A Crushing Wave of Snow
June 19, 2025 at 08:54PMIn 1990, Miguel Helft was part of a six-person expedition climbing Lenin Peak, a 23,406-foot mountain that lies on the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border. Needing time to acclimatize to the thin mountain air, his group leader opted to stop short of busy Camp 2 so that his climbers could rest and recharge. They had no idea that this seemingly arbitrary decision would be the difference between life and death on what is believed to be the deadliest day in mountaineering history.
We bolted out of our sleeping bags as soon as we heard it. Mark and Mike had returned a couple hours earlier, and the mountain had been still and quiet. But now what began as a faint rumble quickly grew in intensity. In no time, it had morphed into a terrifying roar that kept growing louder and louder. It reverberated in our stomachs and rattled our bones as we fumbled to open the tent zippers so we could poke our heads out and see what was happening. It was evening but light enough to get a clear look at the slopes above us. Mercifully, there were no signs of immediate danger. But our sense of relief didn’t last.
As we turned our eyes toward Camp 2, we caught sight of the impending disaster. Several hundred feet above the camp, a giant avalanche was gathering mass, strength, and speed. Nearly the entire slope, extending down from the ridge around three thousand feet above, had let loose. In the distance, it looked like a billowing, puffy cloud that was rolling downhill in slow motion. But there was nothing slow about the monstrous onslaught.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/06/19/a-crushing-wave-of-snow/
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