Everest(8848) - Page 33

First time on the North Col

 Luda Korobeshko on the most exposed part of climb

Altitude 7500 m - impossible to shoot

Max Shakirov in the ABC camp

It is the head of 7 Summits-Club Everest expedition Alex Abramov. For the last couple of days there were some events. First, we carried out, after all, a party, some kind of reception devoted to the Victory Day May 9th. About 50-70 people came in our camp. All guests were happy, thanked. Now, we consider, all expeditions of North side know each other, it will be easier to work on the slopes ofMount Everest. The party ended at about half past two in the nights. Really, it was cool. Yesterday we held a tournament on table tennis among members and guides of our expedition. There were six teams, played in pairs. The team ofUkraine, that means fromDonetsk, won. The Fight was hard.

And according to the plan, the first our teams leaves the base camp on 13 th of May. They go to the Middle Camp and farther to ABC. Within the next week our expedition will be is in full readiness for a summit bid.

PARTY

PING-PONG

Yesterday in Tashidzong we held a meeting of guides. The main decision was to break our command for 2 groups.

Assault exits on Everest we plan for approximately May 20 and 21st.

The first group (8 people).
Guides: Alexander Abramov, Sergei Larin.
Members:
Ludmila Korobeshko,
Maxim Shakirov,
Ivan Dusharin,
Fedor Konyukhov
Igor Kadochin,
Kyrill Muraviev.

The second group (7 people).
Guides: Sergey Bogomolov, Noel Hanna
Participants:
Joe Pratt,
Nathan Schneider,
Leila Albogachiev,
Aznor Khajiev
Vladimir Korenkov.

Ivan Dusharin

Kyrill Muraviev

Fedor Konyukhov on the route to North Col

and in Tashidzong

Acclimatization of our expedition is over. All members and guides, except two sick, overnight on the North Col twice. And now we booked a bus and go down to a height of 4200 meters, to the villageof Tashidzong.

We will rest there for three days. Our goal - to restore our lost power. The mood is good. Below we will eat sheep, just relax. Weather Forecast: Snow will continue till the 9th of May, then begin the wind. Normal condition will be only after May 19th. For this time we plan our ascent of Mount Everest.

According to the plan, we wanted to climb MountChangtse by two groups May 5th from different sides.
The first part of our team – from the North Col and the second part - from the base of the mountain, from altitude 6000 meters. This second group had to make a traverse of Changtse and descend to North Col.

May, 4 the first group under the leadership of Luda Korobeshko and Sergey Larin went to the North Col and reached the camp at 4 p.m...

These were:
Sergei Larin,
Kyril Muraviev,
Fedor Konyukhov,
Igor Kadochin,
Jo Pratt,
Luda Korobeshko,
Maxim Shakirov.
Ivan Dusharin

On the same day the second team went down to the bottom of the mountain Changtse. We started from the point 6000 meters.

In the group:
Alex Abramov
Gelu Sherpa Mingma
Noel Hanna
Pemba Sherpa Nurbu
Pasang Sherpa
Dorji Sherpa

By 3 p.m. the team came close to the ridge at height of 6 800m. Not far from this place (400 meters) we planned to put two tents and spend a night. To continue the route in the morning, climb to the top Changtsze (7 680M) and go down to North Col. But this time the weather began to deteriorate sharply.
This is in line with the forecast, but the whole plan of the expedition did not give us the opportunity to postpone the climb ..
In 4 p.m. the weather deteriorated completely. Visibility of 20 meters, snow pounding horizontally, to continue the ascent became meaningless. We began the descent.
Storm raged until nightfall.

May, 5 in the morning, the first team woke up at the North Col.
Bad weather did not allow them to go along the ridge on the Changtsze. For acclimatization, they climbed about 300 meters above the saddles. Wind, snow, cold, zero visibility ...

Both teams are now at an altitude of 6400m, in the campABC. It's cold ..
We drink tea and plan to go down to the Base Camp tomorrow.
We will return to ABC May 12.
And now down to rest!!

The second part of our expedition, the team of Ingushetia, headed by Sergei Bogomolov, climbed today the North Col. Tomorrow they will try to get high as much as possible and descend to Camp ABC.

The first part - North Col

Luda Korobeshko

The second part - Changtse

Hello! This is Alex Abramov from the 7 Summits Club Everest expedition. Today we begin the last acclimatization phase. Alex Abramov, Noel Hanna, Mingma and two other Sherpas, we will try to climb Changtse from the base, from the altitude of 6000 meters. We will overnight somewhere in the middle of route. Today, the second part of our team goes to the North Col. They will spend the night at the North Col, and there also they will climb the summit of Changtse 7580 meters.

In general, tomorrow our two teams should meet at the top of Changtse. And then, the first team, together with the second part will go down to North Col. Thus, it will be Mount Changtse traverse. Probably the first in history. Most likely, such route was not done. And it will be our first step toward preparing traverse Changtse - Everest. Weather ... Weather, frankly, again, is not very good ... The last week there was a very strong wind, even broke some our tents. Now, on the contrary, the wind died down, but it starts to snow. We'll see. While the forecast for today quite good. But tomorrow, the day of the assault - is already bad. There an idea of how it all around: maybe we go at night. Because nights there are usually less snow, colder and less snow. After two days we contact and describe how it was. Good-bye!

From Jan Kielkowski "Nount Everest Massif"

Hello! This is  Alex Abramov from Everest. Today we spent a night at the North Col (7000m). I do not remember  last few years such a heavy night. A very strong wind was, beater, very cold. The North Col, we climbed in the feather suits, and nobody wanted to take them off. Even at night. Now we went down. In the advanced base camp several tents is broken down. A very strong wind was here. But in general, all is as always, I mean according to plan. Before the ascent, we have about 20 days, all things will changed to better. Today, our second team, the team of Ingushetia, goes up to sleep on the North Col for acclimatization. Next in two days, we must once again climb the North Col. Then try to climb the summit of Changtse. This is North Peak of Mount Everest. The height of 7550 meters. Good-bye!

Hello! This is Alex Abramov from camp ABC. For three days we are in the advanced base camp of Everest. Wind is very strong and, in general, such a trap it is. We will not go down, still we want to go to acclimatize to the North Col and Changtsze. Up, but, we could not  go, because in the horizontal field before a beginning of steep slope at the North Col  there is a real hurricane 

Photo of the Alpari Team from alpari-life.ru

It is Alex Abramov from Everest. A few days ago we went down to the base camp, and then our team went on vacation 50 kilometers below the base camp at 4200 meters altitude. There we rested well. We stayed two nights in Tashidzhong, we ate mutton meat, useful for mental activity.

And finally, we reached the ABC camp at the height of 6400 meters. There are very strong wind, then we spent the past two days, two nights here ... Today, the second team comes from the bottom up.
Today our first team conducted studies on the natural ice. On the ice slopes we climbed up, then traverse across the ice, using ropes and went down. So a several times. It was quite useful.
Now on the North Col, where we're going to go to sleep, it is very strong wind. Half of the tent is broken. Our tents are all, because Sherpas have put them down in order to not break. Well we'll see. Well, until we have a plan to spend a night on theNorth Col.

Hello! This is Alex Abramov from Everest. We are now at an altitude of 6400 meters in advanced base camp. This is the first team. The second team is in the intermediate camp at 5800 meters. Weather, in general, it is not bad. The sun is shining, however, the clouds in the afternoon. Today we made a reconnaissance, we want to make a new route across the top of Changtse ascent on Everest. Today we made an exploration ...

Puja ceremony was held this morning. It was a prayer for the success of the expedition. Wind was blowing to the top - up the hill. So, it is time to go up. Now cooks prepare our traditional borshch (beet-root soap). The first group goes up to an intermediate camp, and tomorrow to the Advance Base Camp at 6400m altitude. Today, Semion Deyak has to come back from Dzhangmu. We sent him down with symptoms of acute mountain sickness. We think it is all good now. Alex Abramov.

A trip to Tibet inevitably ends up arriving at the base camp. As the most exciting moment in which we remember the first sight of Everest, from the pass. Here, each participant would like to part with the old life and makes a decisive step into the future.

Today there was a lot of things "at first"

First, we made the first serious acclimatization climb. Hooray! Shegar Dzong was climbed to the top (4800 m). This mountain name is translated as Fortress Xegar and it is very unusual. At its base there is an ancient Buddhist monastery school gelukpa - Xegar. And on the top we met a stupa and prayer flags. The last few tens of meters to go the top led by a very steep scree slope. And from the top we have a stunning view of the Himalayan mountain range and on ...

Yes, yes - this is the second "first" ... we saw Mount Everest. The majestic pyramid with a huge white flag. Probably a strong wind blows the snow off the slopes.

We hope that to the time of our climb the storm will be over.

Tomorrow we go to the base camp of Everest. That is, tomorrow we'll spend the night in 5100. With headaches of course, what would be a good for acclimatization.

The Everest expedition 7 Summits Club Everest meets the Easter holidays in the heart of Tibet. We spent a day in the city of Shigatse (3900m). It was very successful day. Nice sunny weather favored sightseeing tour, acclimatization, food intake and religious reflection on the eve of Easter. Next stop is Xegar (4200m).

Today the Everest team of the 7 Summits Club visited the Potala, the former palace of the Dalai Lama. All members were delighted. We note a good attitude, hospitality of Tibetans.Everything in this country seems unusual. Even the World Map they have unusual ....

Alex Abramov and Mingma (Director 7 Summits Adventures) visited the STMA - Tibet Climbers Alliance, which organizes our Everest expedition. We met with the chairman of the STMA Mr. Chang. And the manager, whose name is Tsedron. The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere.

On April 10, after a sleepless night, our team finally landed in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Our layover in Delhi turned into a battle with the representatives from Jet Air, who, after rummaging through our luggage, decided that we were carrying dangerous cargo and told us that they couldn’t take our equipment any further. We told them about our expedition to Everest and explained how important that hardware is to us.

We finally got them to come around, but only after giving them our autographs and a couple of Alpari t-shirts (and showing their managers the site).

When we got into Kathmandu, we were met with a flurry of commotion, rickshaws and rain.

This evening we are going to unwind with a nice dinner. Tomorrow we’ll pack up our things. On April 12, we fly out to Lhasa, Tibet.

-Lyudmila Korobeshko

Five minutes after we got the message from our captain, Maxim called to describe the team’s emotional state. Not everything he told us is suitable for print, so we’ll leave you with a few choice excerpts: “unpleasant”, “over weight”, “couldn’t get any sleep”, “Dusharin has gingivitis”.

We hope a decent meal will help cheer you guys up.

Hello! Alexander Abramov from Kathmandu, Expedition Everest - 2012. Today, Sergei Larin was due to arrive, but his flight was detained. He is still in Delhi. Yesterday 20 of our Sherpas had already left to the base camp. They will establish a base camp. And with them went our guide Noelle Hannah. Tomorrow the first members of the expedition began to arrive. This two Americans, Nathan Schneider and Jozeff Pratt ... And the next day all of our expedition arrives. It's about 25 people, all gathered in Kathmandu. The 12th we all fly to Lhasa, and from there to the base camp. Good-bye! We are all well.

With Valery Babanov

 UKclimber Kenton Cool will fulfil vow to take medic ArthurWakefield's Olympic medal toHimalayas90 years after tragic prior expedition

 Peter Beaumont. The Observer, Sunday 1 April 2012

 British mountaineer Kenton Cool was sitting in the check-in lounge at Gatwick airport last Thursday with a locked waterproof box that, if all goes according to plan, will not leave his side until he reaches Everest's summit for a 10th time this spring.

 The box contains the Olympic medal awarded to Arthur Wakefield, a medic on the unsuccessful 1922 Everest expedition that ended in tragedy when an avalanche killed seven porters.

 If Cool succeeds in climbing the world's highest mountain again, he will have honoured a pledge by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt, deputy leader of the pioneering 1922 expedition, made to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who awarded the climbers medals at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix. Strutt promised to return to Everest and take a medal to the summit, something he never managed.

 The attraction of Everest to Cool remains undimmed even if he is ambivalent about aspects of its commercialisation. A professional mountain guide who has climbed Everest more times than any otherUKclimber, Cool was also the first Briton to ski down an 8,000m peak.

 "I still really like Everest. I enjoy working with my Sherpa friends. I get to see people at base camp – friends like American climbers who I never see except there. It feels a bit like escapism."

 Cool is pragmatic, too. The high prices paid by clients to climb on Everest and the media attention that surrounds every Everest season has allowed him the freedom to be more selective about what he does in his own climbing and what guiding he does in a gruelling profession.

 "When I first met my wife Jazz a few years ago she was clever about it and asked me where I saw myself in five, 10 years. I said I wanted to be climbing. When we got to 20 years, she said: 'You'll be crippled by then [by the punishing strain of guiding].'"

 In some respects it is remarkable that Cool has done as much as he has. In 1996, he suffered a serious accident in Snowdonia, shattering the bones in his heels and damaging his ankles, which forced him to take a year out of the sport. He still has metal in his limbs, finds running difficult and struggles, he says, with an awkward gait. Despite that he will run one of the relays with the Olympic torch inLondonon 23 July.

 After his recovery, Cool was recruited as an Everest lead guide after an ascent of a new route on Annapurna III – which saw his team nominated for the Piolet d'Or mountaineering award.

 In an interview last year he recalled reaching the world's highest point for the first time. "The first client was just behind me, so I had five minutes at the top to savour the moment. It was a great sunny day so I sat there trying to pick out all the other nearby mountains. It was a mind-blowing moment."

 This year he will be climbing only with a cameraman to record the ascent with the Olympic medal. "I didn't guide during my ascent last year either. I went up to prove that you could make a 3G call from the summit. With no clients it felt very free. I did the whole round trip in 23 days. It was wonderful."

 As well as Everest, Cool has guided the polar explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes up the north face of the Eiger.

 What has been less easy, he admits, has been taking leave of his wife Jazz and 22-month-old daughter Saffron. "That was very difficult. I think for the wives and girlfriends who stay behind it is much harder. When you are on the mountain you have to be on top of your game to make sure that no one gets injured."

 Two years ago, one of his clients, Bonita Norris, 22, fell close to the summit and lost the feeling in her legs, necessitating a gruelling rescue.

 He is not sure he is finished with Everest yet. Next year marks the 60th anniversary since the first ascent by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, and Cool would like to be involved with that

--

Kenton's Olympic Everest bid will be 'an emotional ride'

Bob Smith, Editor

 Kenton Cool holds Arthur Wakefield's gold medal. Photo: Vitty Robinson

 The British climber who has stood on the world’s highest summit more times than any of his countrymen is setting off on an Everest attempt that will be one his most special ascents.

 Kenton Cool will board a plane this morning forNepal, carrying with him a precious disc of gold that he hopes will be in his pocket when he stands on the summit of the 8,848m (29,029ft) peak.

 If the 38-year-old Gloucestershire-based mountaineer makes it to the top of Everest, not only will it extend his record of ascents to 10, but will also fulfil an Olympic pledge made 88 years ago.

 It will, he says, be an emotional moment.

 The World Mountain Guide will take with him an Olympic medal awarded to Arthur Wakefield, a member of a 1922 expedition which got within a few hundred metres of the top of Everest before turning back.

 We spoke to Kenton Cool as he prepared for the expedition, which he hopes will see the climbing team set off for the summit push some time in May.

“I’m busy frantically trying to pack as we speak,” he said. “I always leave things to the last minute; it seems to work.”

 He explained he and his friend Richard Robinson have been planning this year’s project for two years, ever since Robinson, a childhood friend of Cool’s wife Jazz, came across the pledge made by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt, deputy leader of the 1922 expedition, to Baron Pierre de Coubertin at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix.

 De Coubertin was the founder of the modern Olympic Games and awarded gold medals to all the members of the 1922 expedition at the inaugural winter games.

 Strutt pledged that he would return to Everest and take the medal to the summit – a promise he was unable to keep.

 The gold medal that will be heading toNepalwas handed to Kenton Cool inCanadaby the grandson of Arthur Wakefield.

 Richard Robinson told us this expedition probably means more to Cool than anything else he has accomplished.

 Summitnumber nine came last year. Cool's tenth, if it comes, will be special

“I’d probably agree with that,” the climber said. “Obviously the first time I ever went up there, the last 20 or 30 steps were incredibly special.

 “But we’ve been working on this story for two years. One of the things that got me climbing was reading about the climbers in the 1922 and 1924 Everest expeditions. What these guys did was amazing when you consider the gear they had, the boots the equipment – absolutely incredible.

 “I remember being quite young and thinking wow, that’s so cool; I want to be an adventurer, a climber like that.

“So to have an expedition now that directly honours those guys of 1922 is really important to me – really, really important.”

 The team, which includes a top cameraman, will use the traditional route up Everest.

 Cool said: “I’m going up the standard South-East Ridge, the route that Hillary and Tenzing took in 1953.

 “In the team I’ve got Keith Partridge, who’s the cameraman who did Touching the Void and The Beckoning Silence. He’s going to record it all, which is going to be incredibly exciting.

 “We’ve got a very good friend of mine who’s raising money for St James’s Place Foundation. He’s trying to raise half a million quid.

“And then it’s just my tried and trusted Sherpa friends.

 “There will probably be six of us in our summit push.”

 He said he is grateful to his sponsor Samsung, who also provided support for last year’s Everest expedition, which saw him Tweeting from the summit using a 3G signal for the first time.

 “Samsung have been incredible coming on board to finance the whole thing,” he said. “Everest expeditions are not cheap, but Samsung have done an amazing job of providing me with a platform to do what I want to do.”

 He added: “This is so special, it really is – 2012, the Olympics come toLondon– that’s going to be amazing. Unfortunately, climbing’s not really represented any more but climbing and mountaineering encompassed everything Coubertin wanted in the Olympics.

 “It’s going to be an emotional ride. Fingers crossed, if we do it, it’s going to be a very, very special summit.

 “I think it will be the knowledge that I’ve got a medal in my pocket that was awarded to a very, very special man, Arthur Wakefield. He was a phenomenal person, the one who was perhaps overlooked in that 1922 expedition.

 “If you read anything about Arthur Wakefield he was this amazing character. He was a medic; he did some amazing things on the Western Front in the First World War.

 “To have this medal which was awarded for his efforts and everybody else’s efforts in the 1922 expedition is going to make it incredible.

 “I’m a pretty emotional guy anyway. I’ve been known to burst into tears at the top; it’s all swirling round.

 “Then to have this other story – in my mind, it’s such an important thing. We kind of forget what happened in the past sometimes and it’s going to be a very emotional moment and I can’t even begin to think what it will be like.”

 Cool knows Everest's summit well. Photo: Sotti CC-BY-SA-3.0

As someone who has made it to the summit of Everest nine times, he is familiar with the elation of getting to the roof of the world.

 He said: “When you come over that final little section, I can see it now: you come round a little limestone outcrop, go round it then you just go up a very gentle slope and it plateaus out and it’s then only about 200 yards to the summit and that’s when you know you are going to make it.

 “I think getting there in May this year with medal burning a hole against my thigh, it’s just going to be something quite special.”

 Richard Robinson, whose mountaineering exploits extend only as far as tackling the Three Peaks Challenge, said the team had already had a goodwill message from Michael Palin on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society and he said it is rumoured London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games boss Lord Coe would be quite pleased to receive a phone call from the summit.

The British Mountaineering Council also gave the Olympic Pledge expedition its thumbs-up, saying: “ In doing so we hope the venture will help foster the adventurous spirit in others and inspire them to similar enterprises on Everest and other mountains.”

 It’s a wish Kenton Cool shares. He told us: “My big thing is trying to get people into the outdoors. I’m passionate about the outdoors; I’m a mountain guide and I’m hoping that by getting behind the pledge and participating, we can get the next generation of climbers, mountaineers, hillwalkers out there and climbing their own little hills to start with.

 “Then there will be some new person smashing all my records.”

Kenton Cool: 'passionate about the outdoors'

He joked about his advancing years. “I’m getting quite old,” he said. But there are many mountaineers climbing at ages way beyond his.

 He added: “A guy I’m always massively impressed with is Victor Saunders. He’s now 62 or 63. He guided Everest the year before last and I think he’s going again this year. He’s in his 60s and he’s still capable of going to the top – incredible.”

 He hopes to involve as many people as possible in the effort. “What’s going to be great too is you can pretty much follow it all online. Samsung have done an amazing job and they’re trying to get everyone to participate in it.

 “We’re going to be Tweeting all the way. The Tweets will be coming in thick and fast and there will be fairly regular blogs on the Samsung website and on my own personal website as well.”

 One of the hardest things for him, he said in one of his most recent Tweets, is leaving behind his daughter Saffron.

 Kenton Cool, Keith Partridge and the rest of the expedition members are expected to set off from Base Camp on 14 April and will attempt to supply photos, blogs and Tweets, which will be uploaded to the Samsung site and Cool’s own website.

Start of 7 Summits Club - Everest Expedition Tibet 2012.  Today early in the morning 7 Summits Club Expedition team leader Alexander Abramov arrived on Kathmandu. 7 Summits Adventure Pvt. Ltd. is organizing this expedition. Our expedition team will fly to Lhasa on April 12th.

There are total 25 Members and 19 Climbing Sherpa's in this group.

Denis Saveliev came to Katmandu with Alex. He will be a guide of three pregrams of our Club: Mera Peak, Island Peak and Base Camp Everest trek.

 Information of:  http://7summits-adventure.com

Today the big Himalayan season of the 7 Summits Club begins. In the evening our President Alexander Abramov flies to Nepal. In the first , he will prepare service for members and guides of our international Everest expedition. It will be our 10th time. This year, many well-known personalities will be part of the expedition. This is the famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov. Our great mountain climber Sergey Bogomolov, who will lead a team of Ingushetia. This is the trio of climbers working on the program "Alpari on top of the world." Ludmila Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov will continue the recoed plan "7 summits in 300 days."

Also the guide of 7 Summits Club Denis Saveliev flies today in Kathmandu. He will run consecutively to the three groups, following different routes. First, it will be trekking and climbing the summit of Meru. Then, from April 21, it will be the program Island Peak climb and trek to Everest Base Camp.

It will be also a trek Annapurna Cercuit, which will be led by Olga Rumyantseva. And the big tour to Tibet, with a tour around Kailash (Kora), where the guides will be Dmitry Ermakov and Victor Bobok.