Konzhakovsky Kamen
1,569 m
Russia
Also known as Konžakovskij Kameň, Konžakovskij Kamen', +1Also known as
Konžakovskij Kameň · Konžakovskij Kamen' · Конжаковский Камень
- Elevation
- 1,569 m
- Prominence
- 1,176 m
- Difficulty
- 3/10
- Mountain hike
- Best Season
- Jul–Aug
- Routes
- 1
Routes
1The standard way up: the marked, kilometre-posted course of the Konzhak mountain marathon, 21 km one way from the Karpinsk–Kytlym road through taiga to the campsite at Polyana Khudozhnikov (km 14), then over long boulder fields (kurumnik) and a series of steps and plateaus to the rocky summit. About 7 hours up at an easy pace; most people camp at the clearing and go light to the top.
Elevation Profile
- Distance
- 17.6 km
- one way
- Ascent
- +1,242 m
- start → summit
- High Point
- 1,569 m
- Time Up
- 6h 28m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- 5h 38m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
The trail leaves the Karpinsk–Kytlym road about 5–6 km before Kytlym, roughly 50 km from Karpinsk, near the Konzhakovsky Kamen holiday base where cars can be left. It is the course of the Konzhak mountain marathon, waymarked throughout with kilometre signs. The first 14 km climb steadily through spruce, fir and Siberian pine forest along the Konzhakovka valley to Polyana Khudozhnikov ('Artists' Clearing'), the traditional campsite by the river. Above the clearing the last 7 km cross the edge of the Iov plateau and climb over large, sometimes unstable boulder fields in alternating steps and flatter terraces through mountain tundra; the top is a small group of rocks with a metal tripod and flag. In fog the many false summits and the magnetic anomalies of the massif, which can upset a compass, make navigation harder. Allow about 7 hours for the full 21 km at an easy pace; fit walkers do it in a long day, but most take two or three days with a camp at Polyana Khudozhnikov. Descend the same way. Since 2018 a gravel technological road built for the Iov dunite quarry has climbed from the Kytlym road (turn-off near km 39) past Serebryansky Kamen and Polyana Khudozhnikov to the foot of the mountain, from where the summit is about 1.5–3 hours on foot. The quarry company has closed the road to private cars, with a guarded barrier, since 2020 and seasonally in later summers; walkers can still use it.
Start
Start of the Konzhak marathon trail333 m
- Bus from Yekaterinburg to Karpinsk, then the infrequent Karpinsk–Kytlym bus (not daily) to the trailhead.
Stages
| Day | Stage | km | m ascent | m descent | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Start of the Konzhak marathon trail → Поляна художников | 12.8 | 502 | 5 | 4h 02m |
| 2 | Поляна художников → Конжаковский Камень | 4.8 | 740 | 0 | 3h 04m |
Waypoints
- Trailhead: Start of the Konzhak marathon trail333 m
On the Karpinsk–Kytlym road, about 5 km before Kytlym; parking at the Konzhakovsky Kamen holiday base
- Bivouac: Поляна художников817 m
Traditional campsite at km 14 of the marathon trail
- Summit: Конжаковский Камень1,569 m
Key Passages
- Boulder fields (kurumnik) above Polyana Khudozhnikov
- Successive false summits on the final climb
Equipment
0/7 packedDownloads
Route confidence 75%Overview
Konzhakovsky Kamen ('Konzhak', 1,569 m) is the highest point of Sverdlovsk Oblast and one of the best-known summits of the Northern Urals: a broad massif of dunite and gabbro rising from taiga to boulder-strewn mountain tundra, climbed by a waymarked 21 km marathon trail.
Konzhak rises in the southern part of the Northern Urals near the village of Kytlym, in the Karpinsk municipal district. It is the high point of a massif running roughly south-west to north-east that also includes Tylaisky Kamen (1,471 m), Ostraya Kosva, Southern and Northern Iov and Trapetsiya, with the jagged Serebryansky Kamen ridge to the east. The rocks are pyroxenites, dunites and gabbro. Coniferous forest with many Siberian pines gives way at 900–1,000 m to mountain tundra and vast boulder fields (kurumnik). East of the summit the Iov plateau (1,100–1,200 m) ends abruptly at the Iov Proval, a 300 m deep glacial cirque.
It is the most visited mountain of the Sverdlovsk region. The usual approach is the waymarked course of the Konzhak mountain marathon: 21 km and about 7 hours one way from the Karpinsk–Kytlym road, typically done over two or three days with a camp at Polyana Khudozhnikov. The difficulty is the length and the endless boulder fields rather than anything technical. The weather is notoriously wet; locals joke that if you can see Konzhak it is about to rain, and if you cannot, it is already raining.
A dunite quarry opened on the Iov plateau in 2018, and its gravel haul road reaches the foot of the mountain. It brought many more visitors for a few years, but the operator has since barred private cars for much of the summer, so the marathon trail is again the main way in.
Climbing Notes
Good walking fitness and ankles that can cope with hours of loose boulders are the main requirements; no climbing skills are needed in summer. The common plan is two or three days: walk 14 km to Polyana Khudozhnikov on day one, climb the last 7 km to the summit and back light on day two, and walk out. Strong walkers do the 42 km round trip in a long day.
Carry full waterproofs, warm layers and a GPS track: cloud and rain are frequent, the final climb has many false summits, and magnetic anomalies can upset a compass. Avoid the plateau in thunderstorms, as old geological scrap metal on the Iov plateau attracts lightning. Avoid the first Saturday of July unless you are running the marathon. The Sverdlovsk emergency service (MChS) asks groups and individual walkers to register their route in advance, which can be done online.
History
The mountain is named after a Vogul (Mansi) hunter called Konzhakov whose yurt once stood at its foot; the name appears in 18th-century records, when six Konzhakovsky copper mines on its slopes supplied the Lyalinsky smelter (1729–1744). Academician I. I. Lepyokhin was the first scientist to reach the summit, in 1771. On 3 July 1853 E. K. Hofmann of the Russian Geographical Society's North Ural expedition climbed it and raised a wooden cross; the mining engineer Kh. Ya. Tal followed in 1866. A new 3.5 m wooden cross was put up on 26 June 2014. Since 1996 the international Konzhak mountain marathon (42 km to the summit and back) has been held every year on the first Saturday of July, drawing up to 2,000 runners.
Season
Best Jul–Aug- January: Possible
- February: Possible
- March: Possible
- April: Not advisable
- May: Not advisable
- June: Possible
- July: Best (best window)
- August: Best (best window)
- September: Good
- October: Possible
- November: Not advisable
- December: Not advisable
- Jan
- Winter ski tours only; deep snow, short days, severe cold
- Feb
- Winter ski tours for experienced parties
- Mar
- Ski touring; longer days
- Apr
- Thaw begins; rotten snow
- May
- Snowmelt, mud and high streams
- Jun
- Snow patches on the upper slopes; mosquitoes
- Jul
- Main season; marathon on the first Saturday makes the trail very busy
- Aug
- Main season
- Sep
- Autumn colours, fewer insects; first snow possible late in the month
- Oct
- Early snow and ice on the boulders
- Nov
- Early winter; very short days
- Dec
- Very short days and deep cold
Access & Permits
- Hut Booking
- No mountain huts. Camp at Polyana Khudozhnikov, or stay at the Konzhakovsky Kamen and Serebryansky Kamen holiday bases on the Kytlym road, in Kytlym or in Krasnoturyinsk.
- Fees
- No entry fee found; Konzhak has no protected-area status
- Rules
- The dunite quarry's technological road to the Iov plateau is closed to private vehicles by the operator for much of the summer (guarded barrier since 2020; e.g. 1 July to October in 2022); walkers may still use it
- Tourist groups and individual walkers are advised to register their route with the Sverdlovsk regional MChS (online form, post or in person) before setting out
- Many governments (including the UK and US) advise against all travel to Russia since 2022
- Getting There
Kytlym (village); Karpinsk, about 50 km
Yekaterinburg Koltsovo (SVX), about 445 km by road
- By car from Yekaterinburg on the Serov highway, turning towards Severouralsk and Karpinsk, then the asphalt road towards Kytlym (completed 2019) to the trailhead about 50 km beyond Karpinsk
- Bus from Yekaterinburg to Karpinsk, then the Karpinsk–Kytlym bus, which does not run every day
Hazards
- Weather