Snow Leopard award
The Snow Leopard award was a Soviet mountaineering award, given to highly skilled mountaineers. It is still recognized in the Commonwealth of Independent States. To receive this award, a climber was required to summit all five peaks within the former Soviet Union with elevation above.
It was founded on October 12, 1967 by the Central Council of Sports Societies and Organizations of the USSR.
The peaks
The Snow Leopard peaks include:- Ismoil Somoni Peak
- Jengish Chokusu
- Ibn Sina Peak
- Peak Ozodi
- Khan Tengri
In the Tian Shan there are two Snow Leopard peaks, Jengish Chokusu in Kyrgyzstan, and Khan Tengri on the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border. Khan Tengri's geologic elevation is but its glacial cap rises to. For this reason, it is considered a peak.
In order of difficulty, Jengish Chokusu is by far the most difficult and dangerous, followed by Khan Tengri, Ismail Samani Peak, Peak Korzhenevskaya, and Lenin Peak.
Recipients
There are more than 600 climbers, including 31 women, who have received this award between 1961 and 2012.Records
- Boris Korshunov – nine times Snow Leopard and last award at the age of 69
- Andrzej Bargiel – all five ascents in 29 days 17 hours 5 minutes
- Elvira Nasonova – three time "Snow Leopard," the only woman to do so.