Climber trapped on sub-zero mountain top with broken leg abandoned as it’s too dangerous to rescue her

A Russian climber who has been trapped on the side of the highest mountain in Kyrgyzstan for over two weeks has been abandoned by rescuers. While there was confirmation that she was still alive last week, it seems increasingly unlikely that she has managed to survive this long without the proper resources and medical attention.

Natalia Nagovitsyna embarked on her journey up the treacherous path to the top of Victory Peak, a 24,406-foot mountain and the tallest in the country. Climbing mountains is risky business and sometimes things just go wrong. In this case, things took a turn for the worse on August 12 when the 47-year-old broke her leg on her descent from the peak. At this point she was still very near to the top, roughly 23,000 feet.

Natalia Nagovitsyna is in a tough spot

Nagovitsyna had been travelling with an independent group of climbers whom she had met that year. After breaking her leg, one of the group attempted first aid before descending to get help. Two others were able to bring supplies to her but one of them, an Italian by the name of Luca Sinigaglia sadly died from prolonged exposure to low-oxygen levels and hypothermia according to PEOPLE.

Being in such a difficult position meant all rescue efforts would be tricky to say the least. While she was able to set up a small orange tent to somewhat protect her from the elements, it wouldn’t keep her alive for long as temperatures dropped below -20C in the summer. Numerous rescue attempts were launched to try and reach Nagovitsyna and bring her down safely, but none of them were successful due in large part to the extreme weather conditions.

No more rescue efforts

A thermal-imaging drone was flown over Nagovitsyna’s position multiple times there were signs of life last Tuesday. However CBS reports that by Thursday there was nothing according to Kyrgyzstan’s state security agency. 

“Based on analysis of the data obtained and taking into account a combination of factors, including extreme weather conditions and the specifics of the area, no signs of life were found at Nagovitsyna’s location.”

Her tent also seemed to have been torn to shreds by the harsh elements meaning she likely had little to no protection. Experts had also been doubtful as to whether a rescue was even possible at such an altitude.

Sadly all the evidence seems to point to Natalia Nagovitsyna perishing on the mountain after more than two weeks of being exposed to the elements. Her husband shared a similar fate back in 2021 when he had a stroke while climbing Khan Tengri, (the tallest mountain in Kazakhstan).