Pik Lenin

Description

Pik Lenin, originally called Mount Kaufmann, is the second highest mountain of the Pamirs, and second highest in the former Soviet Union. Its north face sweeps magnificently above the Alay Valley, though its southern slopes are rounded and unimpressive, with an easy gradual slope. Lenin was the first 7,000 meter peak to be discovered in the Soviet Union, and was thought to be the highest until Communism Peak (24,590 ft.), its neighbor sixty miles southwest, was climbed in 1933, at which point its true status was discovered. Pik Lenin is located on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and is an extremely popular climbing peak. It is easily accessible, easily climbed, and the weather is commonly cooperative. Because of this, it is one of the most-climbed 7,000-meter peaks in the world. Pik Lenin, however, has a recent history of disasters, as in 1974 all eight members of a team of female climbers were killed in a storm high on the mountain; and in 1990 an earthquake-triggered avalanche killed forty-three climbers.