USSR ALPINISM FEDERATION 1973 USSR ALPINISM CHAMPIONSHIP HIGH-ALTITUDE ASCENT CLASS

Report

on the ascent of Khan-Tengri peak via the SSE ridge with access to the ridge via the counterfort of the eastern wall by the combined team of climbers from the Sports Committee of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent 1973

1. Brief Geographical Description and Sporting Characteristics

Khan-Tengri peak (6995 m) is the highest point of the Tengri-Tag ridge, one of the highest in Tian Shan. The Tengri-Tag ridge, located in the upper reaches of the Inylchek River, a left tributary of the Sarydzhas River (Tarim basin), starts in the east from the Meridionalny ridge in the area of Shaater peak, and in the west it ends at the confluence of the largest Tian Shan glaciers: the Southern (59.4 km²) and Northern (35 km) Inylcheks, near Bronenosets peak. The ridge is about 40 km long and about 8 km wide. The ridge has an asymmetrical structure (its watershed is strongly shifted to the south). The snow line on the southern slopes fluctuates at around 4500 m. In the eastern part of the ridge, 10 km from its junction with the Meridionalny ridge, Khan-Tengri peak rises, a strikingly beautiful, perfect, and architecturally light summit, long considered the highest point of Tian Shan. The first information about the peak was published by an Italian expedition in 1904–1905. The Munich researcher Merczbacher made a significant contribution to the study of the area. However, it was not until 1930 that the expedition led by Pogrebetsky M.T. reached the foot of the peak, and on September 11, 1931, Pogrebetsky's group conquered the seemingly impregnable summit via the route now known as the "classic" route.