Region: Central Asia & The Far East

Stephen Saddler (with Sharon Abbott, Jill Barrow, Wayne Gladwin and Mike Rosser). August 2002

Borkoldoy Khrebet in the central southern area of Kyrgyzstan runs parallel with the Kokshaal-Too for 20 km, but apart from a visit in 1994 by 6 Brits with some Russians, previous visits by western climbers were unknown. After a flight to Bishkek and then 2 days in a 4-WD ex-military troop carrier, this team reached their base camp. From here, with consistently fine weather and daily temperatures varying between –10? and +28?C, they explored the major peaks of Borkoldoy to its north, and the plateau south towards the Kokshaal-Too, achieving first ascents of three straight-forward peaks, the highest being Ata Peak, 4850m.