"ROOF OF WORLD."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 268, 12 November 1935, Page 5

"ROOF OF WORLD."

SOVIET TROOPS' FEAT. MASS MOUNTAINEERING. MOSCOW, October 4. One of the most dangerous peaks in the Pamir Mountains, Central Asia —the mountain group known as the Roof of the World, because of its great height— has been climbed by a detachment of 300 Red Army officers and men. Their feat, which took more than six days, constitutes a world record for "mass mountaineering." Trapetsia (19,520 feet) is the peak which has been conquered. Precipices and glaciers made the task more difficult, and in some places the soldiers had to climb almost vertical slopes. For six days they "marched" up the mountainside. Then they made a final camp in the snow some 2560 feet below the summit. After a rest they began a final spurt, which, in seven hours, brought them to the mountain top. They climbed this last lap at the rate of six feet a minute. The cavalry squadron, which accom- j panied the mountaineering detachment part of the way, performed an equally outstanding feat. In spite of the low temperature, rarefied air, very dangerous road and considerable weight of their packs, they rode 020 miles over steep mountain slopes. Not a single horse was lost, not a single horseman lagged behind. ' This ride led them to the Akbaital Pass, the highest mountain pass in the Soviet Union. After a short rest they crossed the pass on foot.