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The line between triumph and disaster is sometimes thin in the world of mountain climbing.
On Aug. 11, Eduard Kubatov of Kyrgyzstan reached the summit of K2 in Pakistan without supplemental oxygen, part of his bid to climb the 14 mountains internationally recognized as “eight-thousanders,” or peaks that are more than 8,000 meters above sea level.
On the same day, hundreds of kilometers to the north, Russian Nikolay Totmyanin, 66, died after ascending another extremely challenging mountain – Pobeda Peak, which lies on the border between Kyrgyzstan and China and is 7,439 meters above sea level. It is also known by the Kyrgyz name Jengish Chokusu (Victory Peak).
Totmyanin made the summit but then fell ill on the way down.
“He came down on his own, pushing hard, knowing he had to get lower as quickly as possible. On the evening of August 10, 2025, he was admitted to intensive care in Bishkek. By morning, he was gone,” said Anna Piunova, editor of Mountain.RU, a Russian website that covers climbing news.
“His climbing resumé is staggering, hard to believe a single lifetime could hold so much,” Piunova said on Instagram. “More than 200 ascents in the Caucasus, Pamirs, Tien Shan, Alps, Himalayas, Karakoram, and North America, including 63 big-wall climbs.”
Piunova did not go into detail about Totmyanin’s illness, but the lack of oxygen at such heights can have lethal effects.
Both K2 and Pobeda Peak can be approached from the Chinese side of the borders, but the difficulty of access and logistical challenges deter most international climbers from a route via China.
While Totmyanin was a more recognized figure on the international climbing scene, Kubatov, the 53-year-old head of Kyrgyzstan’s Mountaineering Federation, has been building an impressive record and enjoys wide appreciation in Central Asia. Kubatov has scaled several of the eight-thousanders without supplemental oxygen. He celebrated the K2 achievement with a message on Facebook on Thursday that acknowledged the dangers of the mountain, where climbers faced an especially tough environment this season because of low snowfall and an increased threat of rockfalls.
“Friends, K2 is ours! On August 11 at 17:00, I was on this great summit without using oxygen!” the Kyrgyz climber said. “Friends, yesterday, August 13 at 5 a.m., I descended from the summit of K2 — 8,611 meters! Unfortunately, during the descent, many suffered severe injuries, and one female climber died.”
The climber, Guan Jing of China, died on Aug. 12 while descending from the K2 peak with an expedition led by Imagine Nepal, a company founded by Sherpas. The Tourism Times, a publication based in Kathmandu, reported on Wednesday that efforts were underway to recover her body.
Kubatov was with a joint team from Seven Summit Treks and 14 Peaks Expedition, which are also based in the Himalayan country. The climber, who will surely receive a big welcome on his return to Kyrgyzstan, said he was “slightly unwell” but looking forward to going home.
Totmyanin, the Russian climber known in some mountaineering circles as “Iron Uncle Kolya,” climbed K2 nearly two decades ago. Like Kubatov, he did it without bottled oxygen. His funeral is scheduled for Sunday in Smolensk, Russia.