"7 Summits + 2 Poles" project news

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

Greetings to all from the group "Touching Everest"! It is all over, almost, except for a small nuance – the participants are waiting for a helicopter to fly to Kathmandu. And the helicopter is waiting for good weather, and the weather is not promised today. Yesterday we descended from the second high-altitude camp to the base camp without much difficulty. The burning sun and accumulated fatigue made it a little difficult to enjoy a walk along the majestic. And today all people are already at a low start towards big cities. Except for the guide, who goes up again at night.

The main team of the 7 Summits Everest-22 Club climbed to Camp-1. The second acclimatization rotation has begun.

Olga Rumyantseva: Today we got up at two o'clock in the morning and again climbed into the first camp through the Khumbu icefall. Well, what? We did it. But for a while there was such a terrible heat that everyone swam. Therefore, the second icefall cross turned out to be physically not easier, but even more difficult. Tomorrow we will go to the second camp.

Some photos from Mingma Gelu

 Andrey Berezin, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, from the Elbrus region:

News of Elbrus!  “Kaliningrad-Kamchatka” Group continues acclimatization on Elbrus. Today, according to the plan, we had an ascent to the Pastukhov Rocks.  May Elbrus is harsh, and the weather was unfavorable, so we did not reach the goal, but only up to an altitude of 4400 meters. There, to consolidate high-altitude acclimatization, we spent about an hour drinking tea, eating sweets, taking pictures and baiting stories.  Tomorrow we have a day of rest and preparation for the ascent.  Guides Berezin & Semenov.

Andrey Berezin, guide of the 7 Summits Club, from the Elbrus region:

News of the Elbrus region.  The first of new season group of the 7 Summits Club has started active acclimatization on the slopes of Cheget.  Today we went up to the Ai cafe. Snow gradually melts from the slopes of Cheget, but in places the trail passes through snowfields.  In the afternoon we visited the rental, where we got the necessary equipment.  Now we are preparing for tomorrow's exit.  Tomorrow we will move to the shelter National Park, altitude 3900 m. There we will continue acclimatization and preparation for the ascent.

Olga Rumyantseva works as a mountain guide in 7 Summits Club. However, in this expedition she is just a participant. After the first acclimatization rotation, she sent a large report, available in Russian. And 46 photos have been added to the report – a complete description of the Khumbu icefall in its current state.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Late yesterday, until 12 o'clock at night, our team was returning from camp 2 6400m to the Base Camp. Therefore, it was not possible to congratulate on May 1 and send a report. All well done, everyone got to the place. It was snowing all day and even photos were difficult to take. Today, May 2, we wash, sleep, go for a massage. We eat the best mutton in BC from our Chef. By the way, a Russian guy named Sergey woke me up in the morning. He bought my book "The Height-Altitude Gene". And he brought it to the Base Camp, asked me to sign it. Such are our events.

We are resting until May 5th. Early on May 5, into battle again, with the aim of climbing to Camp 7300m.

Olga Rumyantseva, a member of the expedition: The Everest-22 team descended from Camp 2 at an altitude of 6500 to the base camp. And again we passed through the Khumbu icefall. For the next three days, we will all rest and sleep off. Well, I will have time to tell detailed stories just in these three days.

You asked if there is snow in the base camp. Compare with the photos of the days when we just arrived with today.

We came to Camp Two at an altitude of 6450 meters. Compared to yesterday, it is an easy walk along the plane and a gradual climb. But the height makes itself felt.

We have a very limited amount of Internet. Therefore, I will not abuse it. And for your patience, here is our beautiful morning view of the Everest - Lhotse traverse from the first camp.

 View of the second camp. Well, as experts suggest, this is the Valley of Silence.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

News of the Everest 2022 expedition. Today our team held ice training sessions. All participants learned a lot of new things. How to walk with jumar. What is means of self-arrest and most importantly, how to walk up the stairs over crevasses. And there are a lot of crevsses on the Khumbu icefall this year. Many thanks to our team of Sherpas who prepared the traces and controlled the process!  Tonight we are going out for the overnight to Camp 1 6000m and then we will go up to camp 2 6400m and come back. This will be the first acclimatization rotation.

 Let me, after all, fulfill my promise and start talking about how our camp is organized.

Here it is. Or rather, ours – it is in the right part of the frame, outlined by yellow tents.

That is, light green. The participants of the expedition live in them - a slender row of 12 tents, guides and superiors - a row of smaller tents.

Of course, everyone is interested to know how it is inside.  It's nice inside. These are two-layer insulated tents. Each tent is for one person. A small dressing room with hooks for clothes and hanging shelves.

And the main, insulated room, where there is a folding bed, mattress, blanket, pillow, small table.

The pillow, however, is so high that it is impossible to sleep on it.

Electricity is installed in the tent.

From a solar battery - very weak, but enough to keep the light on and it was possible to charge, for example, a powerbank through the USB connector.

There is also an extension 220. It is powered by a generator that is turned on from 17 to 22.

But it hasn't been working in my room for the second day. They promise to fix it. But not yet.

Hurray! The electricity was fixed for me.

But you can also charge electrical appliances in the dining salon, where there are several tables, an inflatable sofa, there are a bunch of extension cords and besides, it is heating.

There are also various board games and one paper book "Anna Karenina".

The dining salon is connected to the bar. In the bar, as usual, they pour. There is also a hair dryer, as it turned out today. Which is very valuable.

In the general photos, these are two hemispheres standing side by side.

Moving on. The long purple is the kitchen. Here the chef from La Sherpa restaurant makes wonders.

I'll tell you more about them later.

 On the contrary, there are utility rooms in an orange large tent. And in the largest, white hemisphere there is a dining room.  That is, a restaurant with a panoramic view of the glacier.

There are two washbasins next to the dining room. There is soap, antiseptic, paper towels.

In the mornings and evenings, warm water is poured there. So it's very comfortable to wash. But liquid soap is mostly frozen.

Well, since we are talking about washing, here is our washing room for you. It is located in a large orange tent. There is a dressing room where you can undress and a room where there are huge pots of hot water on the gas. There are also barrels of cold water.

The technology is simple: a basin, a ladle, mix water and wash. The main thing is, taking hot water, do not forget to add cold water to the pan so that it warms up for others.

There is also a portable shower where you need to pour water, but for me it's somehow easier with a basin.

The water is not constantly heated. They turn it on after breakfast and turn it off somewhere in two or three hours, when it gets cold and it won't work to wash without risking getting sick.

We have another big orange tent of the same size. It is a massage room. Well,  inside the masseur lives by himself. While the sun is shining outside, as in all other tents, it is warm. As soon as the sun disappears, it becomes noticeably cool and it is better not to go for a massage.

And so the massage is wonderful.

Here, by the way, is our masseur. He has lived all his life in Kathmandu, he has never been to the mountains. This is his first high-altitude experience.

To acclimatize, he went trekking with us from Lukla and said that the higher the mountains, the more they admire him.

There is also a tent where the doctor lives. His medical office is also there. Fortunately, I haven't been inside yet.

Well, everyone, as usual, is interested in what's going on with the toilet.

You probably noticed several purple houses of a characteristic shape. That's what they are.

And inside it looks like this. Considering where we are, it's just gorgeous.

 That's all, actually.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today was the opening day of the camp – Puja ceremony. The entire team of participants and Sherpas gathered in the center of our camp. There a monk was reading a prayer.

It started snowing. But we persisted in praying.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today, the team of the 7 Summits Club "Everest-2022" reached the Base Camp, where they were met by a team of Sherpas.  First of all, the participants went to the bar, the traditional resting place of the team members. And then the participants were waiting for a great dinner from the chef.  Tomorrow there will be a celebration of the opening of the camp – Puja.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

 Today Alex Abramov and Elena Abramova reached the base camp, where we were met by our Super-Sherpas. And the Super Chef of La Sherpa restaurant.I still didn't understand how he can cook dishes of real Haute cuisine from ordinary chicken and ordinary pork.

Also, on the way, a historic meeting with the famous French climber, 70-year-old Marc Batard, took place in Gorakshep. He is making a new path to Everest, bypassing the Khumbu icefall. An exchange of views on this issue took place.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

The Everest-2022 team has successfully arrived in Lobuche 5030m.  On the way we visited the memorial to the lost climbers. There are also our friends there. Tomorrow Alex Abramov and Lena Abramova will go to the Base Camp to check its readiness. And the day after tomorrow the whole team arrives there. The weather is clear but windy.

Base camp

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Our team is confidently moving towards the Everest Base Camp. Today we are spending the night in Periche. The whole team has already become friends. We go, have fun, admire the views. We went to the Monastery of Tiangboche. Caught the service, left the money.  Everything is according to plan. Trekking to the Base Camp is the best part of our Everest expedition. This is the time to get a good acclimatization and make friends with the team.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

There are many women in our 7 Summits Club team. But the most famous of them is Lhakpa Sherpa. She already has a world record among women: 9 ascents on Mount Everest. Now she has come with an American film crew to set a new World record for women: 10 times on Everest.

At five in the morning, very sleepy, we arrived at the airport. And flew to Lukla.

Everything turned out somehow quickly.  The hotel, the airport, the first flight was ours. We hand over our things and immediately go to the plane. A small plane for 15 people. Forty minutes of flight among the mountains, and now we are landing at Lukla airport. 

A short runway in one direction breaks off into an abyss, in the other - rests on the slope.  Very impressive.  Airplanes take off and land one after the other like fixed-route taxis. It is necessary to have time to make as many flights as possible before the weather deteriorates.

 Lukla Airport is considered one of the most dangerous. Takeoff and landing here require considerable skill.

 In Lukla we have breakfast and set out on our way. Today we are waiting for a short walk to Phading. Four hours of a simple walk.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today, the first part of the Everest-2022 team arrived in Kathmandu. We checked into the Hyatt Hotel. The members are resting from a long flight.

In April, make yourself or your friends a gift! This spring month, the book of the President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov is published in the Bombora publishing house, "The High Altitude Gene. The frank story of a ten-time climber of Mount Everest." The preliminary release date of the book from the printing house is April 15, 2022. 

The book is published in the series "The World of adrenaline. Books about extreme sports". Section: Traveler's Notes.

Abramov Alexander: The High Altitudet Gene. The frank story of a ten-time Everest climber"

Alexander Abramov - Master of Sports of the USSR, founder of the 7 summits Club, one of the most famous climbers in the world and the first Russian climber who twice completed the Seven summits program!

In 2015-2016, Alexander led an expedition to Everest and took part in the filming of Valdis Pelsh's film "High Altitude Gene, or How to get on Everest", in which he and his team showed the whole process of climbing to the main peak of the world.

 Here is an exciting biography, which consists of five amazing parts, in each of the chapters the author tells about his journey from the very beginning - from initiation into mountaineers and conquering Elbrus by car to the race for the leadership with Fyodor Konyukhov and creating the strongest team in the field of extreme climbing!

Annotation

Biography of Alexander Abramov — one the most famous climber in Russia, who twice completed the "Seven Summits" program and made about 500 ascents of varying difficulty in dozens of countries, including 10 ascents on Mount Everest.

Quotes

The climbers were always ready to help each other. You come to someone, say: guys, the food is over – I didn't calculate, the burner broke or something else happened - they will definitely help you – I didn't even think that it could be otherwise ...

The mountain can punish for carelessness, overestimation of their own strength or an incorrect assessment of the situation.

In general, you need to go to Everest only if you have realized for yourself that this ascent is more important to you than your life itself. A person should clearly understand for himself: there is a very high risk of not going down on Everest.

Alexey Lonchinsky, guide of the 7 Summits Club, from the Elbrus region:

Yesterday we went up to the camp 3900, settled in trailers.  After lunch, we discussed the topic of avalanche formation and plans for the future. This morning there were training sessions with climbing and descending  with ropes.  In the afternoon (the wind had died down, the sun was shining) everyone went for a walk together, were able to climb to the top of the Pastukhov Rocks and descended to the base as quickly as possible. Just in time, we managed to get there before dark and the rising fog, the wind also began to blow and, moreover, it was getting stronger by the minute. There will be no good weather for tomorrow (and the next two). As promised, there will be a strong wind...  In the morning we will descend into civilization. The group continues to work on the program "Training courses for Everest, Denali and Vinson".