Tagchagpuri North Ridge

Overview

Lower part of ascent on gravel hills.

Onto the glacier.

The glacier part of the ascent.

The route up the north ridge to East summit of Tagchagpuri is technically not very difficult. The return trip from base camp (5170 m) to summit (6430 m) can be done in one day. It is approximately 7 km walking distance one way.


Possible difficulties:
Ascent on 50° snow with icy patches is very exposed to wind. This is to be taken into serious account, as most of the time there are hard winds from western directions.
Deep snow on the glacier can be time consuming and tiring.
Crevasses are not a big risk if ascending from North.

Getting There

Start in Kashgar, Xinjiang province, China. Travel to Domar, a settlement at km marker 830 of road 219 (Yecheng-Ali road). About 10 km south-west of Domar, a newly constructed gravel road forks from road 219 in south-east direction towards Yanhu. Follow this road until a flat pass with prayer flags at 33.18367°N 81.22588°E, then find a small track leading due east. The track leads over a pass of 5202 m at 33.51419°N 82.14132°E which is located within 5 km of the north-west base of the mountain.

Leave the track and go past the northern side of the mountain massif to the deep canyon with a large river flowing North.

Route Description

1. Base camp was set at the river (33.54494°N 82.21062°E, altitude 5170 m). This spot is nicely accessible traveling in from North and West. In addition, it provides shelter from wind and gives reliable access to water.
2. Walk up the ridge on the left side of a small deep valley. The ridge is easy to walk on, although ground is sandy at times. The ridge leads over a saddle at about 5500 m altitude. On the other side of the saddle, a steep 200 m descent to a high valley is necessary. The high valley (5300 m) is a beautiful spot with grass meadows and granite boulders and it would also make a suitable place for a camp. It is possible to avoid the first saddle by initially following the large river upstream until it forks and then following the right river arm up to the high valley. However, this probably is 4 km longer walking distance and may be difficult in the narrow river valley.
3. Leave the high valley and walk over a broad ridge covered with small granite rocks. Walking is easy. The glacier and summit pyramid is clearly visible.		4. At 5750 m easy access to the glacier is possible. The glacier entry point here is in extension of a flat NE ridge leading up to West summit. On the glacier, walk towards E summit. Watch out for crevasses at the glacier front where the glacier extends towards the saddle between both peaks.
5. On the glacier, walk towards E summit. Avoid to be too close to the glacier front. Deep snow on the glacier can make progress very slow.		6. Follow a band of rocks in direction of the E summit. At about 6000 m altitude the bottom of the steep pyramid is reached. Depending on snow and wind conditions, ascent is best at either side of the rock band that form the north ridge. I used the hard pressed snow very close to the ridge on its East side.
7. Look up to see where you are heading for...		8. It's about 40° slope on the lower part of the summit ascent, and 50° in the top part.
9. On the upper part of the ascent. Where the slope ends towards the summit there are patches of deep snow that has been accumulated by the wind. However, there are no cornices.		10. The rock band of the north ridge ends on a broad plateau. This is not the highest point yet, but it allows a view of the W summit.
11. The highest point is about 100 m almost flat walking to E from where the north ridge ends.		12. Use the same route to go down.

Essential Gear

Warm clothing
Crampons
Ice axe

View from Summit

360° View from Tagchagpuri summit; View starts NNE and turns E

Images

View Tagchagpuri North Ridge Image Gallery - 18 Images