Khan Tengri is the second-highest mountain in theTian Shan, surpassed only byJengish Chokusu (means "Victory peak", formerly known asPeak Pobeda) (7,439 m). Khan Tengri is the highest point inKazakhstan and third-highest peak in Kyrgyzstan, afterJengish Chokusu (7,439 m) andAvicenna Peak (7,134 m). It is also the world's most northern 7,000-metre peak, notable because peaks of high latitude have a shorter climbing season, generally more severe weather and thinner air.
The name "Khan Tengri" literally means "King Heaven" in Kyrgyz and Kazakh or "King Sky" in Mongolian and possibly references thesky deityTengri that exists both in the religion ofTengrism andCentral Asian Buddhism. In some other local languages, it is known asKhan Tangiri Shyngy,Kan-Too Chokusu,Pik Khan-Tengry, andHantengri Feng. (Mongolian:Хан Тэнгэр,Kazakh:Хан Тәңірі, Han Táńiri, حان تأڭئرئ;Kyrgyz:Хан-Теңири Han-Teñiri, حان-تەڭىرى;Uyghur:خانتەڭرى;simplified Chinese:汗腾格里峰;traditional Chinese:汗騰格里峰;pinyin:Hànténggélǐ Fēng,Xiao'erjing: هًا تٍْ قْ لِ فعْ). Local residents named the mountain Khan-Tengri for the unique beauty of snow giants.
Khan Tengri is a massive marble pyramid, covered in snow and ice. At sunset the marble glows red, giving it the name "blood mountain" in Kazakh and Kyrgyz (Kazakh:Қантау;Kyrgyz:Кан-Тоо). Located just across the SouthEngilchek (or Inylchek) glacier, 16 km north ofJengish Chokusu, Khan Tengri was originally thought to be the highest peak in the Tian Shan because of its dramatic, steep shape, compared to the massive presence of Jengish Chokusu. This perception was probably also due to Khan Tengri's visibility across the plains of southern Kazakhstan while Jengish Chokusu remains out of view of civilization. Khan Tengri is the highest peak in the rugged Tengri Tag subrange, also known as the Mustag, that also containsChapaev Peak (6,371 m; 20,902 ft) and Gorky Peak (6,050 m; 19,849 ft).Anatoli Boukreev considered Khan Tengri perhaps the world's most beautiful peak because of its geometric ridges and its symmetry.
Although it is almost 430 m (1,410 ft) lower than its neighbor, Khan Tengri was believed to be the highest peak in the range until Jengish Chokusu was surveyed in 1943 and determined to be higher.
Peter Semenov was the first European to see the Tengri Tag and its peak, the colossal Khan Tengri (in 1857).[3]
The first ascent of the peak was made in 1931 byMikhail Pogrebetsky [kk]’s Ukrainian team through 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. Khan Tengri is one of five peaks that a Soviet mountaineer needed to scale to earn the prestigiousSnow Leopard award.
A team from Kazakhstan made the first winter ascent of Khan Tengri on February 7, 1992; the team includedValery Khrichtchatyi, Viktor Dedi, Yuri Moiseyev, Valdimir Suviga, Aleksandr Savin, Igor Putintsev and Malik Ismetov.[4][5]
Austrian mountaineer and expedition leaderToni Dürnberger died while descending after having climbed Khan Tengri on August 17, 1992.[6]
In 2004, more than a dozen mountaineers were killed in a large avalanche on the Pogrebetsky route, the most popular route on the mountain.
^Semenov, Petr Petrovitch.Travels in the Tian'-Shan' 1856-1857. Trans. by Liudmila Gilmour, Colin Thomas and Marcus Wheeler. Edited and annotated by Colin Thomas, pp. 180, 184-185. The Hakluyt Society, London. (1998).ISBN0-904180-60-3.
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