IBN SINA PEAK / LENIN PEAK IN VINTAGE STAMPS

VINTAGE STAMPS

Ibn Sina Peak / Lenin Peak (7,134 m - 23,406 ft)  

Tajikistan - Kyrgyzstan border 

1. In  Pik Lenin, Soviet Union 1986,  

from the series National Sports Committee Intl. Alpinist Camps- Part 1, courtesy mountainstamps.com collection

2. In Pik Lenin, Kyrgystan 2000, 

from the series International Year of Mountains, courtesy mountainstamps.com collection 

3. In Pik Lenin, Tajikistan 2011,  

from the series Old Steam Locomotives, courtesy mountainstamps.com collection  

The mountain 

Lenin Peak (7,134 m - 23,406 ft)  renamed in July 2006 Ibn Sina Peak or Avicenna Peak, rises in Gorno-Badakhshan on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and is the second-highest point of both countries. It is considered one of the easiest 7000 m peaks in the world to climb and it has by far the most ascents of any 7000 m or higher peak on Earth, with every year seeing hundreds of climbers make their way to the summit.  Lenin Peak is the highest mountain in the Trans-Alay Range of Central Asia, and in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan it is exceeded only by Ismoil Somoni Peak (7,495 m). It was thought to be the highest point in the Pamirs in Tajikistan until 1933, when Ismoil Somoni Peak (known as Stalin Peak at the time) was climbed and found to be more than 300 metres higher. Two mountains in the Pamirs in China, Kongur Tagh (7,649 m) and Muztagh Ata (7,546 m), are higher than the Tajik summits.

The peak was discovered in 1871 and originally named Mount Kaufmann after Konstantin Kaufman, the first Governor-General of Turkestan. In 1928, the mountain was renamed Lenin Peak after the Russian revolutionary and first leader of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin. In Tajikistan, the peak was renamed again in July 2006, and today it is officially called in Tajik Qullai Abuali ibni Sino or  Ibn Sina Peak or, alternatively, Avicenna Peak after Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna). In Kyrgyzstan, the peak is still officially called Lenin Chokusu (Lenin Peak).  Some sources give Achiktash as the Kyrgyz name for this 7,134 m mountain on the border with Tajikistan, but it seems that Achiktash, or more properly Achik-Tash, is the name of a plateau and a base camp at an elevation of 3,600 m on a popular northern climbing route to Lenin Peak, which starts in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, a day's drive north of the border.

Initial exploration of this part of Central Asia occurred in the period 1774–82. Arguably the first recorded travel through the region is the involuntary journey of the slave Filipp Efremov (an ethnic Russian), who escaped from slavery in Bukhara. He crossed the Fergana valley, then via Osh, the Chigirik Pass and Terekdavan Pass he reached the Kashgar and finally came over the Karakorum. He was the first European who crossed the Alai Mountains.

Scientific expeditions to the Alai Mountains began in 1871, when Alexei Pavlovich Fedchenko discovered the Trans-Alai  Range and its main peak. The first geographical expedition which came nearest to the base of the future Lenin Peak in the early 20th century was arguably the expedition of Nikolai Leopol'dovich Korzhenevskiy.

In September 1928, three mountaineers - the Germans Eugen Allwein and Karl Wien, and the Austrian Erwin Schneider - from a Soviet-German scientific expedition, made the first attempt to reach the highest point of the Trans-Alai Range, which at that time had the name Kaufman Peak. At the time, Kaufman Peak was the highest summit reached by men.

The title Lenin Peak was first applied to the highest point of the Trans-Alai Range in the same year (1928). When it was renamed after Lenin it was believed to be the highest point in the USSR.

On September 8, 1934, Kasian Chernuha, Vitaly Abalakov and Ivan Lukin, three members of a Soviet expedition, reached the summit at an elevation of 7,134 metres (23,406 ft). Their attempt lasted for four days with three camps (5700 m, 6500 m and 7000 m). The expedition started climbing from the Achik-Tash canyon in the Alai valley. The summit attempt itself was started along the Western ice slope of the Lenin glacier. They continued climbing along the North Face, passing the rocks that were later given the name Lipkin's Rocks. At the end of the second day they reached the crest of the NE ridge at an elevation of about 6500 m. During the following day and a half they climbed along the NE Ridge and, utterly exhausted, reached the summit.

 In 1937: the third ascent, when eight Soviet climbers under the direction of Lev Barkhash reached the summit by the same route. This was at the beginning of mass political repressions in the Soviet Union and many of the most prominent Soviet climbers, including Lev Barkhash, were brought to trial.

Subsequent attempts to climb Lenin Peak could not begin until 1950, when the USSR began to recover from the Second World War. On August 14, 1950, twelve climbers (V. Aksenov, K, Zaporojchenko, Y. Izrael, V. Kovalev, A. Kormshikov, Y. Maslov, E. Nagel, V. Narishkin, V. Nikonov, V. Nozdryuhin, I. Rojkov) under the direction of Vladimir Racek reached the summit for the fourth time.

In 1954, the route which now is known as the classic route, via the Razdelnaya Peak and NW Ridge, was first climbed  by the team of Soviet climbers under the direction of V. Kovalev (P. Karpov, E. Nagel, V. Narishkin, V. Nozdryuhin).

In 1989, Jaan Künnap, a decorated Estonian mountaineer, reached the top of Lenin Peak. This marked the first time an Estonian flag was flown at an altitude over 7000 m.

In 1960, a group of eight Soviet climbers made a successful direct climb along the North Face (15.08.1960).

There are 16 established routes, nine on the southern side and seven on the northern slopes. The peak is quite popular with climbers due to its easy access and some uncomplicated routes. However, the peak is not without its share of disasters.

 In 1974, an entire team of eight female climbers died high on the mountain in a storm.

In 1990, an avalanche triggered by an earthquake killed 43 climbers.