Russian mountaineer Natalia Nagovitsina. Biography

Natalia Nagovitsina was born on August 20, 1977 in the village of Chernovsky, Perm Krai. There is almost no information about her family and parents in open sources, but it is known that she grew up in Russia and showed interest in active recreation and sports from an early age.

Nagovitsina graduated from the Geography Faculty of Perm State University, where she later began working at the Department of Biogeocenology and Nature Conservation. Later, her professional activity was related to information technology. She worked in the operation department of GAS Vybory, where she held the positions of chief consultant and lead adviser, ensuring the operation of automation systems and local area networks of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russia.

Natalia started mountaineering about ten years ago. According to the climber's book on the website of the Russian Mountaineering Federation, she has been climbing since 2016, and five years later she received the second category in mountaineering. Most of her ascents were connected with the mountains of Russia and the CIS countries. Significant achievements include climbing the eastern peak of Elbrus in 2020, Ismoil Samani Peak in 2023, and Khan Tengri Peak in 2024. During her climbing career, she was the leader of expeditions three times.

In 2021, while climbing Khan Tengri, a pyramidal mountain peak on the Tien Shan, located on the border of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China, her husband Sergey Nagovitsin tragically died. He suffered a stroke at an altitude of over 6800 m. Despite the efforts of his wife and rescuers, it was not possible to save him. Natalia stayed with her husband until the last moment, then they took her downstairs. A year after her husband's death, the climber returned to the summit to erect a memorial plaque in his honor.

"When Natalia saw us, she started crying—she hoped she could come down."

Mountaineer Gunther Sigmund — about how his climbing colleagues tried to save Nagovitsina, and what led to the tragedy

In 2024, a Russian woman attempted to conquer Victory Peak, the highest point of the Tien Shan, which is considered one of the most difficult and dangerous peaks of the former USSR. However, she was forced to return due to insufficient training. The guide assessed her physical abilities as insufficient for a safe ascent and decided to turn her around halfway.

In August 2025, Nagovitsina, together with an international group, went to Victory Peak again. According to Natalia's close friend, she had been raving about this hike for a year, dreaming of conquering the fifth seven-thousandth mountain and receiving the prestigious "Snow Leopard" badge, which is awarded to climbers for conquering all five mountains of the former Soviet Union with a height of over 7000 m. At the same time, it was reported that in May she suffered a double leg fracture while climbing a mountain.

During the descent, a 47-year-old woman fell off and fell on a sharp ridge, breaking her leg. She spent about two weeks at altitude. Her partner gave her first aid. After that, help came from climbers from Italy and Germany, who brought her the necessary things for survival. One of the climbers, Italian Luca Sinigaglia, died during the rescue operation due to frostbite.

Then a helicopter of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense flew to the aid of the mountain climber stuck in the mountains. However, when trying to get to the Russian woman, he crashed, two people were injured. The second expedition was also forced to return due to extremely difficult weather conditions. Drones with high-precision equipment also surveyed the area. Aerial photography and thermal imagers were used in the search, but no signs of life were found at the climber's location.

Natalia has a son, Mikhail, who was presumably born in 1998. At the end of August 2025, he appealed to the head of the Investigative Committee, the Prosecutor General and the Russian Foreign Ministry with a request to conduct an additional rescue operation to find the mother, citing a favorable weather forecast.

Despite the efforts of the rescue services, there was no success in the search. At the end of August 2025, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan officially recognized Natalia Nagovitsina as missing. On September 2, the Mountaineering Federation of the Republic announced the termination of the rescue operation. They also noted that in the entire history of Pobedy Peak, there had not been a single successful rescue operation at an altitude of over 7,000 m, but rescuers did everything possible to save the climber.