) (D)
Day 19: Helicopter flight to Karkara BC and transfer to Issyk-Kul Lake. Accommodation in hotel. (B) (L) (D)
Day 20: Free day at the lake. (B) (L) (D)
Day 21: Transfer to the airport. Departure.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Cost for flight by helicopter is $200 for one way. Porter service is available for additional payment. The above prices are given for groups of 1-3 pax. For groups of 4 pax and more we can offer more reasonable prices.
Price includes:
- meeting/seeing-off at Airport/Railway Station in Bishkek
- transfer Airport/Railway Station in Bishkek – hotel - Airport/Railway Station in Bishkek
- transfer Bishkek to helicopter landing spot and back
- helicopter flight to BC and back with personal load up to 30kg included
- accommodation at hotels in Bishkek and Karakol breakfast included
- accommodation at the camp near helicopter landing spot and at Issyk-Kul Lake, full boarding
- accommodation and 3 times a day boarding at BC “Yuzhny Inilchek“
- consultancy service of local guide
- frontier zone permit
- official registration with authorities of Kyrgyzstan
Also see tour packages in:
Asia
Kyrgyzstan
Outdoor: Mountain Ranger
Mountain/Rock Climbing
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