Travel to Fedchenko Glacier

Fedchenko Glacier stretches 77 kilometers through the Yazgulem Range of Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains—the longest glacier on Earth outside the polar regions. Up to 3.1 kilometers wide and reaching a maximum ice thickness of approximately 1,000 meters, it holds an estimated 144 cubic kilometers of freshwater across roughly 700 square kilometers. The glacier originates at 6,200 meters on the flanks of Independence Peak and flows northward to a debris-covered terminus at 2,909 meters. Some 45 tributary glaciers feed the main trunk, their confluences marked by striking reddish-brown medial moraines visible from space.

The glacier is flanked by Ismoil Somoni Peak (7,495 m), Tajikistan’s highest mountain, and three other peaks exceeding 7,000 meters. Its meltwater feeds the Muksu and Vakhsh rivers before reaching the Amu Darya—the lifeline of Central Asia. Entirely within Tajik National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013, Fedchenko exists in one of the most remote and spectacular mountain landscapes on the planet.