KHUJAND, July 23, 2009, Asia-Plus — Mountaineers from the CIS states are going to make the first ascent of unmanned mountain over 7,000 meters in Gorno Badakhshan and it will be named Ozodi (Freedom) Peak, Asia-Plus has learned from Mirzohakim Rustamov, the head of the branch of the state-controlled tourist company, Sayoh, in Khujand.
According to him, foreign tourist groups travel to Gorno Badakhshan via Sughd province as well. “Recently, we received a group of Russian mountaineers numbering nine persons and sent them to Dushanbe,” said Rustamov, “From Dushanbe, they were carried by helicopter to the “Moskvin” mountaineering camp in Gorno Badakhshan.” In all, some 200 mountaineers, including those from Tajikistan, will participate in the ascent expedition, Rustamov said.
He also noted that Sayoh’s branch in Khujand also received a group of devotees of mountain tourism on July 18. “They are citizens of Canada and they arrived here to travel to the Fan Mountains in the Ayni district,” said Rustamov, “A group of 20 Ukrainians are expected to arrive here in August for a five-day tour of Khujand-Isfara-Kyrgyzstan.”
