On the dangerous slopes of Jengish Chokusu, known as Victory Peak, Natalia Nagovitsyna is stuck. She suffered a critical leg injury during the descent. Today, the climber enters his twelfth day stranded on the remote mountain. With a rescue boat on the way to extract him, a worsening storm front lies between rescue crews and the stranded man. Jengish Chokusu, called Pobeda, proudly marks the border between Kyrgyzstan and China, rising to an impressive height of 7,439 meters (24,400 feet). This stunning peak is the tallest in the Tian Shan range and one of five Snow Leopard mountains.
On August 12, Nagovitsyna broke her leg while trying to descend from the highest point of Jengish Chokusu. After she was hurt, a cluster of fellow climbers descended to her site and soon began making plans to help evacuation. The challenging environment presented numerous obstacles. On August 19, searchers located Nagovitsyna through camera drone surveillance on a ridge near the summit. At that point, she was still considered missing and very much alive, which led to ongoing search efforts.
Tragically, rescue efforts were deeply complicated because the area was quickly covered by dangerous weather that brought rapid, heavy snowfall. The inclement weather caused search teams to call off their search on Saturday, with Nagovitsyna’s fate hanging in the balance. Those who climb in the area say they’re on edge. Just days earlier, on August 15, Italian mountaineer Luca Sinigaglia had perished while attempting a rescue of Nagovitsyna.
Here’s where the story gets more complicated – and tragic. Sergei Nagovitsyn, Nagovitsyna’s husband, lost his life in an expedition to Khan-Tengri, another peak in the Snow Leopard series. The couple’s history with climbing adds an emotional layer to the ongoing rescue efforts and the community’s response to this dire situation.
With each day that goes by without word from Nagovitsyna, optimism among her friends and family and the climbing community at large seems to be fading. Ongoing severe weather conditions in the region have further complicated rescue operations and hindered any possible recovery attempts so far.
