With an altitude of 7649 meters, Kongur
Feng lies at 75.3 E and 38.6 N, while Kongur Tobe Feng of
7530 meters in height is at 75.1 E and 38.6 N. Both being
on the main ridge line of the west end of the west Kunlun
Mountains Range, as thee crow flies, the two peaks are only
15 kilometers apart and lined to each other, just as if they
are two sisters standing hand in hand. Situated in Aktao County
in Xinjiang, together with Muztagh Ata on the south side,
they belong to the West Kunlun Range and are considered as
a whole the three famous high peaks in the East Pamir.
As a high peak on the west Kunlun Mountains,
Kongur Feng is pyramid-shaped and precipitous with an average
slope of 45'. Four major ridges make the mainstay of the main
peak: the north Ridge, the west Ridge, the South Ridge and
the East Ridge, the slope of which are covered with thick
floating snow and has an area of snow avalanches with the
height difference of 300 meters.
The second highest peak on the west Kunlun
Mountains, Kongur Tobe Feng, is capped by the perennial snow
in the mountain, looking just like a hat worn by a herdsman.
As a result, the local herdsman call it "kongur Tobe",
meaning a white hat. Being slightly lower to Kongur Feng,
it enjoys a nickname "Little Kongur Feng", but the
lie of it is at least as various as that of Kongur Feng. With
the height and precipitous cliffs on the north slope and various
ice and snow fields on the south slope, it is formed by four
main ridges: the West Range, the East Range, the Southwest
Range and the North Range.
With its dangerous and perceptions terrain,
the Kongur Mountains area averages 7000 meters in height and
has a modern snow line of some 5900 meters and is thus well-developed
in size and the land form of the glaciers. Rushing down from
the waist of Kongur and Kongur Tobe, the Karayayrak Glacier
extends dozens of kilometers, with the snow thickness reaching
hundreds of meters. The meandering snow peaks and slopes scatter
far and wide and overgrow with open and hidden crevasses,
while the hanging glaciers, moreover, lies suspendingly above
it. Chances are that they may collapse at any time. For various
reasons, snow avalanches frequent this area while those of
small scales can be found almost all the time and those of
large scales often take place. At the end of May, 1983, an
earthquake of magnitude 5.5 (on the Richter scale) in this
area initiated an unexpected snow avalanche with a drop of
up to 1000-2000 meters when the ground moved violently and
the mountains shook with the force of a thunder bolt.
Cut off by lots of mountain systems from
the air current of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean,
the East Pamirs, in which the two peaks dwell, has an arid
climate while rainfall is brought about by the interaction
between the current from the westerly-wind zone in the upper
air and the cold and wet current in the polar region. The
average temperature in the area of around 7500 meters above
sea level can be as low as -20 C (the Lowest being-30 C) with
the greatest velocity of force 9-11 (on the beaufort scale)
and the usual about force 7. Noted for the capricious weather,
the mountains may encounter the wind and snow occurring simultaneously
even in summer and the temperature may drop -20 C in a wink.
So the mountaineering activities are advisable in the month
from June to August.
Let's trace the mountaineering history in
this area back to the beginning of this century. In 12924,
an American surveyed the Konmgur Tobe Feng. In 1956, the combined
team of China and the former Soviet Union succeeded in reaching
the summit of Kongur Tobe Feng for the first time in human
history. On July 12, 1981, an English Mountaineering Team
of four people, made the first successful ascent of the summit
of Kongur Peak.
The route line to the mountain. Travel by
air from Urumqi to Kashgar, the place of strategic importance
in South Xinjiang. Then advance southwest along the Karakorum
highway brings you to Gez. Afterwards a 50-kilometer drive
brings you to the Houz Prairie at the northeast foot of Kongur
Peak. The base campsite is usually at one end of the Kuruk
Glacier, which are 3600 metes above sea level. To take the
route of the south slope, march forward along the Sino-Pakistan
Highway to the bank of the Karakul Lake cross Kanxiwa river
and trudge to the foot of the mountain. |