Elvira Shatayeva (1 December 1938 – 8 August 1974) was a Russian professional mountain climber and professional athlete and the leader of a failed expedition to Pik Lenina, Pamir, Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border in August 1974.[1][2] At the time of her death in 1974, she was one of the most famous climbers in the USSR.
In 1972, she led an all-women's ascent of Peak Korzhenevskaya in Tajikistan. In 1973, she led an expedition of the Ushba in Georgia.[3]
In August 1974, she attempted to conquer hiking to peak Lenin with an all-female group for the first time in history.[4] The group included: Nina Vasilyeva and Valentina Fateyeva of Moscow; Ilsinar Mukhamedova and Tatyana Sardashova of Dushanbe; Galina Perekhodyuk of Chelyabinsk; Lyudmila Manzharova of Frunze and Irina Lyubimtseva of Sverdlovsk.[5] Her entire group died on the mountain, as reported by American Pamirs/USSR Expedition that was on the mountain at the same time.[1][6][7]
Shatayeva's husband, Vladimir Shatayev, wrote a memoir about the experience and his life called Degrees of Difficulty.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Yegorov, Oleg (2019-02-25). "Beyond the Dyatlov mystery: 2 other creepy tragedies in the Russian mountains". www.rbth.com. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ McPhee, John (2001-08-05). The Princeton Anthology of Writing: Favorite Pieces by the Ferris/McGraw Writers at Princeton University. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-08681-1.
- ^ a b "Frozen In Time". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ Blum, Arlene (2005-10-04). Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-5846-3.
- ^ "8 Climbers' Deaths Now Acknowledged By the Soviet Press". The New York Times. 1974-08-14. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ "Mountain.kz: Women in Mountain Climbing". mountain.kz. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ Times, Christopher S. Wren Special to the New York (1974-08-16). "A Mountaineer's journal: How U.S. Team in Soviet Battled Storms and Death". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-24.