The story of Rustam Nabiev, the legless Russian mountaineer who conquered the eighth highest mountain in the world

Just a few days ago Rustam Nabiev conquered the top of Manaslu (8163 meters), the eighth highest mountain in the world located in the Himalaya. So far a feat more than a mountaineer. What makes this story different and makes it a example of overcoming is that Nabiev lost both legs after the barracks where he worked collapsed in 2015.

In the summer of 2015, at just 22 years old, the life of Nabiev took a 180 degree turn. That morning of July 12, the barracks in Omsk (Siberia) where he slept together with his colleagues from the Airborne Forces of the Russian army collapsed. A total of 42 soldiers were buried: 23 died and another 19 were injured of varying severity. One of them was Nabiev.

As a result of the tragic accident, caused by the poor quality of works carried out at the military installation a year earlier, Nabiev lost both legs. “I lost my legs but I didn’t get lost”, he says in his description on social networks, where he adds that “I prefer a kick to pity”.

Since then he has led a life devoted to sports. Former athlete and weightlifter, the Russian started playing ice hockey, where in 2017 he won with his team the Continental Cup of Europe in luge hockey and the bronze medal in the Russian Championship, as well as a gold medal in the European Championships in Poland, they pointed out from Desnivel.com.

From there it went to mountaineering, where it has not stopped reaping triumphs. After crowning the Elbrús, a 5,642m roller coaster in 2020, on October 2 it became the first double amputee of the lower extremities to rise to the top of an eight thousand. Without prosthesis, and only with the help of their hands and the support of their companions, Nabiev entered the history of Mountain climbing.

“Few believed in this, but I did it. On October 2, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., he was standing on top of Mount Manaslu. I wrote a new page in the history of mountaineering, becoming the first person in the world to climb an eight thousand with my hands ”, he said after crowning the Nepalese massif.