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The main purpose of this page is to provide a lot of photographs ofMustagh Ata and some of its surrounding region. Several of these photos have beenreproduced on various web sites, often without attribution, and in some cases in ratherpoor copies. I decided it was high time to post the originals. A few detailspertinent to climbing and hiking have been included, but additional descriptive materialwill have to wait for a second edition. All of the photos are thumbnailed--click tobring up the enlargements.
Note that during July 2000 a strong team of Dan Mazur, Walter Keller andJon Otto made the first ascent of the SE (E) ridge of the mountain from the Koksay Glacierand then traversed to descend via the normal route. The snow conditions were notideal; the climb turned out to be very demanding. From their descriptions, it soundslike an elegant route and a real challenge. To read about their climb and see thepictures, visitMountainzone.com and use searchword "mustaghata." There are countless pages and photos, not very wellorganized, with many dealing with the preliminaries (the group climbed with others thestandard route first). The East Ridge climb is reported in the postings from aboutJuly 5 to about July 24. It is worth noting too that after showing dangeroussymptoms of cerebral edema just below the summit on M.A., Mazur later recovered andsummited on Cho Oyu in early October, a climb also reported on Mountainzone.
Approaching Mustagh Ata from the Southwest on the KarakorumHighway: 1. the view from the Tashkurghan fort; 2. peaks just south ofMustagh Ata (on the other side would be the peaks just south of the Koksay Glaciercirque); 3. the view from just the other side of the pass over the W shoulder of themountain; 4. a detail of the same with the approximate indication of the normal (northwestridge) climbing route; 5. the northwest side of the mountain; 6. a detail ofthe same with the normal climbing route (note: since slope near top eases off, lastpart of route and actual summit not visible).
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Approaching the mountain from the other direction; views from L.Karakul: 1. first view after leaving the Gez R. gorge (note beginningof normal afternoon cloud buildup); 2. from L. Karakul--on an otherwise fine day, alreadya cloud blowing across the summit; 3. first light (the normal climbing routeapproximately follows the right skyline); 4. detail of summit at dawn; 5. beginning the hike from upper Subax to base camp; 6. camel caravan heading back downfrom base camp.
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Life at base camp: 1. a very crowded place in thesummer--for those who pay, a cook shack and mess tents; 2. inside a mess tent; 3. aChinese cook at work--the Uighur cooks say they prepare better food, and vice versa; thisfellow disappeared somewhat abruptly, supposedly because he was embezzling goodies, astory one is pressed to believe; 4. fresh meat being butchered; 5. choice cuts(the sheep heads) being washed--apparently they were for the staff (it's a localdelicacy); 6. for acclimatization, can hike directly above base camp to views of thecliffs carved by the Kalaxing Glacier.
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The climb: 1. View back down over base camp from approachto camp I on northwest ridge; 2. view from camp I across Karakul L. in direction ofGez R. gorge (end of Kongur ridge on right); 3. The one area on the route with seracs,between camps I and II; 4. looking back down on same (the climbers are about whereones in previous picture were); 5. about half an hour from the summit; 6. view fromsummit toward Kongur; 7. vastly underexposed picture of summit showing drop off intoKoksay Glacier cirque on S. side of mountain (the batteries in the little point-and-shootsget cold fast; Kongur photo taken with different camera).
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Around to the other side:1. view of north peak at dawn fromcampsite below the Olimde Glacier; 2. the Kengxuwar River, looking north; 3. viewacross the Kengxuwar toward Kongur; 4. detail of same--summit pyramid of Kongur justvisible below patch of blue sky; 5. view back down the Kengxuwar at sunset; 6. viewupstream in clearing after storm; 7. the peak at the intersection of the Kengxuwar and theYgebali (coming in on left), which one ascends if wishing to cross Karatash (Kalatax) passto Chat (Qat).
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The Koksay Glacier cirque and the southeast ridge of Mustagh Ata:1. a perfect campsite, just below the snout of the Koksay Glacier (the Torbulung R.with a spectacular waterfall comes in out of sight on left); 2. this is a hunters'camp; at one time there were sizeable Marco Polo sheep; 3. view back down the Kengxuwar R.from up on the glacier; 4-6. panorama of the cirque starting in SW and moving around tomain peak of Mustagh Ata; 7-13. details of same, left to right, with closeups of theSE ridge of Mustagh Ata; the final picture is a detail of area just below summit(telephoto taken from Karakul L.), the profile presumably being the slope just to theright of the logical direct finish of the route on the ridge.
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Copyright © 2000 Daniel C. Waugh
Updated October 10, 2000.