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Draft:1974 International Climbing Disaster

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1974 International Climbing Disaster
Date5 August 1974 – 7 August 1974
LocationPeak Lenin
CauseStorm
Deaths13
Non-fatal injuries2

The 1974 Peak Lenin disaster was a mountaineering disaster on Peak Lenin where thirteen people lost their lives due to storms in the mountain range.

The disaster primarily impacted the Soviet women's climbing community as eight of the deceased climbers were part of the nine person Soviet women's expedition. It has been suggested that their high mortality rate was in part due to their relatively poor equipment and the pressure to perform as the expedition was part of an international gathering of 170 climbers in the Soviet Union on the current border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Timeline

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In June of 1974, during a brief détente in relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, more than 170 climbers from 10 Western countries gathered in the Pamir Range at a climbing camp.

There were nineteen Americans in attendance and 60 Eastern European and Russian climbers. It was the first time Americans had been permitted to attempt ascents within the Soviet Union.

The Russian women's team planned to climb Peak Lenin vis the Lipkin Ridge and then descend toward Razdelny Peak. It would be the first traverse of Peak Lenin and they intended to bivouac on top of the Peak Lenin.

Members of the American team later reported feeling concerned about this ambitious plan due to the quality of the Soviet gear (tents, boots, and jackets). However, their team leader, Elvira Shatayeva had lead several substantial expeditions including the first all-women’s ascent of a 7,000-meter peak — Peak Korzhenevskaya (7,105 meters)and led a traverse of the only twice-summited Ushba (4,710 meters) in Georgia the following year of 1973.

Additional concerns probably arose as the result of avalanches caused by multiple earthquakes including one on July 26th that killed American John Ullinn. Further five Estonian climbers disappeared on the peak's east face where three were killed by an avalanche and the other two rescued.

Several Americans climbed Peak Lenin via the Razdelny ridge on August 3rd and August 4th.

The Russian women's team departed on July 31st.



References

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https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/16/archives/a-mountaineers-journal-how-us-team-in-soviet-battled-storms-and.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/10/archives/us-climbers-named-for-russian-ascent.html

https://www.wiredforadventure.com/tragedies-on-the-mountain-lenin-peak-1974/

https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,944947,00.html http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197506800/USA-USSR-Pamirs-Expedition

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/01/sport/russian-climbers-peak-lenin-spt-intl/ https://www.mountaineers.org/about/history/the-mountaineer-annuals/indexes-annuals-maps/the-mountaineer-1976

https://www.climbing.com/people/marty-hoey-killed-on-everest-nearly-first-american-woman-summit/

https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19920815&slug=1507553

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web18f/wfeature-a64-to-father-from-daughter

.[1]


https://www.arleneblum.com/mountaineer/peak-lenin/

Gender in Détente and Disaster: Women Climbers in the Soviet International Pamir Camp 1974

Eva Maurer 2020, The International Journal of the History of Sport 80 Views 25 Pages 2 Files ▾ Women's Studies, Soviet History, Cultural Exchange, Mountaineering https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2020.1722644 Publication Date: 2020 Publication Name: The International Journal of the History of Sport

  1. ^ "8 Climbers' Deaths Now Acknowledged By the Soviet Press". The New York Times. 1974-08-14. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-06.