The Azerbaijan Mountaineering Federation has recently marked its 50th anniversary. President of the Federation Israfil Ashurly noted in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza that the government was supporting the organization. He said that mountaineering had been well-organized in the North Caucasus, Altay, Pamir, Tian Shan, Russia's North and Ural during the Soviet times, instructors had courses for skill-improvement.
According to Ashurly, the best times of Soviet mountaineering were in the 1970s. Back then, over 300,000 people were engaged in mountaineering. The German Mountaineering Club had about 1.2 million members. In the 1970-1980s, Soviet mountaineers were taking complicated routes. For example, the ascent of Mt. Everest in 1982 was unique, few people dared use that route. It is one of the 16 routes the Soviet group took.
Concerning mountaineering in Azerbaijan, Ashurly said that it had not been as advanced as in the Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or Georgia. Azerbaijan put a lot of effort into improving its mountaineering structures. The republic is proud of its veteran climbers, they are the highlight of the anniversary, as stated by the president of the Azerbaijani Mountaineering Federation.
