Peak Pobeda
Peak Pobeda is found in the Issyk Kul region, the most popular place for tours in Kyrgyzstan. Sitting astride the border with China it is 7 439 m tall and was the second highest mountain in the former Soviet Union. Interesting is that it is also the most northerly 7000-meter mountain in the world. It abults onto the Zvezdochka glacier which is also a famous glacier in Kyrgyzstan and boats a 3km vertical headwall. Travellers can be surprised but the Chinese name of the mountain is Tomur Peak. There were misunderstandings in the name when Russian explorers first travelled to Kyrgyzstan. Originally it was called Khan Tenri by locals but when Semyenov first saw the peak Kan Too, he was struck by the distinctive pyramid shape and mistakenly thought it was Khan Tenri and registered so. However, Peak Pobeda does not have a pyramid profile comparing to other peaks in Kyrgyzstan. Some people think that in fact both were known by the name Khan Tenri to different peoples at different times. Anyway, the matter was settled in 1946 when it was renamed in honor of the victory at the end of Second World War. It was first climbed in 1938 by a Soviet team that was surprised - they thought it was a lot smaller. In 1955 two teams attempted to conquer the peak, (one from Kazakhstan, from the Chon Tern Pass, the other, from Uzbekistan, along the Zvezdochka glacier). The Kazakh team met the difficulties as a result of worsening the weather conditions - and having reached 6000 m they decided to descend. Only one of the 12 member team survived, and they were rescued by chance. From this moment on, the mountain required a fearsome reputation among the alpinists who travel to Kyrgyzstan.
