The Snow Leopard award (Russian: Снежный барс) was a Soviet mountaineering award, given to highly skilled mountaineers. It is still recognized in the Commonwealth of Independent States. To receive this award, a climber was required to summit all five peaks within the former Soviet Union with elevation above 7,000 m (23,000 ft).
It was founded on October 12, 1967 by the Central Council of Sports Societies and Organizations of the USSR.
Khan Tengri is a mountain of the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia. It is on the China—Kyrgyzstan—Kazakhstan tripoint, east of lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. Its geologic elevation is 6,995 m (22,949 ft), but its glacial icecap rises to 7,010 m (22,999 ft). For this reason, in mountaineering circles, including for the Snow Leopard award criteria, it is considered a 7,000-metre peak.
Khan Tengri is the second-highest mountain in the Tian Shan, surpassed only by Jengish Chokusu (meaning 'Victory Peak' in the Kyrgyz language, formerly known as Peak Pobeda) (7,439 m). Khan Tengri is the highest point in Kazakhstan and third-highest peak in Kyrgyzstan, after Jengish Chokusu (7,439 m) and Avicenna Peak (7,134 m). It is also the world's most northern 7,000-metre peak, notable because peaks of high latitude have a shorter climbing season, generally more severe weather and thinner air.