Tours in Kazakhstan Altai.

“Trees and bushes above the lake.
Geese are whitening in the mirror of water
Which is clean and so cool
What - touch! - and you will become cold in the heat”

Sultanmakhmut Toraigyrov.

Hiking in mountains of Kazakhstan Altai.

Kholzun ridge is one of the highest ranges of the Ore Altai. It extends in the border part of Kazakhstan and the Altai Territory of the Russian Federation. The ridge extends in a sub-latitudinal direction for 100 kilometers. The highest point is the peak of Lineisky Protein 2599 meters above sea level.
This mighty ridge is covered with vast rocky rocks, crowned with rocky peaks, impenetrable taiga, eternal snows and small alpine lakes emphasize its beauty and severity. The ridge is composed of metamorphosed rocks, broken through by intrusions of granites.
The slopes are covered with mountain cedar-deciduous taiga (up to 2000 - 2100 meters above sea level), subalpine meadows and mountain tundra prevail above. The Kholzun ridge forms a watershed of the right tributaries of Bukhtarma and Koksa.
The name of the ridge comes from the Altai "halzan" - bald or bald. The Kazakh name of the ridge sounds like "Orzhintau" - a piggy bank. Metamorphosed rocks and granite intrusions predominate in the structure of the Kholzun ridge, smoothed outlines of peaks, domed, gentle slopes predominate in the relief of the ridge.
The southern spurs of the Kholzun ridge belong to the Ore Altai region - the center of the deposits of polymetallic ores. The Kholzun iron ore deposit is the largest in Altai. Also on the ridge are manganese deposits, on the slopes of the Kholzun ridge are concentrated significant stocks of medicinal herbs, including: mountain badger fighter, angelica.
About 30 plants listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan grow here. On the border between the Kholzun and Lineysky ridges is a natural monument - the geoarchitectural complex “Linear Pillars”. The Kholzun ridge is a natural border between the Southern and Western Altai, as well as the border between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.
The Kholzun ridge, with a lower Koksu ridge, serves as a barrier to the western transport of atmospheric moisture. The area of ​​contact with the Ivanovo ridge is the point of absolute maximum humidity in Central Asia.
The Kholzun ridge is visible from the valley of the Black Uba River, from the Linea Ridge and even from the Black Knot. At the top of the forest, bears hibernate on this mountain. Translated from the Altai language, the name sounds like “bald mountain”.
A feature of Holzun in the reserve is the absence of subalpine and alpine zones. The forest border runs along the placer of stones with moss-lichen vegetation. Altai people consider this peak so sacred that even the forest allows it to grow only up to half the mountain.

Authority:
"Altai of Kazakhstan", compiled by A.L. Kobozev, Alma-Ata, Kaynar, 1986. Posted by Elena Lyamkina, Specialist of EPiT Department, ZAGPZ.

Photos
Alexander Petrov.