Glaciers in the mountains. Their beauty leaves no one indifferent. Once you see them, for the rest of your life you experience an irresistible desire to meet them again and again.
Glaciers cover the peaks and slopes of mountains, descend into valleys...
The highest point of Altai, Mount Belukha, is decorated with glaciers.
And this is what Aktru peak looks like from the Kurumdu valley
On the slopes of this peak lives the Left Aktru glacier.
And even glaciers taken from space do not leave us indifferent.
Here is a photo of the eastern end of the North Chuysky ridge. It was received from international space station as part of the filming program for the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In the photo, lovers of Altai will immediately recognize the Aktru Valley, the Dome Peak, the Small and Bolshoi Aktru glaciers, the Maasheisky glacier... And memories of the routes traveled in these fabulous places will come flooding back...
In a Caucasian space photograph, Elbrus with its 23 glaciers looks like a fancy white and blue chrysanthemum
Glaciers attract with their beauty, inaccessibility, and challenge. Climbers use glaciers to build their routes to the peaks.
Here is one of the sections of the route to Belukha through the so-called Berel saddle.
Photographers strive to meet mountains and glaciers. Having traveled hundreds of kilometers, they patiently wait for favorable lighting and shoot, shoot, shoot...
Glaciers and mountains inspire artists.
When I visit Boris Surazakov’s studio in Askat, every time I note the appearance of new sketches and canvases. They are home to mountains, glaciers and rivers of Altai. And these paintings also smell special. The smell of artistic oil paints is exciting.
Glaciers are natural repositories of an invaluable life resource - fresh water. Many rivers originate in the mountains. The water in these rivers comes in all imaginable colors and shades.
Ideally transparent and clean, like at the end of summer in Nizhny Kuragan.
Milky blue and yellow-brownish in early autumn at the confluence of Chuya and Chagan
But sometimes the color of the water can be the same as in the Mekong River, which originates in the Tangla Range on the Tibetan Plateau.
Glaciers are studied by the science of glaciology. Having opened the mountain encyclopedia, you can read that glaciology is “... the science of glaciers, studying the conditions and features of the origin, existence and development of glaciers, their composition, structure, physical properties and various aspects of interaction with the geographical environment.” Glacier research is carried out by special institutions established in many countries around the world.
In Altai, the first glaciers were discovered by the doctor of the Kolyvan-Voskresensky factories, Friedrich Gebler. He visited the Belukha area in 1835, explored and mapped the Katunsky and Berelsky glaciers.
The greatest contribution to the study of Altai glaciers was made by Tomsk University professor Mikhail Vladimirovich Tronov. His main activity in the field of glaciology began in the 20s of the last century after the first ascent of Belukha in 1914.
One of the main monitored and studied parameters of mountain glaciers is the annual mass balance. This is one of the most important concepts in the science of natural ice. The annual mass balance takes into account the amount of snow, firn and ice accumulated on the glacier during the year and the amount that melted during the warm period. If there is more incoming material than melting material, the balance of the glacier is considered positive. If more melts than accumulates, then the glacier balance is negative. When the mass balance of a glacier remains negative over a period of years, the glacier shrinks in both area and thickness. Conversely, with a positive mass balance, the glacier grows.
My glaciological biography began in the last century. In 1978, for the first time I was a participant in a glaciological expedition to Altai, organized by Tomsk University. At that time, he was testing and implementing a new method for measuring the ice thickness of mountain glaciers. The main part of the expedition was busy with annual planned research in the Aktru Valley and in neighboring valleys. The speed of movement of glaciers was measured, the components of the mass balance were determined, and meteorological and hydrological observations were carried out.
With the help of such a motorized drill, measuring rods were installed on glaciers. They were used to determine the thickness of the melted ice and the speed of movement of the glacial surface.
To determine the amount of solid sediment accumulated on the glacier, pits were dug. A snow column was cut out along the entire depth of the pit using a density meter and weighed on a lever scale.
Digging another pit on the Left Aktru glacier.
Many years have passed since those distant days. I had the good fortune to work on many expeditions in our mountains and abroad. It was interesting to communicate with foreign glaciologists and work on their expensive equipment.
Here is a portable drill powered by solar battery and allowing you to dive 20 m into the glacier and take a core.
Taking core samples from a glacier in the eastern Himalayas. Samples are taken for chemical tests and therefore require operating room-like cleanliness.
Camp of the international glaciological expedition in the Tien Shan on the Inylchek glacier.
And this is not an anti-aircraft gun, but a Canadian drilling rig for obtaining ice core from great depths.
Japanese drilling rig on the western Belukha Plateau. With its help, in 2003, it was possible to drill the glacier to the rock bed and lift a core almost 170 m long.
In August 2002, Japanese glaciologists installed automatic snow gauges on the western Belukha Plateau. Within a year, these slats will be completely covered with snow. You will have to look for them using a GPS navigator.
In 2014, I had the opportunity to work on the Elbrus glaciers twice. The main goal is to monitor changes in the glacier surface and assess balance components.
In June, at one of the points on the Garabashi glacier, a seven-meter core was taken out with a hand drill. This layer of snow and firn has accumulated over the past autumn and winter.
But already in September in the same place the length of the core was only 70 cm. summer period melted about 6 meters
It's winter in the northern hemisphere now. And snow is falling in the mountains. It falls on peaks and valleys, on rocks and glaciers.
Glaciers are again increasing their mass and thickness.
And in Altai, the glaciological base and the Aktru alpine camp are also covered in snow. Winter paths - snow trenches - have been dug between the houses. Very, very soon the shortest days of December will come. Then the sun will peek into the valley for just a few minutes.
Photo by Polina Shlecht
But very soon - December 22 is just around the corner - the movement towards a new field season will begin again: the season of glaciologists, the season of travelers and, of course, the season of photographers...
And here also
The mountains and deserts of Central Asia - from the Himalayas to the Altai and Sayan Mountains, from the Caspian Sea to Lake Qinghai and the Loess Plateau in China, are vast and harsh spaces. Here, in the outer part of the Altai mountainous country, between Biysk, Lake Teletskoye and the Seminsky Pass, they are closest. They almost intersect with our flat Russian reality, even if Western Siberian, but familiar - after all, our country, for its size, is amazingly homogeneous in color and style of life over most of its territory.
This is the outer, or Near Altai: the mountains are low, covered with forest - no glaciers, no rocks.
There are relatively many paved roads, villages and hamlets - most of the river valleys are inhabited.
5. 
There are roads along a significant part of the passes, and to move through these places you do not need to make multi-kilometer loops, as is often the case in the remote regions of the republic.
Bordering a 60-kilometer strip of mountainous terrain, the height of the ridges does not exceed 2 kilometers above sea level, often amounting to 1-1.5 kilometers.
Almost all tourist centers and, in general, the tourist infrastructure of the Altai Republic are located here, the population density is higher; in 5 external rural districts and the only city of Gorno-Altaisk, 55% of the region’s population is concentrated on a quarter of the region’s territory.
6. 
Altai Republic - one of 44 Russian regions where there is natural population growth (the excess of birth rates over deaths); According to this indicator, the republic ranks 10th among the regions of the country. Probably, the birth rate is higher in distant areas with a simpler and patriarchal life, but the nearby/outer areas are more attractive for living, especially the adjacent Maiminsky district; however, I suspect that the large cities to the north (Barnaul, Novosibirsk) attract at least as many migrants.
So the outer lands of the Altai Mountains ultimately account for almost all of the region's population growth (more than 20% since 1989).
Civilized, “organized” tourists who go further than the “Altai-light” presented, it seems, mostly stay at the tourist centers of Chemal, Shebalinsky district and the northern shore of Lake Teletskoye.
7. 
You don’t have to travel 10 hours or more on broken roads to get here from the nearest city/train station, it’s 2 or 3 hours away. The climate is milder, the terrain is not as picturesque as in distant mountainous regions, but somehow it is more familiar and there is no feeling of insignificance and meaninglessness from the overwhelming mountains, as is often the case closer to high ridges.
8. 
It is logical that the locals, including the Altai, are more refined and indistinguishable from the average Russian.
9. 
People who visited only the outer regions - they went to Altai, they saw cedar forests and cones, mountain rivers, breathed mountain air, but did not see real rocky mountains under the clouds, nor eternal snow and ice.
10. 
Further, beyond Lake Teletskoye and the Seminsky Pass, the inner, or Far Altai, begins - a real mountainous country of great beauty, with its own surprises, where there are not so many opportunities for a comfortable and non-wild holiday.
11. 
12. 
The population itself in Near Altai is more accustomed to tourists, and, I repeat, there are not so many Altai people here; This is partly why it is safer here.
Until now, the majority of the population of the Altai Republic is Russian (56%); their share is gradually decreasing, but much more slowly than in many other national republics of our country - in 1989 this figure was 60%. Another 36% are representatives of the Altai peoples (Telengits, Tubalars, Chelkans), another 6% are Kazakhs, living mainly in the south and southwest of the republic, in the farthest region of the Far Altai (Kosh-Agachsky). The uniqueness of the region among national republics is that Russians are historically concentrated here not only in cities and large settlements. The reason is that the Russians are here, including the indigenous rural population; this is unlike most Soviet national entities, where Russians came to cities from the outside world, often assigned to industrial enterprises. Historically, Old Believers moved here, to the remote and undeveloped outskirts of the country from persecution; Many other Russian settlers also arrived in the outer regions of the republic. In the Near Altai, Russians make up from half to 90% of the population. In general, as you move away from the plain, the share of Russians in the population decreases; but even in the depths of the mountains there are Russian settlements and entire regions - this is the west of the Far Altai, primarily the Uimon Valley (Ust-Koksinsky region), where the presence of Old Believers is still large; but more on that in the next posts.
The Altaians are Turkic peoples related to the Tuvans, Yakuts, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz. Like many other East and North Asian peoples, Altaians are believed to have less tolerance to alcohol - they get drunk faster, and then it has a stronger effect on them. In addition, Altaians are residents of a distant and harsh mountainous country.
13. 
Highlanders, accustomed to constant struggle for the scarce resources in these lands, which does not contribute to peacefulness, but is good at nurturing fighting qualities.
14. 
In general, whether alcohol is to blame or the mountainous specificity of the local population - most likely, both - but Altai is consistently among the top five most criminal and unsafe regions of Russia; In terms of the number of crimes per capita, the region is second only to the neighboring Republic of Tuva, as well as the Eastern Siberian Trans-Baikal Territory. And this is felt - stronger than in the same Trans-Baikal Territory; Apparently, the ethnic factor plays a role: locals (especially in the Far Altai) perceive you as a stranger.
It is customary for us not to like/fear Caucasians - they say they are aggressive, hot-tempered, united and love everyone for one, especially if this one is not their fellow tribesman. But at the same time, it seems indisputable that at the same time they are hospitable, often generous people, and if you are a friend/guest for them, then they will do everything for you.
So, in Altai it is much more difficult for a tourist to become a guest. Altaians, according to my observations, are the same highlanders as in the Caucasus, but at the same time they are cold and hostile to any strangers - it is not so important who they are and why they came here. As a rule, in ordinary life, an Altaian is reserved, but when alcohol appears, accumulated grievances and irritation spill out completely without restrictions or inhibitions. All this is aggravated by social problems (poverty, underdeveloped economy and infrastructure), remoteness of the region (weak control of distant areas even by regional authorities); all this goes well with the Altai people’s habit of wars and skirmishes, plus they are almost all hunters/shooters and many here have military weapons, almost from the Civilian. Like many places beyond the Urals, in Altai Civil war- war No. 1: in these places it was longer and often more fierce. It should be noted that among the Altai disadvantaged and criminalized population there are many Russians; the adjacent areas of the Altai Territory and the Altai Territory as a whole are among the regions with the least satisfactory criminal situation. However, the Altai Republic is still ahead of the neighboring Altai Territory in terms of specific crime levels (the number of crimes per capita); and the most dangerous areas for visitors are considered to be precisely those areas in whose population there is a greater proportion of Altai peoples.
In general, Gorny Altai remains a rather unsafe place for tourism; however, first of all, this applies to the interior regions; in the Near Altai there is much more civilization, tourists, and the Russian population; this makes the situation easier. They say that 10 years ago Altai was about like Tuva, where even in Kyzyl Buddhist lamas do not go out into the street after sunset, and police officers do not walk alone. But now, as the number of tourists doubles every few years, more and more local clans/families/clans agree that much more money can be made from tourists if they are not robbed, but if, for example, they organize a tourist center or even would be camping.
It is clear that in such conditions it was not the most sensible thing to do in the Friday twilight by hitchhiking 180 kilometers from Gorno-Altaisk to Lake Teletskoye. Even if these are hypothetically safe surroundings of the regional center, and the Near Altai, where there are no completely remote places, but still.
I initially assumed that I would hitchhike from Biysk up along the Biya all the way to Iogach on the shore of Lake Teletskoye. But fate decreed otherwise, and I ended up in the mountainous Altai regions, moving from Gorno-Altaisk east along the Teletsky tract towards the lake of the same name.
At first everything went well - first the local Altaians, then the Russian tourists in the first few villages. Then, already in almost complete darkness, two Altaians picked him up, one older, the other younger; the car was a taxi and, apparently, an elderly Altai man was driving a younger man. It should be noted here that, despite the hypothetical closeness of the three Northern Altai peoples, their appearance is sometimes very different - for example, a young Altaian was simply the spitting image of a Turk in face, while an older Altaian looked more like a Kyrgyz or Kazakh.
At first, everything went more or less as before, but over time, the young Altai man found himself with more and more beer, and he became more and more unfriendly and harsher.
There are already half-forgotten statements that I haven’t heard for several years in snickering Moscow, about “they’ve come in large numbers here,” “they’re buying everything in our mountains,” plus “we picked you up, you should be just so grateful to us.” I reacted calmly, which was perceived as arrogance; Things were definitely heating up. I was, it seems, more surprised than frightened - in three years of hitchhiking at that time, this was the first case of not just dangerous hitchhiking, but even just an openly unfriendly attitude towards a fellow traveler.
In the end, everything worked out, although at some point it almost came to a fight.
They simply left me on the bank of the Biya, not reaching a couple of tens of kilometers to Lake Teletskoye, where I pitched my tent with obvious relief.
Updated: 2013-12-25
Oleg Lazhechnikov
43There are several places in Russia that I would definitely like to visit. These are the so-called “places of power”. For example, the well-known Altai, Baikal, Kamchatka, Karelia... I’ve already been somewhere somewhere, not somewhere else, but this is not the first time I’ve been beckoning somewhere. Besides the fact that these places of power have a certain energy that crowds of people talk about, they are also very beautiful there. It seems to me that such places of power are worth visiting for every person, well, at least for those who are interested in traveling and think about life.
Places of power– these are energetic places on the planet in which a person feels something unusual for himself, emotions, state. This is especially noticeable in contrast to the bustling city life. Often, after a trip, changes in life begin to occur, or the realization of something important for oneself comes. An understanding comes that you need to do something, change something in your life. Sometimes answers come to questions that have been asked for a long time. True, it happens quite the opposite, you don’t feel anything, no smart thoughts come to mind. It depends on the person himself, whether he needs this understanding or not, depends on the goal that he set for himself when he was going on the trip. It is possible that this particular place is not his place, does not suit him. In any case, if you like to be in nature, then even without any awareness there, you will be amazed by the beauty of these places, and will return rested and full of new impressions.
Places of power in Russia so many. And you probably won’t be able to travel all over the world in your entire life. In principle, any place can be a place of power, not only nature, but also cities, villages, structures and buildings. What attracts me most is the mountains...
Places of power in Altai– this is essentially the entire Altai Mountains. There are a lot of different tourist routes to different peaks and glaciers, along rivers and lakes, of different difficulty categories. Using any of them you can feel the energy of this place. People have very different sensations, and this region is perceived differently. Truly an amazing and unusual place. I really want to go back to...
Altai. Chuya River. Photo by Boris Volchek.
Places of power in the Caucasus. In the North Caucasus there are a large number of stone buildings that are compared to Stonehenge. There are a lot of theories associated with dolmens regarding their origin. But the fact is that many people feel special around them and even communicate with them. The easiest way to see dolmens is in the villages of Vozrozhdenie and Pshada, located near Gelendzhik, which are easily accessible for visiting, both with excursions and on your own.
Places of power in the Urals. Like any mountains, the Ural itself is a place of power. I would also like to highlight the Southern Urals with its beautiful streams and stone rivers. The Bashkirs consider this mountain holy, and previously it was impossible to climb it.
Place of power Arkaim- is located in the Chelyabinsk region, on the territory of the reserve, and attracts people from all over Russia. Many years ago this place was located ancient city, which was burned and abandoned. had the shape of two concentric circles in which scientists supposedly lived.
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The first part of the article identified criteria that should be paid attention to when planning and preparing a sports trip: the area and timing of the trip, its objectives and the composition of the team. Now let's apply these arguments to two geographical regions, most suitable for conducting the new spring program “Big Adventure” at an advanced level. So, Altai or Caucasus?
Complexity of regions. Both areas are on the same level, but their complexity has different, so to speak, origins. Briefly, it looks like this.
Altai rivers in many cases flow in hard-to-reach valleys; very often, getting to the starting point of the rafting requires walking. This circumstance to some extent limits the choice of routes. Many valleys are sparsely populated; in the event of an emergency, great efforts are required to reach places where help can be provided. Obstacles on rivers are local in nature. As a rule, after obstacles there are relatively calm areas that allow you to relax and relieve psychological stress. Routes 3 cat. difficulties have in most cases 2-3 defining obstacles, the remaining sections are less difficult runs.
Rivers of the Caucasus, obstacles sometimes follow without interruption or with short sections of fast flow. Rafting throughout the route keeps you in suspense, requiring constant concentration. Characteristic feature is that there are good roads along all the rivers, the valleys are thoroughly populated.
Goal setting. As I wrote above, it is advisable to determine the goals of the trip in advance and voice them. Naturally, only those who are satisfied with the formulated goals will take part in the program. Listed in paragraph 5 I would like to cover the goals in full.
In terms of sport, the routes are Cat. 3. difficulties along the rivers of the Caucasus are higher than routes along the rivers of Altai - in terms of the density of obstacles, their structure and diversity. The transport network makes it possible to connect the passage of several rivers into one route, selecting the most difficult sections of them, which makes rafting more meaningful from a sporting point of view.
Educational issues can be equally addressed both on the rivers of Altai and on the rivers of the Caucasus. The only thing that can be said is that the abundance and density of various obstacles on the rivers of the Caucasus provides more practice and opportunities in terms of learning new techniques for passing obstacles and improving vessel control techniques.
Both Altai and the Caucasus are rich in historical, natural and cultural attractions, which makes it possible to make the program meaningful in this regard. But in Altai, visiting attractions requires a lot of effort and time to get to them. This is due to the fact that cultural and natural monuments lie away from the rivers. At the same time, the good transport network of the Caucasus makes the sights quite accessible, many of them logically fit into the route.
Weather and climatic conditions. Altai is not very predictable in this regard; you can find yourself in a hot spring, or you can find yourself knee-deep in snow. It may also get colder and snow in the Caucasus, but the likelihood of this is lower. Here you can more likely expect prolonged rains. In any case, both in Altai and the Caucasus, due to rains, one should expect large amounts of water on the rivers. It is also worth mentioning that in the Caucasus the water can rise during warm weather, since the feeding of the rivers depends largely on the melting of glaciers in the mountains. In Altai, if the weather is warm in early spring, then you can get into low water.
District infrastructure. In Altai, the main transport artery is the Chuysky tract, which runs along the Katun. Further to the rivers you can only go along dirt roads. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the condition of the roads after winter. The upper reaches of many rivers can only be reached on foot. In the Caucasus, as I wrote above, there are good roads along all the rivers, which makes it possible not only to get to the starting point of the rafting trip, but also to organize transport support along the entire route.
The presence of a rich transport network in the Caucasus is of great importance in the event of an emergency. You can organize the evacuation of a group from any point along the route or promptly deliver the victim to a medical facility. In Altai, in most cases, in case of an emergency, pedestrian exits will be required to places where transport can arrive or medical assistance can be provided to the victim.
There are effective search and rescue services in Altai and the Caucasus, where groups can register. These services monitor traffic along the route, and in case of emergencies they can provide assistance to tourists.
Entrance by railway in the Caucasus the duration is more than a day shorter than in Altai.
The Caucasus is also preferable in terms of accessibility to natural and historical monuments. An extensive transport network allows you to follow the logic of the route and organize your visit large quantity attractions. For example, in the Teberdinsky Nature Reserve you can visit the Museum of Nature of the Caucasus; climbing the mountains, see river waterfalls and rock paintings; visit Dombay; visit ancient settlements dating back to the 10th century; look at the night sky through the telescope of the radio astronomy observatory. And the rivers of the Caucasus themselves are the most beautiful natural objects. In Altai, the main attractions are natural monuments: lakes, hills, caves, as well as local history museums in villages. Some attractions are located close to rivers; others will take considerable time to get to.
In Altai and the Caucasus, the route may take place in sensitive areas of nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries. Passes can be issued either in advance by sending an application, or all issues can be resolved on the spot. Nature reserves provide paid services related to visiting the most interesting places; the cost of excursions is low.
All things being equal, the cost of the program will be influenced by the cost of travel to the place of the hike, intra-route transfers, and the intensity of the excursion program.
There is no point in comparing areas based on attractiveness. Each area is beautiful and unique. And you should visit each one at least once in your life. For me personally, Altai played an important role. Having visited there for the first time in my youth, I realized that tourism had become a part of my life. Those impressions still live in my soul and call me to new, untraversed rivers.
Now you know the main criteria for choosing a hiking area and some characteristics of Altai and the Caucasus. Read and analyze. And of course, take part in choosing the area.
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