A critical rescue operation is unfolding on 7,439m Pobeda Peak, the highest mountain in the Tien Shan.
According to Anna Piunova of Mountain.ru, 47-year-old Natalia Nagovitsyna of Russia broke her leg on August 12 while descending from the summit of Pobeda, also known as Jengish Chokusu, on the Kyrgyzstan-China border. Her partner administered first aid before descending to base camp to seek help.
Nagovitsyna has been stranded without food at over 7,000m for a week. She has no radio to communicate, but a drone flyover today, August 19, confirmed that she is still alive and in her tent.
Frame of an aerial video, showing the tent of the stranded climber.
Rescue efforts face significant challenges. On August 16, a Russian Ministry of Defense Mi-8 helicopter, dispatched to evacuate her and other injured climbers, crashed at 4,600m in poor weather and turbulence. Nine people were on board. The pilot and two rescuers sustained non-life-threatening fractures.
That same day, reports emerged of two fatalities on the mountain — one Italian and one Russian — and an injured German climber, further complicating the situation.
A second helicopter, deployed after the initial crash, couldn’t reach her. The extreme altitude and harsh conditions of Pobeda Peak, the highest and most technically challenging in the Tien Shan, would make a successful rescue unprecedented. No injured climber has ever been evacuated from so high on this treacherous mountain.
Pobeda Peak, center. Photo: Shutterstock
Tragic history
The Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense continues to coordinate the operation. Rescuers have begun moving toward her position.
Nagovitsyna has had a tragic relationship with high-altitude mountaineering. Four years ago, on 7,010m Khan Tengri, also in the Tien Shan, her husband Sergey suffered a fatal stroke at 6,900m. Although rescuers implored her to descend, she remained with him until his death.
One year later, Nagovitsyna climbed the mountain again to install a plaque in his memory, according to News.az. The featured image of this story shows her carrying the plaque.
Nagovitsyna’s location, near the body of a climber who died of heart failure in 2015, is on perilous terrain and poses a significant obstacle for rescuers, some of whom are already injured.
