This summer of 2024 will go down as one of the cruellest for the alpine community. We learned of the disappearance of the famous Japanese climbers Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima on the flanks of K2, followed by that of Georgian Archil Badriashvili. This black series has just continued with the announcement of the disappearance of Russian Sergey Nilov, who was caught in the seracs of Gasherbrum IV while trying to recover the body of his friend Dmitry Golovchenko. Sergey's name will remain indelibly associated with that of Dmitry, such is their unfailing association with each other that they have left their mark on the history of alpine style and personified the noblest values of the roped party spirit.
As a young man, Sergey first discovered the great outdoors by canoeing. During one of these trips, he met an alpinist and joined the CSKA Demchenko club in the early 2000s. It was there that he met Dmitry Golovchenko in 2002 during a trip to the Adyl-Su, a Caucasian valley close to Elbrus. Dmitry, who is seven years his junior, was born into a family of mountaineers, so has always been in the mountains. One of the favorite things, as a child, was to watch slides from various mountain trips when the whole family gathered in the living room, a white bedsheet was hung on the wall, the light was switched off and the show started.
In 2007, Sergey took part in the Haina Brakk (Shipton Spire) expedition organised in Pakistan by Denis Saveliev. He then became a regular visitor to Pakistan, India, Nepal and Baffin Island. He reunited with Dmitry in 2012 for an adventure to the Muztagh Tower (7,276 m), again in the Karakoram. Accompanied by Alexander Lange, in 17 days they traced a direct line on the spur in the centre of the northeast face (ED, 6a A2 M6, 3,400 m). ‘It's the hardest thing we've done in the mountains,’ Lange concluded soberly. They were awarded a Piolet d'Or for it the following year.
In 2016, the duo, joined this time by Dmitry Grigoriev, tackled the direct north face of Thalay Sagar (6,904 m), the emblematic summit of the Garhwal in India. Moveable Feast (ED2, 5c A3 WI5 M7, 1,400 m) took them nine days of effort, not least to climb directly over the final, overhanging zone of dark shales, without a portaledge to lighten the load. Their efforts were rewarded with another Piolet d'Or.
But their most famous odyssey will probably be the one they embark on in 2019 on Jannu (or Kumbhakarna, 7,710 m). Its virgin east face has long been one of the ‘last Himalayan problems’. Having set out to open a direct route with very large packs, they have to contend with inconsistent snow that is slowing their progress considerably. And as Golovchenko points out: ‘the higher you go, the steeper it gets...’. After twelve exhausting days, they finally reached the southeast ridge at 7,410m. They soon ran out of food and found it impossible to descend by their original route, so they chose to climb down the opposite side of the mountain and switched to survival mode. It would take another six days before they were out of the woods. Nevertheless, they named their line Unfinished Sympathy because ‘we had a great time on that mountain’.
Gasherbrum IV (7,925m), although a few tens of metres short of the 8,000m mark, has been an iconic Karakoram summit since its first ascent in 1958 by Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri. Its west face, the Shining Wall, first climbed in 1985 by Voytek Kurtyka and Robert Schauer, represents a milestone in the history of alpine style. But its opposite side also offers a long, untouched southeast ridge. It was this one that the two Russians were aiming for in August 2023. They soon found themselves trapped by bad weather in their tent 250 metres below the summit. In the dead of night, just as Nilov had climbed out to improve the flat spot they were on, he suddenly heard his companion shout: ‘Sergey, I'm falling!‘ The tent had just toppled over, taking Golovchenko with it. As he makes his way down the slope, Sergey finds the tent with the body of his companion, who has not survived the terrible fall, and left him in a crevasse...
It would take him another five days to descend despite the frostbite, so he returned this summer with some companions to bring back his friend's body. But fate had other plans. Sergey, aged 47 and the father of five, has now joined Dmitry, who disappeared at the age of 40 and the father of two. They lie almost side by side in the high mountains of the Karakoram that they loved so much.
