Peak Korzhenevskaya

Peak Korzhenevskaya

Korzhenevskaya Peak is the third highest peak in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. It is one of the five “Snow Leopard Peaks” in the territory of the former Soviet Union.

Location
Peak Korzhenevskaya lies about 13 km (8.1 mi) north of Ismoil Somoni Peak, the highest point of the Pamirs.
Notable features
Korzhenevskaya is one of the five 7,000 m peaks of the former Soviet Union (this counts Khan Tengri, which is more often given as 6,995 m) that were required for a climber to be awarded the Snow Leopard award, the highest honor given to Soviet mountaineers. However it is not a small mountain; its rise above local terrain rivals that of Ismoil Somoni Peak since it is closer to the deep valley of the Muksu River.
Climbing History
In 1937 D. Gushchin led an attempt on the peak which reached the lower summit (6,910 m).
Korzhenevskaya was first climbed in 1953 by a party led by A. Ugarov; the summit team comprised Ugarov, B. Dimitriev, A. Goziev, A. Kovyrkov, L. Krasavin, E. Ryspajev, R. Sielidzanov, and P. Skorobogatov. They approached via the Fortambek Glacier, to the Korzhenevsky glacier, and thence to the north ridge.
Partly since it is required for the Snow Leopard award, Korzhenevskaya has been climbed many times; it is the second most frequented major peak in the Pamirs, after Lenin Peak. A base camp on the moraine of the Moskvin Glacier, and helicopter access make this possible. Korzhenevskaya has been climbed from almost every direction, including a first winter ascent in 1987 by Anatoly Nosov; most of these ascents were by Russians. The most common current route on the mountain ascends from the south and attains the summit ridge from the west side.
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