Igor Svergun

According to Igor: "'This ascent became my calling card. Whenever I meet fellow climbers, mentioning 'Lhotse' elicits genuine admiration. The climb was incredibly challenging. We weren't prepared for everything we encountered. The books tell a different story.'"Among his other achievements are 25 routes of the 6th category of difficulty.

Igor Svergun said:"'For a mountaineer, the mountains are the only place on Earth where they feel comfortable and a sense of their own purpose on this planet...'"Igor Svergun also worked with youth at the Kharkiv Alpсlub, served as a coach for various expeditions, and led commercial expeditions.

In his later years, he held the position of senior coach at the Ukrainian Mountaineering Federation's Kharkiv branch.

Igor Svergun (February 10, 1966, Korocha, Belgorod Oblast, USSR – June 23, 2013, Nanga Parbat) – Soviet and Ukrainian climber, USSR Master of Sports in mountaineering (1989), USSR Snow Leopard award, USSR master of sports at the international level (1991), instructor-methodologist of the 3rd category.

Igor's passion for mountaineering sparked during his school years under the guidance of his mentor, Georgiy Kardash, a physical education teacher.

At the age of 18, Igor embraced mountaineering as his lifelong pursuit.

He began his career by climbing Semenov-Bashi (3602 m).

In his student years in 1990, he became a member of the Kharkiv Mountaineering Club and began training under the guidance of Sergey Bershov (Master of Sports of the USSR, Snow Leopard).

Bershov and Svergun became friends and climbing partners, together they made many ascents, including the eight-thousanders Lhotse in 1990, Everest and Kangchenjunga.

From Bershov's memoirs: "With Igor Svergun we were 23 years (!) were a climbing pair."

"The guy had a character to spare, he wanted to be the first, to achieve more."

"What distinguished him? Well, first of all, he was the youngest – 24 years old. Like me once, he also engaged in mountaineering and rock climbing, which always gives an advantage on ascents. He stood out for his determination. And he also played the guitar, knew many beautiful songs – mountaineering, bard, folk. And the guitarist is always the soul of the company."

"Igor set a goal for himself: to become a high-class, successful, in-demand mountain guide – and he did. He learned English, graduated from the master's program of the Kharkiv Academy of Physical Culture in the specialty "Olympic and professional sports". He could not live without mountains, without travel. He loved it. He, like me, did not work, but was engaged in his favorite thing. Very professionally, thoughtfully, focusing on safety. How many times on the same Elbrus we turned clients down, not agreeing, understanding each other with a half-glance. Nothing surprising. When you have been walking in a climbing pair for 23 years, decisions are made the same without any words. Just as we have long been bypassing words, securing each other. You just know – there is no more reliable."

Igor Svergun's best ascent include:

In 1990, he participated in the Soviet expedition led by A. Shevchenko, climbing Lhotse's Main Peak via the South Face, a route hailed by Reinhold Messner as the route of the 21st century.

Before the ascent, they erected a memorial plaque at the mountain's base to honor two Ukrainian climbers: Viktor Pastukh from Kharkiv and Gennadiy Vasilenko from Crimea, who perished in 1996 during an attempt to conquer Shishapangma.

Igor Svergun twice summited Everest and reached many of the world's eight-thousanders.

In 1999, during the "Ukraine – Everest-99" expedition, Igor took part in one of the most challenging rescue operations, transporting climber V. Horbach from an altitude of 8600m to the summit.

In 2008, as part of an expedition organized by the Kharkiv Regional Mountaineering Club, Svergun successfully climbed Gasherbrum II (with Sergey Bershov and Alexey Bokov) via the classic route.

In June 2013, Igor Svergun led an international expedition to Nanga Parbat.

The expedition began on June 6 and was scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2013.

However, on the night of June 23, terrorists attacked the base camp located at an altitude of approximately 4200m.

The attackers forced two local guides to take them to the base camp.

The attackers rounded up the climbers and staff, took passports and money, destroyed mobile phones, blindfolded them, forced them to kneel and shot them.

10 mountaineers from different countries died, including Igor Svergun and two other climbers from Kharkiv.

Responsibility for the killings was claimed by the Pakistani militant group Jundullah.

Later, an affiliated movement called Tehrik-i-Taliban also claimed involvement.

The funerals took place on June 30, 2013, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, at Cemetery No.13 (Pushkins'ka St, 108, Kharkiv, Kharkivs'ka oblast, Ukraine).

More than 5,000 people attended the farewell ceremony, including mountaineers from around the world.