Bayankol Gorge - one of the most majestic, harsh and picturesque in the central Tien Shan. The most beautiful mountain range with a length of 70 km rises along the Bayankol River, and the highest peak in this section is called the Marble Wall. The top is considered not only one of the most colorful, but also affordable. Every year she attracts a large number of athletes and enthusiasts who want to reach its top. The peak has several undoubted advantages, especially for those climbers who want to conquer their first six-thousander.
Only mountains can be better than mountains
Several routes of varying difficulty lead to the top, including fairly simple ones, with an average slope of 40 degrees. The approach to the foot of the Sarydzhas ridge, where the peak is located and where the ascent begins, is the most accessible climbing area in this Tien Shan zone. A dirt road passes through the Bayankol gorge to the Zharkulakskoye field, and can be reached by car. Further to the camp stretches a 12-kilometer trail, which is easy to overcome on foot or on horseback.
The base camp is located among the expanses of mountain meadows, at the source of Bayankol and the Sary-Goynou channel. From here, a breathtaking view of the Marble Wall and the mountain ranges of the Sarydzhas Range opens. Not an extra luxury on this expedition - a good camera. Throughout the route, you can observe amazingly beautiful landscapes, and from the top a no less ambitious overview will open.
Location
The alpine glacial region of the Tien Shan is the most continental. In the depths of Eurasia, it rises between the Indian, Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, at almost the same distances between them. About the middle of this mountainous region, in the basin, is Issyk-Kul, a lake that never freezes. To the east of it, between the channels of the Muzart and Sary-Jas rivers, the highest elevation of the Tien Shan rises, its citadel of high-mountain glaciers. In these places, the highest peaks are piled up and ridges, eternally covered with snow, stretch for tens of kilometers.
The whole territory, with an area exceeding 10, 000 square kilometers, is called the Khan-Tengri massif, as it is called the peak with a height of 6995 meters. It rises in the middle of this massif and serves as a peculiar landmark, which is visible from the remote sections of the Tien Shan. In the southerly direction, 20 kilometers away from it rises the most northern seven-thousander, peak of Victory, with a height of 7439 meters. 11 kilometers northeast of the Khan Tengri peak is the Marble Wall, a peak whose peak rises to a height of 6146 meters.
Merzbacher's expedition and the name of the peak
By the beginning of the 20th century, the pyramidal peak of Khan Tengri was considered the main peak in the central Tien Shan region. In 1902, an expedition was organized here under the leadership of a German geographer and climber Merzbacher to determine the exact location and relationship of the Khan Tengri with respect to the adjacent ridges. Hoping to get to the foot of the summit, Merzbacher began research from the Bayankol river valley. However, already in the upper reaches, the scientist was convinced that the path to a clearly visible target from a distance was blocked by a high snowy ridge, and instead of Khan Tengri, another mighty peak rose above the valley itself. It was declining in the northwest and breaking off over the glacier by a steep slope at about 2000 meters high. Naked rock, on which neither snow nor ice could hold, revealed layers of white and yellow marble, outlined in dark stripes.
Merzbacher called this cliff and snowy slope the Marble Wall. The slope forms a semicircle with a length of one kilometer and closes the upper reaches of the glacier that fills the main source of the Bayankol River. The group decided to climb to the top and reached the mark of 5, 000 meters, but due to heavy snow and the danger of an avalanche, they had to abandon the further ascent.
Levin expedition
The next attempt to climb the Marble Wall was made by Soviet climbers in 1935. The group was led by E. S. Levin. The expedition managed to climb to an altitude of 5000-5300 meters, when an avalanche collapsed on the slope where the climbers stopped, partially covering the tents. There were no casualties, but the group had to retreat.
Further investigation of the summit was prevented by the outbreak of war. However, in the very first post-war year, a new expedition was organized on the Tien Shan, and the Marble Wall again became the object of its attention.
Conquered peak
On July 25, a group of 10 climbers left Moscow. These were people of different professions: mainly engineers, one architect, geographer, two doctors. The expedition was led by professor of medical sciences A.A. Letavet. Researchers were equipped with the necessary equipment and measuring instruments, including altimeters.
On August 10, nine kilometers from the Marble Wall, a base camp was set up at an altitude of 3950 meters. Initially, the expedition members made more than a dozen exploratory ascents to a height of 4800 meters. During them, various climbing paths were explored, which made it possible to get acquainted with the sculpture and the relief of the Marble Wall, acclimatize and get climbers in excellent physical shape.
It was decided to climb the eastern ridge with a further approach to the northern ridge. This path was tiring and long, but the most acceptable. On the morning of August 24 at seven o'clock the group in full force left the base camp and began the ascent. The top was taken on August 28th. It was three in the afternoon, when seven members of the team first climbed to the top of the Marble Wall. Their instruments determined the height of the peak at 6146 meters.
Expedition Results
In addition to the fact that one of the outstanding peaks of the central Tien Shan was conquered, according to expedition reports by the All-Union Committee of Physical Culture and Sports, climbing was classified by the VA category of difficulty.
The most important studies of the Khan-Tengri massif were also made, which dispelled previous assumptions about the structure of the central Tien Shan. At this point, Merzbacher’s theory of "radial" branching of the main ridges from the nodal point, for which the Marble Wall or Khan-Tengri Peak was accepted, was accepted. At the same time, Victory Peak was considered the main peak of the massif, to which, in theory, numerous chains of main ranges converged. The expedition proved that all three peaks are not central nodes from which the main ranges could diverge. The Khan-Tengri massif does not have such a centralized point; it is formed by five latitudinal ranges that connect the Meridional Range and Terskey Alatau.
Vertex description
The crown of the Marble Wall is crowned with a rough, with a north-western slope platform of approximately 12 by 20 meters. On its southern side are light yellow marble rocks. In the south-west towards the glacier North Inylchek leaves a rather gentle slope. In the southeastern direction, a saddle is visible, and beyond it is the stretching ridge of the Meridional Range. A sudden precipice leaves the northwestern and northeastern edges of the summit towards the Ukur glacier and the Bayankol valley.
Through the peak passes the border of Kazakhstan and China. However, if you look at the six thousandth height, the eternal silence of the snow-capped mountains, indifferent to human fuss, the last thing you think about dividing the planet into states.
