KHAN TENGRI: ROUTES, CLIMBS, CAMPS

KHAN TENGRI

7,010-meter-high (23,000 foot-high) Khan Tengri above North Engilchek Glacier in the Tian Shan

Khan Tengri (border of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan) is 7,010 meters (22,998 feet) high and has an impressive sheer, rock face. The fifth highest mountain in the former Soviet Union, it attracts climbers from all over the world. Khan-Tengri means “Prince of Spirits.” Locals call it “Blood mountain” because of the color of the rock face in the setting sun.. It is a challenge for experienced mountaineers.

Khan Tengri is the most northerly seven-thousander in the world (peaks over 7,000 meters). Since ancient times, this mountain, which is crowned by a pyramid of marble, has been shrouded in legend. Other names it has been called include Tengritau (Mountain God). Khan Tengri is part of the Central Tian Shan. To the west, an array of ridges extend from Khan-Tengri. The largest of them is Terskey Tau. On its eastern branch is the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Khan Tengri is the highest peak in Kazakhstan. Only its northern part is located in Kazakhstan. Climbers call the route here the “Northern wall”. The ascent to the mountain is very complicated and can be completed only by professional or highly-skilled mountain climbers. The base camp is 40 kilometers south of Kegan, Kazakhstan.

Tian Shan Mountains

Khan Tengri is located in the Tian Shan (Tien Shan) — a formidable mountain range in Central Asia and one of the great mountain ranges of the world. Extending in a northeast-southwest direction along the border between China and Central Asia from the Altai area — where Mongolia, Russia and China all come together — to the Pamir Range in the Tajikstan and southwest China. The highest point is 7439-meter (24,406-foot) -high Pobeda Peak in Kyrgyzstan. The most impressive mountain — and highest point of Kazakhstan — is Khan-Tengri peak (6995 meters, 22,950 feet) in on the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border.

The Tian Shan are lovely mountains with some of Central Asia and China's most beautiful scenery: towering cliffs, massive glaciers, snow-capped peaks, mountain streams, sweet-smelling spruce forests, boulder-strewn gullies and deep gorges. The name "Tian Shan" means "celestial mountains" in Chinese. The northern The Tian Shan mountains are is located in the southeastern part of Kazakhstan. The Western Tian Shan runs along the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border in the Almaty and Bishkek areas and extends all the way to Uzbekistan. region. The Central Tian Shan runs from central Kyrgyzstan to China. The Eastern Tian Shan is in western China. The entire range extends about 300 kilometers from north to south.

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By some reckonings the Tian Shan is the largest system of mountains in Asia outside of the Himalayas, The range cover an area of roughly 1,036,000 square kilometers (400,000 square miles), which makes them comparable in size to the American Rocky Mountains. The range is around 2414 kilometers (1500 miles) in length and 320 to 480 kilometers (200 to 300 miles) wide. Alpine glaciers, some of which are up to 19 kilometers (12 miles) long, are common on the steep eastern slopes. These glaciers feed many of Kazakhstan's river systems. The southern slopes of the range are arid except where the Ili River flows between two branches of the mountain range. Highland meadows create natural pastures on the northern slopes of the Tian Shan at elevations around 3,000 feet (900 meters). [Source: Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia, Gale Group Inc., 2003]

Inylchek Glacier

Inylchek Glacier (50 kilometers east of the village of Engilchek) is an immense 60-kilometer-long glacier that flows out of both sides of Khan Tengri and embraces a ridge of sawtooth mountains and tributary glaciers. The South Inylchek Glacier is the sixth longest non-polar glacier in the world and is the largest and fastest moving glacier in Kyrgyzstan. The main glacier has two arms, the North and South Engilchek Glaciers. The latter is longer and provides an overall length of 60.5 kilometers (38 miles), with an area of 17.2 square kilometers (seven square miles) and an ice thickness of roughly 150–200 meters in the bottom parts. The glacier stems from the Chinese-Kazakh-Kyrgyz massif of Khan Tengri and Pik Pobedy and the upper part of the glacier falls in all three countries. Meltwater from the glacier feeds a tributary of the Aksu River, which crosses the Chinese border into the Tarim Basin. Water from this glacier also feeds the seasonal glacial Lake Merzbacher which ultimately flows into the Engilchek River. [Source: Wikipedia]

Garth Willis of the alpinefund.org wrote: The Enylchek (or Inycheck) Glacier is one of the world’s largest glaciers; its south fork extends 62 kilometers. The north fork, lying in Kazakhstan, leads to the base camps for the northern approach to Khan Tengri.Near the head of the south fork, two peaks, Khan Tengri (“Lord of the Spirits”—about 7,000 meters) and Pik Pobedy (“Victory”—7,439 meters) receive almost all of the climbing traffic. [Source: Garth Willis, alpinefund.org, July 2004 ]

Climbing Khan Tengri

It has been a matter of honor for experienced climbers in the former Soviet Union to summit Khan Tengri. It was first officially climbed by a Ukrainian in 1931 and has long been popular with climbers from the countries of the former communist bloc. Climbers periodically die in falls and avalanches. The mountain was first described by the Austrian explorer Gottfried Merzbacher in 1902. A Kazakh team estimated the height at 7,010 meters (23,133 feet) high. These figures are not widely accepted. Some sources say the mountain is 6,995 meters (23,083 feet) high. See Below

Because Khan Tengri is the most northerly mountain above 7,000 meters its glaciers are huge and extend to a lower elevation than on mountains further south. Most climbers are brought in by helicopter and stay at the base camp on the edge of Inylcheck Glacier, which is used by climbers tackling Khan Tengri and Pik Pobedy. The 2200-meter-high base camp contains yurts and a sauna for climbers.

Garth Willis of alpinefund.org wrote: “For sheer, elegant beauty the summit of Khan Tengri may have no peer in the world. Alpenglow on the southwest wall radiates red in the evening, and the pointed summit seems to burn a hole in the sky. First climbed by a Soviet team in 1931, there are now 18 established routes.

Summit Post Description of Khan Tengri

According to Summit Post:“Khan Tengri is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful peaks in the world. Shaped like a kids drawing of a mountain its summit and sharp ridges form an almost perfect pyramid covered in snow and ice. Anatoli Boukreev considered Khan Tengri perhaps the world's most beautiful peak because of its geometric ridges and its symmetry. During sunset the main summit often glows deep red due to the mountain consisting largely of marble rock. The Kazakh name Kan Tau means "Blood Mountain" in relation to this phenomina. [Source: Big Lee, summitpost.org, April 2001 ]

“Khan Tengri's name means "Lord of the Spirits" or "Lord of the Skies" in the Uighur and "Ruler of the Skies" in Turkic as the mountain was worshipped as a god in in the indigenous shamanistic culture. As with many peaks in this part of the world it also has a number of alternative lesser used names: Khan Tangiri Shyngy, Kan-Too Chokusu, Pik Khan-Tengry, Hantengri Feng.

“The mountain is located on the Kyrgyz-Kazah border and seven kilometers west of the China border in the remote heart of the Central Tian Shan. Khan Tengri forms the highest point on the Tengri Tag sub-range that lies between the Northern and Southern Inylchek (or Engilchek) Glaciers. The latter is the third largest glacier outside the polor regions after the Siachen Glacier in the Indian-Pakistani border region and the Fedchenko Glacier in the Tajik Pamir.

“Khan Tengri is the second highest mountain in the Tian Shan Range after Pobeda (7439m), located a short distance south on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border. It is the fifth highest in the former Soviet Union. As a peak (possibly) over 7000m it is one of the five Snow Leopard Peaks of the former Soviet Union. Whether the peak is actually over 7000m is a controversial subject. It's geographical elevation is 6995m but the glacial cap rises to 7010m. You decide!

“Khan Tengri is generally considered to be the third hardest Snow Leopard mountain after Pobeda and Pik Kommunizma. Being the most northerly 7000m peak in the world it can be subject to treacherous whether making it a potentially dangerous place to be under-equipped and ill-experienced. The northern latitude also makes the climbing season very short (mid-July to end of August). Khan Tengri is a popular mountain to climb but still receives relatively few climbers compared to Pik Lenin. Most who attempt the mountain belong to the former Soviet block (as the Summit Log testifies) and visiters from outside this area are still few in number.

Exploration of Khan Tengri

According to Summit Post: The first European to penetrate the range was Piotr Seminov, already a member of the Russian Geographic Society aged only twenty-two. In 1856 he made his first expedition to the Lake Issyk Kul region. The following summer Seminov, at the head of an army of 1500, crossed the Santas Pass and proceeded east towards the Chinese frontier arriving in the highest area in the enire range. Here he counted at least thirty high mountains, the highest which he believed to be Khan Tengri. Others later visited the region, among them famed explorers like Swedish Sven Heding, Italian Cesare Borghese, accompanied by Swiss mountain guide Mattias Zurbriggen, and a whole set of Russian explorers. [Source: Big Lee, summitpost.org, April 2001 ]

“Gottfried Merzbacher of Germany, who was a keen scientist one of the most skilled mountaineers of his time, visited the area in 1902 with the objective of trying to climb the peak. He was joined by climbers Hans Pfann and Hans Keidel and mountain guide Fransesco Kostener. Together they tried to approach the peak via the South Inylchek glacier, but were severly setback by the yearly dam break of the Glacial Lake at the head of the North Inylchek Glacier (subsequently known as Merzbacher Lake) that flooded the region. Merzbacher continued on his own and reached the foot of Khan Tengri. His conclusion however was that the peak was 'unclimable' and left it with the message to the world, "The Tian Shan is just no place for mountain climbing".

“Aided by improved climbing techniques and materials in the Soviet Union they developed quite some other thoughts about this. In the late twenties they started mounting expeditions with the goal of climbing the peak, but were first confronted with sever logistical problems of getting enough provisions up to the head of 65 kilometer long Inylchek glacier as it is almost impossible for pack animals to go there. Hacking steps in the ice for their horses, a party under Ukranian mountaineer Progrebitskiy surmounted all the problems in 1931 and succeeded in climbing the peak by what now has become the classical route.

“It was in the early years of the Soviet Union that again Khan Tengri got serious attention from mountaineers and in 1931 a party of the Ukranian alpinist M. Progrebetskiy finally scaled the summit via what is today the classical southern route. Two years later a Swiss climber and his Russian guide repeated the feat. For some time these first two ascents were doubted by mainly German researchers but nowadays it is generally accepted that they were genuine. It took 33 years before another route was opened, in 1964 by Russian climbers Romanov and Kuzmin on the North wall. Not surprising as routes other than the classical one are of very serious nature.

Khan Tengri Climbing Routes

Garth Willis of alpinefund.org wrote:“ First climbed by a Soviet team in 1931, there are now 18 established routes. The route called Classic (5b) is climbed by almost all commercial expeditions from the south and is a popular objective for high-altitude climbers with modest experience. The lower section climbs the heavily crevassed Semenovsky Glacier to a 6,000-meter saddle. This section is exposed to substantial avalanche hazard. The summit is a one-day push from the saddle and negotiates a myriad of notoriously tattered fixed lines. The late Alex Lowe climbed this route in 1993, base camp to summit and back in a record time of 10 hours and 8 minutes. The speed race is now held from the north side, in Kazakhstan, where in 2003 another American, Chad Kellogg, climbed from the ca 4,000-meter base camp to the finishing line around 200 meters below the summit in a little over five hours. This route starts at the same altitude as the south side and joins Classic at the saddle. The most technically difficult routes lie on the 2,000-meter north face and are accessed by helicopter from Kazakhstan.[Source: Garth Willis, alpinefund.org, July 2004 ]

According to Summit Post: “In the Soviet Union mountaineering was considered serious business and it was very popular. Many of the documented routes in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are remnants from the era of Soviet-sponsored training camps. Only when climbers reached the highest level of training were they allowed to set new routes. This legacy has left a series of standard routes and a large number of very difficult routes on Khan Tengri. For a mountain of this size and remoteness there are a large number of opened routes compared with mountains of other ranges. [Source: Big Lee, summitpost.org, April 2001 ]

“Possibly the most outrageous route of ascent was in 1990 by a Soviet team from Kazakhstan. They reached Khan Tengri’s summit in 14 days via a long traverse that began from Pik Vazho Pshavela (6918m) and included Pik Pobeda (7439m), Pik Sovetskoy Armenii (6900m), Pik Pobeda East (7030m), Pik Topografov (6873m), Pik Druzhby (6800m), Shatyor (6700m). This is undoubtedly one of the most impressive high altitude traverses of all time.

“The standard west ridge can be approached from the north (Kazakhstan) or south (Kyrgyzstan). The southern approach is technically easier but objectively more dangerous with fatalities in 1991, 1993 and 2004. The North Face is 3000m high and direct routes are very hard and unclimbed by anyone from outside the former Soviet block. The classic route from the north does not tackle the north face directly and makes for a col to the west from where the west ridge can be gained.

Getting to Khan Tengri

According to Summit Post: “Two logical starting points present itself for expedition into the Central Tian Shan and Khan Tengri. The first one is Almaty, Kazakhstan, which can be reached by many international flights and has good hotel accomodation and so on. For climbs on the Northern routes of Khan Tengri it is preferable to start from Almaty. Bishkek the capitol of Kyrghyzstan however has the better climbing infra structure and many capable agencies have their offices here. Bishkek can also be reached by a few international flights, mainly coming from Frankfurt, Moscow or Urumqi. There is also a short connecting flight from Almaty to Bishkek, but flying into Almaty, with most airplane companies you are entitled a free seat on the shuttle bus to Bishkek. In both towns helicopter transport into the Tian Shan is available. [Source: Big Lee, summitpost.org, April 2001 ]

“The southern and northern base camps can be reached by helicopter from Karkara (2200m) in the foothills of the Tian Shan a day's drive from Almaty or Bishkek. It's located just across the Kazakh border but if you are approaching from Bishkek for the Southern BC then you don't need a Kazakh visa if you are with a company (such as Aksai for example). Karkara is very well equipped with Restaurant, Hotel, Sauna, Tents for hire and so on. Helicopter flights usually run from around the second week in July to the end of August. Trekking to the southern base camp is possible in about three days however it would be advisable to have supplies for the climb flown to base camp.”

Camps at Khan Tengri

According to Summit Post: “Three commercial base camps are situated at the confluence of Sviozdochka with South Inylchek Glaciers serving climbers to Khan Tengri, Pobeda and any other peaks in the area. Besides large tents being available food is also prepared and of course vodka and beer is readily available! Possibly the best thing about these camps are the saunas. To say that it is slightly surreal to be stark naked at 4000m in the middle of one of the largest glaciers outside the polar regions with minus temperatures outside (sometimes snowing) while you are sweating you b*****s off in a sauna is an under statement! [Source: Big Lee, summitpost.org, April 2001 ]

“It is perfectly fine to independently camp in the vicinity of the mountain if you can resist the lures of the commercial camps. A short glacier crossing from base camp there is a convenient camp spot at the foot of the normal route at 4100 meter. The Frequently used spots for camps on the climbing of the normal route are found at 5200, 5900, 6400 and 6700 meter altitude.

“The best bet is to buy a package that generally includes the following: 1) Airport transfer and accommodation in either Bishkek or Almaty; 2) Transfer to and from Kakara; 3) Tent accommodation (with mattress) and food at Kakara; 4) Helicopter flights to and from base camp; 5) Tent accommodation (with mattress), three meals and drink in a mess tent, and sauna at base camp; 6) Border permit. The alternative is to just take the helicopter and bring all your own tent and food.”

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, U.S. government, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.

Last updated June 2026