Asia Travel provides a fairly typical schedule for a climb, allowing 22 days RT to and from Tashkent. They suggest two days of acclimatization after arrival at Achikh Tash, and then the actual climb of the mountain over a period of 13 days. For those not coming in with some acclimatization, this may be short; also, the schedule allows little leeway for bad weather. As most Russian climbers keep reminding me (and other "westerners") we tend to pack too much, carrying heavy loads that slow us down. There is a tendency to take too much extra food and fuel and sometimes other backup gear "just in case." I doubt that I would very much change my habits in this regard, but clearly this is one explanation for the fact that projections for climbing schedules by Russian guides often will seem optimistic. Also, it is worth noting that in my personal case, I turned 50 the year I attempted Peak Lenin. It gets harder and harder to try to keep up with the youngsters. We did have one or two members of our team who were my age or slightly older; they were stronger and faster.
In 1991, in advance of the climb, we projected the following schedule:
day 1. BC (~3800 m./12,000 ft.)
day 2. CI (~4300/14,000)
day 3. CII (5100+/16,700)
day 4. At CII
day 5. Return to BC.
days 6,7. At BC
day 8. To CII
day 9. To C III (6100/20,000)
day 10. To C IV (6400/21,600) and back to III
day 11. Back to BC
day 12. At BC
day 13. To CII
day 14. To CIII
day 15. To CIV
day 16. To summit and back to CIV.
day 17. Down to CII
day 18. Down to BC
The reality for our climb was more complex, since not everyone in the group climbed at the same pace, some acclimatized more slowly than others, some were laid up briefly with illness. I think my personal schedule was reasonable for summiting with the one flaw I did not attempt to stop at CIV on way up but rather tried to push all the way from CIII.
day 1. arrive BC
day 2. Acclimatization hike, Peak Petrovsky, approx. 15,700 ft.
day 3. To approx. 13,000 ft., camped just below Tavelers' Pass, carrying medium pack
(enough for one night out).
day 4. To CI from 13,000; brief up/down from CI (another few hundred feet) for further
acclimatization at end of day.
day 5. To CII (heavy pack)
day 6. At CII with brief climb a few hundred feet higher and back.
day 7. down to CI. At this point some in group went on up to III and then the following
day to IV, thinking they would go on to summit, but that obviously was pushing too fast,
and they descended to I on day 8.
day 8. up to CII with load.
day 9. to CIII
day 10. down to CI
day 11, at CI
day 12, to CII
day 13. At CII (snow)
day 14. To CIII
day 15. Summit attempt, to beyond IV (6500+/22,000), but back to IV. One member of group
went on to summit.
day 16. down to III. Here three members of our group went on to summit, starting at III.
day 17, down to I.