Why would a Soviet-led expedition of eight women climbers prefer to die, in the worst storm that hit Lenin Peak in twenty five years, rather than accept help from fellow male climbers?

Not considered steep or technical, but nonetheless very high at 7,134 meters (23,406 feet), situated within the Pamir Mountain range at the Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border. Lenin Peak is subject to harsh, unstable weather conditions. It is known by climbers for its strong winds, frosty temperatures, with sections of moderately steep ice. At such a high altitude the weather can turn very suddenly with an additional risk from avalanches for those ascending or descending. The peak is the highest mountain in the Trans-Alai range. This combination of changeable weather and high altitudes has resulted in the deaths of many of its climbers.

Russian born Elvira Shatayeva was one of the most famous professional mountain climbers in the USSR. She was also an accomplished athlete and in 1970 was awarded the title Master of Sport at the age of 32, which is the highest award given in any sport and being attained by a woman only added to her prestige.

Shatayeva was a seasoned climber and in 1971 was the third woman to ascend the Ismoil Somoni Peak. She had previously led an all-women group in 1972 in the ascent of Mt. Korzhenevskaya in Tajikistan. In 1973 she led another all-female expedition to Ushba in Georgia. Four of the women including Shatayeva were familiar with Lenin Peak. She had already climbed it with a mixed group that included her husband Vladimir Shatayeva.

In 1974 at the age of 35, she led an all-women group of seven highly experienced climbers to ascend Lenin Peak. The group consisted of Nina Vasilyeva and Valentina Fateyeva of Moscow, Ilsinar Mukhamedova and Tatyana Sardashova of Dushanbe, Galina Perekhodyuk of Chelyabinsk, Lyudmila Manzharova of Frunze and Irina Lyubimtseva of Sverdlovsk.

At the time Shatayeva and her team were preparing to ascend, one hundred and seventy climbers from different nations were also on Lenin Peak. They had been invited by the Soviet government, towards the end of the Cold War and formed an international mountaineering gathering. These climbers were camped out in the southern part of the Pamirs.

We are given a glimpse of Shatayeva through the eyes of these climbers. The American climber Molly Higgins who formed part of the American/USSR team, said that she was “inspirational.” A male climber described her as a “blonde beauty with blue eyes.”

Shatayeva made it clear to everyone she met that she wanted to prove that women climbers could be as accomplished as any man. Since 1971 she had made public her determination to lead an all-women expedition to ascend Lenin Peak. Shatayeva was not just trying to reach the summit, she would be “blazing a new trail” by ascending via the Lipkin ridge with its icy, steep north face. This feat was yet to be accomplished by any male climber. On this route the women needed to carry shelter and additional supplies in order to set up their own camps along the way.

Some days before the actual ascent while at base camp, she met Arlene Blum, who was with the Swiss team. She explained to Blum that her group, “was to become the first all-female team to conquer Lenin Peak.”

Timeline of the Ascent:

Elvira Shatayeva and the Russian women made final preparations to acclimatize by hiking around base camp. On July 30, the Russian women’s team left base camp for camp 1. On July 31, they proceeded towards the summit, taking the Lipkin route. Initially, the hike went well without any problems.

Shatayeva could have reached the summit on August 3, but she delayed the final push to the summit by calling a rest day because a team of male climbers was scheduled to reach the summit at the same time. Shatayeva had made up her mind that only women would be on the summit because she did not want speculation that she had any help from male climbers. Shatayeva was so adamant about not sharing the summit with men, she hired all-female photographers to document the historic event.

On August 3, the American team behind the Russian women reported to base camp that they were encountering cloudy weather which was causing route-finding problems, eventually “getting over to camp 3 in whiteout conditions” caused by a combination of snow and heavy cloud. During whiteout conditions, everything becomes snow-covered, obliterating all landmarks including the horizon; nothing is visible. Because a major storm was forecast for August 4, the commander at base camp, Vitaly Abalakov, a Master of Sport for Mountaineering in the USSR, ordered all climbers to descend. The Russian women, however, disregarded the advice and continued to climb. They were seen walking in a line around 400 feet below the summit. Subsequent reports say that the women encountered a Russian climber on August 5, who informed them that a storm was forecast and told them not to climb. Again they ignored the advice of the Russian male climbers about the coming storm. Since the air was “clear and calm,” they continued to climb anyway, reaching camp 3 at 6,100 meters. They later radioed to base camp that they had made it to the summit, but their brief triumph was cut short when the worst hurricane in 25 years hit Lenin Peak with high winds, and the women found themselves “pinned” to the mountain struggling to survive on their descent. At 5:00 pm, the Russian women’s team informed base camp that visibility had become so bad they had difficulty making out the descent route and would set up tents for the night, to wait for a break in the weather. Base camp agreed and advised that they should try to descend the next day.

On the morning of August 6, Shatayeva informed base camp that the winds were getting worse and visibility was down to twenty meters. The Russian women tried to descend but only managed to walk a few hundred feet. When the hurricane-force winds struck the team after midnight in the early hours of the morning, their cotton tents “exploded,” and their “stoves and mittens were blown away.” That afternoon two of the women died. As a consequence, five women were left huddled in one tent without poles and only three sleeping bags. After they radioed base camp on August 7 and reported “sustained whiteout and worsening winds,” they were advised to remain in their camp for the night. But during the same radio transmission, they also reported that one of the women had become ill and another was feeling unwell. After speaking to a doctor over the radio, they were advised to descend and reach snow in which they could dig caves for shelter. Because they were unable to descend, however, one woman died, and two of the women became sick. By that afternoon, two more women had died. At this point, they were told that if the sick women could not move and they were unable to create adequate shelter, those that could move should do so and leave the others behind “for the greater good.” On that descent Irina Lyubimtseva froze to death holding the safety rope for the others.

Unable to dig caves in the hard snow, the remaining team members managed to put up two tents on the ridge a few hundred feet from the summit. Again they were advised to descend. Shatayeva said that she “understood and would try,” but later, she radioed that three women had died. One by one they had succumbed to exposure. It is believed that their determination to succeed and unwillingness to leave anyone behind was the reason they all died. In the last few radio transmissions, they explained their situation: “We are sorry, we have failed you. We tried so hard, and now we are so cold.”

Later, the final transmission came through at 20:30 hours: “Now we are two, and we will all die. We are very sorry. We tried but we could not ... please forgive us. We love you. Goodbye.”

August 8 the storm was over, and the American team, which had spent the last three nights on the ridge at 22,000 feet less than 1,000 feet below the summit, resumed their ascent. According to Christopher Wren, the New York Times Moscow correspondent who accompanied the American mountaineering team, “We linked up with six Japanese climbers. All of us still unaware of the tragedy above. We came across the frozen body of the leader of the Soviet team. She lay so peacefully across the packed snow that at first we assumed she was resting.” They then encountered three more frozen bodies, “sprawled across a torn tent. A fifth body lay over a climbing rope. Two others had fallen down the slope and…

[…] This is just an excerpt from the October 2022 Issue of Culture Wars magazine. To read the full article, please purchase a digital download of the magazine, or become a subscriber!

(Endnotes Available by Request)