A valley tree-like glacier in the Central Tien Shan in Kyrgyzstan (Issyk-Kul region), located on the northern slope of the Sarydjaz ridge, at the sources of the Aditor River, a left tributary of the Sarydjaz River.
The length of the glacier is 20.5 km, with a width ranging from 1 to 1.8 km. The area is 68.7 square kilometers. The feeding area lies in a huge cirque at an altitude of 4500 to 5500 meters above sea level, with the firn line at an altitude of 4100 meters above sea level.
The tributaries are broken by numerous firn and ice falls and steeply descend to the main glacier.
The tongue of the glacier ends at an altitude of 3440 meters above sea level. The lower part of the glacier is covered by moraine for a distance of 5 km. In 1957, there was a sharp movement of the glacier: its tongue advanced down the valley by 4.5 km.
Unlike the Semenov Glacier, it has an asymmetry in feeding: all seven tributaries flow down from the northern slope of the Sarydjaz ridge. The southern slope of the Aditor ridge within the basin of the Mushketov Glacier has no glaciers at all. The firn area of the glacier is located in a huge cirque with steep and high one-and-a-half-kilometer walls at the junction of the Aditor and Sarydjaz ridges.
Despite the slight slope (5—6°), the Mushketov Glacier, like the Semenov Glacier, has an uneven bumpy surface, cut by numerous crevasses.
The system of surface moraines is clearly expressed only in the upper part of the glacier; in the lower part, this clarity is lost due to the recent advance of the glacier. The Mushketov Glacier belongs to the type of pulsating glaciers, which are characterized by catastrophic movements. The left edge of the glacier is somewhat higher than the right, causing the lowest tributary to not smoothly merge into the body of the glacier but to hit its edge and effectively not participate in feeding. The main share of the glacier's feeding comes from avalanches.
Currently, the glacier is retreating. The glacier was named after the outstanding Russian explorer Ivan Vasilyevich Mushketov. There is no information about climbers visiting these areas. These places are practically untouched for climbers.
Some peaks south of the Mushketov Glacier and in the upper reaches of the Semenov Glacier have been explored from the sides of the Bayan-Kol and North Inylchek glaciers, but reliable information about this is lacking. The area can be accessed by high-passability vehicles from the city of Karakol through the Chon-Ashuu pass.
First along the Otuk River to its confluence with the Sarydjaz River, then the road goes up the right bank of the Sarydjaz River to the border post of Echkilitash.
