Peak Lenin 2015

Trip Report

Written by Team Member Mark Horrell, August 2015

Peak Lenin in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has been on my radar for many years. Itís one of those mountains like Aconcagua in Argentina (ìthe highest mountain you can just walk upî) that is known for being very big, but technically straightforward.

But technically straightforward isnít the same as easy. The Tour de France is technically straightforward: you just have to keep pedalling (on downhill sections you donít even have to do that ñ you can take your feet off the pedals and go weeeeeeee). 7134m Peak Lenin has one of the longest summit days of any mountain Iíve climbed at such a high altitude. From high camp to the summit is 5km horizontally and 1200m vertically, all above 6000m in altitude. Itís also necessary to start the day by descending 100m, which of course means you have to go back up again at the end of the day.

Nor does technically straightforward mean the mountain isnít dangerous. In an earlier post I described how Peak Lenin had experienced two of the biggest disasters in mountaineering history. The vast snow slope between 4400m and 5400m on its standard route is riddled with hidden crevasses and loaded with avalanche danger. Frequently we found ourselves climbing through recent avalanche debris, and rarely have I climbed a mountain which has seen so many huge avalanches fall across the route while people have been climbing it.

Read more on Mark's website.« Previous report | Next report »

• List all Peak Lenin reports
• Read more about the Peak Lenin expedition