Abramov Alex

The climbing season in Chile for Ojos del Salado 2023 has ended.  This is the highest volcano in South America with a height of 6893 meters, which is part of the project "Seven Volcanoes", ascents of the 7 highest volcanoes of each continent.  Thanks to this project, the mountain is popular and this year about 50 people from Russia rushed to it.

I want to sum up the results of the season of the 7 Summits Club.  In total, 32 participants entrusted their fate to us, of which 30 people reached the top of Ojos del Salado. These are 4 groups with 6 guides.  I want to clarify, they have reached the real top of the mountain. The highest point: 6893m.

Why I am writing about this: recently there has been a fashion not to reach the top of volcanic mountains and, having reached the lowest point of the crater, announce that the group has reached the summit. Like, geographers consider the entire edge of the crater to be the top. This is what has been practiced by many on Ojos del Salado in recent years. After reaching the edge of the crater, which is 150m below the summit, the guides tell the clients that they have climbed  the summit. And the real summit is still the hardest and most dangerous 2 hours of work.

I want to state responsibly: mountain climbers have always called the highest point the summit of the mountain, and before reaching the highest point, you can not say that you have climbed to the summit. This is a deception of yourself and others. I myself climbed the summit of Ojos del Salado only in my 3rd expedition to this mountain. In total, I have more than 10 ascents to Ojos and each ascent is a very tough struggle with myself and nature. And most importantly, with the desire, having reached the edge of the crater and to turn down.

The mountain is deceptively simple due to the fact that the height of 5900 can be reached by car. A very treacherous mountain, on which two weeks of active acclimatization are required. The mistake of many teams and novice guides is underestimating the complexity of this mountain.

Every climber is free to interrupt his ascent at any height.  You can even talk about "conquering" the mountain without reaching the highest point. But from the point of view of the implementation of the project "Seven Volcanoes", there can be no two opinions. Did not reach the highest point – "no credit"! So all those who have not climbed to the real summit of Ojos del Salado this year, we invite you to finish what you started next year.  What do you think? Is it possible, without reaching the highest point of the mountain, to claim that he has ascended to the summit?

The 7 Summits Club invites you this year, 2023, to join an expedition to the Himalayas and climb the highest peak in the World, Mount Everest. If there is an opportunity – you need to go, there is no opportunity - you need to look!  The first reason not to postpone your participation in the attempt to climb Mount Everest is obvious. The world is far from political stability. The softest thing to say.

And if there is still an opportunity to celebrate something, we celebrate! This year Nepal is preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest. What is our benefit? The anniversary will be felt all along the route. And at the end of the expedition to Kathmandu, we will be greeted by a real carnival. There is every reason to assume that in 2024 China will open a route to Mount Everest from the north. And the main expedition of the 7 Summits Club will be conducted from there. If you want to climb Everest in the team of the legendary man Alex Abramov from Nepal, then it is unknown when the next opportunity will be. Probably from 2024 we will be on the north side.

Program and details

The 7 Summits Club continues to invite members for participation in the 2023 Everest expedition!  Alexander Abramov, the permanent leader of all Everest expeditions, will lead our next ascent to the highest peak in the World. Our twenty years of experience, our twenty years of efforts to improve service, to ensure security – everything is at your service! To all those who are ready for this, we invite you to familiarize yourself with our program, with our additional materials and make the right decision.  We advise you not to postpone your attempt to climb to the highest peak in the World, you understand why.  

Everest Climb (8848m) South Side, Nepal. (Full guides and high Sherpa service)

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

The Lucky Ones group almost in full ascended today the highest volcano in the World and the highest mountain of Chile, Ojos del Salado 6864m. At the highest point there were 15 participants and 4 guides, a total of 19 people. It was hard. But we managed. Cold in the morning, windy in the afternoon. We went down at 9 pm.  We arrived at the Base Camp only at 23 o'clock.

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

Today, the team "Lucky Ones" went by car to the highest mountain refuge in the world "Tejas", which is located at an altitude of 5800m on the slopes of Ojos del Salado. And made an acclimatization rotation to 6200m on the slopes of Ojos. Everyone was amazed by the road to Tejas, as it has been difficult to pass lately and only the super drivers of the 7 Summits Club can drive it. The mountain has shown its scale. And this morning, participant Fedor and guide Mario went to storm the summit. Now there is waist-deep snow there, so they took shovels to dig a trench.

Guides Alexander Abramov, Alexander Dorozhukov and Nikita Slotin.

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.

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.

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.

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.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Punta Arenas (Chile):

Our expedition to Antarctica on the Vinson Massif has ended. Of the 12 days, 8 had terrible weather. We fought with the wind, held flying tents, carried loads and took photos with frozen fingers. But the result is excellent, the whole team was standing on top of the highest mountain in Antarctica - Vinson Massif! The whole team rallied like one powerful fist. The team had participants from different countries: India, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Russia. This is a true friendship of peoples. Everyone helped everyone, worried, rejoiced together.  Great team!

As a result, the first Kyrgyz, Kadyr Nurmamatov, stood at the top of the Vinson Massif. And also the oldest Indian who completed the project "Seven Summits" - Sharad Kulkarni. And the second Indian woman who ascended the Vinson Massif is Anvita Padamati. The rest of the participants also climbed to the top, together with two guides Alexander Abramov and Artem Rostovtsev.

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

We arrived at the Base Camp at 6 am. We walked in the shadows. The temperature was around -30C. We walked all night. It was light, but cold.

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

The weather is fine, visibility for a thousand kilometers, a light breeze. The whole team of the 7 Summits Club (at midnight Moscow time) it stands at the top of the Vinson Massif: 2 guides and 8 participants.

Now the team has gone down to the High Camp. And we continue the descent to the base camp. The weather is deteriorating.

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

Hello everybody! Our team is at the High camp. We climbed here in 6 hours, having overcome 700 meters of fixed ropes. There is almost no wind here now. Beautiful weather. We set up tents and found all the equipment that we left last year. Now we have had dinner and are getting ready for bed. Tomorrow at 11 am we plan to start for the summit. For me, this should be the 19th summit of the Vinson Massif in my life. And for our main guide in Antarctica Artem Rostovtsev – the 11th. On December 17th we plan to return to the Base Camp.

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

Yesterday our group had a rest day on Vinson Massif. The wind was blowing hard. Now we are going to the Assault camp (High Camp) with all the things. Tomorrow, according to the plan,  we will go to the summit of the Vinson Massif. Wish us good luck!

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

News from Antarctica from the Vinson-2 group. Today we made an acclimatization rotation  to an altitude of 3500 m.  The shadow comes to the Lower Camp (Low Camp) only at 3 a.m. and the cold period lasts until 10:30, so we had breakfast at 12:00. Then Artem Rostovtsev and Kadyr Nurmamatov started a high-speed ascent to the High Camp at 3800 m to check everything we have there. All the other seven participants and Alex Abramov climbed at their own pace a thousand meters along the railing rope. We took with us to the end of the ropes some equipment and food for the High Camp. Tomorrow we have a day of rest and preparation for the decisive days.

And on December 15th, our plan is to climb to the High Camp already to storm the summit. On the 16th - the summit, the 17th descent and, ideally, a flight to the Union Glacier base. On December 18, we have scheduled a flight to the Mainland.

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

Today our team moved from the Base Camp to the Low Camp in seven hours. The weather has finally improved. We set up tents, had lunch and are now getting ready for bed. Tomorrow, according to the plan, we climb to the end of the fixed ropes for acclimatization. And after that we will be ready to storm the summit.

 Photos from previous expeditions

A message from Antarctica dated December 10. Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, reports:

Today our team observed bad weather at the Vinson Massif base camp. Some of the groups went to the upper camps. But we stayed because the forecast is bad. In the afternoon, Artem and Kadyr ran to the Low Camp camp, checked the depot. The rest of the participants were resting from yesterday's hike. We were playing chess when we suddenly heard a cry that the tent was flying away, one tent was blown away by the wind. We started fighting the squall. Hell. We rushed to sprinkle all the tents with snow for 50-60 cm around with a snow shaft. The wind was getting stronger.  An hour later, all the tents, including the dining room, presented the appearance of snow caves. The strongest hurricane is expected tonight. Then the wind will weaken. And we're going to Low Camp.

The guides of the 7 Summits Club are Alexander Abramov and Artem Rostovtsev.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from the Union Glacier camp in Antarctica:

A message from Antarctica, from the Union Glacier camp. The Vinson-22 team.  Today we got up at 6 am.  At 7 o'clock the team went to the airport, where we were met by a comfortable Boeing. Each passenger here is entitled to 3 seats, a whole row. Therefore, our flight to Antarctica was successful, without any adventures. We flew over the Drake Strait for a long time and then saw through the portholes a snow-white continent surrounded by ice shelves and icebergs. On the edge were the mountains of Alexander Island.

The weather is really clear. Only a strong wind at high altitude. We landed gently, if you can say that about landing on bare ice. The Union Glacier camp was met with comfort and delicious food. Everyone happily began photographing Antarctica. Today they started sending groups to the Vinson Base Camp. We were supposed to take the second flight. We had lunch. The first two groups flew away.  And then they announce to us that today there is a strong wind at Vinson Base Camp and our flight is canceled. So we also had a delicious dinner. We put up our tents. And now we are getting ready for bed. We hope to fly to the mountains tomorrow morning. Guides Alexander Abramov and Artem Rostovtsev.

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

A new style. Now we fly on a Boeing. That it is comfortable to sit. And even sleep. There were also no windows in Ilyushin. And now we will be able to photograph Antarctica and the Vinson Massif from an altitude of 10,000 m.

There are even flight attendants on the plane. They give nuts and show a movie. Amundsen and Scott's time is going away forever.

There will be no Internet for the next 2 weeks. And thank God! But we will send the news. Since the guides have 2 satellite communicators.