Salinan
4,507 m
Russia
Also known as Glavni Salinan, Салыннгантау, +1Also known as
Glavni Salinan · Салыннгантау · Главный Салынан
- Elevation
- 4,507 m
- Prominence
- 621 m
- Difficulty
- 5/10
- Easy alpine
- Best Season
- Jul–Aug
- Routes
- 1
AdvisoryReported 18 Sep 2026
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against all travel to Russia because of the war in Ukraine; its ability to help British nationals is extremely limited.
gov.uk
Routes
1Approximate line — not for navigation
An automated check found that parts of this line could not be matched to mapped trails, so it may stray far from the real route. Use it for planning only, with a map and a guidebook.
Why? 8 check notes
- danger scan: Barankosh → Kel pass: straight line 2771 m (limit 200 m)
- danger scan: Barankosh → Kel pass: straight line 2771 m above the last hut/bivouac
- danger scan: Barankosh → Kel pass: sustained 55° > 40° on a straight line
- last routed vertex 2771 m from the summit (closed by straight)
- the line does not follow 'Kel pass', the route's namesake (1080 m away): mislabelled
- 67% approximate geometry
- Bezengi alpine camp → Misses-kosh: bridge (snap_failed; one off-graph gap, 4.2 km)
- Misses-kosh → Barankosh: glacier (snap_failed, 4.2 km)
Sources differ: 2B (Russian), south-west ridge, combined; first ascent J. G. Cockin, U. Almer, C. Roth and H. Holder, 28 July 1888 (Kargashil ridge route guide (caucasalp.narod.ru); FAR classifier 2.5.141)
The easiest route on the highest summit of the Kargashil ridge and the line of the 1888 first ascent: from the Bezengi alpine camp along the Bezengi glacier and past Lake Barankosh to a bivouac on the Kel pass, then up a 350 m ice-snow couloir from the Ortokara glacier to the south-west ridge and over three small gendarmes to the summit.
Elevation Profile
approximate line- Distance
- ≈ 11.1 km
- one way
- Ascent
- ≈ +2,526 m
- −156 m lost on the way up
- High Point
- 4,507 m
- Time Up
- ≈ 10h 07m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- ≈ 6h 58m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
From the Bezengi alpine camp follow the path along the right-bank moraine of the Bezengi glacier to Misses-kosh, drop onto the glacier and cross it diagonally to a low point in the left-bank moraine beyond the Salynan stream, then follow the path to Lake Barankosh. Go round the lake, climb the steep grassy slope between two streams, passing ice-polished slabs on the right, then big pale scree and finally fine scree to the Kel pass, the saddle in Salynan's south ridge, where parties bivouac (4.5–6 hours from the camp). From the pass descend the scree of the south ridge onto the Ortokara glacier, turn right and go up to the right-hand ice-snow couloir that comes down from the south-west ridge. Cross the bergschrund on a snow bridge and climb 350 m up the left side of the couloir to the rock islands where it divides, then the left branch (stonefall, belays) to the saddle on the south-west ridge (3–4 hours from the pass). From the saddle climb a 50 m ice-snow gully on the left of the ridge, step right onto the ridge after gendarme I and follow 300–350 m of snowy easy rock to gendarme II (climbed direct or turned on the left). The ridge stays easy over gendarme III to a 25–30 m snow crest and the summit (3–5 hours from the saddle). Descend the same way to the Kel pass. Parties based in the Chegem valley can reach the same saddle from the Shaurtu glacier bivouac below the Salynan pass (7–8 hours from the Chegem tourist base, then 3–4 hours to the saddle; serac fall and avalanches from the ridge).
Start
Bezengi alpine camp2,138 m
- No public transport to the camp; the Bezengi camp arranges transfers from Nalchik via Kashkhatau
- Parking at the trailhead
Stages
| Day | Stage | km | m ascent | m descent | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bezengi alpine camp → Kel pass | 11.1 | 2,526 | 156 | 10h 07m |
| 2 | Kel pass → Salinan | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0m |
Waypoints
- Trailhead: Bezengi alpine camp2,138 m
Alpine camp at the road end; border-zone and national-park passes needed
- Feature: Misses-kosh2,508 m
Memorial site on the right-bank moraine of the Bezengi glacier; 2–2.5 h from the camp
- Bivouac: Barankosh2,741 m
Lake camp between the moraine and the Kargashil ridge
- Col: Kel pass3,615 m
Saddle in Salynan's south ridge; bivouac sites. Position from mapped campsites at the pass (not on route line)
- Summit: Salinan4,507 m
Key Passages
- Crossing the Bezengi glacier from Misses-kosh
- Scree slopes from Lake Barankosh to the Kel pass
- Bergschrund and 350 m couloir from the Ortokara glacier
- Gendarmes I–III on the south-west ridge
Equipment
0/8 packedDownloads
Route confidence 57%Overview
The highest summit (4,507 m) of the Kargashil ridge, the spur between the Bezengi and upper Chegem valleys in Kabardino-Balkaria. First climbed in 1888, it is reached from the Bezengi alpine camp by a two-day Russian 2B route: a bivouac on the Kel pass, a 350 m ice couloir and an easy snowy ridge.
Main Salynan (Salyngantau, Salynan-Bashi) stands at the south-western end of the Kargashil ridge, which leaves the Main Caucasus Ridge near Ortokara and runs north-east between the Bezengi glacier and the Gara-Auzu-Su branch of the Chegem valley. Its neighbours along the ridge are Shaurtu, Tyutyurgu and Dzhorashty-Kurshagan; to the south it looks straight across the Bezengi glacier to the Bezengi Wall. A lower summit, Salynan Minor (4,114 m), lies on the same massif.
The FAR classifier lists four routes on the main summit: the 2B south-west ridge, 3B north-east and east ridges, and a 5B north-west face. The normal route is a classic glacier-and-ridge climb of moderate difficulty with a long approach, in one of the most serious mountain areas of the Caucasus. It suits parties already based at the Bezengi camp who want a 4,500 m summit below the level of the Bezengi Wall routes.
Published heights vary: the FAR classifier gives 4,507 m, the 2017 Kabardino-Balkaria route register 4,508 m, and an older Bezengi camp text 4,348 m.
Climbing Notes
Suitable for climbers with glacier experience who can move confidently on 45° ice and snow and belay on easy mixed ground. Plan two days up and a long day down, or three days with a spare day: Bezengi camp to the Kel pass bivouac (4.5–6 hours), summit day via the Ortokara glacier and the south-west ridge (6–9 hours), descent to the camp. Acclimatise on lower Bezengi routes first. Start the couloir early because of stonefall in its left branch. The Bezengi camp provides passes, transfers, instructors and rescue registration.
History
The first ascent was made on 28 July 1888 by the English climber John Garforth Cockin with the guides Ulrich Almer and Christian Roth and H. Holder, by the south-west ridge. It was one of several first ascents Cockin made in the Bezengi district that summer. Soviet climbers added the north-east ridge (N. Chekmarev and G. Skornyakov, 12 August 1936), the east ridge (1966) and the north-west face (V. Daruga, 1974).
Season
Best Jul–Aug- January: Not advisable
- February: Not advisable
- March: Not advisable
- April: Not advisable
- May: Not advisable
- June: Possible
- July: Best (best window)
- August: Best (best window)
- September: Good
- October: Not advisable
- November: Not advisable
- December: Not advisable
- Jan
- Winter
- Feb
- Winter
- Mar
- Winter
- Apr
- Avalanche season
- May
- Deep snow; Bezengi camp not yet open
- Jun
- Good snow in the couloir but unsettled weather
- Jul
- Main Bezengi season
- Aug
- Main season; the couloir becomes icier and more stonefall-prone
- Sep
- Stable weather, bare ice, short days
- Oct
- Early winter
- Nov
- Winter
- Dec
- Winter
Access & Permits
- Permits
- Border-zone pass (FSB Border Directorate, Kabardino-Balkaria)Required
The Bezengi valley is in Russia's border zone. Bezengi camp clients send their documents to the camp in advance and the camp's driver brings the passes; checkpoints turn back anyone without them. The 2017 Kabardino-Balkaria register lists the Kel pass and Barankosh bivouacs among the approved routes in the border zone.
mountain.ru - National park passRequired
Climbers who are not Bezengi camp clients also need a pass from the national park administration in Kashkhatau, about 50 km from the camp; rangers can send a group leader back down to get one.
mountain.ru
- Hut Booking
- No huts on the route; camp at the Kel pass. Book the Bezengi alpine camp directly.
- Fees
- Bezengi camp accommodation, registration and transfers are paid services
- Rules
- Border zone: carry your passport, border-zone pass, route sheet with rescue-service registration and protected-area permit; stay on the registered route
- Ascents of summits and passes on the Main Caucasus Ridge and presence within 100 m of the state border are prohibited from the Kabardino-Balkaria side; Salynan itself is on the Kargashil spur, but do not continue onto Ortokara or the main ridge
- The UK FCDO advises against all travel to Russia
- Getting There
Kashkhatau; Nalchik is the regional capital
Nalchik (NAL) or Mineralnye Vody (MRV)
- Camp transfer by minibus from Nalchik via Kashkhatau and Bezengi village to the alpine camp; no public transport to the road end
- From the Chegem side, road to Bulungu and the Chegem tourist base (border checkpoint), then the Shaurtu glacier approach
Hazards
- Glacier
- Crevasses
- Rockfall
- Altitude
- Avalanche
- Exposure
- Weather
- Remoteness