Talgar Mountain Peak.
Kazakhstan Mountains Waterfalls & Peaks. Kazakhstan mountain districts

The northwestern slope is of trapezoidal form, and the large glacier lies on its southwestern and northeastern slopes, a good panorama of which is observed from the peak.

The first assent to the Talgar Peak was achieved in 1935. The assent usually takes three or four days. There are man attractive peaks nearby with both simple and difficult technical routes. The peak is located in the Almaty State Natural Reserve, and usually, special permission is required to visit that region. Climbing of Talgar peak.

Geographical location. Talgar peak is situated in Zailiski mountain range that belongs to Northern Tien-Shan mountain system. Northern Tien-Shan stretches from west to east for 400 km. It is divided into two ranges - Zailiski Alatau ("the first range behind Ili river") and Kungei Alatau ("bright snowy mountains faced to the sun"). Zailiski Alatau is 280 km long and up to 60 km wide.

Its northern slopes belong to South-Eastern part of Kazakhstan. Kungei Alatau is situated completely in Kyrgyzstan. All this mountain system belongs to Talgar (Chiliko-Keminski) mountain junction, it is the exact place where Talgar peak is situated (H-5017). The largest glaciers are situated here:

Glacier name	Length, square	Morphological type	Height of fern line	The highest point of the glacier
Korzhenevskogo (from south)	11,7 km 38 sq km	Valley type	(H-3950)	(H-5010)
Bogatyr (from east)	9,1 km 30,3 sq.km	Hollow type	(H-4020)	(H-4580)
Dmitrieva (from north)	5,3 km 17,4 sq. Km	Valley type	(H-4940)	(H-4520)
Shokalskogo (from north)	4,7 km 10,89 sq km	Valley type	(H-3940)	(H-4540)

Climate in the region of Talgar peak. Climate of North Tien-Shan mountains is sharply continental.

Temperature. The coldest month is January, the hottest is July. Average temperature of July is +3 ° C, but it may reach +17 ° C on a sunny day. At height of more than 3750 m average July temperature reaches +6 ° C even in the shady parts. The warmest month in the region of Talgar peak starting from 2500 m and higher is August.

Average monthly temperatures at different heights in region of Talgar peak

Precipitation. Precipitation in July and August reach 900 mm. Average date when firm snow cover is formed is October 30. Average date when snow start thawing is April 2.

Wind. Winds in the mountains are not strong. Change of wind directions takes place between 8.00 and 10.00 o'clock in the morning when wind blows from the valleys to the mountains, and between 8.00 and 10.00 o'clock in the evening when it blows down from the mountains. Normally the winds blow at 1,8/2,3 m/sec. Strong winds are very rare, but may happen in May or November.

Avalanches. March and April is the time when most avalanches go down.

Route and difficulties of climbing. The route we offer doesn't include visit to the territory of Almatinskyi nature reserve. Base camp is set up on "Eden glade" on Gorina glacier - it is one of the tributaries of Korzhenevskogo glacier. We leave the base camp and go to north-west, in direction of junction of the side ridge with the Main ridge. We start going up the side ridge, our way goes on snow-ice gorge. In its lower part it is 150 m wide. It is also crossed by a crack. We cross over the crack on the snowy parts, using ropes. Slope steepness is 30 °. Steepness grows to 35-40 ° in the upper part of the gorge.

It is necessary to fix up to 100 m of ropes, ice screws are necessary. In the upper part of the gorge there parts of wandering ice, here the gorge narrows to 10 m. We should move on the center of the ridge. Attention! There may be snow cornices to the right! Further moving on the ridge is not that difficult, but requires attention. The ridge leads to the summit of Main Talgar. As a rule snow here is very deep. It takes 3-5 hours (2 - 2,5 km) to get from the ridge to the summit. In sunny weather stonefalls along the eastern slopes of Talgar peak start at 10.30 - 11.00 o'clock in the morning and finish at 02 - 03.00 p.m. Along the western slopes they start at 01.00 - 02.00 p.m. and finish by 06.00 p.m.

Climbing history. The first climbing of Talgar was performed in 1935 by a group of climbers. The group was guided by V. Zimin ("Zailiski Alatau" V. Stepanova). Other sources say that Talgar was climbed for the first time in 1938 by a group of climbers from Stalinsk town (Novokuznetsk nowadays).

Additional information

1. For a long time the classical approach to Talgar peak on the territory of Almatinskyi nature reserve from Talgar town upwards along Middle Talgar river existed. But due to current difficulties to get a permit to enter the nature reserve, we use another, quicker and more comfortable route to reach Talgar peak. It is described in "Day by Day" program.

2. On the second day of the program it will be necessary to cross the river several times. That is why it is necessary to start our passage as early as possible, before the water level starts rising.

3. The Road from Almaty to Issyk village is with asphalt coverage. We use small comfortable minibuses with no A/C.

4. If you decide to take a helicopter flight from Almaty to the base camp on Gorin glacier, you should inform the company at least 2 days prior the flight. This service is offered for additional cost. Flight time Almaty - base camp - Almaty is 1 hour. Same time when you finish the program.

5. Your personal gear and camping outfit will be carried by porters from Issyk lake to the base camp on Gorin glacier and back. Every expedition member is allowed to give 20 kg of his personal gear to the porter to carry.

6. You may request an additional porter for you to carry your personal stuff to the base camp and back. You should inform us about that two days prior the expedition start.

7. Issyk village is situated to the south-east, 55 km from Almaty on the right bank of Ili river. It was founded in 1854. There is an Issyk Hill in Issyk village - a funeral place that belongs to the times when Saks nomads lived on that territory (V c. BC). In 1969 - 1970 while the archaeological excavations in that hill a grave of the so-called "Golden man" was found.

It was a mummy of the young warrior. All his clothes was decorated with gold. Nowadays the image of the "Golden man" is one of the symbols of Kazakhstan.

8. Issyk lake. It is situated 15 km from Issyk village. In 1963 the big mudflow destroyed the lake, so now it is not that big as it is used to be.

9. If you wish and the weather allows you may climb the nearby peaks Bliznets ("Twins") and Aktau after you've climbed Talgar peak.