THE son of a climber trapped on a snowy 24,000ft peak has claimed his mother is “still alive” – and has pleaded for help to save her.
Attempts to rescue Natalia Nagovitsina, 47, from the lofty Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan were abandoned on Monday due to bad weather.
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She became trapped with a broken leg while 22,965ft up on the mountain on August 12.
Rescuers have said they do not believe she is still alive.
Multiple frantic attempts to reach and rescue her have proved unsuccessful.
Fellow climber Luca Sinigaglia, 49, sadly died on his second attempt to save her.
He had brought her a tent, sleeping bag, food, water and a gas cooker to aid her while she waited for rescue.
But while Kyrgyz rescuers have abandoned their search, Nagovitsina’s son Mikhail Nagovitsin, 27, has appealed for the Russian authorities to try and save his mother.
“I request that the search be resumed,” he begged. “My mother is an experienced climber, and is also in very good shape.
“I am sure that she is alive and want the search to be resumed.”
Mikhail said he is shocked that rescue attempts had been “completely suspended” by the Kyrgyz authorities.
He believes at least one more drone flight should be carried out to check for signs of life.
Drone footage from last week had shown she was still alive at that point.
“In the video I received, it is clearly visible that seven days after losing contact, she is actively waving her hand, full of strength,” her son said.
He appealed directly to the Russian government after Kyrgyz rescuers abandoned their searches.
“I ask for assistance in organising aerial video shooting of the Peak Pobeda area using drones to confirm the fact that she is alive,” he said.
“If this fact is confirmed, then organise a rescue operation.”
Temperatures plummeted to to minus 30C at the weekend in the “death zone” where his mother is trapped.
There were hopes of a window in the bad weather on Monday to allow a new drone flight, but rescuers said conditions had not improved enough.
Mikhail’s father Sergei died at a similar altitude on another mountain four years ago when he suffered a stroke on a climb.
Natalia had defied orders to abandon him to die – and stayed with him through a blizzard.
She miraculously survived the ordeal back in 2021, but was sadly unable to save him.
Ilim Karypbekov, vice president of the Kyrgyz Mountaineering Federation, defended abandoning the rescue operation.
“Professional pilots flew in from Italy,” he said. “But when they flew to the area by helicopter, the weather was not favourable.
“Before that, they invited a drone pilot who was ordered to probe the area, but it was not possible.
“And the forecast said that in the coming week, five or six days, the weather would not be stable enough to fly a helicopter, let alone a drone.
“So they called it off. They saw that there was no point in waiting that long. No one could survive that long.
“They decided that it was pointless to wait any longer. In the end, it became clear that they would only be able to reach Natalia next season.”
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