Almaty tour.

"I never saw much of the mountains, which were steadily increasing in height - they remained entirely behind clouds; I only managed to see one or two open patches, with stripes of snow. By evening, when I was in Podgorny, around 6 pm, the mountains had opened up enough for the Aleksandrovsky Range to be seen almost in its entirety, but it was impossible to take a photograph. The undulating greenish foothills gave way further on to rocky peaks, still largely covered in snow; these rocky peaks were light gray. Before the village of Podgorny, there is a wide, open expanse, almost devoid of foothills, which soon merges directly into the crest of the ridge; before the crest, this expanse is cut by numerous serpentine channels, through which water apparently flows. Until now, rivers and deep gorges were not yet visible in the mountains. The Syr Darya region, along the Aleksandrovsky Range on the northern side, is, to a certain extent, a Russian colony."

"Across Mountainous Regions of Russian Turkestan." V. I. Lipsky. 1906.

Ancient cities on Silk Road of Almaty region.

History of Aleksandrovsky Range.

Aleksandrovsky Range was mapped by Russian explorers in the mid-XIXth century and named in honor of Emperor Alexander II (1818-1881). In the records of N. A. Severtsov's expedition (1864), this range is called the Kirghiz Alatau (Aleksandrovsky).
It is also often called the Kirghiz Alatau, where "alatau" is Kazakh for "motley mountain." The slopes of the range exhibit distinct altitudinal zonation: steppes, forests, high-altitude meadows, and glaciers. The Kirghiz Alatau Range is part of the Northern Tien-Shan Mountains, located in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
In 1933, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, it was renamed the Kirghiz Range. It is often referred to as the Kirghiz Range or the Kyrgyz Ala-Too in Kyrgyzstan, but in Kazakhstan it is more commonly known as the Kirghiz Alatau.
Government.
83 On renaming the Aleksandrovsky Range to the "Kirghiz" Range.
Resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, April 1, 1933
The Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decrees:
The Aleksandrovsky Range, located on the territory of the Kirghiz ASSR, shall be renamed the "Kirghiz" Range.

Physical and geographical description of Aleksandrovsky Range.

The Aleksandrovsky Range forms the middle part of the northern fold of the Tien Shan, beginning in the west with the low Syr Darya Kara-Tau Range and continuing eastward into the Kungey-Alatau Range on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul.
The Aleksandrovsky Range proper is usually the name given to that part of the mountain range which, beginning at 71°20' E near Aulie-ata (Taraz, A.P.), runs in an almost latitudinal direction to the Buam Gorge near the northwestern corner of Lake Issyk-Kul, through which the upper reaches of the Chu River breaks north.
Beginning near the town of Aulie-ata with low buttresses, the Aleksandrovsky Ridge gradually rises to the east and passes the snow line at the source of the Karabalta River, with individual peaks rising to 14,000-15,000 feet above sea level. The northern slope of the Aleksandrovsky Ridge, from which numerous tributaries of the Chu River flow, is covered with forest up to 8,000 feet, while the southern slope is treeless.

Authority:
Pospelov, E. M., "Names of Cities: Yesterday and Today (1917-1992). Appendix 4. Page 224. 
https://www.saveplanet.su/geo_term_3068.html
Quoted from Shokhrat Kadyrov. "Russian-Turkestan Historical Dictionary." Volume 2. Oslo, 2004 (manuscript).
https://www.saveplanet.su/geo_term_3068.html

Authority:
Encyclopedia of the Kazakh SSR. Almaty, 1992. Section "History".