The following year he intended joining five Russian friends, Georgi Charlampiew, Michail Dadiomow, Leonid Gutman, the sculptor Yevgeniy Abalakov and his brother Vitaly on a geological expedition to climb the 7546-meter high Mustagh Ata in China. They were being financed by the Russian trade-union federation, however, they did not receive the necessary permits from the Chinese authorities. They then decided, rather too hastily, to attempt the 7200-meter high Khan Tengri in the Pamirs. Khan Tengri is the world's most northern 7000-meter peak, notable because it has a shorter climbing season, generally more severe weather and thinner air. This was the wrong time of year for such a difficult task and the lack of preparation led to a disaster. They reached the summit on 5 September, but on the descent through a snowstorm Gutman fell and was badly injured and all of the climbers suffered from severe frostbite. Saladin amputated the black portions of his hands with a pocket-knife and disinfected them with petrol. However, he died of blood poisoning. His grave near the Engil'chek Glacier was discovered only in 2008.