The Zayliyskiy Alatau (also sometimes spelled Zaylyiskiy, Zailiiskii, or Zalisky) is the most northerly part of the Tien Shan, and the Tuyuk-Su subrange—the mountains around the Tuyuk-Su Valley—are easily accessed from Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city.
Near the entrance to the valley lies Chimbulak (Shymbulak) ski resort. It’s my home range: I work as a mountain instructor and also climb there for fun. The highest mountain in the valley is Ordzhonikidze (4,410m, 43°3’24.68″N, 77°6’45.71″E Google Earth). In June I soloed a new route on the north face, and then in December I returned with Grigory Schukin and added another route, the hardest to date.
New routes in English
