Ojos del Salado(6893) - Page 5

The team of the 7 Summits Club "Lucky Ones" under the leadership of Alexander Abramov made an acclimatization ascent on the summit of San Francisco with a height of 6016 m. All 16 participants and three guides reached the highest point. See photos and videos from the ascent…

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Chile:

Today, the team of the 7 Summits Club "Lucky Ones", which is going to climb Ojos del Salado, has climbed on the summit of San Francisco. Height 6016 m. The weather favored us. The whole team, 16 participants and guides, stood at the top. Sergei Bogomolov also ascended to the top. He is now 71 years old. He looks “like a cucumber” and this is his preparation for the summer ascent on K2. Now he has 13 eight-thousanders and he is preparing to complete the project of 14 eight-thousanders. And become the first in Russia.  As soon as we went down, it started snowing. Tomorrow is a day of rest. The most pleasant thing that can be found in the mountains.

Director of the 7 Summits Club Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Chile:

January 8. Greetings to all from Atacama, from Chile! Our Papas Bravas group relocated today to Laguna Verde, 4300. On the way, we finally saw the purpose of our trip - the volcano Ojos del Salado, covered with snow. On the way, we visited the unique Lama River, which flows in the desert and has a thermal origin.

We set up camp in a secret place - near our large group. The most difficult thing was to set up a tent-toilet: it was carried away three times until we could fix it. Before dinner, we drove to the hot springs and soaked in the thermal baths.  And for dinner, Abramov's group descended to the camp, after climbing  the six-thousandth San Francisco. We congratulated them.  Tomorrow we are going to acclimatize to Mulas Muertas. If we get up early, then in the morning we go to the hot springs to drink a cup of coffee in a hot bath…

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Chile:

News of the "Lucky Ones" team from the expedition to Ojos del Salado. Today our team drove to the San Francisco Pass. It is a great place for acclimatization and generally iconic. This is the border of Chile and Argentina. We even drove 10 km to the territory of Argentina, to the border guards post. Beauty! Then we visited the abandoned town of gold diggers. Tomorrow we plan to climb to the top of San Francisco 6150m. The weather is good.  And most importantly, we stopped at the Laguna Verde hot springs and washed in hot water there.

Director of the 7 Summits Club Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Chile:

January 7. Greetings to all from Chile from Atacama from the group Papas Bravas (Brave Potatoes)! Today we made the first acclimatization ascent of almost 5000 meters - on the top of Seven Brothers Peak. The ascent took place in conditions of strong wind and at times a salt storm. But everything ended well. We reached the top and went down to our camp to the Pink Lake (Laguna Rosa) with flamingos, where a chic dinner from our chef Carolina was waiting for us. We are resting now. Tomorrow we will move to the Verde Lagoon and hot springs.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Chile:

 News of the "Lucky Ones" team from Ojos Del Salado. After leaving Laguna Santa Rosa, our team rushed to our comfortable Laguna Verde camp. On the way we met waterfalls, snowfalls, and one car stopped right in the middle of the road. The whole team pushed this car for 30 kilometers. When we arrived at the camp, it started snowing. And the wind. But the views are colossal. Tomorrow we have acclimatization – ascent to the San Francisco pass with a height of 5000 m.

The team is fun. Everyone is happy. And most importantly. We bought an Internet Star Link, from Elon Musk. The Internet gives surprisingly good speed. The whole team can send videos at the same time.

Group guides: Alexander Abramov, Alexander Dorojukov, Nikita Slotin.

Director of the 7 Summits Club Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Chile:

January 6th. Greetings from Chile from Laguna Rosa from the Papas Bravas team, bravo going to the highest volcano in the World - Ojos del Salado.  Today our team left civilization (the hotel in Baia Ingles) and made a brave move to the Pink Lake (Laguna Rosa) at an altitude of 3800, overcoming the pass of 4400m. We managed to see flamingos in the sunset rays and the rising of the full moon over the Atacama volcanoes. Tomorrow we will climb the volcano 7 Brothers (4700m).

Director of the 7 Summits Club Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Chile:

Hello from Chile from the recently arrived Pizka de Pudahuel group! The name is inspired by the inscriptions at Santiago Airport. Our group, which has already passed through Kilimanjaro, Orizaba, Demavent and Elbrus, arrived in Atacama to go to the highest volcano in the world: Ojos del Salado. According to an ancient Chilean tradition, we try live scallops with champagne, then we try fried octopus and ceviche with Pisco. Thus, the program of the first day of acclimatization was completed. Tomorrow we pack up and go to the heart of the Atacama! In the morning - jogging and exercise, as usual!

The president of the 7 Summits Club, Alexander Abramov, reports from Chile:

Today there was a beautiful day. We climbed to the top of the Peak of Seven Brothers, 4800 meters high. The whole team feels very well and acclimatizes perfectly. We’re watching flamingos and guanacos. Weather: rain, sometimes snow. Tomorrow we move to Laguna Verde. We hope the weather will improve.

Director of the 7 Summits Club Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Chile:

January 3. All salute from Chile!  Some more news from Abramov's group. This morning another member of the expedition arrived. She is a well-known blogger and an aspiring mountaineer (participant of a recent expedition to Manaslu). At noon, a cavalcade of five SUVs set off from the Chilean resort town of Baia Ingles to the Atacama Desert to meet adventures! The group managed to make friends during yesterday's day spent tasting Chilean delicacies and wines.

Abramov, Dorojukov, Bogomolov and two places in turn for those who want to (with good driving experience) set off today behind the wheel of SUVs. Nikita Slotin meets two more participants tomorrow and they immediately go to catch up with their group.

And I'm meeting my participants tomorrow. Our departure to Atacama is scheduled for January 6th.

 P.S. - what will happen to the connection in Atacama is still unclear. There is no connection in the desert, but Abramov bought some Starlink from Elon Musk. Let's see if it will work in Atacama....

Director of the 7 Summits Club Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Chile:

Salute to all from Chile! Today, a large group led by Alexander Abramov and supported by Alexander Dorojukov and Nikita Slotin finally arrived in Atacama and gathered at the festive table. Alex Abramov solemnly announced the official start of the expedition. Then the legendary Russian climber Sergey Bogomolov took the floor. He climbed 13 out of 14 eight-thousand meters and in the summer of 2023 he plans to climb K2 as part of the team of the 7 Summits Club, which he left to complete the project of 14 eight-thousand meters.

Sergey told many interesting stories from his rich mountaineering life - about joint ascents with Anatoly Bukreev, about Bashkirov's tragic death on Lhotse, about several of his attempts on K2 from different sides. Everyone listened with their mouths open. As a result, we decided that we would help Sergey Bogomolov to publish a book about his ascents.

Today we devoted the day to protein saturation - we ate live scallops with fried octopus.  And tomorrow - departure to Atacama. Everyone is looking forward to it!

Nikita Slotin, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Chile: Greetings to all from Chile from the Black Caps group!  Today we have made the second attempt to climb the highest volcano in the world! But a good forecast wasn't enough and everything didn't go according to plan... We left at 22:00 for the shelter Tejos, spent as much as 4 hours because of the deep snow. Only 2:00 a.m. we went out to storm! Everything went well at first. But we had to interrupt the ascent at an altitude of 6400 meters. At this point, another group caused an avalanche. We realized that the way ahead was dangerous. There are no casualties, the avalanche passed us by! After that, we decided to go down, the mountain did not let us in again, but it taught us a lot! Now we are going to the ocean shore to rest from the snow. The participants are happy to finally return to civilization.

Nikita Slotin, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Chile: Hello to everyone from the Black caps group! We are in the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert! Although, judging by the snow on the mountain, you can't say that! A few days ago we settled in the Laguna Verde camp, conducted acclimatization rotation and went out to storm tonight! None of us expected knee-deep snow! For 12 hours we walked through deep and crumbly snow and at an altitude of 6400, the harsh conditions forced us to turn back... There is more and more snow on the mountain every day! Today we are resting, and continue to enjoy the views of the desert.

Message from a guide of the 7 Summits Club Nikita Slotin, Chile, Ojos del Salado: The Black caps team has climbed to a height of 6100, acclimatization is going according to plan. A day of rest is planned tomorrow. On the night from Thursday to Friday, the group plans to storm the summit. Everything is fine, the participants feel good.

Nikita Slotin, a guide of the 7 Summits Club from Chile: Hello to everyone from Laguna Rosa from the “Black caps” group! Today we climbed to acclimatize to a height of 4650, almost as Pastukhov rocks, only without snow and ice. We could admire the views from a height. Now we are preparing to move to the hot springs. By the way, today we saw the guanaco for the first time! Now we are frying American steaks and admiring the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. And we are also catching the Internet, because from tomorrow it will not be, finally! Guide Nikita Slotin.

Nikita Slotin, a guide of the 7 Summits Club from Chile: The first day! We are finally in Chile! We got by hook or by crook to Bahia Inglesa on the Pacific coast. Today we are resting, looking at the surroundings, enjoying the noise of the ocean. Tomorrow we leave for Laguna Santa Rosa.

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Chile, by audio message:

Hello! This is Chile, Atacama, Laguna Verde, Artem Rostovtsev with yesterday's news. The six of us climbed on the top of the Ojos del Salado volcano. It was cold, windy, snowy, and difficult. But we did it! Congratulations to all of us, and please be happy for us! The most important thing that I forgot to report in the previous news: our team is called "High-altitude Gourmets". We try to restrain ourselves in terms of food. But that's not possible. As our chef Lena cooks, it is impossible to resist. Once again, I report: the expedition is completed successfully, we have reached the top. Today we are getting out into civilization.

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Chile, audio message: Hello, Seven Summits Club! This is Artem Rostovtsev, from the expedition on Ojos del Salado, the third this season. We haven't been in touch for a few days, so I'll quickly tell you what happened. Everything went smoothly and according to plan. We moved to Laguna Verde.  Then we climbed San Francisco volcano, by the whole group. Yesterday, we went up to the Tejos refuge, and then went for a walk on the 6400. And already we have all the acclimatization rotation exits ended. There are two days left to rest, even a little less, before our most important, decisive climb on the top of Ojos del Salado. Every members feel great, the weather is favorable for us. So we hope that I will return to you again in two days with good news. Artem Rostovtsev, Atacama desert, Chile, Ojos del Salado expedition.

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Chile:

Greetings from Atacama! The group of climbers on Ojos del Salado continues its upward movement towards the intended goal. Today we walked along the slopes of the Сopiapo volcano, and in the meantime reached a new level -  a height of 5300m. Thus, we acclimatize. The wind has subsided slightly, the weather can be called good.

Artem Rostovtsev, the 7 Summits Club guide from Chile:

The third expedition on Ojos del Salado of the 7 Summits Club has started. With all these quarantines, frightening weather forecasts and flight postponements, we got off to an active start. The team members took a quick look at the ocean and immediately drove to the Santa Rosa lagoon, to our favorite flamingos. We have already spent the night here, at an altitude of 3780 meters, quite calm. Thus, we begin to acclimatize to higher altitudes.