Tian Shan (China - Kazakhstan 7439 m)

The Tian Shan is  a masive  mountain that comprises part of the basin-and-topographyc of northwestern China, the mountains were formed by faulting and uplift during the Pliocene, 7 to 2.5 million years ago. Like the Rocky Mountains of North America, the Tian Shan are thought to be one of the greatest examples of intracontinental mountain-building in the world. Ridges average about 4000 meters in elevation; the highest summits exceed 7400 m. To the south, the Tian Shan are separated from the Kunlun Mountains and the Tibetan Plateau by the broad, hyper-arid Tarim Basin and Taklimakan Desert. To the north are the Kazakh Shield and the broad Junggar Basin, another large desert. Despite its location in an arid part of Central Asia, the Tian Shan Range is high enough to intercept moist arctic] air from the northwest, especially during winter. At the higher elevations on the northern slopes of the range, annual precipitation (400 millimeters (mm) to 800 mm) is sufficient to support large patches of subalpine coniferous forest, or smaller patches that comprise a forest-meadow mosaic complex.

The Tian Shan are a part of the Himalayan orogenic belt, which was formed by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates in the Cenozoic era. They are one of the longest mountain ranges in Central Asiaand stretch some 2,800 kilometres (1,700 mi) eastward from Tashkent in Uzbekistan.

The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Victory Peak in Russian or Jengish Chokusu in Kyrgyz  which, at 7439 m, is also the highest point in Kyrgyzstan and is on the border with China.The Tian Shan's second highest peak, Khan Tengri (Lord of the Spirits),  Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border and at 7010 m is the highest point of Kazakhstan.Mountaineers class these as the two most northerly peaks over 7000 m in the world.

The Torugart Pass, at 3752 m, is located at the border between Kyrgyzstan and China's Xinjiang province.The forested Alatau ranges, which are at a lower altitude in the northern part of the Tian Shan,are inhabited by tribes that speak Turkic languages.

The Tian Shan are separated from the Tibetan Plateau by the Taklimakan Desert and the Tarim Basin to the south.

The major rivers rising in the Tian Shan are the Syr Darya, the Ili River and the Tarim River. The Aksu Canyon is a notable feature in the northwestern Tian Shan.

Piks for climbing in Tian Shan:

Pik Pobeda - is the highest mountain in the Tian Shan,and the most northerly 7000 m peak in the world.It is a massive dome, covered in snow and ice, located just ten miles south of the range's second highest peak, Khan Tengri 7010 m.

Khan Tengri - is a huge icy pyramid, located just south of the point where Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China's borders meet. The mountain is the center of a small knot around which the Tian Shan's highest peaks are clustered. Khan Tengri is the second highest peak of the Tian Shan.Pik Pobeda 7439 m, a short distance south, is now known to be the range's highest peak.

The first ascent of the peak was made in 1931 by Mikhail Pogrebetsky's Ukrainian team by a route from the south (Kyrgyzstan side), then along the west ridge. M. Kuzmin's team made the first ascent from the north (Kazakhstan side) in 1964.

Pik Pobeda - 7439 m

Khan Tengri - 7010 m

Mramornaja Stena - 6400 m

Peak Chapayev - 6371 m

Bogda Peak - 5445 m

Khuiten - 4374 m

Pik Talgar - 5020 m

Picture: www.summitpost.org