Inylchek Glacier

The southern Inylchek runs about sixty kilometres through the central Tien Shan, one of the longest non-polar glaciers on earth, with Khan Tengri at 7,010 metres and Pobeda at 7,439 metres standing above its head. Halfway along, Lake Merzbacher sits dammed against the ice and drains catastrophically once or twice a year, emptying billions of litres in a few days, a phenomenon studied since the early twentieth century. Base camps operate on the ice in July and August for climbers on the two seven-thousanders. Trekkers reach the glacier on foot from Maida-Adyr in several hard days with river crossings, or fly in by helicopter from Karkara. This is a border zone at high altitude with no rescue infrastructure, and everything here is arranged through operators.

What's there

• The glacier tongue - sixty kilometres of moraine-covered ice.
• Khan Tengri - the marble pyramid that turns red at sunset.
• Lake Merzbacher - the ice-dammed lake that drains each year.
• Base camps - the summer tent cities on the ice.

When to go

July and August only. Base camps operate for those weeks and helicopters fly then. Outside that window the glacier is effectively unreachable and the camps are gone.

Good to know

This is a serious high-altitude expedition, not a trek: multi-day approach, river crossings, altitude above 4,000 metres, and no evacuation except by helicopter in good weather. Border permits take time to arrange. Costs are high whichever way you arrive. Weather cancels flights for days at a stretch.

Nearby

Karkara valley is the flight base; Karakol lies west.

Key facts