Climbing Greater Chimgan, Uzbekistan

Good day. Let me present you a next post about the beauty of Uzbekistan. Finally, I became the proud owner of a good semi-professional camera and spent two summer months on active trips through the mountainous area of the Tashkent region. I photographed a lot and since I’m just a beginner, my friend Ilya (he is professional photographer) helped me with photo editing. I hope you’ll like them.
Now in Uzbekistan, the hottest period called "chillya". The temperature in Tashkent has long exceeded +43 degrees Celsius in the shade. In the southern regions the temperature exceeds over +45 degrees. Recently there was news that by the end of this week a cooling down to +39 degrees is expected. Cooling up to +39 degrees! This is all you need to know about the weather in Uzbekistan. :))

It is in this heat that many Tashkent residents go to the mountains. They are located 80 km from the city and the foothills are literally teeming with people fleeing from the heat. The foothills of Chimgan and Beldersay, the banks of the Charvak reservoir are dotted with various recreation areas, cafes and restaurants. For the past few years, the whole city has probably come here every summer. On weekends, real traffic jams form on the highway between Tashkent and Charvak reservoir. Such a large number of people creates a lot of inconvenience - they are littering everywhere, leaving their cars on the road. Still, the culture of recreation, and indeed culture in general, is a very critical issue for us. Sometimes it is difficult to convey to many people that garbage cannot be thrown to the side of the road. Wrappers, cans and plastic bottles should be thrown away in specially equipped places and not just left under the tree. But I think this is a theme for another discussion.

So, when the heat finally tortured me, I went with the team of "Mysterious Uzbekistan" on my next trip. This time I decided to climb Greater Chimgan.

There are two Chimgans - Greater and Small. Greater Chimgan has a height of 3309 m above sea level, and Small One has a height of 2099 m. Greater Chimgan is a large dome-shaped mountain range that is part of the Chatkal Range.

Climbing the Greater Chimgan is a must for every self-respecting tourist. In general, Chimgan is a rather developed mountain resort in Uzbekistan. Probably the most developed - here and the cable car. In winter, skiers and snowboarders are actively riding on the slopes of Chimgan. A luxury ski resort is being built nearby, which will be no worse than in Switzerland. In general, the government of Uzbekistan seriously set itself the goal of building an Uzbek Courchevel here. By the way, in recent years the ski slopes of Chimgan and Beldersay have become very popular with Russian and Kazakhstan tourists - the slopes are convenient for both beginners and extreme lovers. There are simple smooth descents, and there are quite dangerous.

But this is all in winter, and in summer tourists conquer the mountain. Climbing the warhead process is quite long, sometimes difficult, but very interesting. Actually, any physically prepared person can get on the Greater Chimgan. So, I could not miss the opportunity to climb one of the highest mountains of Uzbekistan.

We left early in the morning at 4 a.m. Usually the ascent to Chimgan is started near the cable car. This is a relatively simple route that unprepared tourists can take.

We disembarked from the minibus at 6 a.m. and set off.

The route is peculiar - almost immediately begins a sharp climb, which is replaced by a relatively gentle rise, then again there is a steep climb. This causes some inconvenience, but in my opinion the most difficult are only the first hour of ascent. Then a second wind opens and the views are impressive – so I forgot about fatigue.

Approximately in the middle of the road there is a small plateau, where shepherds usually arrange parking for themselves. Usually sheep are grazing here, which have almost wiped out all the vegetation.

After a short rest, another climb. The higher you climb, the more beautiful the views.

Not far from us passed a herd of sheep, and eagles soared above them. They sometimes sank so low that it seemed they could be caught by jumping properly. You know, the sight of the eagles quietly hovering over their heads is worth it to come and climb Greater Chimgan.

During the small halts, I photographed the local wildlife. I already had a small collection of photos of "ladybirds". Be sure to show them in one of the following posts.

After almost 6 hours, we got to the penultimate point of our trip - the grotto. There was a halt before the final spurt.

We housed in it for a snack and a little rest. Memorial tablets dedicated to the dead climbers are attached to the grotto wall.

In addition, there are examples of rock writing, left by climbers at different times. According to the date, the oldest of them is over 90 years old. In general, the first ascent on Greater Chimgan was recorded in 1865.

Interestingly, the walls of the grotto are literally covered with the names of visitors and dates of ascent, but I did not see any obscene inscriptions. It makes me very, very happy.

A triangulation sign located at an altitude of 3275 m is considered to be the end point of the ascent, and a cross is installed on the true peak (3309 m). As the guides told us, Orthodox monks dragged it here in the early of 1900s.

We reached the final part of our ascent. There was quite a bit left until the triangulation sign, but part of the path lay over a cliff, through which it was necessary to pass along a small ledge, holding onto a thin cable. I am a large-sized guy and clumsy comrade, and the cable seemed to me very thin and poorly fixed, so I did not dare to go and decided to stay with a part of the group in the grotto.

Returning to the grotto and after sitting a little, I strongly regretted my decision and decided to catch up with the main group, but they were already far away. One of the main rules of the "Mysterious Uzbekistan" team - not to walk on unfamiliar paths alone without guides. But never mind, I will definitely return and I will reach the very top soon.

!steemitworldmap 41.550267 lat 70.033588 long Climbing Greater Chimgan, Uzbekistan d3scr