About the Slava Topol Project
Dave Wade
Stephen Taylor
Jeremy Windsor
Vladimir Komissarov
The Slava Topol Project is a joint Anglo-American initiative between American ski-patroller Dave Wade and British mountaineer and academic Stephen Taylor.
The pair first met on Lenin Peak back in 2019 and teamed up in 2023 to revisit the mountain.
During their time on the mountain in 2023 they found themselves evacuating a dangerously ill climber with a cerebral oedema from the camp at 5,300m. While this proved successful, the experience underlined to them the inadequacies of current resources and practices on the mountain to respond to accidents and medical emergencies.
Following this incident, the pair resolved to try and improve the existing situation by introducing an appropriate PSAR system on Lenin Peak. To that end, they have established a non-profit organization to fund the development of the required rescue and medical supports to improve safety on the popular Central Asian mountain.
Who was Slava Topol?
The Slava Topol Project is named after the late Slava Topol. (Vyacheslav Sheiko)
Slava was, in the very real sense of the word, a local legend on Lenin Peak. His athletic ability was evidenced by his participation in the Lenin Peak Sky Marathon (4,400 to 7,134m) and his 26 ascents of Lenin Peak and his ski-descents of the steepest lines on the mountain’s north face.
In addition, he had an astonishing capacity to porter huge loads to the mountain’s high camps and he invested his considerable earnings in establishing Topol Camp on the mountain in addition to a ski-mountaineering business located in Ak-Suu in the Terskey-Alatoo mountains near his home town of Karakol, Kyrgyzstan.
Slava Topol tragically died on the mountain in 2022 while guiding.
His family continue to own and operate Topol Camp and they are generously hosting the volunteer medics from the BMMS while they are on the mountain.