ski centre with its piste of international class, going down 3,200 meters long.
The Talgar gorge leads to nature reserve of Alma-Ata, the oldest one in Kazakhstan, where under the protection of humans (from humans) a lot of unique species of mountain fauna live. And among them there is the animal that is the symbol of Kazakhstan, but not everyone can run into it. It is a snow leopard.
The Issyk gorge is known for its tragic event in 1963, when the severe mud flow devastated the alpine lake that was there, a popular place of public out-of-door recreation. Today this lake is being reconstructed and Issyk is returning to life again.
But in recent years the most popular place for tourists is the nearby g Turgen gorge with its beautiful waterfalls, forests full of mushrooms, lakes, alpine meadows, and the trout farm, where everyone at his/her pleasure can pay for the bite beforehand, cast the fishing rod to water and take out a strong wriggling fish.
Eternal glaciers within the precincts of Almaty city
Residents of the south capital of Kazakhstan Almaty, who wish to visit eternal ice, have two alternative ways. Either to go as far as a few thousand kilometers to Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Zone (its glaciers are the closest), or to climb a few kilometers up to the mountains of Zailiyskyi Alatau, to the glaciers at the upper reaches of Malaya Almatinka river.
We know that the first European explorers of Tian Shan in the middle of the 19th century expected to find there a lot of volcanoes, but it was a great surprise for them to find glaciers. Such confusion was the result of theories of the great Germans, Humboldt and Ritter, who in their turn relied on half-magic Chinese sources. Somehow or other, the famous Semyonov-Tien-Shanskiy in his travels initially refused pointblank to see local mountain glaciers and took the eternal ice for “snow clusters”.
But now we know that all more or less great rivers of Semirech’ye are thoroughly replenished from the melting mountain ice. As a rule, glaciers get their names from a peak which slopes they slide down. Thus, among Malaya Almatinka glaciers that can be seen from streets of Almaty there are glaciers of Ordzhonikidze, Tuyuksu, Pogrebetskiy, Molodezhnyi, etc.
One of the Zailiyskyi Alatau glaciers has the name of the specialist in local history Dmitriyev. It was he who first explored glaciers of Zailiyskyi Alatau. In the “Proceedings of the Emperor’s Russian Geographical Society’ as of 1907, the specialist in local history S.E. Dmitriev described the experience he had had during his expedition to Malaya Almatinka glaciers in the late summer of 1902.
At that, no one had ever provided Dmitriyev with any “grants” for his research, and no one even had asked him to do it. All his explorations are just his personal initiative for the study of the surrounding world. The following facts expressively speak about many unknown and unexplored things of those years. Glaciers that were described by the amateur glaciologist hundred years ago were one and all untitled. They were not even registered on the three-verst scale army topographic map of that period.
Dmitriyev’s studies continued for several years, being very occasional, though. He measured the glaciers by eye and by footsteps, and, what is more, he built the first weather shelter here and also tried to answer such questions as what was happening to glaciers. What speed they move at? Does the ice array decrease or increase? Those who are eager to know that can read this information in his works and reports.
Residents and visitors of Almaty may escape studying all the facts of the secret activity of glaciers. They have a unique opportunity of waking up in the morning in their warm cozy beds, climb up to the real ice tongue (arctic!), have a lunch out in the fresh frosty air, and come back home for dinner. Personally, most of all nearby glaciers, I like a walk towards Molodyozhnyi (“of youth’) glacier (somewhere around there stood Dmitriyev’s weather shelter). This glacier looks like a huge wall of ice that covers up half of the sky.
If you find yourselves here at the end of August you may see everything sparkle in thousands of streamlets in the last summer sun, sing in dozens of clear voices, savoury crisp in azure granular snow, or firn, under your feet, and excites with its unmatched cool fragrance. And in case you reject any transport and come here by foot, you will add to all this the feeling of self-esteem, which will grow right before your eyes!
Alpine crown of Alma-Ata
The route to many alpine peaks, crowning the Alma-Ata scenery, goes through the “Small Almaty” gorge, nearest to the city, known far beyond the borders of Kazakhstan for its high-altitude skating rink “Medeo”.
To start ascent you need to wake up early in the morning, take the regular bus from the hotel “Kazakhstan” to “Medeo”; from the skating rink you can use the cable way to get not only to ski resort “Shymbulak”, but also to Talgar Pass (3200 meters).
Low peak “Shkolnik” is a “category” peak closest to the city; it towers just above the ski-run. It is the unchanging arena of dozens of mass mountaineering competitions since the 30s. And even today, the peak “Shkolnik” (schoolboy) is lives up to its name, and continues to be an initial step for many people who try their first steps in mountaineering.
The Bogdanovich glacier cirque lies right on the other side of Talgar pass with peaks: Komsomol (4376 m), Phiskulturnik (4068 m), Chkalov (3892 m), Karlytau (4100 m), Pioneer (4031 m), Teacher (4045 m) and others. Easy accesses to these peaks made them the most visited sites of “climbing weekend”.
In 1934, Bogdanovich glacier area has been developed before others in Zailiyskiy Alatau. Almaty climbers led by B. Lobanov summited peak Karlytau, a snow-white the year a round top with perfect clean lines. In 1937 A. Bekmetov’s group summited Peak Phiskulturnik (Athlete). Chkalov peak was conquered by S. Pasterevov, B. Pomeranzova and H. Rakhimov in 1936.
But if you do not climb the Talgar pass, but ascent from Shymbulak along a Small Almaty gorge, you will get to other placer of even more interesting peaks at the riverhead. When you get to the upper border of the spruce forest (it runs in Ile Alatau on altitude 2,500 – 2,800 meters), you will see gloomy, bleak cliffs of another popular peak for ascents – peak Abai. It was summited by local climbers led by G. Beloglazov in 1933.
After Mynzhilki – a small alpine decline,, the road begins to rise onto the chaotic pile of stones of the huge moraine Tuyuksu. And from there, you can see a beautiful alpine panorama that worth looking at. This is the peak of Great Patriotic War (4050 m), Antikainen (4000 m), Panfilov Heroes (4120 m), Pioneer and Teacher (we have seen them from Bogdanovich glacier) and Amangeldy peak (3999 m).
As you learn the names of the peaks, you can clearly see the connection with the events of the Great Patriotic War. Indeed, the first ascents happened at beginning of the cruel 40’s, when Ile Alatau mountain were used for training instructors the for the Soviet Army. Names of peaks carry responses to the front-line events. The 28 Panfilov heroes performed their feat near the Moscow, and in that winter, group led by A. Maleinov, named one of the peaks in their honor. Other names of peaks appeared on the map later (1944): Manshuk Mametova, Great Patriotic War, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya (in the area of Tuyuksu glacier).
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