Laylak and Karavshin Regions, Clarification. Vladimir Kopylov, co-author with Paola Sicouri of Forbidden Mountains, notes that C.I.S. climbers refer to the two famous climbing areas of the Pamir-Alai as the Laylak (or Laylak Ak-Su) Region, home to Ak-Su North Peak, Iskander, and Admiralteets, and the Karavshin (or Karavshin Asen-Usen) Region, which contains Slesova Peak (a.k.a. the Russian Tower), Peak 4810 (a.k.a. the Bastion), and Asen-Usen (“The Twins”). The American Alpine Journal will henceforth refer to the two regions as the Laylak and Karavshin Regions.

Ak-Su North Peak has been referred to in these pages as Rocky Ak-Su to differentiate it from the peak just to the south, which we referred to as Snowy Ak-Su. C.I.S. climbers refer to the latter as Ak-Su Main Peak. We will follow their lead in this matter as well.