Pik Lenina Tragedy and Attempt. Ken Nolan, Jean Aschenbrenner ...
P ik Lenina Tragedy a n d A ttem pt. Ken N olan, Jean A schenbrenner, Dan Sm ith, C anadian Ian M cL agen and I attem pted to clim b Pik L enina by the standard northw est ridge in July. We were participating in the Soviet Interna tional M ountaineering C am p in the Pam irs, held annually since 1974. P articu larly cold and snow y w eather prevented our departure from Base Cam p. We finally occupied C am p I on July 13. T hat evening, an earthquake with its epicenter in A fghanistan dislodged sé racs that sw ept C am p II. The resulting avalanche killed 43 o f the 45 clim bers in that cam p, probably the greatest
num ber o f fatalities in a single m ountaineering accident in history. The dead included 23 m em bers o f the L eningrad C lim bing Club led by L eonid Troshchinenko, 4 other Soviets, 2 Sw iss, 1 Spaniard, 6 C zechoslovaks, 3 Israelis and 1 Italian. The two survivors, a R ussian and a S lovak, w ere helped dow n the follow ing day. A nother top L eningrad m ountaineer, V ladim ir B alyberdin, saved his life deciding at the last m inute to m ove w ith som e friends to C am p III. A group o f six E nglish clim bers, led by M ark M iller, escaped by establishing their bivouac som e distance from the m ain camp. L engthy and dangerous rescue efforts failed to yield any other survivors. A fter several days, the Soviets again allow ed attem pts on the m ountain. We occupied a relocated C am p II at the base o f the ridge o f Pik R azdelny at 5500 m eters on July 18. C am p III on the saddle betw een Pik R azdelny and L enina was reached on July 21. A fter two days o f high w inds and snow, the attem pt was abandoned. The early season w eather m ade clim bing dangerous and took the lives o f five m ore clim bers w hile we w ere in the Pam irs. C harles H u ss,
M .D .
num ber o f fatalities in a single m ountaineering accident in history. The dead included 23 m em bers o f the L eningrad C lim bing Club led by L eonid Troshchinenko, 4 other Soviets, 2 Sw iss, 1 Spaniard, 6 C zechoslovaks, 3 Israelis and 1 Italian. The two survivors, a R ussian and a S lovak, w ere helped dow n the follow ing day. A nother top L eningrad m ountaineer, V ladim ir B alyberdin, saved his life deciding at the last m inute to m ove w ith som e friends to C am p III. A group o f six E nglish clim bers, led by M ark M iller, escaped by establishing their bivouac som e distance from the m ain camp. L engthy and dangerous rescue efforts failed to yield any other survivors. A fter several days, the Soviets again allow ed attem pts on the m ountain. We occupied a relocated C am p II at the base o f the ridge o f Pik R azdelny at 5500 m eters on July 18. C am p III on the saddle betw een Pik R azdelny and L enina was reached on July 21. A fter two days o f high w inds and snow, the attem pt was abandoned. The early season w eather m ade clim bing dangerous and took the lives o f five m ore clim bers w hile we w ere in the Pam irs. C harles H u ss,
M .D .
