Snow Leopard Ski Challenge
Chan Tengri 6,995 m a.s.l.
Korzhenevskoi Peak 7,105 m a.s.l.
Lenin Peak 7,134 m a.s.l.
Pobeda Peak 7,439 m a.s.l.
Ismail Somoni Peak 7,495 m a.s.l.
June – August 2016
At the end of June 2016, together with a team of a dozen people, I set off to Kyrgyzstan on an expedition called SNOW LEOPARD. One and a half months later, on August 14, at 12:35 pm local time, I stood on the peak of Pik Pobeda (7,439 m a.s.l.) in the Tienshan mountains, thus reaching the last peak in the race for the title of SNOW LEOPARD – a mountaineering award given for climbing five seven-thousanders lying on the territory of the former USSR. These are (counting from the most difficult) Pik Pobeda and Chan Tengri (in the Tienshan range) as well as Ismaila Somoni Peak (former Communism Peak), Korzhenevskoi Peak, and Lenin Peak (in the Pamir range). Although the title was created in the Soviet times, it is still recognized by the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and valued among climbers.
I managed to do all the ascents and descents to the peaks of SNOW LEOPARD in a good style. On July 16, in 15 hours and 38 minutes, I traveled from base to base, reaching Lenin Peak of the height of 7,134 meters a.s.l. and made a full descent from the summit. On July 25, it took me 13 hours to do the same on Korzhenevskoi Peak (7,105 m a.s.l.). On August 2, at the highest peak of all 5 of them – Communism Peak (7,495 m a.s.l.), the entire mountain action and descent took me 27 hours 15 minutes. On August 10, I could descend from Chan Tengri (7,010 m a.s.l.) only partially, from a height of about 6,300 meters, but I returned to the base at an express pace after 11 hours 35 minutes from the start. On August 14, I stood on the last of the five peaks – Pobeda Peak (7,439 m a.s.l.).
It took 30 days to complete the project, which is a new world record. Thus, by 12 days, I broke the current record of Denis Urubko and Andrei Molotov set in 1999.
Team members: Jakub Poburka (Tatra Mountain rescuer (TOPR)), Bartek Bargiel (my younger brother, drone operator), Darek Załuski (alpinist, Himalayan mountaineer, cinematographer), Piotr Snopczyński (alpinist, Himalayan mountaineer, GOPR mountain rescuer), Marcin Kin (photographer), and TV crew that accompanied us producing TV series for Canal+Discovery.
