The loudest tragedy of Soviet mountaineering

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

28 years ago, on one of the highest peaks of the Soviet Union, a tragedy occurred, which is still remembered with shudder by climbers all over the world. Then, in the midst of summer, an international group of 45 climbers, who were spending the night in a camp on a mountainside, was suddenly covered by an avalanche. After a sudden blow of the elements, only two managed to survive.

The cause of the avalanche

The root cause of the tragedy, as most experts believe, was the underground tests of the atomic bomb by the Chinese. The explosions triggered vibrations of the earth's crust, which turned into a seven-point earthquake in northern Afghanistan. Having reached the Pamirs, these disturbances led to the collapse of a giant glacier from Lenin Peak, which went on a 1.5-kilometer front and completely "licked" the mountaineering camp, set up on a wide platform, called a "frying pan" and considered the safest place on the route.

Who was in the climbing group?

It was an international ascent that brought together people who were fascinated by the mountains not only from the Union, but also from Czechoslovakia, Israel, Sweden and Spain. The core of the team was made up of 23 Leningraders, headed by Honored Master of Sports Leonid Troshchinenko.

Despite the fact that this was an official expedition, information regarding how many people were buried under the snow debris on that Black Friday varies somewhat depending on the sources. Most cite the number 43, but there is also evidence that the number of deaths was 40. The inconsistencies are probably due to the fact that not all climbers passed the registration before the ascent.

Circumstances of the tragedy

The climbing team, having reached the camp at an altitude of 5200 meters on July 13, decided to spend the night there in order to set off to conquer the summit of the seven-thousander in the morning. The chosen place was considered very safe, so no one had any fears or premonitions. An important point: on the eve there was a terrible snowfall, which, perhaps, also contributed to the tragedy, making it more ambitious. The avalanche descended from a height of more than 6,000 meters in the evening, when almost everyone had already gone to bed. Millions of tons of snow and ice, moving at great speed, simply left the climbers no chance of survival. Although two still managed to survive by some miracle.

From the words of one of them, Alexei Koren, most of the information about that ill-fated ascent was obtained. At the time of the avalanche, Alexei was in his tent and getting ready for bed. The most powerful element simply threw the climber out of the tent and dragged him along with the snow-ice mass several meters. All his clothes were torn on him, but he himself miraculously survived and did not even receive any serious injuries. According to Alexei, he probably managed to survive in many respects thanks to his excellent physical shape, as well as the fact that in such a situation he did not get confused and managed to group, and not just gave himself up to be torn apart by the elements.

In addition to Koren, only the Slovak Miro Grozmann survived, who was rescued by a Russian from a snow block. On both, the clothes were torn to shreds, therefore, in order not to freeze, they collected and put on the things scattered by the elements. After that, the climbers began to descend, but soon the Slovak completely ran out of strength, and then Koren went alone until he reached the rescuers. A little later on the rescuers

Grozmann also came out, but at first no one believed his stories about the death of the camp as a result of an avalanche. However, a group of Englishmen arrived in time, who personally watched the tragedy from the upper parking lot, confirmed Miro's words.

Of the group of climbers who made the ascent, those who did not find themselves in the epicenter of the avalanche also managed to stay alive. Vasily Bylyberdin with Boris Sitnik, who understood above this camp, survived, while Sitnik's bride, Elena Eremina, who returned to the "frying pan", was buried under a layer of ice and snow. Another member of the team, Sergei Golubtsov, survived due to the fact that he rubbed his legs with new boots, and simply could not climb further.

Search operation

The USSR State Committee for Sports allocated 50 thousand rubles for search and rescue operations. All available resources were used for the searches: a Mi-8 helicopter, ultrasonic devices, magnetometers, rescue dogs and even a special rooster that had the ability to find a living person under a snow layer. However, all these efforts did not bring significant results: only a few bodies of the participants in that ascent were found, the rest remained for many years buried under a multi-meter thickness of ice and snow.

Gradually the glacier melted and went down, and in 2009 it was decided to send an expedition to search for the remains of the victims. Unfortunately, most of the bodies found were never identified, because over time they were mummified and changed beyond recognition.

In memory of those killed during the ascent to Lenin Peak, a plate with their names was installed at the foot of this mountain.