In the 1960s, she was a pioneer of industrial climbing in the USSR and participated in high-altitude work during the construction of the At-Bashi and Toktogul hydroelectric power stations.
The specific tasks of the CRS in Crimea, unlike those in high mountains, involve rescuing unprepared tourists from vertical cliffs, extracting victims from caves, and extinguishing forest fires on hard-to-reach slopes.
The attempt was unsuccessful; a gust of wind threw Nasonova and her instructor, V. Bozhukov, against a rock, causing the parachute to collapse and both pilots to fall 50 meters onto a glacier.
[4][5] Elvira Nasonova, along with her husband Anatoly Balinsky, applied their accumulated sports experience to a new activity for the 1960s, working as climbing instructors in the construction of the future At-Bashy and Toktogul hydropower plants from 1964 to 1972.
She provided initial climbing training for more than a thousand builders, who often worked on sheer rock faces, and she was responsible for their safety.
[6][7] Since the 1990s and to the present day, Nasonova has been leading a team of high-altitude climbers that performs vertical work on unique and historical sites in Crimea: the domes of the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral in Simferopol, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Yalta, and the facades of the high-rise Alushta Hotel.
The team also installs attractions at the Alushta water park and provides engineering reinforcement of rock walls with the risk of rockfalls.
[3] Despite being in her eighties, Nasonova personally ascends to the sites, performing the full scope of work as an industrial climber.
She completed the norms for Master of Sports of the USSR seven times based on the total number of ascents of the highest categories.
Nasonova was officially allowed to participate in USSR mountaineering championships on par with men, a rare exception to the prevailing rules.
In 1991, despite a recent personal tragedy, the death of her son in a car accident, as the acting coach of the Soviet women's team (with Nikolai Chyorny as the expedition leader), Nasonova led the ascent of Peak Communism (7495 m).
On August 10, all participants reached the summit and successfully descended, marking a significant victory for the women's team.
[3] In 1991, the All-Union Council on Physical Culture and Sports began forming a women's Himalayan expedition, with Nasonova being the top candidate.
Her attempt to use a paraglider to reach areas with the bodies of deceased climbers on the peak ended in a fall and serious surgeries after evacuation.
[3] In the early 2000s, while still in good athletic shape, Elvira continually sought funding for an Everest climbing permit, reaching out to various Ukrainian sponsors.
At the same time, in 2003, 63-year-old Japanese climber Tamae Watanabe reached the summit of Everest, setting a world age record for women.