Mountaineering
Tajikistan lies at the junction of five of the world's greatest mountain ranges: the Himalaya, Karakorum, Hindu Kush, Tien Shan and Pamir. The Pamirs constitute the major part of the eastern half of Tajikistan – the Gorno-Badakshan autonomous oblast or GBAO, covering an area of more than 63,700 sq. Km.
Three of the highest peaks in the former Soviet Union lie here: Peak Communism (7,495 m), Peak Evgenia Korjenevskaya (7,105 m) and Peak Lenin (7,134 m). There are more than 100 other peaks over 6,000 m, some of them still unclimbed.The highest mountain in the Soviet Union was Peak Communism, which was renamed to Peak Ismoil Somoni in 1999, after the founder of the 12th century Tajik Samanid dynasty. Peak Communism and Peak Korjenevskaya overlook a large moraine, Moskvina Glade (4200 m), lying between the Walter, Traube and Moskvina glaciers where the most commonly used base camp for ascending either mountain is located.
Exploration of the Pamir by Russian and eastern block mountaineers was quite extensive and most peaks have had at least one ascent. The majority have had no more than that and a few unclimbed peaks remain. Peak Stalin, (later Communism and now Somoni) was first climbed in 1933 and Peak Korzhenevskaya 20 years later. The Fedchenko glacier is one of the longest outside the polar regions and the potential for interesting new ascents, high mountain travel and ski mountaineering is immense. The main Pamir region has been skied from end to end just once. An exploratory ski tour of the upper Fedchenko glacier will be offered in the spring of 2010. Contact us for further details.
Peak Lenin, on the northern edges of the Pamir lies on the Kirgiz border and, while a number of routes have been done from the remote southern side, the only feasible access is by a very long and expensive helicopter ride. For that reason we reluctantly recommend those aiming at Peak Lenin to approach it from the Kirgiz side.
Jutting west from the Pamirs is a huge rocky spur, the Pamir-Alai, which makes up most of west Tajikistan. This is alpine territory with wooded slopes, lakes and rivers gracing the sides of the mountains. The Fann and Hissor ranges are ideal for trekking or more technical climbing.
