Korobeshko Luda

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!

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!

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

Saludos desde Chile!  Greetings to all from Chile from the super-guides of the 7 Summits Club! Since January 1, a team of guides has gathered here in the area of the Atacama Desert to prepare for the season of expeditions to Ojos del Salado. For two days our team made purchases, checked equipment, prepared jeeps. Today, the first large group arrives in Copiapo in the morning. We're going to meet her. The adventure begins!

Super guides of the 7 Summits Club - Alex Abramov, Lucy Korobeshko, Sasha Dorojukov, Nikita Slotin, Elena Abramova.

Greetings from Peru from Alex Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko! And happy New Year!

Yesterday we climbed the summit of the Chachani volcano (6057m). We came to the Base Camp at 4900 in the midst of a snowstorm. But by 2 a.m. the snowfall stopped. At 3.40 we went out under the light of the southern constellations to storm and by 8 a.m. we climbed to the top of Chachani. The ascent is simple, it goes without ropes and without crampons. Similar to Ojos, but simpler. The peaks offer a view of the beautiful Chachani crater and the neighboring peaks – El Misti is very close and the active volcanoes Ampato and Sabankaya in the distance.

At noon we had already fed the foxes, looked at the herds of vikunias and flocks of wild mountain rabbits, and two hours later we rested in the spa of the hotel in Arequipa. So, a great route through Peru is ready. We're planning a group in May. Happy New Year to everyone once again! Peace, happiness and new adventures to all!

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

Greetings from Peru from Alexander Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko! Our exploration of the new program in Southern Peru continues! Yesterday we climbed a five-thousand-meter peak near Ausangate, not far from the Rainbow Mountains.  The area is beautiful - there are a lot of colorful lakes along the way (there are “7 Lakes trek” here, but in reality there are much more lakes), sharp snow-capped summits rise around.

The peak of Maria  with a height of 5500 is a simple to climb, but very beautiful. From the camp at 4500, the first 2-3 hours are a simple but extremely picturesque trek, then another 1.5-2 hours with crampons on a glacier with closed crevasses and the last pre-summit steep snow-ice slope. You go out on the top carefully (there are overhanging cornices) and are stunned by the beauty that opens up!

A couple of hours down - and you are greeted with lunch (in Peru, good service in the mountains - and tents are set up and a whole dining room is organized even for a small group), a couple more hours past the most beautiful lakes down - and you jump into hot springs, soak and restore muscles tired after a hike with a view of grazing alpacas and snow-white summits.

For the future, we decided that join a trekking in the Rainbow Mountains + a piece of trek around Ausangate + climbing Maria Peak with a descent to hot springs. It will be a super program!

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

Greetings from Peru from Alexander Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko!  We want to tell you how we spent an unforgettable night on the wall at the Sky Lodge Hotel in the Sacred Valley in Peru, near Machu Picchu. We got to the beginning of the route around 17.00. The way to our hotel room on the wall ran along Via Ferrate (staples in the form of stairs and cables). We were given harnesses, helmets, gloves and we ran, as we wanted to get to our hotel before dark. Usually it takes 1.5-2 hours. Although we are accustomed to via Ferrata (in the Crimea and the Alps), we still often stopped to capture each other and the gorgeous views - the Sacred Valley of the Incas, leading to Machu Picchu, spread out below us. The way up is not difficult, but there are overhangs and an interesting place like the Tyrolean traverse (as on Carstensz).

By six in the evening, with sunset, we reached the hotel itself - several capsules on platforms attached to the wall. It turned out that we are the only guests of this hotel. The rest refused or could not come because of the recent political unrest in Peru.

The sleeping room is chic - transparent walls with 360 views, soft beds. There's even a toilet. But to get into the capsule-dining room, every time you need to put on helmets and climb the via Ferrata.

Christmas was celebrated with a wonderful dinner from a Swiss chef. Dinner is prepared in advance, it is warmed up on the wall and beautifully decorated before serving. And also with a bottle of Peruvian red and to the sounds of fireworks from local towns.

In the morning, we whistled merrily down six ziplines, where a bus was already waiting for us, taking us to new adventures. We plan to make a super program in Peru in the near future with Rainbow Mountains, an overnight stay on the wall, beautiful simple ascents to the 5th and 6th thousandths, possibly with the addition of Machu Picchu. Everything is nearby. And everything is so interesting!

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

Greetings from Peru from Alexander Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko!  On the first morning of our stay in Peru, we went to the Rainbow Mountains. On the way, we admired the endless herds of alpacas and wonderful views. We drove part of the way to the Rainbow Mountains on quad bikes, as we had to hurry to the second part of the program of this eventful day (which we will tell you about later)…

At the top, we unfurled the flag of the 7 Summits Club and enjoyed the views of the local highest point - AUSANGATE - a technically difficult six-thousandther. Rainbow Mountains pleased us with their multicolored iridescences. Plus, we were lucky to climb almost alone, as we decided to go from another, less popular side.

By lunchtime we had already returned to Cuzco and set off to meet a new adventure.

For the fifth year in the summer, our friends from Nepal come to the mountains of Central Asia to work on our seven-thousandth Lenin Peak and Khan Tengri. These are different students of the 7 Summits Club, employees of our Himalayan expeditions. At one time, we recommended them to our partners at the seven-thousandth. Now they no longer need recommendations. We are a little proud of it! And the fact that we are not forgotten, from time to time they are sending greetings for us  from the mountains!

Lyudmila Korobeshko, director of the 7 Summits Club and the group's guide, reports from the Elbrus region:

Greetings to all (already farewell) from the Elbrus region from our group! Today we had a departure day. We really didn't want to leave these wonderful places. Since the departure was already scheduled for noon, we decided to have time to do something else interesting. We took ATVs and rushed to the waterfall "Maiden Braids". We plunged into its cool streams and made a wish to come back here again - to go to the Eastern Peak from the North and go down to the South!

We hope to return here in a year, during which we need to have time to climb a couple more volcanoes under the Seven Volcanoes project!

Lyudmila Korobeshko, director of the 7 Summits Club and the group's guide, reports from the Elbrus region:

Our group today successfully climbed the Western Peak of Elbrus! The weather conditions were extremely severe - a blizzard, strong wind. We had to crawl to the top almost on all fours - it was blowing away. We're already down there now and are preparing for the solemn receipt of well-deserved diplomas and medals for the ascent.

Lyudmila Korobeshko, director of the 7 Summits Club and the group's guide, reports from the Elbrus region:

Greetings to all from our group from the Elbrus region!  Today we had an incredibly eventful day: In the morning we went for a jog, on the way we met the legendary climber for all 14 eight-thousand-meters without additional oxygen - Maksut Zhumaev. Then we did exercises, had breakfast and went to Azau. Half an hour later we were already at 3850 - we put on the crampons and ran to the Pastukhov Rocks. That is, of course, we went, but at a good fighting pace. They accelerated so much that they even climbed higher than the rocks!

On the descent, we managed to have lunch with Zuli (our dream) and returned to the hotel to rest before tomorrow's ascent to the assault. In the evening we decided to go fishing to calm our nerves before the upcoming ascent to the highest peak in Europe.

Lyudmila Korobeshko, director of the 7 Summits Club and the group's guide, reports from the Elbrus region:

Greetings to all from the slopes of Elbrus!  Today we learned self-arrest with ice axes, remembered walking in crampons and on the fixed ropes. Wet, but satisfied, the participants went down to the hotel on the Cheget glade. However, the main impression of the day was the green borscht from the cook Zulia. We want more and will go tomorrow for more (after the Pastukhov Rocks).

Lyudmila Korobeshko, director of the 7 Summits Club and the group's guide, reports from the Elbrus region:

Greetings to all from the new group on Elbrus! The group is actually old, even seasoned - almost this composition has already gone to Kilimanjaro, Demavend and Orizaba. Now we are going to Elbrus. Today we climbed to the top of Mount Cheget and unfurled the flag there!

 Lyudmila Korobeshko, Director of the 7 Summits Club:

Exploration at Broad Peak, Pakistan.  Days 26-28. July 26-28. Via Gondogora Pass. Return to civilization. Part 2.

By 9-10 in the morning we came to the Huspang camp at 4600 in a picturesque place on the green near the lake. Then we had a snack, took a break and decided to go to the Saicho camp (3500). But instead of the promised 5-6 hours, we went 7-8 in the end.  But in places it was very picturesque: first, a glacier with ice-mushrooms, cracks and waterfalls; then a side moraine with grass and flowers. Then came herds of cows, goats and sheep. At some point, the Masherbrum (K1) suddenly opened - wow, a terrible mountain - beautiful, but it's scary to imagine how to climb there.

 At the end, almost Baltic landscapes began - sandy areas among coniferous forests (thuja, juniper) - aromatherapy is real!!!!

Closer to 6 pm we came to the camp. It feels like there was a cool campsite here, but during the recent heavy rains and floods on July 7, most of the camp was washed away by mudslides…

We had a quick dinner and soon went to bed to the sound of the beginning rain.

 In the morning, in a couple of hours, along a convenient (albeit blurred by floods) scenic trail, we moved to the village of Khushe. Everything is over – then Jeeps, civilization.

An hour later, we were visiting our chef Ibragim in the neighboring village of Kande (his sixth child was born just 3 weeks ago while he was in the exp).

We looked at the house of a real Pakistani, or rather a Baltistani - everything is very functional, unfurnished, women and men live in different rooms, pets on the first floor, people on the second. We tried real Baltistan tea. At first I thought that this tea was pink because of the Himalayan salt. By the way, there is a huge salt mine in Pakistan, one of the largest in the world. But it turned out that spices give this color to tea…

Hushe is also famous for the fact that there are a lot of snow leopards in these places. Even tours are arranged here specifically to watch at these animals.

An hour later we were at the palace. Here Serena also did her best - they made a hotel out of a hundred-ring palace in the town of Kaplu. And around - apricot orchards. We pick and eat apricots, recover, get vitamins.

Lyudmila Korobeshko, Director of the 7 Summits Club:
Exploration at Broad Peak, Pakistan. Days 26-28. July 26-28. Gondogora Pass. Return to civilization. Part 1.
After resting in BC on July 24 and waiting for Israfil to return from Broad Peak, we planned to leave BC on the morning of July 26. We decided to go back not along the classics (as we were climbing up), but along a shorter path - through the Gondogora La pass. These are two overnight stays instead of 3-4 on the way, but tougher.

On the first day of July 26, we walked from BC Broad Peak 3 hours back to Concordia. And it's almost 6 hours from Concordia to Ali Camp, already in another gorge. We spent the night in Ali Camp at an altitude of 5000 m in an interesting place - under a rock near a glacial lake. And at one o'clock in the morning on July 27, we stormed the Gondogora pass in full uniform - cats, gazebos with zhumars and self-insurance, helmets. However, a third of the people went without it and even managed to pass the pass.

Two hours - approach under the fixed ropes with the crossing of the glacier. Two hours on the fixed ropes - and we are at the pass. There are stunning views here - K2, Broad, all Gasherbrums, in the other direction - Leila Peak and the entire Khushe gorge.
At the highest point we met Vova Kotlyar - he was walking with his SST group along the same route. We took a photo (Vova took timelaps) and began the descent. More precisely, at first we were horrified when we saw where and how to go down - steep and very long abseiling on the scree slope. While we were mentally preparing for the descent, just then a huge avalanche descended - at a fairly safe distance from us, but still impressed.
We descended normally, only a couple of times large stones came down from above, but it worked out.

Gondogoro La is a pass that we were a little afraid of (they tell us everything about it), but which we really wanted to pass.

By 7 pm, Alex came down to Camp 2 completely tired. It turned out that he took an active part in the descent of the victim. Chileans passing by, also exhausted to the limit, thanked Alex and called him their teacher.
Alex said he was wildly tired and wanted to stay overnight at Camp 2. I began to persuade him to go down to the BC, assuring him that in 2-3 hours we would do it even in the dark. As a result, for an hour and a half in the dark, we went down to Camp 1 and realized that there was no strength to go further and it was dangerous (the lower part breaks through most of all with stones).
In general, we spent the night in Camp 1 and went down to BC early in the morning on July 23. There were also enough adventures on the way - the ropes were half worn out, the station hooks fell out. And a suitcase stone whistled a meter away from Sasha (Sasha immediately remembered the story on Aconcagua with a girl whose leg was torn off by a stone). Fragments of this stone also reached me, but they hit the backpack and not much…
By breakfast we were already in the camp. Warm and cozy. By the evening of that day, George also went down to the base, accompanied by heroic Latin American climbers and several porters whom Akbar sent up.
In the evening, a festive dinner and barbecue were arranged in honor of the climbers and the miraculous rescue. Everything was fine. Only one thing worried - how was Israfil going alone to the top that night? It seems like no one else was going to storm this night...
P.S. - this morning on July 25, Israfil was already in BL - he came down late last night!!!
July 25. Today we went to BC K2 to say goodbye (tomorrow we go down through Gondogora Pass). We congratulated Volodya Kotlyar on the summit of K2, listened to his stories about this difficult ascent. Stones are flying, stones… He was going to Gasherbrum-2 after Chogori, but it didn't seem to work out.... We'll probably go down together tomorrow. We talked to Nims and congratulated him on the successful ascent of his entire team to K2. They not only climbed in, but also shot a movie! We met Dava, the head of SST in our T-shirt (the three of them - three brothers - went to Antarctica with us this year) - it's nice. They also have a large part of the team going to the top of K2. We caught a glimpse of Harila - she was climbing K2 on the same day with Vova. Now she will go to the Broad and Gasherbrums - the Iron lady!
The weather has deteriorated sharply today. Most of the expeditions are being curtailed. Good luck and patience to those who still continue their ascents here!
Well, we ... into the hustle and bustle of cities and traffic....
Until the future mountain!

Exploration on Broad Peak, Pakistan. Days 19-23. July 19-23. Part 3
About 2-3 nights (when Alex and I were trying to get out) at an altitude of 7800-7900, Canadian Andy, going to the assault, met a Romanian who had already spent the second night at this altitude. Andy gave him all his water and food and stopped his own ascent. Around 4 am, almost at the same height, the Romanian was discovered by Israfil Ashurli and a Chilean couple. As a result, Israfil decided to lower the Romanian and stop his attempt to climb. Israfil has long impressed me with his amazing human qualities - willingness to help, deep decency and correctness in everything. As a result, Israfil quite successfully lowered the Romanian alone to a height of 7300-7400. At 10 in the morning, he informed us that he was letting George down, but when Sasha asked if he needed help, he said that he didn't and that they would be at the camp in an hour or two. Then the connection disappeared.
At about 15.00, an exhausted Israfil came to Camp 3 and said that he had been fighting with a Romanian for the last 5-6 hours - he tried to give oxygen, which was brought from below, but he refused. I tried to lower the victim further, but he fell into an inadequate state. In general, the story began to look a little like the "Miracle on Everest" - the case of Lincoln Hall in 2006 in our Everest expedition.
At this point, Jorge from Chile stayed with George, but he, too, is already at the limit. I need help.
Alex and I said we were ready to go. To be honest, I thought that a group of high-altitude porters and strong climbers would gather now. But in the end it turned out that only three people were ready to go - Alex, Magda and I (a Polish climber, by the way, who attempted an assault that night and therefore tired). The rest were absolutely nothing after the assault attempt
Magda delighted me - she ran ahead to help an unknown climber, although she was very tired herself. I ran after her, or rather we crawled down the slope like snails. But stubbornly. Alex followed me out a little later. An hour later, the weather suddenly deteriorated sharply - a strong cold wind blew, a blizzard began. I realized that I had taken the rescue lightly - I dressed lightly (we went out at 16.00, when it was still hot).
Days 19-23. July 19-23. Part 4
Two hours later, two figures appeared on the slope. The closest to me was Jorge, who had already spent 5-6 hours with a Romanian and was very tired. When I got to the Romanian, I gave him some water and talked to him for a while. Soon Alex came up and we somehow lifted George to his feet and began to lead him down, he walked a little and sat down. Okay, Jorge came over and started helping too. Together with Alex, they very slowly pulled off the Romanian. Soon another Chilean came up from below. The three of them descended a little faster. I walked ahead and helped with fixed ropes, sometimes gave George tea. He refused Dex and oxygen …
In general, this story with the descent lasted for 3 hours. Already in the dark we came to the camp, where other Chileans warmly welcomed us, put the Romanian in a tent and thanked us for a long time for the descent of their comrade…
In this story, I was struck by the behavior of Chileans. In principle, George was not their friend, but they bought a tour from the same company and sat at the same table with him in BC. However, they did everything to save him.
By the way, the story didn't end there.
It is clear that we did not go on any ascent that night. And going to the rescue, I already understood that I was unlikely to have the strength to storm. In the morning Israfil came to us to talk about plans. He was determined to try again. We, after a little consultation, refused. I definitely did not feel the strength in myself, and the motivation somehow disappeared… We gave Israfil the leftovers of food and snacks, deciding that we would descend in a few hours and without food, and around 11 a.m. we began the descent.
And at the same time, a group of Chileans undertook to lower the Romanian further - the helicopter does not fly at such a height.
After seeing that the Romanian was being lowered by 5-6 men, I decided that I had nothing to push there and went ahead. After 2 hours I was already in Camp 2. I had a timid hope that Alex would not become a hero again - yesterday's rescues are enough, and he will soon catch up with me. But, of course, this did not happen. 2 hours passed, I heated the water, then two more, three more ... all hopes for a descent to the BC and a comfortable overnight melted.

Exploration on Broad Peak, Pakistan. Days 19-23. July 19-23. Part 1. So, on July 19, Alex and I started from the BС (4800) at about 2.30 am. We also went straight up to the Camp 2 (6000). It took about 7-8 hours. After 10 a.m. we were already in the camp in our RedFox tent. It was unbearably hot during the day. We decided to leave our downy half-suits in Camp 2 (mistake! There are no warm eight-thousandths). By evening, a rumor had spread through the camp that a trio of climbers had fallen on the crest of Broad Peak. Then, however, it turned out that one person, an Englishman, broke down and fell towards China…

On July 20, we went out early so as not to walk in the heat - around 4 am. In 5 hours we reached Camp 3 (7000). This part of the way technically seemed easier to me than the previous - also quite steep fix-ropes sections, but more in the snow. But even here the camp is on a steep slope - it is dangerous to walk between the tents without crampons. On the way we met Polish climbers from our camp - they were already descending after a successful ascent the previous day. In general, many descenders said that it was better not to climb - there are no fixed ropes after the couloir (7800) this year + very dangerous cornices and a dangerous long summit ridge.
In the camp we met Israfil, who was preparing for the ascent next night. And Saulius, who went from the top, but it took him more than 26 hours (he says he hardly ate or drank and was very weak on the descent). On average, climbers go to the summit of Broad Peak from camp 3 to camp 3 in 16-24 hours. For comparison, on Everest, they go from the assault camp to the assault camp for 8-12 hours, but they do not stay in the assault camp, but descend to approximately 6400. Immediately, almost everyone barely crawls after the summit to the assault and spends the night here again.

They usually go out to start at 7-10 pm. Alex and I decided to go out around midnight, hoping for oxygen. We wanted to do some kind of "feint with our ears" - we arrived late and made only one acclimatization rotation up to 6000 (hoping that the lack of acclimatization could cover oxygen). All the others made 2-3 rotation exits with overnight stays at 7000 m .
We went to bed around 19.00. And then it began…

As soon as I fell asleep a little, a terrible delirium began, from which I immediately woke up and was already afraid to fall asleep again, so as not to fall back into this horror with a split or even a personality disorder. After all, the swelling of the brain caught up with me. Not surprising - the first night at 7000, and before that only one for 6000 is not enough for me.
At midnight, the alarm clock rang. I didn't want to eat at all, only I was tormented by an unbearable thirst. Somehow I got ready - it seems like it took forever. We took two oxygen cylinders, turned on 2 liters and went. Backpacks turned out to be 10 kg each. But mine seemed terribly heavy to me. I could barely walk. After about 40 minutes, I told Sasha that I wouldn't get there in this state. Since we initially agreed that if one turns, then the second one too, Sasha did not try to persuade me much and also turned down with me.
What happiness it was to lie down in a warm sleeping bag, turn on oxygen and sleep until the morning, until the sun at 9 o'clock lit up the tent. Breakfast also seemed divine to me.
In general, I felt good. To consolidate the result, I walked above 200-300 meters - my health and speed are normal. After going down, I discussed my plans with Sasha. We decided to make a new attempt tonight.