The Tian Shan, its name is Chinese for “Celestial Mountains.” Stretching about 1,500 miles (2,500 km) from west-southwest to east-northeast, it mainly straddles the border between China and Kyrgyzstan and bisects the ancient territory of Turkistan. It is a large, isolated range surrounded by the desert basins of northern China. Middle elevations catch enough arctic moisture to support a park-like landscape of meadows and spruce forests. Above lie alpine meadows, rocky slopes and glaciers. Below, steppes extend outward to the desert floor. Because of size and variety of habitat types, the Tian Shan are diverse, with more than 2,500 plant species. Although hunting pressure is severe, snow leopards still occur here, as do the ungulate species that comprise their prey base.

Landscape vistas reveal a park-like mosaic of cropped meadows, scattered shrublands, rocky outcrops and dense stands of narrowly conical, dark-needled spruce. Meadows serve as pastures in most locations and are dominated by the grasses。There are various plants include many of the same species that comprise the alpine scrub vegetation at elevations above tree line.

Grasses and forbs also occur in the forest understory. Some of the important species include the grasses Brachypodium pinnatum, Calamagrostis spp., Helictotrichon pubescens, Dactylis glomerata, Agropyron tianschanicum,and Poa nemoralis and the forbs Solidago virga-aurea, Mulgedium azureum, Doronicum altaicum, Senecio soongoricus, Crepis sibirica, Aegopodium alpestre, and Cerastium dahuricum.

From the Base Camp on moraine below the south face of Peak Chapaev, the route ascends easily at first, climbing simple snow slopes up a large basin, to the col at 5800m at the foot of the West Ridge. At this pitch of the route one should be careful of ice falls and avalanches from the Peak Chapaev slopes. From the col technical difficulties begin and although most of the route has fixed rope on it, the difficulties and nature of the terrain lend a certain seriousness to the climbing.