- Vitaly Abalakov
Vitaly Mikhaylovich Abalakov ( _ru. Вита́лий Миха́йлович Абала́ков) (OldStyleDate|January 13|1906|December 31 in
Yeniseysk –May 26 1986 inMoscow Great Russian Encyclopedia (2006),Moscow : Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya Enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 1, p. 9] ) was a Soviet/Russia n mountaineer and inventor.Brother of
Yevgeniy Abalakov , another famousalpinist , he made the first Soviet ascent ofLenin Peak in 1934 and two more ascents of this mountain. In 1936 he also made the ascent ofKhan Tengri .In 1938 he and others from his team were arrested by
NKVD and was under investigation till 1940. He was accused of "open public propaganda" of western mountaineering techniques and "diminishing" domestic alpinist's achievements and being "german spy". Many of the alpinists arrested with Vitaly Abalakov were executed.Abalakov is credited with such inventions as camming devices in the 1930s, Abalakov thread (or V-thread) gearless ice climbing anchor, and many other climbing equipment innovations.
He was awarded
Order of Lenin (1957),Order of the Badge of Honor (1972) and titlesHonoured Master of Sports of the USSR (1943), "Honoured Trainer of the USSR" (1961).Bibliography
* (in Russian) [http://www.risk.ru/rus/mount/museum/pustovalov/index.html Расстрельное время]
References
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