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Peak Pobeda is found in the Issyk Kul oblast. Located in the Kokshaal Tau range (= Forbidding Mountains ), it sits astride the border with China it is 7439 m . tall and was the second highest mountain in the former Soviet Union . (It is also the most northerly 7000-meter mountain in the world). The South-eastern slopes of the mountain are actually in China , the border itself running over the summit, and along the ridges spreading to the East and West.
The Chinese name of the mountain is Tomur Peak . Originally it was called Khan Tengri by locals but when Semyenov first saw the peak Kan Too, he was struck by the distinctive pyramid shape and mistakenly thought that it was Khan Tengri. Peak Pobeda does not have a pyramid profile. Some People think that, in fact both peaks were known by the name Khan Tengri to different peoples at different times. Anyway, the matter was settled in 1946 when it was renamed in honour of the victory at the end of the Second World War.
It abuts onto the Zvezdochka glacier and boasts a 3km vertical headwall.
The weather conditions can make ascent attempts difficult cold winds (called Thousand Devils: blow from the Taklamakan Desert .
According to some reports, it was first climbed in 1938 by a Soviet team that was surprised they thought it was a lot smaller. They were using an airplane altimeter to measure the height and it was giving misleading readings. It was only later, after analysing reports from subsequent expeditions that their achievement was recognized. (However, there also appears to be some doubt that they actually made it to the top ,,, )
Then, in 1943, the Soviet government sent a team to climb the mountain to commemorate the crushing victory over the Germans that the Red Army had recently won at Stalingrad .
In 1955 two teams attempted to conquer the peak, (one, from Kazakhstan , from the Chon Tern Pass and the other, from Uzbekistan , along the Zvezdochka glacier). The Kazakh team met difficulties as a result of worsening weather conditions and having reached 6000m they decided to descend. Only one of the 12 member team survived, and he was rescued by chance. From this moment on, the mountain acquired a fearsome reputation.
However, most years see a number of ascents most of them by teams from the CIS, and Russia in particular.
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