Tours to Lyailak gorge in Turkestan ridge.

“Miles had sworn his officer's oath to the Emperor less than two weeks ago, puffed with pride at his achievement. In his secret mind he had imagined himself keeping that oath through blazing battle, enemy torture, what-have-you, even while sharing cynical cracks afterwards with Ivan about archaic dress words and the sort of people who insisted on wearing them.But in the dark of subtler temptations, those that hurt without heroism for consolation, he foresaw, the Emperor would no longer be the symbol of Barrayar in his heart. Peace to you, small lady, he thought to Raina. You've won a twisted poor modern knight, to wear your favor on his sleeve. But it's a twisted poor world we were both born into, that rejects us without mercy and ejects us without consultation. At least I won't just tilt at windmills for you. I'll send in sappers to mine the twirling suckers, and blast them into the sky....He knew who he served now. And why he could not quit. And why he must not fail” 

Lois McMaster Bujold. «The Mountains of Mourning».

Climb Turkestan ridge Peaks.

Lyaylyak gorge located in the Turkestan ridge, where the famous peaks of the mountain group are located, such as Ak-Su, 5355 meters above sea level, Alexander Blok, 5239 meters above sea level, Iskander, 5120 meters above sea level, Petrogradets, height 5163 meters above sea level, Admiralteets, 5090 meters above sea level, Aktyubek, 5125 meters above sea level, Dostoevsky, 4974 meters above sea level.
Rock towers, formed tens of thousands of years ago by movements of the earth's crust, have walls up to 1.5 kilometers. Ak-Su peak is a powerful dominant in the upper reaches of the Lyaylyak valley. The northern wall of Ak-Su peak, 5217 meters above sea level, belongs to the category of the Highest wall of the Turkestan ridge.
The vertical drop is 1500 meters, the length of the routes is from 1700 to 2000 meters. Lack of overnight stays requires platform tents and special wall equipment. The average climb of the wall by a prepared team is 10 days.
A difficult descent along the Eastern ridge of 5 b category of difficulty resembles a difficult ascent, including 28 rappels and takes 1 - 2 days. The first ascent of the wall in 1982 was carried out by the team of Leonid Troshchinenko and took 20 days.
The Lyailak gorge is undoubtedly becoming an interesting sports ground for climbers, whose goal is the new most difficult rock routes of 5 - 6 categories of difficulty. From the base camp at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level, the approach to the upper reaches of the Aksu glacier takes 2 - 3 hours.
In the neighboring (to the west) Karasu gorge, in the upper reaches there are peaks of 5011 meters above sea level, named after the 50th anniversary of Moscow Spartak, 4690 meters above sea level, the northern spur from Vizbor peak, 4655 meters above sea level to Dalniy peak, height 4457 meters above sea level.
To the west, in the Uryam gorge, there is the Sobakh peak, 5300 meters above sea level. You can get to the area by helicopter or by car to the village of Uzgurysh and then on foot, using horses to carry the load (18 km day trip).

Authority:
Alexander Petrov, Anatoly Khalepov, Aksai Travel.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.