She was descending from Pobeda Peak, 7,439 meters high, in Kyrgyzstan when Russian mountaineer Natalia Nagovitsyna broke her leg. She spent more than a week at over 7,000 meters while Italian mountaineer Luca Sinigaglia died after coming to her aid. A helicopter crash later, the tragedy unfolded, and no one would ever see Natalia alive again—she who had refused to abandon her husband until his death four years earlier on neighboring Khan Tengri. Two Iranians also died on the most feared mountain in the Tien Shan range. A story by Anna Piunova.
Khan Tengri. August 2021. First Call.
8 August 2021. Somewhere above 6,800 meters on Khan Tengri, the 6,995-meter pyramid of the Tien Shan that rises where Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China meet, a woman’s voice broke through the static and wind.
— I will not leave him.
Base: Where exactly are you?
Natalia: Under the dome, above 6,800.