Peak Lenin Cybercast

Hi folks,

Stephen, Reza and Paul here checking in from Camp 1. We had a productive first rotation on the mountain with one night at camp 2 and one night at camp 3. We found the Lenin Glacier to be in fairly interesting late season conditions with lots of big steps across crevasses, 3 ladders, and several hundred feet of fixed lines. We also managed to top out Razdelnaya Peak at 6148m since it was just a short walk from camp 3. Today we also got a bit of cloudy, drizzly weather after continuous sunshine up to this point in the expedition. Honestly, we were a bit thankful for the cooler temps! Now that we’ve stressed our bodies sleeping at over 20,000 ft we’re on the way back down to Basecamp for some welcome rest before we head back up with our eyes on the summit!

The team is now cozy at Camp 3, over 20,000 ft above sea level. The team will spend the night at Camp 3 before finishing their acclimitization rotation and returning to IMC Pamir. Stay tuned for more updates!

Hi everyone,

We wrapped up our preparations at Camp 1 and are headed to bed for an early start to Camp 2 at 17,400 feet tomorrow. We spent the morning on the Lenin Glacier, reviewing the fundamentals of glacier travel and cramponing as well as fixed line ascension, rappelling, and ice anchors. After lunch, we sorted and organized our gear, food, and fuel for the upper mountain. So we’re all set for our first rotation on the upper mountain and will let you know how it goes over the next few days!

Stephen

Hi everyone,

Reza, Paul, and I had a nice acclimatization climb on Yukhin Peak today. All told we gained about 2,500’ to the summit at 16,700’ then had some good scree skiing practice on the way down. We even made it back to camp 1 in time for a pizza lunch. Tomorrow we’ll head off to the Lenin Glacier to review some glacier travel and fixed rope skills as an active rest day before we climb up to Camp 2.

Stephen

Hi folks,

We made it to Camp 1! We had a beautiful calm day for our walk up to Camp 1 today, which involved about 7 miles and 3000 feet of vertical gain. Highlights of the day included passing a herd of horses silhouetted against glaciated peaks, crossing a major river via a rock-covered glacier, panoramic views of the 9000 foot tall north face of Lenin Peak, and a camp that is nearly as comfortable as Basecamp. From here we’ll enter another brief phase of acclimatization hikes and skills review over the next few days before we venture onto the Lenin glacier and onto Camp 2.

Stephen

Horses grazing below glaciated peaks of the Pamir Range

Glacial arch that provided a convenient way to cross the river

Panorama of the North Face of Lenin Peak with Camp 1 on the far right