The Lenin Peak Tragedy: ELVIRA SHATAYEVA And Her Women-Only Team // Frozen Forever

She said a woman had been vomiting for 'a day.' Depending on the timeline, the guide at the other end of the radio seemed to have good reason to be upset. Vomiting for a day at sea level is very disheartening and physically draining. Vomiting for a day at that elevation means you're dying.

As a geologist who has hiked for decades in our Canadian Rockies, I have learned that Nature can turn from beautiful to terror in an instant. I enjoy hiking in the mountains but never any desire for what we here call ‘peak bagging ’…most peak bagers have egos bigger than the mountains. This is a dangerous trait.

from watching all these K2 and similar vids......I've learned one thing. To be called an experienced Mountaineer really just means you've only been lucky not to have died yet. Your experience counts for nothing when the weather goes to shit and you are stuck slowly freezing to death.

Withholding the information about their sick team member was a very poor lapse in judgement. Not only is their life on the line, but the people who must mount a rescue. Base camp needs all pertinent information.

It was so stupid hearing how they isolated themselves and refused help just cause it was from men. It's not man vs woman in the wilderness, it's human vs nature. Pride and ego kills.

Back in the 80s I was touring South Wales, U.K. on a motorcycle. I decided to have a walk up the Brecon Beacons, small hills compared to this. Warm sunny day, reached the top and noticed a white line on the horizon. It was a bank of cloud heading my way. Within an hour or so I was shrouded by it, getting cold and visibly was less than 30 metres. Left me completely disoriented. Took 7 hours of walking before I got back to the car park and my motorcycle. Taught me a big lesson how, even in a mild climate, nature is boss, every time !

It’s tragic what became of them. But, Elvira’s pride and ego damned the whole team to freezing to death.

No man alone accomplishes everything (could also argue anything). Even the rivaling men teams offering help going up the same route accept help from other men/women to help accomplish their goals. Pride truly is the unsung killer of many who let it lead them.

After reading Into Thin Air years ago wherein it was pointed out that if the weather suddenly turned bad, you were basically dead if you didn't get down quickly, I lost all urge to ever want to do something like this.

I'm not a climber. But I went to Afghanistan for a year, and lived pretty high up for the time. The first few weeks were rough. I felt winded all the time. eventually I got used to it... When I got home, back to sea level, it was amazing. I felt super human. I had so much increased stamina and cardio capacity, I could run like I never have without being winded. It was amazing.... Sadly that all wore off and very quickly. Anyways, just my story, your introduction made me think of it.

As a woman and a Slav, imo her decisions were strongly influenced by her desires and that contributed to a 'perfect storm' of events.. Especially waiting for the men to pass - over compensating for 'doing it by themselves'....

Sometimes being a leader means you do what’s best for your team and letting ego and pride go , especially in a place where’s there no room for error not accepting help becuz it comes from males , knowing your team mates are sick and waiting 24 hrs later to say anything not only have you lost 2 of your group but you let pride cloud your better judgement isn’t being a leader .

The hallucinations that the Japanese team experienced is not uncommon in mountaineering rescue attempts. Humans are pattern recognizing machines and the constant howl of the wind will occasionally trigger this sensation. There's an account of an Everest rescue where the team swears they heard cries for help in the night, even though surviving outside a tent for 5 minutes would have been fatal.

Very tragic. I can relate. A good friend of mine, David Hume, died on Mt Makalu, Himalayas. He was the first Australian to reach that summit. Cause of death: persisting in determination to summit, despite it being clear they should have turned back. They reached the summit at sundown, way too late. The background was, he'd been on several other Himalayan expeditions in the past, and every time was prevented from summiting due to some event beyond his control. Bad weather, a team member dying, etc. Then his wife and he decided to start on a family. She said 'no more death-risk summits after we have a child' and he agreed, but wanted just one last try. Hence pushing past the limit of common sense on that last ever attempt. His body was never located. But they did find his video camera. The last scene is himself and climbing partner Mark Auricht on the summit, sun setting on the horizon, saying good bye to each other since they realize chances of getting down alive are slim. Mark did make it back next morning. But died on another Himalayas climb a few years later.

What I’ve learned about extreme expeditions, particularly mountaineering, is that if your decision making is in ANY WAY impaired no matter how small the impairment then you shouldn’t be doing it! In this case the impairment was the staunch desire to do this without any form of assistance from a man or men and when the point came where help was required it was refused so as not to compromise the achievement of an all Women’s team. I have no doubt that the team was as accomplished, skilled and capable as any group of males, I’m not in any way suggesting they they weren’t but that stubborn desire was the impairment to decision making that cost them all their lives. Well done for producing the video in such a unique and comprehensive style, very very watchable

I am Belgian and I was there, invited by the URSS mountaineering association. The year after the accident. Now living in Nepal for the past 36 years. Came back with frostbite on my feet. Had to overnight 2 nights in a crevasse, due to extreme bad weather. Free caviar that time, in big cans. Shower in an army barrack all together, shitting next to each other on long planks. But enjoyed every moment.

It's not always the ego that kills you. The weather doesn't care how humble you are or how proud. It can take you regardless.

My uncle was a mountaineer and did rescue/recovery for a bit. He always told us one story of a rescue that turned into recovery, the body of the poor soul had its arm frozen in an outstretched position. The recovery team was trying to go down the mountain quickly (it was a snow storm) and the outstretched arm kept catching on all the trees. They were forced to break the arm and tie it to the body to get off the mountain quicker before they were in trouble themselves

Thank you for the very comprehensive telling of this sad tale. The photos, radio communications and commentary made the tragedy so heartfelt.

As a woman, I have to say they are everything toxicity against men is about. I don’t understand why we have to make it a battle. It’s humans vs the mountain. Isolating their tents ? That’s such a ridiculous thing because it indicates their overall demeanor. “It’s snowing and it’s good because we won’t have tracks so nobody accuses us of following tracks”. This woman was an idiot and sadly she found more idiots to follow this toxic mentality. It’s true what we say, too much ego kills talent. In this case kills more things unfortunately