Snow leopard is an honorary title in Russian mountaineering and the official name of the token awarded to climbers who have conquered the highest peaks located on the territory of the former USSR. The standard for conferring the title of “Snow Leopard of Russia” is to climb the ten highest peaks of the Russian Federation:
Elbrus (5642 meters)
Dykhtau (5204 meters)
Koshtantau (5151 meters)
Mizhirgi (5025 meters)
Pushkin Peak (5100 meters)
Dzhangitau (5085 meters)
Shkhara (5068 meters)
Kazbek (5034 meters)
Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4688 meters)
Beluga whale (4506 meters)
A person who fulfills the standard is given a certificate and a license plate. Anatoly Bukreev, who fulfilled the standard in 1985, received the certificate and badge under No. 174.
Anatoly Bukreev – Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1991). He conquered 11 eight-thousanders of the planet out of 14, in total he climbed them 21 (a record for the CIS). He died during the assault on his 12th eight-thousander – Annapurna. Guide and consultant when climbing to high altitudes of 7-8 km.
In the autumn of 2015, the world premiere of the film “Everest” took place, based on real events – the ascents of three expeditions in 1996. At one time, they were widely covered, including in Russia, since among the participants in the ascent was the legendary Soviet climber Anatoly Bukreev, who was born near Chelyabinsk.
In the 1996 expedition, Boukreev was a guide in the team of the American Scott Fisher “Mountain Madness”. He alone led an unprecedented rescue operation in extreme weather conditions and lowered three freezing members of the expedition down. As a reward for the feat, the American Alpine Club awarded Boukreev the David Souls Prize, given to climbers who saved people in the mountains at the risk of their own lives. The following year, Anatoly again ascended Everest and paid tribute to those who could not be saved, and also lowered down the personal belongings of the Japanese climber Yasuko Namba, who died on Everest, and handed them over to her husband. Unfortunately, a year and a half after the events on Everest, Boukreev died in an avalanche in the Himalayas. We offer you to watch a film about Anatoly Bukreev called “The Unconquered Peak”.
