This page is in an awful state!
Most of the info on the page is from the old maintainer and some of it is incorrect.
I hope to go to the peak within the next few months and will soon be able to add some more info.
Thanks for your patience.

If you have climbed the peak and want to adopt the page, drop the me a line.

I have updated and corrected some sections since I adopted the page 2007-07-19

Maps

External Links

Camping

Weather Considerations/When to climb

Red Tape & organizing the climb

Overview

What is absolutely the most outstanding fact about this mountain does not result from any of its physical qualities, but from the fact that there is no other example of a mountain about which so long, and often heated, a discussion did go on about its actual height. For long, long years the mountain appeared in all sources available as being 7723 meter high or even 7754 meter.

When however the peak was first climbed in 1985, the expedition party came to the conclusion that it was much lower, 6973 meter. Still the discussion did not came to a rest as many kept arguing that given the great difference in height there must have been some mistake and there could be another, higher peak in other parts of the range.

However, when more parties visited the area and finally in 2003 also the West Peak was climbed it became clear that the value measured in 1985 is either the actual height or very close to it. Unfortunately still on many maps, even new ones, the peak still appears as being over 7700 meter high.

Ulugh Muztagh, or Simply Muztagh, which is more common in the local tongue, is a very remote mountain. It is often counted as being part of the Central Kunlun, which is however physically not quite the case as the Muztagh Feng is an isolated range, found well to the South of the Kunlun and on the high grounds of the Northern Tibet/Qinghai plateau.

Given that during the final years of the "great game" both the English and Russian imperialist had a keen interest in the bleak uplands of Northern Tibet it is not so surprising that exploration of the area came into being rather early. One British explorer in the dying days of the nineteenth century even claimed to have climbed the mountain.

About this however soon grave doubts arose as the person in question was not exactly reknowned as a mountaineer. From studying his navigation data later it turned out that he could have never come closer to the peak than about 200 kilometer and conviction turned to that he had instead been at a peak with approximately the same name, (Muztag), further west in the kunlun, if he climbed anything at all.

It took half a century for the next were to come. This time it were Soviet explorers. It is incredible that with the greatest battles ever raging in their country they could in 1943 still find the reserve to go on ventures like this - In the same year also an extenxive exploratory expedition to Peak Pobeda was made -. They got fairly near the isolated massiv and its fairly possible that the value of 7754 meter for its summit elevation, which caused so much discussion lateron, originated from them.

Being in an area long closed to foreigners after the formation of the people's republic of China it took until the early eighties before permits for this peak became obtainable. It was the Bonington team, which got Kongur assigned, who applied first for a permit, but it was a combined American/Chinese group who finally got the first permit for the 1985 season.

Approaching the peak from the Northeast the team was confronted with grave trouble in even getting to the start of the climb, involving the traversing of a lower rocky peak which barred the way. But being a large expedition with ample resources, once they got things going, good progress was made. 5 Chinese members of the party finally made it up to the summit, but it was overshadowed by the Chinese climbing leader so badly freezing his feet that they had to be amputated lateron. A few days after the Chinese ascent, a second one was scheduled for the American members. But the time lost with the rescue of two Scientific members of the party near camp II prevented their repeating of the summit succes.

Reaching the peak from the Northeast however is even more complex and expensive - The way in leads throught the Altun Shan nature preserve for which a high entrance fee must be paid -, than from the Northwest side which became the more common way of approach for later expeditions.

1999 an Italian mountaineering party tried to reach the mountain by its much more difficult Western approach, but they hardly got to see the mountain, bogging down in the difficult terrain, still a considerable distance from their goal. They settled for some very minor first ascents in the Western extremity of the massiv.

The same fate did befall our party as we tried to reach it by this approach way in 2001 with the goal of reaching its southwest in order to open a new route on it. Like the italians before, we had to settle for some lower peaks between 5350 and 6150 meter in the further vincinity.

As far as knowledge goes up to the present day nobody else has climbed on Ulugh Muztagh main peak and thus 20 years later it is still waiting for its second ascent. In 2003 however, a Finnish party did reach the range from the Northwest and performed the first ascent of the West Peak, which is only a few meters lower than the main one. Apart from this feat they managed to find a less difficult and shorter approach way to the peak.

Ulugh Muztagh is not a very technical mountain to climb and it turned out that apart from a difficult approach, the first ascent route was fairly well doable. Looking at the mountain one expects that also routes on most of the other sides of the peak are not of great difficulty but that remains to be confirmed by future climbers.

Getting There

Ulugh Muztagh is often counted to the Central Kunlun, but this is actually a mistake, it is situated well South of it on the High plateau itself at the border of Tibet and Xinjiang provinces. Reaching it is very difficult as the whole area, averaging 5000 meter altitude, is completely roadless and uninhabited. The best place to start from is Qiemo.

Beyond Qiemo, towards the Central Kunlun chain, there is only a short stretch of road left, before the wilderness begins. First the deep river canyons of the Northern Altun Shan must be scaled, before the high grassy plateau is reached where the last outpost of civilisation, Tula settlement, is found.

Some thirty kilometer West of Tula a tire track goes south and leads over a wooden bridge over the stream. The bridge however frequently washes a way in floods, and as that was the case in 2001 when we went there, we had to find a way through the multi branched bed near Tula. With its terrible mud and strong currents in the multiple streams, only the sturdiest of transports can get through, (do not even try with anything less than four wheel drive!).

Immediatelly afterwards the South branch of Altun Shan barrs the way and again a long day of difficult navigation follows. Finally coming onto the flats of the high plateau at the South of the mountains at first good progress can be made and many snowcapped mountain ranges make for magnificent sights.

But soon a transport convoy will find itself in the mudfields for which the plateau, lacking a drainage system, is reknowned. After progressing for several days in Southward direction, a swing East has to be made. Progress here is very slow, 60 kilometer per day already being very good. If everything works out fine, after a couple of days base camp site at the Southside of the Mudztagh Feng is reached.

A breakthrough was reached when the Finnish expedition of 2003 about which you can find more information furtheron on this page, when on their way back from base camp to Qiemo, (On the way in they experienced the usual trouble on the known approach way), they choose another route and it proved remarkably easier than anything experienced up to that moment, enabling them to reach Qiemo in just 2 long days.

2004 we were back in the area and made a short outing to the outskirts of the range on yet another way and the going proved not that bad, but that might also have had to do with the fact that we were very early in season and the underground was still frozen, which greatly helps avoiding trouble.

The approach from Ruoqing, nearing the mountains from the Northeast, is technically a little easier, but the high fee for crossing the Altun Shan nature reserve is not exactly inviting.

First Ascent of Ulugh Muztagh by Hu Fung Ling

When China was opening up for foreign mountaineers in the early eighties, it was first the British who showed interest in obtaining a permit for Ulugh Muztagh. By that time it was still generally thought that it was actually higher than 7700 meter. However no early permit was granted and the British instead went to Kongur in 1981.

It took until 1985 before a permit finally was granted to an expedition. It was a joint American/Chinese team that got the lucky number for the permit. The leader was organizer and climber Nick Clinch, who had been involved in many famous ascents. The most well known is the first ascent of Gasherbrum I in 1958.

The expedition was quite a huge undertaking and the members nicknamed their base camp "New Kunlun village". Considerable difficulties had to be overcome to get to the mountain and as the massif is quite large, the route finding and climbing turned out to be a large challenge.

However all the efforts did pay off and in the end 5 Chinese climbers, led by Hu Fung Ling managed to get to the summit. On the way down Hu took a long fall and had to be rescued. Apart from several other injuries, Hu froze his feet so badly that half of both had to be amputated.

Due to the time lost in rescueing Hu and another mishap in which two scientist of the party got lost and also had to be rescued from the mountain, time proved to short for the other climbing members of the team to mount a second summit bid.

Photos from the first ascent in 1985

Finnish Expedition makes first ascent of Ulugh Muztagh II

Author: Petrus
Date: Oct 30, 2003
The Finnish expedition arrived to the west terminus of the Yuilin glacier on Oct. 3:rd, altitude 5140m. From there ABC was built some 4 km to the west, northern side of the glacier. From there camp one was established at the foot of the west ridge at 5700m level. Camp two at 6440m level on the lower shoulder of the west ridge. The unclimbed west summit was reached by Marko Aho, Jari Ahtola, Antti M�enp�� and Kimmo Puoskari on October 12:th at 16:00. The climb was quite straight forward snow climb in good snow conditions, maximum 50 degrees at the sharp summit ridge, but in cloudy and somewhat windy weather. It took 17 days to reach BC from Quiemo, due to rough terrain and the fact that one truck had to be fixed in Quiemo and one climber evacuated with HAPE.

I have to contradict the opinion about the right time of trying to get to Ulugh Muztagh: it certainly seemed to us that the water levels were very low at this time of the year and we were able to return using a much shorter route, the one our guide refused to use on the way in. In this kind of conditions it is possible to reach Ulugh Muztagh west side from Queimo in just 2 days, if one manages to avoid all soft spots.

About maps: there are also Chinese 1:200000 topos that our guide had, and also russian topos (marked "secret", must be military maps) at the same scale that we were able to source from England (as hi-res scans on a CD). 6 sheets covered the whole route from the roadhead to the mountain. Those russian maps proved to be quite accurate. We also had the 1:100000 map of the mountain itself.

The vehicles used were two russian Ural 6x6 military trucks. Quite ideal for this kind of journey. Tha main problem was bad diesel fuel, which jellyfies in the cold much too easily. Fuel tanks & lines had to be heated every morning with propane torches before the engines could be started. The temperatures at above 4500m were generelly aroud zero to -5C during the day, about -15 to -20C at night. Sunny weather with occasionally heavy winds. Dust everywhere!

Photos of Lao Zhao Ziyung

I dedicated this section to Lao Zhao Ziyung, who took this photos during the fall 2003 Finnish expedition to Ulugh Muztagh West peak.
Lao Zhao tragically died in a car accident in 2004. RIP.

Red Tape & organizing the climb

You need a visa to enter China. This is nowadays readily available for most nationals. A three month visa is the norm, but at the time writing citizens of the USA seems to have troubles getting more than one month. If you only get a one month visa, make sure you make an extension before heading into the wilderness, or you have to pay a fine for the overstay later on.
If you need a longer visa period than 3 months, Hong Kong is the place to go. Six months visas are easy to get and you can also get 1 and 2 year. Also in Hong Kong Americans have a harder time to get visas with longer validity.

You need a climbing permit for Ulugh Muztagh. The mountain is below 7000m and is climbed and therefore the peak fee is set to 700$. You can officially be up to 10 persons + leader on the permit, but usually it's not hard to add more persons to the group.
The best ways to go is to go is to get in contact with Xinjiang Mountaineering Association in Kashgar. The person in charge is Kong Baocun and can be contacted via e-mail.
climbing@126.com

In addition to the above, you have to pay for the Arjin/Altun Shan National Park, which you pass through en route to the peak.

You also need a liaison officer and transport. Both the above mentioned organizers can take care of this and they also offer guides, translators, food services etc.

Camping

It's possible to pitch a tent anywhere in the area.
There's no risk of not finding a space for your tent. The Chang Tang, the plateau south of Ulugh Muztagh is 600 000 km/2 with only 30 000 inhabitants.
Be certain your tent is anchored well as sudden squalls are common and strong. Bring rock pegs for the tent. The ground can be hard.

Weather considerations/When to climb

Some general facts about the climate of the area are known, anual precipation, average temperatures and so on, but it's impossible to get any detailed information about currently prevailing conditions or short term weather forecast.

The below is mostly about the conditions on the approach to the peak. That's what mainly matters as the key to success on Ulugh Muztagh has more to do with getting there, then the climbing itself.
The best time on the mountain is also in the fall. More stabile weather and clear skies. Storms and precipitation are uncommon during this period.

A brief.
Winter - good access as the water levels in the rivers are low and at most times vehicles can drive over them on the ice. The negative aspect is you have to be prepared for severe cold comparable with any other peak between 7000-8000m in the winter season.
Spring - Access may be ok, at least if you're willing to take the risk of getting to the peak. When it gets warmer the ice on the rivers and the plains melts very fast and you may haev difficulties to get out again. Flash floods are common in the narrow gorges. Beware!
Summer - The monsoon in the north is not as famous as the one in the Himalayas, but it creates a lot of problems for expeditions all the same. Rain, hail and snowstorms are common and an almost daily occurrence. Even the blizzars are usually accompanied by severe thunder. You have to have plenty of time in order to wait out the bad weather on the peak and lots of luck to reach the peak at all.
Fall - the best time to go. When the summer rains are over, the water levels are back to normal in the rivers and the mud fields are drying up, you have a good chance of reaching the peak.

Weather for:
Mangnai Zhen
Qiemo

Maps

The elevation of Ulugh Muztagh is many times given at 7723m, 7721m as well as other figures well over 7000m. This mistake can be found in many publications. Even some of the larger and somewhat more reliable sources continue to print this error.

A few years ago professor Mi Desheng of the Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocreology produced a detailed map of the Ulugh Muztag area. This map is probably the most correct you can find anywhere. As such information is however slow to implement worldwide, one must expect that for a long time to come the old values will remain on a variety of maps and internet sites.
I don't know about any place outside China selling the map. Your best bet is to contact Kong Baocun in Kashgar, who usually has the map readily available.
climbing@126.com

You can also contact Mi Desheng directly.
Mi Desheng
Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocreology
260 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, China 730000
liggplan@ns.lzb.ac.cn

The map is published by:
Xi'an Cartographic Publishing House
124 Youyi East Road
Xi'an, China 710054
This map's order number is:
7-80545-148-6/K.148.

For general planning and the route to the peak, the TPC's (Tactical Pilotage Chart) for the area is good enough. The Russian equivalents are better, but harder to get.
TPC overview page at MapTown:
MapTown - Asia

External Links

A brief news report on EverestNews.

The Finnish expedition's web site. Hopefully, it'll be updated one day.

Images



[ View Gallery - 22 More Images ]