Mount Iremel
Mount Iremel is the second highest peak of the South Ural Mountains, located in the Iremel Nature Park, in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Scientists are still arguing about the origin of the name of the peak. Many researchers believe that it is composed of Mongolian and Bashkir words and means “saddle of a bogatyr.”
Video: Climbing Iremel
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The mountain range lies in an area of 12 km by 8 km. It consists of two peaks and several spurs and indeed resembles a giant saddle. The highest point reaches 1582.3 meters above sea level and is called Big Iremel or Big Kaban. To the north-west of it there is a mountain spur Zherebchik (1250 m), and to the south-east there is a spur Sinyak (940 m). From the north of the Big Iremel rises the Maly Iremel mountain (1449.4 m).
.Externally, Iremel is a hollow peak that looks like a haystack. The Bashkir word “keben” and means “haystack”. The mountain lies above the forest zone and is covered with scatterings of kurumniks, which from above resemble Martian landscapes. On the northern and western slopes, even in July and August, one can see patches of unmelted snowfields. At the height of summer they are covered with pink spots and smell of fresh watermelons, and such an unusual phenomenon is caused by bacteria living here.
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In former times, the Bashkirs honored Mount Iremel as a holy mountain and forbade ordinary people to climb it. Many famous writers and scientists visited the summit. The traveler-naturalist Ivan Ivanovich Lepekhin, geographer Pyotr Ivanovich Rychkov and prose writer Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak visited Mount Iremel.
.The picturesque mountain massif is very popular among tourists. Every day dozens of mountaineers climb Mount Iremel. Many of them come from the valley of the Tyulyuk River, from the side of the Chelyabinsk region. On weekends and holidays, the number of travelers who want to visit the summit reaches several hundred.
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The vast majority of tourists visit Iremel in the warm season and make the ascent on foot. True, there are also those who go up on horseback as part of horseback tours. In winter, Mount Iremel and its spurs are popular with skiers, snowboarders and lovers of fast snowmobile riding.
.Weather on Mount Iremel
The weather in the mountains is unstable. Winds often bring rain clouds, and both peaks of Iremel are hidden behind clouds. In winter, a clear sky for half an hour can be replaced by a ferocious blizzard. Snow on Mount Iremel sometimes falls in July, but it does not last long and quickly melts.
.Iremel Nature Park
The protected area around Mount Iremel was created to preserve mountain-tundra forests, taiga and swamp ecosystems of the Southern Urals. The forest area is home to brown bears, moose, foxes, hares, martens and lynxes. Among rare and endangered animals there are red deer, river otters, voles, black storks, white and gray partridges and grass frogs. European grayling and taimen inhabit the rivers of the Iremel Nature Park.
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The Tyulyuk, Karagayka, Tygyn, Sinyak and Bolshoy Avnyar rivers have their sources at the foot of the mountain massif. All of them are tributaries of the Belaya River. Tygyn is often called “stone river”, as most of the river valley is covered with kurumnik.
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On the slopes of Mount Iremel one can see the so-called “stone cauldrons”. These are pits 2-3 meters in diameter and 0.7 meters deep, the bottom of which is lined with stones. After snowmelt and rains water accumulates in them, and the cauldrons resemble small lakes. The water here is clean and quite suitable for drinking.
.On the slopes of Iremel it is interesting to observe the change of vegetation. Taiga thickets in the valleys of rivers gradually change into crooked woods and, finally, give way to the expanse of mountain tundra, where dwarf birch and shrubbery grow. There are 57 plant species listed in the Red Book and 13 endemics at the summit.
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Since the mountain massif is located in a nature park, since 2010 a protected regime has been introduced here. In order not to disturb the animals and birds living on the mountain, tourists are advised to use only prepared trails. Hunting and fishing, making fires, tearing flowers growing on the mountain slopes, as well as picking mushrooms and berries are not allowed on the territory of the natural park.
.Routes to Mount Iremel
There are several options for climbing to the summit: via Nikolaevka in the Beloretsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan, via Baisakalovo (Uchaly) and from the village of Tyulyuk. The last route allows you to make the ascent as fast as possible – just for one day. If you leave Tyulyuk early in the morning, you can manage to get to the top and return to the village before dark.
.Tyulyuk is 240 kilometers east of the city of Ufa. It is an ancient village in the Katav-Ivanovsky district of the Chelyabinsk region, founded in the 18th century by mining peasants from Yuryuzan. The locals burned coal, which was then used in the Ural factories. At 3 km above the settlement, the Tyulyuk River pierced through the rocks of a picturesque tract, which is called Larkina Mill.
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In the settlement you can stay by renting rooms from locals or staying at the mountain shelter “Roza Vetrov”. Many travelers camp above the settlement. Tyulyuk is located at an altitude of 564 meters above sea level. This means that to the top of Mount Iremel you need to gain altitude about 1 km.
.The way up lies along the valleys of the Tyulyuk River and its left tributary, the Karagayka River. Most of the ascent is in the forest zone, and there are signs. Tourists start on an old logging road laid along the river, and after 7 km it comes to the border of Bashkiria, to the territory of the natural park “Iremel”.
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Since further on there are lands with limited nature use, at the checkpoint they charge a fee for visiting the natural park. It is not high – a ticket costs only 30 rubles. This money goes to a good cause. They are used to pay garbage collectors and for marking popular tourist routes.
.The easiest route to Mount Big Iremel is up the Karagayka valley, but many tourists prefer to first climb the rocky ledges of Suktash – the western spur of Mount Maly Iremel. The last third of the way to the summit is climbed along the trail. It is steeper and is laid on grass and rocky scree.
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Kurumnik is almost entirely covered with lichens, and you should walk on it very carefully, as many stones are unstable. You should be especially careful when climbing after rain. For self-assurance it is better to use trekking poles, an alpenstock or at least a long wooden stick. During the movement on the kurumnik the trail is not visible, so in many places there are small pyramids of stones that mark the correct direction to the top.
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At the highest point of Mount Iremel there is a stone tour and a metal box, where there are matches and a notebook. In it tourists write down their impressions. At the summit there are usually sticks with colorful ribbons and flags, which are brought here by climbers.
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From the highest point of the mountain there is a great view of the surrounding peaks and forested river valleys. As in the palm of your hand you can see the small village of Tyulyuk, the long ridges Avalyak, Zigalga, Nurgush and Bakty, the highest point of the South Urals – Mount Yamantau (1640 m) and the long Tygyn bogs..Iremel Nature Park is visited by a huge number of tourists, and this has its disadvantages. When climbing Mount Iremel, you can sometimes see garbage and “autographs” made on the stones. However, there are also positive moments. On the trail to the summit of Big Iremel someone has built an unusual parking lot “The hare’s inn”. Skillful hands turned a stump into a figure of an oblique hare, and other travelers “insulated” the wooden sculpture with a sweatshirt and a ski cap. Almost all climbers stop at the convenient clearing for rest, so it has become a tradition to tie colored ribbons on the branches of the spruce trees growing here – “for good luck.”
.How to get there
Mount Iremel is located 14 km southeast of the village of Tyulyuk. The village can be reached by road from the M5 (“Ural”) highway between Ufa and Chelyabinsk. From the cities of the Chelyabinsk region (Yuryuzan, Katav-Ivanovsk and Trekhgorny) to Tyulyuk there is a regular bus service.
.On Fridays at 19.00 from Ufa (Zorge Street, 26) mountain shelter “Roza Vetrov” organizes for everyone a transfer to Tyulyuk. The return transfer from Tyulyuk to Ufa takes place on Sundays at 15.00. The road to the village takes 4 hours and costs 800 rubles.
.There is another option – take a train from Ufa to Vyazovaya station (4 hours), and from there get to Tyulyuk by shuttle bus or cab.
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