Peak Somoni (formerly Peak Communism), 7495 m and Peak Y. Korzhenevskaya (7105 m)
Peak Somoni (Ex-Peak Communism), at 7495 m, is the highest peak in the Pamirs and the former USSR. It is located in modern country Tajikistan, at the junction of the Academy of Sciences and Peter the Great ranges. The first ascent to the summit was made by Yevgeny Abalakov in 1933 as part of the Tajik-Pamir Expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR from the Bivachny Glacier. On the western slopes of the peak, at an altitude of about 6000 m, lies a unique Pamir firn plateau, which drops off to the Fortambek and Walter glaciers to the north and to the Belyaev Glacier to the south with vertical cliffs reaching kilometers in height. The classic routes for ascending the summit go through the firn plateau from the Fortambek Glacier, along the Burevestnik Ridge, and from the Walter Glacier, along the Borodkin Ridge.
Peak Yevgeniya Korzhenevskaya, at 7105 m, is one of four seven-thousanders of the former USSR, located in the northern part of the Academy of Sciences range, 13 kilometers from Peak Communism. The peak was discovered by Russian scientist and geographer N. Korzhenevsky on August 23, 1910, and was named in honor of the researcher's wife, Yevgeniya Korzhenevskaya. Since 1927, the name of Korzhenevskaya Peak has officially appeared on geographic maps.
Currently, there are about 10 known routes of varying difficulty leading to the summit. The safest and least difficult ascent route begins from the Moskvin Glacier and follows the Southern Ridge (V. Tsetlin route, 1966). The base camp, located at an altitude of 4360 m at the confluence of the Walter and Moskvin glaciers, serves as an optimal starting point for ascents to Peaks Somoni (Ex-Communism).
