Peak BOKS (4,240 m), Ala-Archa: 2-Day Guided Climb from Bishkek

Peak BOKS (4,240 m) is one of the classic summits above the Ratsek hut in Ala-Archa National Park. Several routes of different grades lead to the top; we take the easiest, a 1B route that climbers often use to descend after harder lines. The name has nothing to do with boxing: it’s a Soviet acronym, usually decoded as “Combat Squad of Komsomol Satire”.

BOKS packs a lot of variety into a short summit day: a glacier crossing at dawn, a steep gully of loose rock and a summit with a close-up view of Free Korea (Svobodnaya Koreya), Korona and Ak-Too.

Trip facts

• Peak: BOKS, 4,240 m
• Location: Ala-Archa National Park, Kyrgyzstan
• Grade: 1B
• Duration: 2 days
• Day 1: park entrance → Ratsek hut, about 3 hours
• Day 2: Ratsek hut → summit and back, about 7.6 km and about 1,000 m of ascent, then down to the park entrance
• Start and finish: Bishkek
• Accommodation: 1 night at the Ratsek hut (3,350 m)
• Season: July to September

Detailed itinerary

Day 1: Bishkek → Ratsek hut

Pickup in Bishkek and the drive to Ala-Archa, about 1 hour, with a stop for supplies on the way. From the park checkpoint the electric shuttle takes us to the trailhead at the end of the road. Most of the way to the hut follows a comfortable trail: up to the Tepshi plateau, through a small wood, and then onto the moraine of the Ak-Sai glacier, where it gets steeper. At an easy pace it takes about 3 hours.

We reach the hut in the afternoon. Once settled, we walk towards the “Crocodile”, the tongue of the Ak-Sai glacier, where ibex often graze on the moraine. Dinner, a briefing for the summit day and an early night.

Day 2: Summit and descent

Wake-up at 4:00, breakfast and a start at 5:00, in the dark across the moraine to the Ak-Sai glacier. By late summer the crevasses are usually open and easy to see; your guide picks the line across and ropes the group up whenever conditions call for it.

Beyond the glacier the route climbs a steep gully of loose rock almost to the summit. This is the crux of the day: the scree is unstable, so we keep close together, move carefully and watch for falling stones. As you gain height the views keep opening up across the Ak-Sai glacier to Free Korea, Korona and Ak-Too.

The last section to the summit climbs a gully choked with medium-sized boulders. On a calm day the summit is a great place for tea and photos before we head down the same way.

From the glacier it’s a short walk back to the hut for lunch. Then we pack up, walk down to the park entrance and drive back to Bishkek, arriving in the evening.

Who this climb is for

You don’t need technical climbing experience, but you do need to be steady on loose rock and scree, and fit enough for a 1,000 m climb from 3,350 m followed by a descent of more than 2,000 m to the park entrance. Some experience above 4,000 m helps: Peak Komsomolets (4,204 m) in the same park is a good warm-up.

Good to know

• Weather and the summit. Your guide sets the turnaround time and will turn the group back if the weather, the conditions or the pace make it unsafe to continue.
• Helmet and harness. You need both for the glacier and the gully. Bring your own, or tell us when you book and we’ll arrange them for you.
• The Ratsek hut. Simple bunk beds, no central heating (electric heaters for an extra fee) and a small bar selling drinks, snacks and boiling water. We book beds in advance; if the hut is full on your dates, we sleep in tents next to it, which we provide.
• Sleeping bag. Bring a sleeping bag with a comfort rating of about -10 °C.
• What to bring. Hiking boots or single-layer mountaineering boots, a fleece, a down jacket for the evening at the hut, a waterproof jacket and trousers, gloves, a hat, a headlamp, sunglasses, sunscreen and sandals for the hut. See our hiking gear guide.
• Getting to Bishkek. Bishkek has an international airport (Manas). From Almaty it’s about 4 hours by road, including the land border at Korday.

Route map

Day 1: park entrance → Ratsek hut

The approach is the same as for Peak Uchitel, so this is the track from that climb.

Day 2: Ratsek hut → summit of Peak BOKS and back

More climbs in Ala-Archa: Peak Uchitel (4,530 m) from the same hut, and Peak Adygene (4,350 m) with a night by a glacier lake.