Nikolai Cherny spoke at the 7 Summits Club office about the first Russian ascent of Annapurna

The 7 Summits Club presented Nikolai Cherny with a branded black fleece jacket. Our guest turned 87 on December 5th. His visit was more related to the upcoming Annapurna expedition as part of the "High Altitude Gene 3" project. It was interesting and informative to hear the ascent story and the route taken by the wisest of Russian climbers.

 On October 24, 1991, the first two Russians, Nikolai Cherny and Sergey Arsentyev, reached the summit of Annapurna. They climbed a route similar to the one used today. It is sometimes called the "Dutch" route, but it is more likely a variant of the route taken by a team from the Netherlands in 1977. Nikolai Cherny spent the final day and a half ascending with supplemental oxygen, of which he had only one cylinder. Arsentyev, however, climbed without it. And so, Black had to lead the way through the deep snow. It turns out they had a very high bivouac, at around 8,000 meters.

 From the interview: Which of the eight-thousanders was the most difficult for you?

 Probably Annapurna from the north. There were only four climbers on the expedition: the leader, an American woman whom Arsentyev later married, and Arsentyev and I – two members, in a double team. There was no one else. It was the most athletic expedition, semi-alpine style: no one, nothing – wonderful! No crowds.

 Judging by the following text, Nikolai Dmitrievich was the first to reach the summit.

The summit itself looks like a snow cornice curving south. Sergey approaches. We find two Polish coins on a ledge of snow – that means the Poles were here yesterday, their expedition was working the Bonnington route**... We admire the panorama for a long time. Sergei poses on the ridge, smoking a Camel and Winston cigarette – hoping to make a name for himself in advertising. It was 10 a.m. on October 24th.

... Our small expedition, the only successful one on the north face of Annapurna in the fall of 1991, had ended. 

** On October 21st, three Poles reached the summit: Krzysztof Wielicki, Ryszard Pawlowski, and Bohdan Stefko. And the next day, Wanda Rutkiewicz summited alone. Her teammates themselves questioned her summit bid, but later they accepted it. Their team had climbed a variation of Bonnington's 1970 route. The same was true for a group of Moscow climbers who summited Annapurna on October 26th. They included Vladimir Bashkirov, Sergei Isaev, Nikolai Obikhod, and Nikolai Petrov.