Jengish Chokusu or Victory Peak is the highest
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
in the
Tian Shan
The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...
mountain system in
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
at . It lies on the
China–Kyrgyzstan border between the
Ak-Suu District in the
Issyk-Kul Region of far Eastern
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...
and
Wensu County,
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It is part of the
Kakshaal Too, the highest part of the Tian Shan, and is southeast of lake
Issyk-Kul
Issyk-Kul () or Ysyk-Köl (, ; ) is an endorheic saline lake in the western Tianshan Mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan, just south of a dividing range separating Kyrgyzstan from Kazakhstan. It is the eighth-deepest lake in the world, the eleve ...
. Jengish Chokusu is the
16th most prominent peak on Earth.
Names
The mountain is called ''Jengish Chokusu'' (its official
Kyrgyz name) or Pobeda Peak (from the
Russian name ''Pik Pobedy''), both names translating as “Victory Peak.” On the Chinese side it is known as Tomur Peak (''Tuomuer Feng'' in
Chinese) from its
Uyghur name ''Tömür'' meaning “iron.”
Description
Jengish Chokusu is a
massif
A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...
, with several summits along its lengthy ridge. Only its main summit breaks . It is southwest of
Khan Tengri
Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk-Kul, Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to ...
(), from which it is separated by the South
Engilchek Glacier, where base camps for both mountains are usually located.
The massif runs at
right angles to the glaciers which flow from it into three alpine valleys in Kyrgyzstan on the north, all eventually running to the Engilchek Glacier, the largest in the Tian Shan. Its main summit is usually approached from the Zvozdochka (Russian for "little star") glacier, which is coloured red with rocks from Jengish Chokusu.
Administratively, the Kyrgyzstan side of the mountain is in the
Ak-Suu District of
Issyk-Kul Region, and the Chinese side in
Wensu County of the
Aksu Prefecture
Aksu PrefectureThe official spelling according to is located in mid-Western Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and 2.714 million inhabitants at the 2020 census whom 715,319 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of Aksu urban district. T ...
of
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC: previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads ...
.
Records

Jengish Chokusu is the highest mountain in Kyrgyzstan and Earth's highest mountain north of
39°N. It is considered the most northerly 7,000-metre mountain in the world by geologists; the actual rock summit of
Khan Tengri
Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk-Kul, Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to ...
, the Tian Shan's third-highest peak, is 6,995m above sea level, though a thick layer of ice adds another 15m to its altitude, such that
mountaineers consider it a 7,000m peak.
The South Engilchek Glacier and its side glaciers occupy the entire north side of Peak Jengish Chokusu. This glacier, currently long, is the sixth longest outside of the world's polar regions.
History
Although Jengish Chokusu is over 400 metres higher,
Khan Tengri
Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk-Kul, Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. Its geologic elevation is , but its glacial icecap rises to ...
was believed to be the highest peak in the range until Jengish Chokusu's survey in 1943.
/sup>
A Soviet expedition mounted in 1938 to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth movement Komsomol
The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...
claimed to have climbed the highest peak in the area, the summit being reached on 19 September by L. Gutman, E. Ivanov and A. Sidorenko. They measured the altitude as 6,900 metres, and named the peak ''Pik 20-ti letiya Komsomola'' (Peak of the 20th Anniversary of Komsomol).
A survey by another team in 1943 found the peak to be 7,439 metres high. The peak was renamed as ''Pik Pobedy'' (Victory's Peak) in 1946 to commemorate the Soviet victory in World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The significant difference in altitude between the two measurements led to the 1938 ascent being called into question, although the official Soviet stance was to uphold the 1938 ascent.
A large-scale attempt on the peak in 1955 was disastrous, when 11 of the 12 expedition members were killed in a blizzard. Jengish Chokusu's first indisputably verified ascent was in 1956 by Vitaly Abalakov's party. Ural Usenov—the only survivor of the 1955 expedition—accompanied Abalakov on the ascent.
A Chinese expedition climbed the peak from the Chinese side in 1977: the expedition book makes no mention of the Russian first ascent and gives the impression that the Chinese ascent was the first climb.
The first winter ascent of Peak Pobeda was made by Valery Khrichtchatyi (team leader), S. Ovcharenko, G. Mikhailov, and brothers G. Bogomolov and S. Bogomolov on February 2, 1990.
References
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
Route maps
{{Authority control
Mountains of Xinjiang
Mountains of Kyrgyzstan
China–Kyrgyzstan border
International mountains of Asia
Issyk-Kul Region
Aksu Prefecture
Highest points of countries
Seven-thousanders of the Tian Shan