Uilpata
4,649 m
Russia
Also known as უილფათა, УилпатаAlso known as
უილფათა · Уилпата
- Elevation
- 4,649 m
- Prominence
- 1,300 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: Tsey glacier → Uilpata pass: straight line 7740 m (limit 200 m)
- danger scan: Tsey glacier → Uilpata pass: sustained 53° > 40° on a straight line
- danger scan: Uilpata pass → Uilpata: straight line 865 m (limit 200 m)
- danger scan: Uilpata pass → Uilpata: sustained 40° > 40° on a straight line
- last routed vertex 7020 m from the summit (closed by straight)
- 80% straight-line fallback
- 80% approximate geometry
- low confidence 0.34
Sources differ: 2B (Russian), south-west ridge, combined route; first ascent line of M. de Déchy, A. Burgener and P. J. Ruppen, 24 July 1884 (Soviet guide 'Karaugom. Digoria. Tsey' (kmvline.ru))
The easiest of Uilpata's ten listed routes and the line of the 1884 first ascent: from the Tsey alpine camp up the long Tsey glacier to the Nikolaev hut, over the Khitsan pass to the North branch plateau, up a steep 250–300 m snow-ice slope to the Uilpata saddle with Peak TsDSA, then along the broad snow south-west ridge to a short final step.
Elevation Profile
approximate line- Distance
- ≈ 10.8 km
- one way
- Ascent
- ≈ +3,082 m
- −410 m lost on the way up
- High Point
- 4,649 m
- Time Up
- ≈ 12h 26m
- DIN 33466
- Time Down
- ≈ 8h 53m
- DIN 33466 · same way back
From the Tsey alpine camp a path follows the Tseydon past the Rekom sanctuary to the snout of the Tsey glacier, about 9 km from the resort. The first icefall (2,600–2,800 m) is bypassed on the right over snow and ice-polished slabs, and the glacier is then followed on its left bank, past crevasse zones, to the Tsey (Nikolaev) hut on the rocks above the left edge of the glacier at about 3,200 m. Local climbers count about 6 hours of walking from the camp to the hut; many parties split it with a night at the grassy Tsey bivouac lower down. From the hut, cross the Khitsan pass (3,450 m) and descend onto the plateau of the North branch of the Tsey glacier (hidden crevasses) and cross it to the Uilpata bivouac on the moraine below the mountain. In 2011 a party left the hut at 02:20 and reached the foot of the route at 06:00. From the bivouac go round the south-east slopes of Uilpata to the right-hand side of the broad saddle between Uilpata and Peak TsDSA. Climb a gentle snow slope to narrow rock islands that run down between the ice cliffs of two hanging glaciers, then either the steep, very loose rock of the right-hand island or the snow-ice slope to its right (belays), finally a steep slope that eases off onto the saddle: 4–5 hours from the bivouac. Turn left and follow the broad, long, gentle snow ridge and a 30–40 m final step to the summit, 1–2 hours from the saddle. Descend the same way. The steep snow slope below the saddle is the danger point: in August 2011 two climbers fell to their deaths here while descending in soft snow after a training ascent. Start very early (parties leave the hut around 02:00–03:00) so that the slope is still frozen on the way down; the Tsey cirque is known for frequent rockfall.
Start
Tsey alpine camp1,975 m
- Scheduled bus Vladikavkaz–Tsey (departures 06:20 and 15:00 in the published timetable), or a transfer from Vladikavkaz or Beslan airport
Waypoints
- Trailhead: Tsey alpine camp1,975 m
Road end; scheduled bus from Vladikavkaz to Tsey
- Feature: Tsey glacier1,978 m
Path to the glacier snout; first icefall bypassed on the right
- Col: Uilpata pass4,307 m
Saddle between Uilpata and Peak TsDSA; bergschrund and 250–300 m steep snow-ice slope below
- Summit: Uilpata4,649 m
Key Passages
- First icefall of the Tsey glacier (bypassed on slabs)
- Khitsan pass and the North branch plateau
- Bergschrund and 250–300 m snow-ice slope to the Uilpata saddle
- Loose rock island below the saddle
- 30–40 m final step
Equipment
0/9 packedDownloads
Route confidence 34%Overview
The highest summit of the Tsey horseshoe in North Ossetia (4,649 m), a trapezoid of ice cliffs and rock ribs between the Tsey and Karaugom glaciers. Its easiest route, the Russian 2B south-west ridge climbed in 1884, is a two-day glacier ascent from the Tsey alpine camp.
Uilpata stands in the Tsey–Karaugom ridge, the spur that separates the two largest glaciers of North Ossetia: the Tsey glacier to the east and the Karaugom to the west. Ice walls drop from it to the Karaugom plateau, and numerous rock ribs fall to the North branch of the Tsey glacier. South of it, across the Uilpata saddle, stands Peak TsDSA; to the north, across the Songuti pass, the Songuti summits. It is the highest peak in the Tsey district and, after Kazbek and Dzhimara, among the highest in the republic.
The Soviet guide lists ten routes, from the 2B south-west ridge to 5B lines on the south ridge and its buttresses. The normal route is a long glacier day rather than a technical climb: closed crevasses on the North branch plateau, a bergschrund and a 250–300 m steep snow-ice slope to the saddle, and loose rock where the slope is bypassed. That slope has claimed lives on descent, so the mountain should not be underestimated.
The base is the village and alpine camp of Tsey at the head of the Tseydon valley, reached by a mountain road from Buron on the Transcaucasian highway. The Tsey district is known among Russian climbers for loose rock and frequent rockfall.
Climbing Notes
Suitable for climbers with glacier and crevasse-rescue skills who are confident with crampons and self-arrest on steep snow; Russian alpine camps use it as a training ascent for the 2B level. Acclimatise first, for example with a night at the Tsey hut and an ascent of the Khitsan pass. A typical plan is two to three days: Tsey camp to the Tsey (Nikolaev) hut, or to the lower Tsey bivouac and then the hut; summit day from the hut with a 02:00–03:00 start; back to the camp on day three. The Tsey alpine camp offers instructors and a library of route descriptions. Do not descend the snow slope below the saddle in soft afternoon snow without belays.
History
The first ascent was made on 24 July 1884 by the Hungarian explorer Maurice de Déchy with the Valais guides Alexander Burgener and Peter Joseph Ruppen, by the south-west ridge; Déchy's account was published as 'The first ascent of Adai Choch', the name then used for the massif. The Soviet guide lists a repeat by G. Kavtaradze's party on 28 July 1891 (Camptocamp dates the surveyor Kavtaradze's ascent to 1901), and a ski ascent was made in November 1937. Soviet climbers added harder lines in the 1950s–1970s, including the 5B south ridge (I. Shestipalov, 1971). On 12 August 2011 two Ukrainian climbers from a Lviv training camp died after a roped pair slid down the snow slope below the Uilpata saddle while descending the 2B route.
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; the Tsey resort runs ski lifts
- Feb
- Winter
- Mar
- Winter
- Apr
- Avalanche season
- May
- Deep snow on the glacier approach
- Jun
- Good snow cover but unsettled weather and hidden crevasses
- Jul
- Main climbing season of the Tsey alpine camp
- Aug
- Main season; afternoon snow softens on the descent slope
- Sep
- More bare ice; shorter days
- Oct
- Early winter
- Nov
- Winter; a ski ascent was made in November 1937
- Dec
- Winter
Access & Permits
- Permits
- Border-zone pass (FSB Border Directorate, North Ossetia)Required
The resort area of the Tsey gorge is not in the border zone, but the unofficial Tsey resort site says a pass is needed to climb peaks inside it and that passes take 60 days to issue. Uilpata is about 4 km from the Georgian border on the Main Caucasus Ridge. Apply well in advance via the Border Directorate in Vladikavkaz; the alpine camp can advise.
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- Hut Booking
- The Tsey (Nikolaev) hut is an unstaffed shelter that cannot be booked and is often full in August; bring a tent. Rooms and tent pitches at the Tsey alpine camp: +7 918 824 10 15 (published on the unofficial Tsey site).
- Fees
- Accommodation, meals, instructors and transfers at the Tsey alpine camp are paid services
- Rules
- Border zone near the Georgia (South Ossetia) frontier: carry your passport and pass and expect checks
- A 2008 report describes the upper Tsey valley as nominally a nature reserve as well as border zone; check current rules with the alpine camp
- The UK FCDO advises against all travel to Russia
- Getting There
Tsey (resort village); Alagir and Vladikavkaz are the nearest towns
Vladikavkaz Beslan (OGZ)
- Scheduled bus Vladikavkaz–Tsey (published departures 06:20 and 15:00; return 09:15), or a transfer from Vladikavkaz railway station or Beslan airport
- By car from Vladikavkaz via Alagir along the Transcaucasian highway to Buron, then the mountain road up the Tseydon valley to Tsey
Hazards
- Glacier
- Crevasses
- Rockfall
- Altitude
- Avalanche
- Exposure
- Weather