Posted on 08/07/2004 10:59:37 AM PDT by klpt
An avalanche killed at least five mountaineers from the Czech Republic and Russia as they climbed a peak in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, their tour operator said.
A mass of thawing snow and glacier ice hit 20 Czech and Russian mountaineers as they approached the Central Asian state's highest peak, the Khan Tengri, an official from the tourist firm Aksai Tour said. Rescue work was going on.
Several groups of climbers, numbering 50 altogether, were trying to climb the snow-capped peak when the avalanche struck.
It is a matter of honour for many experienced climbers in the former Soviet Union to conquer the towering Khan Tengri, which reaches an altitude of 6,995 metres (23,000 feet) in the Tien Shan mountains. The peak's Kyrgyz name means Lord of Spirits.
There was a mountaineers' song in Russian:
" Umnyi v gory ne poidet, umnyi gory oboidet" -
"the smart one will not go up the mountains; the smart one will go around the mountains".
There was something to it.
Zdes' vam ne ravnina - zdes' klimat inoy.
Idut laviny odna za odnoy,
I zdes' za kamnepadom revet kamnepad.
I mozhno svernut', obryv obognut',-
No my vybiraem trudniy put',
Opasniy, kak voennaya tropa.
This is not the flatlands - here the climate is different.
There are avalanches one after the other,
And here are rockslides one after the other.
And one can turn back, go around the crevasse,
But we choose a difficult path,
Dangerous, like an army route.
Kto zdes' ne byval, kto ne riskoval -
Tot sam sebya ne ispytal,
Pust' dazhe vnizu on zvezdy khvatal s nebes.
Vnizu ne vstretish', kak ne tyanis',
Za vsyu svoyu schastlivuyu zhizn'
Desyatoy doli takix krasot i chudes.
Whoever wasn't here, who didn't risk it -
Whoever didn't test himself,
Even if he pulled a star down from the sky.
Down below you don't encounter, you don't get
From your entire, happy life
A tenth as many beauties and marvels.
Net alyx raz i traurnyx lent,
I ne pokhozh na monument
Tot kamen', chto pokoy tebe podaril.
Kak Vechnym ognem, sverkaet dnem,
Veshina izumrudnym l'dom,
Kotoruyu ty tak i ne pokoril.
There are no scarlet roses and funeral ribbons,
And it's not at all like a monument
That rock that gave you rest.
Like an eternal flame that sparkles by day
The summit's emerald ice,
Which you just couldn't conquer.Vladimir Vysotskiy
Very strange.
When I was young I learned to stay away from inhospitable places ... period!
My country's military decided to allow me visit several of those places, but then I would do anything for my country. ;)
;-)
The only great thing about Vysotsky was his alcoholism; his poetry is way behind Galich. But de gustibus non disputandum est.
Mmmmmmmmmmm..............Yummy!
Or in other words: "The joy of Russia is to drink"
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