Rostovtsev Artem

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Chile (message from 14.01.2021):

Hello, the Seven Summits Club! In touch with Chile, Atacama, Ojos del Salado volcano, summit. We are now direct on the summit, starting the descent. Today we started at midnight. 8 people reached the top. Tomorrow we will write more details. Yesterday's day of rest went well, today's ascent is also excellent. Greetings from the top of Ojos del Salado!

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Chile: News from the expedition on Ojos del Salado in. Today there was an important day of our acclimatization. We climbed the San Francisco volcano, 6016 meters above sea level. 9 people reached the top. Thus, we have earned a quality rest tomorrow. And also the group pleased the guide on his birthday!

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

Hello to everyone from almost the driest place on Earth - the Atacama Desert! The 7 Summits Club has started the season of climbing the highest volcano - Ojos del Salado. With a little difficulty due to regular border closures and flight postponements, we finally got together as the first group. We started from the ocean. And now all together, as a group, we are in the Santa Rosa Lagoon – this is our place of "quarantine" for the next few days. We spend the night here. We acclimatize on the nearest peaks. Today we started from the Mount of Seven Brothers. A strong wind literally laid us on the slope 100 meters from the top, but we had enough. We went down, ate our fill, and worked on.

A 7 Summits Guide guide Artem Rostovtsev:  The group climbed to the top without fuss, but quickly. Unfortunately, not in full force, but there were objective reasons for this. We are already going down to the long-awaited green Baksan valley, where we will loudly say the previously forbidden in our group word: "CHACHA"! (Georgian authentic strong drink, a clear and strong, 40-65%).

Today, a group with a guide Artem Rostovtsev went up to the refuge “National Park” and went to the slopes of Elbrus. On the next cycle of acclimatization rotation they went up to the Leaprus refuge. In this group, the famous Kazakh mountaineer Maksut Zhumayev also works as a personal guide for one of the members. The second group led by the chief guide of the 7 Summits Clubs on Elbrus Club Andrey Berezin started its program a day later. They spent the first day on the slopes of Mount Cheget.

Artem Rostovtsev,  the 7 Summit Club guide:

The 7 Summits Club group successfully used the half-day weather window on Mount Belukha yesterday. To make it in time, we decided to start to the summit (4509 m) not from the assault camp, but from the Tomsky camps (3000 m). The plan was the only right one. We have successfully climbed and have already successfully descended.

Artyom Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club: Hello from our team, while still from the mountain! Now we are heading down. Today, despite daily rainfall, in fine weather  we climbed to the summit  of Mount Kilimanjaro. Everything is according to plan - we met dawn on the border of the crater. With our local friends at the top, we recorded congratulations on March 8, and hurried down. Now we again come to life in the rain at Camp Millennium (3800m). Tomorrow we go down completely.

And of course, congratulations on the holiday of spring for our lovely ladies from the top of Kilimanjaro from our local team! Enjoy it!

March 7th. There is one road from Baranco camp to the top, but you can choose options. Go immediately to the Barafu assault camp or with an intermediate overnight in Karanga camp. We are following the second option. It’s more reliable and more likely to reach the top. And the beginning of both paths is the wall of Baranko, for some reason everyone is scared before, and "difficult - good" after. We passed. We reached the Karanga camp with the slogan“main thing is not to get tired”, and before the rain.

March 8th. The group climbed to Barafu camp. We have everything according to plan, at night the team goes to the top, we plan to be at the highest point by dawn. That's just the weather is rainy. But precipitation does not affect our progress in any way.

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club: Hi 7 Summits! Last evening and night there was some unusually windy and rainy weather.  It pour a lot, blew hard. In the morning, all calmed down. We go according the plan further, we had lunch near the Lava Tower. And we hope that during the night everything is blown out and spilled out, and there will no longer be bad weather. We climbed the Lava Tower, had lunch, and already went down to the Baranco camp. As before, we eat well, sleep, and gently acclimatize.

Artem Rostovtsev,  the 7 Summit Club guide: Greetings from Mount Kilimanjaro from the Shira camp! Yesterday we reached the camp of Machame, rising at a pleasant, not fast pace - without crowds of climbers and without rain. Both last points surprised. Today, according to the same surprisingly comfortable program, we moved higher to the next camp, 3800m. We gently acclimatize, eat well and walk.

Hi, 7 Summits! The next expedition to the summit of Kilimanjaro begins. We are following our favorite route of Machame. On the eve, some kind of tremendous amount of precipitation fell, even a little washed out roads. And today is the sun. And the forecast for the coming days is rather optimistic, which is what we hope for. Hakuna matata!

And the other day we ran the Kilimanjaro marathon (someone half marathon), which traditionally takes place on the last Sunday of February.

Group of the 7 Summits Club successfully completed the climbing program on Kilimanjaro. Everyone went down, everything is in order. See the final portion of the climbing photos.

Entry in the diary of Artyom Rostovtsev, the group’s guide: For a week I went to work on the slopes of the mountain, it was cold and snowy at the top, a little tired. Tomorrow I will rest in the hot Kilimanjaro marathon.

Artem Rostovtsev, the group guide:  Hi, 7 Summits, from the climbers of Kilimanjaro! Today the weather was atypical. We even suspected a blizzard of it. 12 of 13 members of our team climbed in difficult conditions on the highest point of Kilimanjaro - Uhuru peak. We started climbing by the whole team, but, unfortunately, not everyone reached the mountain. Feeling weak, one woman decided to turn around at an altitude of 5550 meters. Now we have already started the descent from the assault camp, all with our own feet. Fatigue of course, but the joy of a fulfilled dream gives strength.

Sunny greetings for everyone!

Artyom Rostovtsev, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club o from Tanzania: Hello, 7 Summits! Kilimanjaro in touch. It turns out that our group has no name. Today we will definitely come up with it. Otherwise, everything goes according to plan.

Today our path ran through lunch on the Lava Tower, we had to get 850 meters. And then a picturesque descent led us to the camp of Baranco. Everyone feels well. From tomorrow, we go only up.

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Tanzania: Warm greetings from the slopes of Kilimanjaro!

Today, our large and fun group starts climbing Kilimanjaro on the Machame route. It's hot down the valley, which we're not used.  We hope that it will be cooler on the route, which is better for us. So we'll go up.

In January 2020, Vladimir Karakash-Solodovnikov reached the South Pole on skis. He traveled the ice of Antarctica under the program “Last Degree” of the 7 Summits Club as part of the ALE team. Thanks for the wonderful photos!

Greetings from the southern branch of the 7 Summits Club! We have finally left the most unpopulated continent. The climbing season of the 7 Summits Club in Antarctica ended successfully. Three successful expeditions to the highest point of the white continent!  All members used their not-so-easy chance to stand on top of Vinson Massif. And someone managed to stand on the highest volcano of the continent – Mount Sidley. The weather was very diverse. But somehow, in all three expeditions, the ascent plan was not frustrated and we had reached the top in the most favorable conditions. The most difficult moment was the evacuation in stormy weather down from the assault camp after one of the successful visits to the summit (the weather tried to leave us there for several days) and the next 8 days of waiting for departure from the base camp Vinson.  

The other day it will be the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the Antarctic continent by Russian researchers. We dedicated our summit climb to this date.

Well, now drying, fixing, packing of equipment and closing our southern branch until next season.

Warm greetings from the shore of the Strait of Magellan!

Artyom Rostovtsev.

Message from Oleg Mezentsev from Sidley Volcano:

I was on summit! Everything is fine, we went down to High Camp, today we spend the night here.

The Basler plane is waiting for the group below, so the climbers must catch the Union Glacier before the last scheduled plane leaves for the mainland. It should take place on January 20. On it, Artyom Rostovtsev should fly to Punta Arenas with a third our group of climbers on Vinson.

Photo by Andrew Hughes from James Stone's blog

Oleg with Nims in Moscow

Hi Seven Summits! This is Artyom Rostovtsev. My team and I are located about 17 thousand kilometers from Moscow. The place is called Union Glacier. Yesterday morning, we successfully escaped from the Massif Vinson assault camp ... we walked a very long time and then quickly flew away. It was a very busy day. Everything turned out fine, we returned to the Union Glacier. We can consider our ascent completed and successful!

Yesterday was a crazy day and  we forgot to congratulate the President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov on his birthday.

 Alex! Happy Birthday!

 And also our good cook Pato joins, which was with us on Everest:

 Alex! Happy Birthday!

Message from Oleg Mezentsev from Sidley Volcano:

Hello from Antarctica! I report: we are in Low Camp, in the morning we plan to climb the summit. Wish us good luck!

The ALE team arrived in the Sidley Volcano area on Monday, January 13th. However, weather conditions did not allow to begin  climbing in the first three days.

ALE Team on Sidley (James Stone's blog post)

 David Roskelley (USA) *

Vaughan de la Harpe (South Africa) *

Andrew Hughes (USA)

Arthur Marsden (South Africa) *

Oleg Mezentsev (Russia) *

Donald O’Connor (South Africa)

Roxanne Vogel (USA)

Rob Williams (South Africa)

Andy Chapman (UK - ALE guide)

Josh Hoeschen (USA - ALE guide)

* - those who, if successful, complete the Seven Volcanoes program.

Andrew Hughes, Roxanne Vogel and Oleg Mezentsev climbed Vinson before flying to Sidley.

Oleg Mezentsev in Punta Arenas