Asia - Page 25

The team of the 7 Summits Club, led by Alexander Abramov, overcame the Khumbu icefall and climbed yesterday to Camp 1. The height is 6000 m. The climbers spent a windy night there.

And today they moved to Camp 2 at an altitude of 6500, where they have high-speed Internet and have the opportunity to transmit information and images.

Nastya Kuznetsova, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

 News from Nepal from the Everchess team". Day of acclimatization in Namche Bazaar (3840 m). Today was a busy day! Our task was to acclimatize and see all the beauty around.  We started with the monument to Tenzing Norgay (the first Sherpa to climb Mount Everest with Edmund Hillary) surrounded by panoramas of mountain ranges including Mount Everest. For some team members, their wish to see Mount Everest has already been fulfilled right here.

Then we plunged into the life and history of Sherpas in the museum of the deaf-mute photographer Sonam. The next point was the sun terrace listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest mountain hotel - Everest view hotel (3880 m). We felt lucky, because we were alone in a usually crowded hotel and the view of Mount Everest opened up to us. Thanks for that!

And the most interesting thing was the live music on the piano performed by our youngest participant Peter Minko. It was amazing! Magical music on the background of stunning mountains!

Then lunch in the village of Kumjung, where the main dishes are made from potatoes. And, of course, the Kumjung Tibetan monastery, where, in addition to the yeti scalp, Tibetan books with Buddhist teachings and other relics are also kept. We returned to Namche through the rhododendron forest, the flowers of which are still in buds.

Tomorrow we will move towards the Tengboche Monastery. Everyone really wants to get into the service. Let's see how it will be.

Your guides are Valery Myasoedov, Andrey Berezin, Anastasia Kuznetsova.

The expedition to Dhaulagiri and its leader Lyudmila Korobeshko are in touch. Today we had a rest day. But in the morning - mandatory exercises!

After breakfast, I decided to take a walk with a climb, as now I urgently need to acclimatize. Igor Smirnov acted as my guide around the neighborhood (over the past almost two weeks, they have scouted everything around the base camp). Igor and I climbed 300 meters vertically to the moraine opposite our route. From this point, we had a great view of our entire upcoming route on Dhaulagiri. The section from BC to C1 is broken through by avalanches from time to time. One of them was even captured on video.

The members have a rest in the next few days. And I plan to go out to C1 tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to C2 for acclimatization. That is, from May 4 to May 6. According to the forecast, there will be a slight increase in wind tomorrow, and snow begins on May 5. But I hope to get down to heavy snowfall, which is forecast for almost a week from May 6…

So far, the weather and the conditions of all participants at the Dhaulagiri base camp are excellent.

News from the Koni-yaki group. Today our group woke up in the cozy Rivendell Lodge and enjoyed a delicious breakfast overlooking the majestic Mount Everest. Then we continued our journey, enjoying the views of the highest mountains such as Mount Everest, Lhotse and the beautiful Ama Dablam Mountain. Having reached our cozy lodge for the night, we are now resting and preparing for new adventures tomorrow! Guides Sergey Avtomonov and Daria Goryacheva were with you.

Nastya Kuznetsova: news from Nepal, the Everchess 2024 team or "Your own board".

Greetings from the magical Himalayan valley leading to Everest! It is magical because wishes are fulfilled here and because it is beautiful. I would like to remind you that a team of chess players with a support group is climbing to the Everest base camp in order to take part in the world's first high-altitude chess tournament organized by the Russian Chess Federation.

The team is in good shape and in a good mood! Today our way lay from Phakding to the main city of the valley - the capital of the Sherpas Namche Bazaar (3450 m). We gained about 800 m in height, left at 9.00, arrived around 17. That is, it is clear that they were in no hurry, but with jokes and jokes they smoothly gained altitude.

The chess team wasted no time, the participants played several games "blindly". Along the way, exclamations like E2, G5 were heard every now and then, and when the others decided to clarify what this meant, it turned out that the guys were playing on the move without boards, keeping the whole game in mind. Was it possible? Something incredible! I didn't know until now that it was possible!

According to Andrey Minkov, and according to the results of the Russia - Nepal chess tournament, possible favorites for the upcoming match have already been determined. These are Alexander Ryazantsev, the grandmaster and coach of the Russian national team, and Yuri Kalinichenko, who decided to join the team at the last moment and ascends to the Everest summit with his charming wife Anastasia.

Along the way, we soaked up the beauty of the valley and felt the energy and special atmosphere of the Hillary Bridge, the name of a man revered among climbers.

In the evening we walked through the streets of Namche Bazaar at sunset, after dinner we divided according to interests.

A team of chess players trained their brains, but no longer with chess, a card game with some interesting name.

Another part of the team spent the evening playing dixie and talking about the peculiarities of brain activity depending on the height factor and not only with comments from our participant, Professor of neurology Eduard Yakupov, who runs his blog and helps people with sleep disorders.

Tomorrow is the day of acclimatization and the second night in Namche Bazaar.

Your guides are Valery Myasoedov, Andrey Berezin, Anastasia Kuznetsova.

Greetings from the Koniyaki group from Dibuche!  We are climbing higher and higher, and beautiful views are beginning to open up. The beautiful Ama Dablam accompanied us all the way.

Today we spend the night in another beautiful loggia, eat lard and do not stop admiring the Ama Dablam, which is visible from the window of our dining room.

My mood is great and I feel great too!

The guides Sergey Avtomonov and Daria Goryacheva are in touch.

Alexander Abramov, head of the Everest expedition of the 7 Summits Club, reports from the Base Camp:

The rest of the 7 Summits Club team under the leadership of Alexander Abramov has ended. Today we held classes on the use of oxygen equipment. Live Internet broadcasts were set up the day before.  We had a good rest. The team is going out for a second acclimatization rotation tonight. According to the plan: camps 1-2-3 at an altitude of 7,100 meters. It's getting colder. The weather has deteriorated. Strong winds began to blow. However, no one in the team is coughing yet. It's even strange.

Lyudmila Korobeshko, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

 Greetings from our team from Dhaulagiri Base Camp. I finally managed to get to BC. Despite the ongoing fires around Pokhara, a helicopter dropped me off at BC today, May 2, around 11.30 am. And literally 5 minutes later, my whole team came down here after the second acclimatization rotation.

We celebrated our reunion with a festive lunch. The members have a lot of impressions. The route is very difficult - there are many cracks, seraks, avalanche outflows and objectively dangerous places. And yesterday, a very strong wind of 50-70 km/h rose and visibility dropped to almost zero. In such bad weather, they had to go from 5800 to 6500 and survive a windy night in Camp 2. But the team went through all the tests with honor. We shot a lot of beautiful and interesting videos from the route.

Now we will have a long rest in the BC before the assault. The weather, by the way, is deteriorating. The wind increases, and then snowfall is promised for almost a week. It will be just possible to have a good rest.

All the participants are alive, healthy, washed and full of energy!

Greetings to all from the team from Dhaulagiri from the head of the expedition Lyudmila Korobeshko:

According to our sirdar Makalu Lakpa, our entire team made the climb from C1 (5800) to C2 (6500) today. And spent the night at camp C2. The wind has increased slightly, but tomorrow it is forecast to weaken. All the members are feeling well and tomorrow they are already planning a descent down to the Base Camp (4700).

I am still in Pokhara and I still hope to fly to BC Dhaulagiri every day.

I offered prayers to Shiva so that the children at Dhaulagiri would be well on acclimatization. And for me to finally fly to their Base Camp.

Nastya Kuznetsova, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

Nepal/Lukla, Evechess 2024 team news.

Hello everyone! We had some important news today. First of all, the whole team flew from Kathmandu to Lukla! Two helicopters flew from Kathmandu and took off at 5 and 7 a.m., the other half of the team took off to Lukla from Ramechap and left Kathmandu at 2 a.m.

The team gathered in Lukla and went on the route to the Everest base camp. Today's destination is a great lodge in Phakding on the riverbank, where you can still enjoy a hot shower and heated white sheets. 

Now we are resting and preparing for tomorrow's transfer to the capital of the Sherpas Namche Bazaar (3450 m), where we will spend 2 nights.

Your guides are Valery Myasoedov, Andrey Berezin and Anastasia Kuznetsova.

Phakding / Nepal.

Hello everyone, the Koniyaki team is with you! Today our group started the day with a delicious breakfast in the cozy Namche Bazaar! After that, we went on an acclimatization route to the Everest View Hotel, where we enjoyed a cup of tea while admiring the view of the majestic Everest. Then we immersed ourselves in the cultural heritage by visiting the monastery where the yeti scalp is kept. A delicious lunch at the lodge added energy before returning to Namche Bazaar. Tomorrow we will have new adventures, we will go towards the Everest base camp. The guides of the 7 Summits Club Daria Goryacheva and Sergey Avtomonov were with you!

Nastya Kuznetsova, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

News, Nepal EVECHESS 2024 team

Greetings from exciting Kathmandu!

Today was an amazing day!  In the morning, the rest of the team arrived and immediately after the flight joined a tour of Kathmandu with the incendiary Elena Trishankova. The tour took place in the top places. We started from the royal Durbar Square, where we reviewed all the carvings on temples depicting scenes of the Kama Sutra and not only, received a blessing from the living goddess Kumari.  

At the Swayambunath Monkey Temple, we made a bark around an ancient stupa, admired the views of Kathmandu from the top of the hill and purchased the most sonorous and clear-sounding singing bowls from a local master.

At the Buddhist stupa, Boudinath received a blessing from local monks (its will be useful to us now), found their place in the wheel of samsara, relaxed on the roof with beer and a breeze, went to the tank painting school.

Instead of 4-5 hours, it turned out to be 7! And it could have been even more if it hadn't been for the international chess tournament, in which our team is represented on the Russian side.

The tournament was exciting. All the fans were sweating and rooting for ours. There was a live broadcast. There were 5 rounds, everyone played with everyone. The score is 4:1 in favor of the Nepalese team.

After the match, a welcome dinner was held in the almost throne room. And after dinner, those who did not have enough of the tournament went to play a little more chess. Tomorrow we have a "fly to Lukla" quest and the first day of trekking!

Your guides are Valery Myasoedov, Andrey Berezin, Anastasia Kuznetsova.

Nepal / Kathmandu

Lyudmila Korobeshko, the head of the 7 Summits Club expedition, reports from Nepal:

Greetings from the team from Dhaulagiri and from the head of the expedition Lyudmila Korobeshko!

Our team entered the second rotation this morning. We climbed from BC (4700m) to C1 (5800m) on the slopes of Dhaulagiri, bypassing the icefall. According to our chef Dendy, who stayed in touch with BC, the whole group successfully reached C1 after lunch and stayed there overnight, as planned. Tomorrow we should go even higher in C2 (6500m).

I'm still in Pokhara - I can't fly out in any way. Planes and helicopters do not fly due to poor visibility. Fires are raging around Pokhara, no one is putting them out - today I specially went around the neighborhood to look at the situation…

All namaste! Today, our friendly Koniyaki team had a great walk and went up to Namche Bazaar, the capital of the Sherpas. Our march took about 6 hours. We passed through the famous suspension bridges, which impressed us very much. Upon arrival, a warm shower and white sheets were waiting for us.

Tomorrow we are waiting for the first meeting with Everest, as the plan is to walk to the Everest view hotel.

The guides Sergey Avtomonov and Daria Goryacheva are in touch.

Nastya Kuznetsova, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

  Nepal news, Day 1, April 29th. The EverChess 2024 team. Greetings to all from dusty Kathmandu! Here begins one of the most intriguing expeditions of this season, or maybe of the year, or maybe in general in history. The intrigue is that the Russian Chess Federation, with the support of the 7 Summits Club, is organizing an international chess tournament at an altitude of 5,300 m for the first time in history. It will take place at the Everest base camp, at the camp of the Everest expedition of the 7 Summits Club, where the high-altitude adaptation of the expedition participants is already underway.

The participants of the tournament will have to follow the classic trekking route to the Everest Base Camp in order to have time to adapt and get used to the altitude by the beginning of the tournament. The tournament itself is scheduled for May 8, 2024.

  Part of the group has already arrived and is resting after the flights, we will meet the rest of the participants tomorrow. But that's not all! Tomorrow, in addition to a tour of the ancient beauties of Kathmandu with an amazing guide Elena Trishankova and a welcome dinner, another significant event will take place. It will be a friendly match between the chess players of the Nepal Chess Federation and our chess players from Russia. The President of the Nepal Chess Federation has already come to us today to discuss the details. He wants to take part in the tournament personally!

In the meantime, our team is just going to Kathmandu and all the fun is still ahead!

Your guides are Valery Myasoedov, Andrey Berezin, Anastasia Kuznetsova from Kathmandu, Nepal.

Lyudmila Korobeshko, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

Greetings to all from the team from Dhaulagiri from the head of the expedition - Lyudmila Korobeshko!

I'm still stuck in Pokhara, where I arrived yesterday in the hope that it would be easier to fly from here to BС Dhaulagiri. But fires are raging around Pokhara and there is smog. Helicopters and airplanes do not fly.

I am in touch with the team that is currently in the Base Camp. Yesterday, the members rested and walked around the neighborhood. A Puja consecration ceremony was held at the camp today. Early tomorrow morning, the team under the leadership of Sirdar Lakpa Makalu leaves for the second rotation in the upper camps. According to the plan, tomorrow the climb to C1 (5800), the day after tomorrow - C2 (6500), then another night in C2 and descent down.

Good luck!

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Sergey Avtomonov reports from Nepal:

Greetings from Koniyaki group from Nepal!  We arrived in Lukla today and started our trek. We got up at 4 a.m. to get on the first helicopter. The main team left at dawn. Then we had breakfast, got permits and moved up the beautiful valley towards our lodge. We had lunch and went to the monastery. We go to Namche Bazaar tomorrow.

The 8000 Club guide Viktor Volodin reports from the Everest Base Camp:

I finally had the strength to give information! We, the 8000 Club team, are doing great. We went to 6100, then to the second camp at 6500, spent the night, acclimatized. It wasn't easy, but we coped and today we went down to the base camp, where we were very well received and fed, thanks to Lena Abramova.

 Greetings from the Dhaulagiri Base Camp! Irina Zisman and the Team sends:

And again, greetings to all from the slopes of Dhaulagiri! We made the first rotation at 5700, touched the Mountain. The exit was scheduled for 6.30, everyone lined up as one for the solemn photo of the team. Our Sherpas seemed to be more worried than us, even organized a mini puja before going out. Throwing handfuls of rice, we walked cheerfully to the mountain.

As we moved along the slopes, the fun was replaced by surprise, alertness and, in places, clicked in some places! - how different it is from the Everest, dear to every heart, hung to the centimeter!

The set of 1000 m also made itself felt, the last hours passed in silence, only deep breaths reminded some words not used in decent society.

After 7 hours, the tents finally appeared, fatigue was replaced by the bustle of arranging temporary nests, we discussed the nuances of sensations and conditions, exchanged pills and received a cup of warm sweet water called Black Tea. There was no aperitif at 6.30 pm, the organisms refused everything except painkillers, sleeping bags and soup from the bags.  A windless morning greeted swollen faces with the sun and relative warmth, everyone survived, some even rushed to walk towards the second camp, but they did not walk for long, about 10 minutes.  Hastily pouring into themselves a thick gray soup of positive temperature, they gathered on their way back.

Fragments of fixed ropes were periodically encountered; the ropes cowardly went under the snow and ice. It was especially unpleasant to part with ropes in front of cracks with melted bridges. Here it is necessary to note the heroism of our Sherpas, they just walked and groped for an alternative passage with their feet.

The prospect of beer after the first washing and a delicious lunch on this expedition added coherence and cheerfulness to the team. And after some 3 hours we were at the base camp, surrounded by the care of a Dendy who persistently sent us to wash …

The 8000 Club guide Viktor Volodin reports from the Second Everest Camp:

Good day to all! Today is April 26th and we are at an altitude of 6500, in the Second Camp. As always, we have the best of everything and even at this height there is Internet. And only with us.