Festival Pass – a challenging, exciting trekking adventure
At an altitude of 4000 meters lies the pass, which has been given a difficulty category of IIБ. It is called the Festival Pass.
The Festival Pass stretches between the peaks of the Terkey Ala-Too ridge. This challenging crossing was first conquered in 1957 by a team of climbers led by M. M. Gantsevich. Since it was conquered by Soviet climbers, it was named in the traditions of the Soviet era – Festival Pass. This was because that year the World Festival of Youth was taking place in Moscow. The climbing team decided to dedicate their achievement of conquering the mountain peak to the meeting of young people from all over the world. Once at the pass, it is allowed to descend to the Molo River from the Aksu Valley. From there, you can proceed to the Sary-Jaz gorges. Here, the glaciers form three ice peaks.
This is what is referred to as the Aksu Wall. As for the Festival Pass, it is located somewhere in the center of a concentration of moraines. On the western edge is the Arashan Pass, which leads to the Tashtector Gorge. On the other side is the Turgen Pass. From Turgen, trails lead to the Ailampy Gorge.
If you decide to go on a trek to the Festival Pass, you will need to get up early. It is better to do this at dawn. The snow is still dense at dawn, making it easier to walk. After lunch, the snow begins to melt, and walking on wet, slushy snow becomes not just uncomfortable, but quite difficult. The ascent leads to a large plateau, and then you reach the glacier itself – like a long tongue stretching from north to south. You must pass through this part, but first, you need to secure yourselves together; otherwise, it will be impossible, or rather, dangerous, to overcome it. After that, you will reach a horizontal plateau on the slope, the steepness of which gradually decreases. However, this is not the end of the journey.
To reach the place where you can spend the night, you will need to walk for another four hours. The good news is that throughout the journey, you will be able to see the pass ahead of you. It beckons and calls to you through the passage between the dark rocky cliffs.
Its relief is steep, curving upward. The slopes are so steep that at times they reach up to 60 degrees.
This is a very dangerous section. Avalanches often occur here. Therefore, travelers, fearing unpleasant surprises from nature, approach the rocks very closely when ascending. They try to stay away from areas where avalanche tracks are visible. Next, you will encounter a section interesting for its relief. Here, there are two crevasses that not everyone can even see. They are usually covered with snow. To overcome this dangerous place, it is also necessary to secure yourselves together. And proceed carefully over the snow bridges, advancing one at a time. The higher you climb, the thinner the snow becomes, gradually giving way to ice. Eventually, you will have to chop steps into the ice to continue your journey.
And finally, you reach the notch of the Festival Pass. Here, you will need to walk along a narrow path that will appear on the northern slope. It is quite narrow. In some places, you will even be able to see mountain ridges and peaks of mountain summits that rise above 4000-5000 meters. About halfway down, you will need to change your direction of movement. Now you must descend on the eastern side. Why is that? For safety. There are fewer snow cornices hanging over the path here. So it is calmer to walk. There is no need to fear that a landslide might occur. As the snow softens under the sun, it becomes mushy and slips away. You will feel more at ease when you reach the plateau surrounded by the glacier and lateral moraine. From there, the path leads along the riverbed. The trek ends where the realm of ice concludes, and you see the first vegetation. Here you can stay for the night on a small clearing. Overall, the ascent and descent to the Festival Pass will take you about 9 hours. But it will be the best adventure of your life.
Passes
