PERHAPS THE REGION WITH THE GREATEST EXPEDITION POTENTIAL ON EARTH, XINJIANG COMBINES SOME OF THE WORLDS GREATEST MOUNTAINS, IT’S GREATEST DESERTS, IT’S REMOTEST RANGES & AND IT’S MOST ENIGMATIC RIVERS. CENTURIES HAVE BEEN DEVOTED TO EXPLORING THE AREA OF XINJIANG YET STILL TODAY MUCH IS UNDOCUMENTED, EITHER SIMPLY NEVER VISITED OR LOST TO HISTORY. EVEN BEYOND THE KARAKORUM XINJIANG HAS VAST POTENTIAL FOR EXPEDITIONS, RANGING FROM THE 5000m PEAKS VISIBLE FROM DOWNTOWN URUMQI TO WORLD CLASS TRIPS INTO PLACES NEEDING A SERIOUS DEGREE OF ORGANIZATION.
OUR RELATIONS WITH THE XINJIANG MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION GO WELL BEYOND JUST K2, HAVING WORKED WITH THEM FOR VARIOUS OTHER EXPEDITIONS TO LESSER KNOW RANGES IN PLACES MUCH MORE OBSCURE. WE’VE SPENT COUNTLESS HOURS SORTING OUT WHERE IS ACCESSIBLE, WHERE ISN’T & SEVERAL TIMES FOUND OURSELVES TO BE THE DECISION MAKERS. DESPITE IT’S FEARSOME REPUTATION, XINJIANG CAN BE TAKEN ON WHEN YOU KNOW HOW.
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THE TIEN SHAN
THE TIEN SHAN IS A COLLECTION OF SEVERAL RANGES THAT SPAN THE ENTIRE EASTERN HALF OF CENTRAL ASIA EAST TO WEST, AND THE HEIGHT OF NORTHERN ASIA FROM THE HIMALAYAN DIVIDE TO THE EDGE OF SIBERIA. FROM THE BIG WALLS OF THE CENTRAL KYRGYZ TIEN SHAN TO BOGEDA FENG JUST OUTSIDE URUMQI & THE ALTAI RISING IN MONGOLIA THERE’S LIMITLESS IDEAS FOR CLIMBING TRIPS INTO UNVISITED PLACES.
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THE KARLIK SHAN
THE STUFF OF SILK ROAD LEGEND, THE KARLIK SHAN IN EASTERN XINJIANG HAS BEEN THE BORDER TO WILDERNESS FOR 3000 YEARS. RISING BETWEEN THE LOP NUR & SOUTHERN GOBI DESERTS, THIS RANGE IS INCREDIBLY ARID, FED ONLY BY THE GLACIERS FROM THE +5000m DEEP AT IT’S CENTRE.
WITH ONLY A FEW TRIPS OUT THERE, THE KARLIK SHAN HAS A LOT STILL UNKNOWN ABOUT IT, INCLUDING THE CULTURES THAT LIVE IN THERE & THE NATURE OF THE GLACIATED TERRAIN.
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THE EASTERN PAMIR
MOST CLIMBERS HAVE HEARD OF MUZTAGH ATA, REPORTEDLY THE EASIEST +7000m PEAK (SOMEONE RODE A MOUNTAIN BIKE UP IT…), BUT AWAY FROM THAT LAYS A SERIES OF HIGH ALPINE PEAKS RARELY ATTEMPTED BUT WITH REPUTATIONS THAT PRECEDE THEM. THE KONGUR SHAN SUB-RANGE HAS SEVERAL +7000m PEAKS THAT GO YEARS WITHOUT ASCENTS, AND THE SURROUNDING AREA STILL HOLDS MANY FIRST ASCENT POSSIBILITIES WITH RELATIVELY EASY ACCESS.
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THE KUNLUN
BETWEEN THE XINJIANG BASIN AND THE TIBETAN PLATEAU LAYS AN AREA JUST AS LARGE AND EVEN LESS VISITED. THIS IS A REGION OF RIVERS THAT RUN TO NOWHERE, HUNDREDS OF FROZEN LAKES AND THE HIGHEST PLATEAU ON EARTH.
DEFINING THE AREA IS THE KUNLUN RANGE, THE RARELY VISITED MOUNTAIN RANGE THAT SHEDS NORTH INTO THE TURKESTANI BASINS AND SOUTH INTO TIBET’S CHANG TANG. MORE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INTO SPACE THAN HAVE CLIMBED IN THE KUNLUN.
PERHAPS THE PRIME OBJECTIVE IN THE REGION IS BUKADABAN FENG, THE ALMOST-7000m MASSIF NEAR THE UNMARKED BORDER BETWEEN TIBET AND XINJIANG AND DOCUMENTED ONLY DUE TO IT’S SEISMIC ACTIVITY. THE ROUTE TO BUKADABAN FENG IS VIA SEMI-FROZEN LAKES AND SNOW PATCHES IN THE SHADOWS OF SMALLER PEAKS. OFTEN CITED AS THE MOST REMOTE PEAK ON EARTH, BUKADABAN FENG REQUIRES SKILLS ALMOST FROM ANOTHER ERA TO GET TO, IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING EVEN MORE REMOTE THAN THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORUM – THIS IS IT.
