All activities / Mountaineering / Summits / Moskvina Glade
Mountaineering / Summits in Moskvina Glade
A glacial meadow at around 4,300 metres in the northwestern Pamir, on the terrace where the Walter and Moskvina glaciers meet. Moskvina Glade is the base camp for the two great seven-thousanders of Tajikistan, Peak Ismoil Somoni and Peak Korzhenevskaya, reached by helicopter from Dushanbe, and it operates only in the short July to September climbing window.
Why here
Moskvina Glade is the launch point for the highest mountains in Tajikistan and the former Soviet Union. From this base camp at about 4,300 metres, where the Walter and Moskvina glaciers join, climbers set out for Peak Ismoil Somoni at 7,495 metres, once called Communism Peak and the highest point of the old USSR, and for Peak Korzhenevskaya at 7,105 metres a short way north. The two are often combined in a single expedition of four to five weeks, using the camp for acclimatisation and rest between rotations. These are serious glaciated high-altitude climbs on which weather and altitude, not extreme technical difficulty, are the main tests, and a permit and organised base-camp logistics are required. Access is usually a short helicopter flight from the lowlands, since the overland approach is a week of trekking with porters over high passes.
Best months
The climbing season is narrow, roughly July to early September, when the base camp is staffed and the high glaciers are workable. Even in midsummer, temperatures on the upper mountain fall far below freezing and storms can pin climbers in their tents for days, so the standard expedition allows four to five weeks for acclimatisation and weather. Outside this window the camp closes and access is effectively impossible.
Getting there & around
Expeditions start in Dushanbe, from where most climbers take a helicopter to Moskvina Glade, a flight of about ninety minutes, rather than the seven-day trek in from the Muksu valley. A climbing permit and, for the border-zone Pamir, a GBAO permit are required and are usually arranged by the base-camp operator, along with tents, meals, fixed logistics and rescue backup at camp. Climbers bring their own high-altitude gear and must budget spare days for weather. There is no independent infrastructure on the mountain.
Skill levels: advanced
Schools & guides (1)
Tajik Peaks
OutfitterTajik Peaks, in Tajik Qullahoi Tojik, is a Dushanbe-based mountaineering company that operates the base camp at Moskvina Glade for Peak Ismoil Somoni and Peak Korzhenevskaya. It took over the camp after the earlier operator Pamir Peaks closed, and since 2021 has coordinated the site's logistics and base-camp infrastructure. It arranges climbing and border permits, helicopter transfers from Dushanbe, tents, meals and high-altitude support for expeditions to both seven-thousanders.