Jengish Chokusu ( ky, Жеңиш чокусу, , ; en, Tomur Peak, zh, s=托木尔峰, t=托木爾峰; russian: Пик Победы, ''Pik Pobedy'', ) is the highest
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
in the
Tian Shan
The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...
mountain system at . It lies on the
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...
–
China border between the
Ak-Suu District, in the
Issyk-Kul Region
Issyk-Kul Region ( ky, Ысык-Көл облусу, Ysyk-Köl oblusu; russian: Иссык-Кульская область, Issyk-Kulskaya oblast) is one of the regions of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Karakol. It is surrounded by Almaty Region, Kaz ...
of far Eastern Kyrgyzstan and
Wensu County
Onsu County, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ( ug, ئونسۇ ناھىيىسى, lat=Onsu Nahiyisi) and from Mandarin Chinese Wensu County ( zh, s=温宿县), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under ...
,
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
, China. It is part of the
Kakshaal Too, the highest part of the Tian Shan and located southeast of lake
Issyk Kul
Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in th ...
.
Names
The mountain's official name in
Kyrgyz is ''Jengish Chokusu'', which means "Victory Peak"; its
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
name is ''Pik Pobedy'' (or Pobeda Peak) meaning the same. In
Uyghur, it is called ''Tömür'', which is also the official name of the mountain in China. The
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
name ''Tuōmù'ěr Fēng'' () is a combination of the Uighur ''tomur'', meaning 'iron' and Chinese ''feng'' meaning 'peak'.
Description
Jengish Chokusu is a massif, with several summits along its lengthy ridge. Only its main summit breaks 7,000 m. It is located southwest of
Khan Tengri
Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk Kul. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to . For this reason, in mountaineering c ...
(7,010 m / 22,998 ft), separated by the South
Engilchek glacier
Engilchek Glacier ( ky, Эңилчек, russian: Энильчек - ''Enilchek'', also Иныльчек - ''Inylchek'') is a glacier in the Central Tian Shan Mountains of Issyk-Kul Region, northeastern Kyrgyzstan. Its snout is 50 km east o ...
, where base camps for both mountains are usually located.
The massif runs at
right angles
In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90 degrees or radians corresponding to a quarter turn. If a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles. Th ...
to the glaciers which flow from it into three alpine valleys in Kyrgyzstan on the north, all eventually running to the
Engilchek Glacier
Engilchek Glacier ( ky, Эңилчек, russian: Энильчек - ''Enilchek'', also Иныльчек - ''Inylchek'') is a glacier in the Central Tian Shan Mountains of Issyk-Kul Region, northeastern Kyrgyzstan. Its snout is 50 km east o ...
, the largest in the Tian Shan. Its main summit is usually approached from the Zvozdochka (Russian for "little star") glacier, which is coloured red with rocks from Jengish Chokusu.
Administratively, the Kyrgyzstan side of the mountain is in the
Ak-Suu District of
Issyk-Kul Region
Issyk-Kul Region ( ky, Ысык-Көл облусу, Ysyk-Köl oblusu; russian: Иссык-Кульская область, Issyk-Kulskaya oblast) is one of the regions of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Karakol. It is surrounded by Almaty Region, Kaz ...
and the Chinese side, in
Wensu County
Onsu County, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ( ug, ئونسۇ ناھىيىسى, lat=Onsu Nahiyisi) and from Mandarin Chinese Wensu County ( zh, s=温宿县), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under ...
of the
Aksu Prefecture
Aksu PrefectureThe official spelling according to is located in mid-Western Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It has an area of and 2.37 million inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 535,657 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of A ...
of
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
.
Records
Jengish Chokusu is the highest mountain in Kyrgyzstan. Jengish Chokusu is considered the most northerly 7,000-metre mountain in the world by geologists; the actual rock summit of
Khan Tengri
Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk Kul. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to . For this reason, in mountaineering c ...
, the Tian Shan's third highest peak, is 6,995m above sea level, though a thick layer of ice adds another 15m to its altitude, such that
mountaineers
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbin ...
classify it as a 7,000m peak.
The South Engilchek Glacier and its side glaciers occupy the entire north side of Peak Jengish Chokusu. This glacier, currently at 60.5 km in length, is the sixth longest outside of the world's polar regions.
History
Although Jengish Chokusu is over 400 metres higher,
Khan Tengri
Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk Kul. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to . For this reason, in mountaineering c ...
was believed to be the highest peak in the range until Jengish Chokusu's survey in 1943.
/sup>
A Soviet expedition mounted in 1938 to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth movement Komsomol claimed to have climbed the highest peak in the area, the summit being reached on 19 September by L. Gutman, E. Ivanov and A. Sidorenko. They measured the altitude as 6,900 metres, and named the peak ''Pik 20-ti letiya Komsomola'' (Peak of the 20th Anniversary of Komsomol).
A survey by another team in 1943 found the peak to be 7,439 metres high. The peak was renamed as ''Pik Pobedy'' (Victory's Peak) in 1946 to commemorate the Soviet victory in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The significant difference in altitude led to the 1938 ascent being called into question, although the official Soviet stand was to uphold the 1938 ascent.
A large-scale attempt on the peak in 1955 was disastrous, when 11 expedition members were killed in a blizzard. Jengish Chokusu's first indisputably verified ascent was in 1956 by Vitaly Abalakov's party.
A Chinese expedition climbed the peak from the Chinese side in 1977: the expedition book makes no mention of the Russian first ascent and gives the impression that the Chinese ascent was the first climb.[Planting the Five-Star Flag on Mount Tomur, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1979]
The first winter ascent of Peak Pobeda was made by Valery Khrichtchatyi
Valery Nikolaevich Khrichtchatyi (russian: Валерий Никола́евич Хрищатый; December 23, 1951 – August 4, 1993) was a Kazakh mountaineer. He made more than forty ascents above 7,000 meters (23,000 feet), including a strin ...
(team leader), S. Ovcharenko, G. Mikhailov, and brothers G. Bogomolov and S. Bogomolov on February 2, 1990.[Chris Bonington, “Great Climbs”, p.206, ]
The first solo speed ascent was made by Anatoli Boukreev
Anatoli Nikolaevich Boukreev (russian: Анато́лий Никола́евич Букре́ев; January 16, 1958 – December 25, 1997) was a Soviet and Kazakhstani mountaineer who made ascents of 10 of the 14 eight-thousander peaks—those a ...
in August 1990.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Route maps
{{Authority control
Mountains of Xinjiang
Mountains of Kyrgyzstan
China–Kyrgyzstan border
International mountains of Asia
Issyk-Kul Region
Aksu Prefecture
Highest points of countries
Seven-thousanders of the Tian Shan