South Inylchek
"Inylchek" in Old Turkic means "little prince." But the "prince" turned out to be quite large.
The Inylchek glacier is divided into North and South. So, South Inylchek is the largest glacier in the Tien Shan and the second largest mountain glacier in the CIS countries after the Fedchenko glacier in the Pamirs. Its length is slightly less than that of the colossal glaciers of the Karakoram, such as Siachen, Biafo, Baltoro, and Batura. It is located between the Tengritag and Kokshaaltau ridges. Its length is 58.9 km, and its area is 567.2 km². The glacier originates in the Khan-Tengri area, and its tongue, 43.2 km long with an average width of 2.2 km, descends to 2800 m.
The dead ice is about 14 km long, occupying the space from the lower end of the glacier tongue to the traverse of Lake Merzbacher. The average width of the tongue is 2.2 km, the maximum is 3 km, and the minimum is 1.7 km. The average slope of the glacier valley is 2°. The distance from the lower end of the glacier tongue to Lake Merzbacher is 14 km, to the Komsomolets glacier is 26 km; the elevation at the ice surface against Lake Merzbacher is 3400 m, against the Komsomolets glacier is 3800 m. The main tributaries of the glacier come from the left, from the Kokshaaltau ridge. On the right, from the southern slope of the Tengri-Tag ridge, the glacier does not receive any significant tributaries.
On the section from the Komsomolets glacier to Lake Merzbacher, the glacier has a relatively flat surface, where the medial moraines are arranged in neat rows; the lateral moraines are significantly developed in this section. The moraines extend from the confluence of each left tributary. Individual "summits" within the moraine ridge reach a relative height of 30-40 m.
The right part is represented by pure ice, on the surface of which a narrow moraine ridge is distinctly expressed.
The moraine ridge gently curves around the "Bronenosets" cape (the western end of the Tengri-Tag ridge) and meets Lake Merzbacher. The bypass of the "Bronenosets" cape is not complicated. The glacier here is covered with surface moraine. It is more convenient to walk along the glacier along the left side of the valley, then take the direction to the Merzbacher glade, crossing the glacier in a southern direction to the left surface moraines. One of the medial moraines runs along the strip of pure ice.
The strip of pure ice is slightly elevated above the general surface of the glacier. The path along the glacial moraine next to the strip of pure ice is quite comfortable.
The route from Lake Merzbacher to the exit onto the South Inylchek glacier at the level of the right bank of the Shokal glacier takes 5-5.5 hours.
The route from the Shokal glacier to the Komsomolets glacier takes 3 hours.
The South Inylchek flows several kilometers north and then sharply turns west. The thickness of the ice in the lower parts of the tongue is 150-200 m. The powerful left tributaries of the glacier, lying in the northern spurs of the Kokshaaltau ridge, have their own names: Zvezdochka, Dikiy, Proletarian Tourist, Komsomolets (from east to west). When viewed from above, the glacier resembles a white-blue tree with longitudinal dark stripes of medial moraines on its main trunk and a series of light branches of varying lengths and thicknesses. The largest of the tributary glaciers are Zvezdochka and Dikiy.
North Inylchek
The total length of the North Inylchek glacier is 35 km, including the length of the seasonal Lake Merzbacher. The tongue of the glacier extends 28 km and is divided into a section of "dead" ice (the terminal zone of the glacier, about 9 km) and a living part - about 20 km. The average width of the glacier is 1.6 km, the minimum is 1.3 km, and the maximum is 2 km.
The average longitudinal slope of the surface of the tongue ranges from 3 to 4°. The absolute height of the end of the glacier tongue is 3300 m. The height of the firn line is approximately 4500-4550 m. The thickness of the ice in the "dead" part of the tongue does not exceed 100 m, while in the main flow it is 300 m, with an area of 203 km². The glacier is hard to access - its valley is located between powerful ridges. To the north, the North Inylchek glacier borders the Saryjaz ridge, while to the south, it is bordered by the Tengri-Tag ridge. On the eastern side, the glacier is enclosed by the Meridional ridge, and the throat of the valley is locked by the unique glacial Lake Merzbacher.
Previously, the North Inylchek merged with the South Inylchek glacier, and now it is connected to it by a section of dead ice, which serves as the bottom of Lake Merzbacher and Upper Lake.
The glacier's feeding area is located at elevations up to 7000 m, the firn line is at an altitude of 4750 m, and the end of the glacier is at an altitude of 3400 m. In 1996, the movement of the glacier almost completely destroyed Upper Lake.
In the firn area of the glacier (about 7 km), crevasses are well developed. The glacier emerges from the firn area with a gentle step and fills the entire valley. Its surface is flat and slightly convex. From the Karla-Tos glacier, a small streambed extends to the middle of the glacier, on both sides of which two medial moraines are outlined.
Below, the surface of the tongue is rich in crevasses, and at the level of Khan-Tengri peak, it takes on a hilly character, with the height of the ice hills reaching 30 m. Further down, the entire lower part of the glacier to its very end represents a chaotic jumble of glacial blocks with scattered depressions and sinkholes. The medial moraines, gradually widening, leave a space of pure ice 0.8 km wide. 12 km from the end of the glacier, the medial moraines converge, and the glacier here is covered by a continuous moraine blanket.
The right lateral moraine, starting at the foot of peak Khan-Tengri, stretches to the end of the glacier, and along this stretch, the glacial body is separated from the valley side by a trough, which is about 200 m wide at the lower part. On the left side, the glacial body is closely adjacent to the bank, and the lateral moraine is insignificant.
The North Inylchek glacier has 34 tributaries; 18 from the southern slopes of the Saryjaz ridge, and 16 from the northern slopes of the Tengri-Tag ridge.
Some lateral glaciers do not reach the main ice flow.
From the mouth of the Karla-Tos glacier, the path goes along a closed glacier (relatively many narrow crevasses); the snow cover ends about 1.5-2 km from the climbers' camp with glacial marsh. Further, the glacier is open, not covered by moraine, with a calm gentle descent occasionally intersected by glacial rivers (depth 1-2 m). The passage along the glacier is most convenient on the right bank in the trough between the glacier and the lateral moraine; it is acceptable to pass on the left side of the glacier, from the Zhavzharov glacier one can exit to the left bank and walk along the randkluft and lateral talus to Lake Merzbacher.
The distance from the Karla-Tos glacier to Lake Merzbacher is 28-30 km. This section takes 16-18 hours to traverse.