The Lenin Peak Disaster of 1974

(Lenin Peak)

Lenin Peak is a 7,134-meter tall mountain that sits on the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border and is the second-highest mountain in both countries. In 1974 the area was very much in the hands of the soviet union and like many other developing nations at the time, women were considered second-class citizens to men.

Their rights were slowly increasing in the country and in July a group of women decided to show just how capable and deserving of respect they are. A team of eight people, all women set out to make a point by being the first all-female team to reach the summit of Lenin Peak.

They weren’t able to get as much gear as they should have and were severely under-equipped, but this didn’t stop their determination and so they made their way to the mountains base camp as planned. The initial climb went well, with the group making it all the way to the summit without any major incidents. On the way up they were warned over their radio not to stay up the mountain due to incoming bad weather, but they decided to press on.

Shortly after the group made it to the summit a bad storm hit and blasted them with ice-filled gale force winds. They still had radio contact at this point and they were given permission to make camp there for the night from the base camp staff. During the night the storm blew away their thin cotton tents and with no shovels to dig a shelter, they were forced to try and make it down in the dark.

With near-zero visibility and temperatures well below freezing, the group struggled to make their way down, frequently getting lost and quickly succumbing to the effects of frostbite and extreme exhaustion. One by one they started to fall, too tired to take another step and collapsing in the snow.

All eight women perished on the descent down the mountain, and it was thought one of the many things that contributed to their deaths was their unwillingness to leave their fallen friends behind. In such an extreme survival situation it is important to leave behind people who can’t make it out as quickly as possible, grim as it may sound. This is something that people are briefed with before climbing mountains such as Everest, as those few extra minutes spent with someone who can’t be helped could end up killing someone else.

After it was found out that all eight women had died, there was quite a media storm about the event. People were criticized for pressuring them into making the point in the first place, and the mountaineers shouldn’t have let them attempt the climb without the proper gear and experience.