Inylchektau
A mountain range in the Central Tien Shan in Kyrgyzstan. It is located in the basin of the left tributaries of the Sarydjaz River. The ridge stretches in a sublatitudinal direction between the Inylchek and Kaindyn valleys. This ridge branches off from Kokshaaltau 20 kilometers west of Victory Peak along the Komsomol Glacier, initially heading north but then turning west, almost parallel to the Sarydjaz Ridge. Between these ridges lies the Inylchek Valley. Almost from the very base of Inylchek-Tau, another powerful ridge, Kaindy-Katta, branches off to the west. Between Kokshaaltau and Kaindy-Katta lies the massive Kuykap Glacier, and between Kaindy-Katta and Inylchek-Tau is the huge Kaindy Glacier, about 30 kilometers long, a younger sibling of Inylchek, the second largest glacier in the area.
All this "main musculature" of the ridges is heavily covered by accumulations of branches of large and small side spurs with dozens and hundreds of hanging glaciers, tributary glaciers, narrow and steep gorges. Even from a great height, it is difficult to discern the main structures of the ridges, as many of their dominant peaks are located in the spurs. Its length is about 65 km. The highest peak of the Inylchek-Tau ridge – Nansen Peak (5865) is not in the main ridge but in a side spur – the eastern framing of the Kan-Dzhailau Glacier. Here, there are labyrinthine puzzles for tourist groups, many unvisited peaks and passes, glaciers, and gorges... Fortunately, inexperienced tourists and climbers have almost not ventured into this area due to its inaccessibility. Otherwise, the toll of high-altitude recklessness would have been invariably higher here.
From the Red Army Peak in the Inylchektau ridge, a relatively low ridge, Kaindy-Katta, branches off to the west, featuring developed orography on the northern slopes and completely unbroken southern slopes. In the area of Bulantor Peak, the ridge splits into two parallel branches. The ridge is composed of metamorphic schists and limestones.
The meridional ridge has a powerful glaciation and snow cover from the junction with the Kokshaaltau ridge in the south to the junction with the Sarydjaz ridge in the north. Further north, it quickly degrades. On the slopes, there are numerous rocks and screes, and at the foot in the west – a high-altitude semi-desert.
"Inylchek" from ancient Turkic means "little prince." But the "prince" turned out to be not so little: the Inylchek Glacier, in terms of length and area, is one of the largest high-altitude glaciers in the world: its length is about 60 km, slightly less than the lengths of the glacial giants of the Karakoram, such as Siachen, Biafo, Baltoro, Batura, or the length of the largest glacier in the Pamirs, the Fedchenko Glacier. In terms of total area, Inylchek is also one of the most massive valley glaciers, covering about 700 square kilometers. The Tengri-Tag Ridge with the Khan-Tengri peak divides it at its upper reaches into two arms: the Northern and Southern Inylchek, and sharply drops at the confluence of these arms with a rock named "Armored Cruiser" due to its resemblance to the bow of a huge ship. From the side of the Northern Inylchek, the Merzbacher Lake spreads out at this point, with a bottom formed by immobile, so-called "dead ice."
