Hopes are fading for a woman with a broken leg who has been stranded on one of the world’s highest mountains for a fortnight.

A final effort to save a Russian mountaineer Natalia Nagovitsina was reportedly called off at the weekend.

Nagovitsina, 47, is an experienced climber. But she has been has been stuck 7000 metres high on Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan since about August 12, in temperatures as low as -23 degrees.

Victory Peak, also known as Jengish Chokusu or Pik Pobedy, is Kyrgyzstan’s highest mountain at 7440 metres. It is in the Tian Shan range, on the border with China and is one of the five so-called Snow Leopard peaks of the former Soviet Union.

It is considered an extremely difficult mountain to climb, partly because of its location. As the word’s northernmost mountain higher than 7000 metres, Victory Peak is known for extraordinarily cold and harsh conditions and a very short climbing season.

Nagovitsina was descending from the summit when she broke her leg.

A spokesperson for Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations told CNN at the weekend that Nagovitsina had been stuck on the mountain since, despite repeated rescue efforts that also claimed the life of another climber.

A group of climbers delivered Nagovitsina a sleeping bag, tent, food supplies, water and a gas cooker late last week.

But they could not evacuate her due to the extreme conditions on the mountain. One of that group, 49-year-old Italian climber Luca Sinigaglia, died on the mountain on August 15, according to a statement by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“He carried out an act of great courage. He would never have left anyone behind, and especially not Natalia, with whom he had survived an experience that made them very close,” Sinigaglia’s sister Patrizia said.

“It was an action to be proud of that unfortunately did not allow him to return to us. But that was Luca.”

Natalia Nagovitsina on Khan-Tengri in 2022. Photo: Facebook

A surveillance drone last spotted Nagovitsyna on a ridge near the summit of Victory Peak on August 19. The emergencies ministry spokesperson told CNN that at that time, she was believed to be alive.

But other attempts to rescue her have also failed. A defence ministry helicopter crashed, while another helicopter was forced to abandone its mission due to bad weather.

The mission was suspended altogether on Saturday.

Rescue leader and base camp head Dmitry Grekov said he thought Nagovitsina was unlikely to still be alive.

“I think not, because she has been there since 12 August – count how much time has passed,” he said.

“It is unrealistic. It is unrealistic to survive at such an altitude.”

Grekov said no one had been successfully evacuated from Victory Peak since 1955.

The Russian Mountaineering Federation said a rescue mission would be a “miracle”.

“It will be almost impossible to save her,” federation vice-president Alexander Pyatnitsyn said.

“There’s a three-kilometre-long ridge, and it takes at least 30 people in such a situation to rescue a person from there.”

Nagovitsyna’s husband Sergei Nagovitsyn died during an expedition to Khan-Tengri, another of the five Snow Leopard peaks.