Rescue mission abandoned for climber stuck 22,000ft up mountain for nearly two weeks after man dies trying to help

A rescue mission for well-known climber Natalia Nagovitsyna has been suspended amid bad weather after efforts to reach her resulted in another climber's death.

Natalia Nagovitsyna had been attempting to descend from the summit of the mountain called Jengish Chokusu, or Victory Peak, on August 12 when she broke her leg and became stranded.

Another group of climbers on the mountain, which sits at Kyrgyzstan’s border with China, did initially manage to reach Nagovitsyna and provided her with some supplies, however they weren't able to help her down due to the extreme conditions at the time.

For nearly two weeks, repeated rescue efforts have taken place to try and reach Nagovitsyna, including operations involving helicopters and an attempt by Italian mountaineer Luca Sinigaglia to deliver supplies.

Victory Peak is in the Tian Shan Range (Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

According to Kyrgyz authorities cited by The New Zealand Herald, a rescue helicopter crashed in the mountains amid the rescue efforts.

In another blow to the climbing community, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Sinigaglia had sadly died on the mountain on August 15, with bad weather conditions so far having made it impossible to recover his body.

Victory Peak is located 24,400 feet above sea level, making it the highest mountain of the Tian Shan range.

According to CNN, Nagovitsyna was spotted on a surveillance drone not far from the top of the mountain on August 19, with a spokesperson for Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations expressing belief that she was alive at the time.

But on Saturday (August 23), authorities had to suspend the search for Nagovitsyna as weather conditions, including heavy snowfall, continued to worsen. Temperatures are currently reported to be hovering around -30C (-22F) at night at the summit of Victory Peak.

Nagovitsyna previously lost her husband on a mountaineering trip (YouTube/ Dmitry Sinitsyn)

Adil Chargynov, of the Kyrgyz emergency situations ministry, said: "Weather conditions deteriorated sharply, so all rescue operations have been suspended."

Per The NZ Herald, Dmitry Grekov, head of the Victory Peak base camp, told Russian news agency TASS that rescuers 'know where [Nagovitsyna] is', but added: "It’s impossible to get there."

Grekov said 'no one has every been evacuated' from such a high altitude on the mountain, adding: “It’s impossible to do it manually, only by helicopter, and we don’t have such helicopters in Kyrgyzstan.”

The ongoing efforts to reach Nagovitsyna come after the climber previously made headlines when her husband, Sergei Nagovitsyn, became incapacitated during an expedition to another mountain, Khan-Tengri.

Nagovitsyna was with Sergei during the incident and refused to leave him until rescuers arrived. Sadly, Sergei died while on the mountain.