Dr Stephen Taylor, Senior Lecturer at University of Cumbria, is one of the founders of the Slava Topol Project (STP) which seeks to support sustainable high mountain tourism on Kyrgyzstan’s 7,134m Lenin Peak.
In summer 2024, STP hosted a successful reconnaissance trip for the British Mountain Medicine Society (BMMS) to the highly popular mountain, enabling the launch of a medical support capacity for visitors in summer 2025.
During the peak climbing season (July-August), which sees around 1,000 attempts on the mountain, health care professional (HCP) volunteers from the BMMS and its German equivalent, will be providing medical support at both basecamp (3,600m) and advanced basecamp (4,400m). Two teams of four HCPs will be deployed across the 2025 season providing medical services to both visitors and workers. This will include daily educational presentations on how to stay safe on the mountain by undertaking proper acclimatisation, scheduled daily drop-in clinics at both camps and emergency medical support in the event of accidents.
In addition to this medical initiative, the STP is also developing a high mountain rescue capability and investigating a range of practical measures to reduce the negative environmental impacts of tourism on the mountain. Both are influenced by Dr Stephen Taylor's ongoing research with partners in Kyrgyzstan.
Contact: Dr Stephen Taylor
Image: BMMS reconnaissance team on Lenin Peak (L-R, Dave Wade (STP), Sarah Wysling, Tasha Brook, Stephen Taylor (STP), Jeremy Windsor, George Rodway, Yasmin Down)
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