About the expedition

Friday 2 July 2010

Torugart-too


 The Torugart-too lie on the border between Kyrgyzstan and China, the main route between the two being the Torugart pass.
 The mountains form a part of the Tien Shan range similar in size to the Mont Blanc massif in the Alps but with greater elevation, most peaks in the Torugart-too reaching 4700-5000m. The Torugart-too range stretches for 35km, not counting it's significant foothills.
The region has seen some expeditions before, mainly from Pat Littlejohn's ISM and several of the area's peaks, including Mustyr (5108m) the highest peak in the region have seen ascents.
The climbing there has been described as extremely good and there are many peaks still unclimbed, with many more routes possible on peaks which have seen only one route of ascent. Kyrgyzstan's recently turbulent politics seem to have put off Western climbers for the last number of years, though Soviet climbers were active nearby before the break up of the USSR.

Above, the Torugart-too range taken by the Lipin expedition. To the left, the summit of Mustyr taken by a Japanese cyclist.

We learned a great deal about the region from expedition reports published in the American Alpine Journal and online.

We would like to thank our sponsors, The Mountaineering Council of Scotland, The Scottish Mountaineering Trust, The Sang Award and The Fabulous Bakin' Boys.



2 comments:

  1. Japanese cyclist?! I know some of the climbs on the Tour de France are steep, but...

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  2. Haha. No, they cycled past the range on their way to the Torugart Pass. Their photos of Mustyr are much better than those released by the mountaineering expeditions. They must have had very good cameras...

    http://www.geocities.jp/silkroad_tanken/katsudou_tp16/kyrgyz_cycling_2007/photos_07_tian_shan/photos_07_tian_shan_mountains.html

    John P

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