Starting December 26, in Antarctica, a Belgian mountaineer Sofie Lenaerts will work with our group as a trainee guide. This is her personal chance to become the first woman in her country to complete the Seven Summits program.

 Together with his regular life partner Stef Maginelle, Lenaerts leads the 8000 Unlimited project. Climbing both in the Alps and the eight-thousanders. Last summer, a large group of Belgian climbers of the 8000 Unlimited project climbed Lenin Peak.

 In addition to mountaineering, Sofie made many other fascinating trips: she rode South America on a motorcycle from edge to edge, made a bike ride in Asia - 2700 kilometers, flew from Mont Blanc on a paraglider ...

But actually, Sophie is an inspector of the Belgian police ...

Seven Summits Sofie:

Elbrus - 2009

Aconcagua - 2010

Denali (McKinley) - 2012

Everest - 05.21.2016

Carstensz - June 2017

Kilimanjaro - 2018.

Great slogan for life:

Artem Rostovtsev from Punta Arenas. Finally, our international team, with whom we will go to Antarctica to the Vinson massif, gathered in the very southern city of Punta Arenas. Team equipment is assembled, packaged, as well as delicious, very high-calorie food. Tomorrow we will ship everything on the plane. And, if the weather allows, the next day we fly to the White Continent.

Vladimir Kotlyar, a guide of the 7 Summits Club from Argentina:

 Aloha, friends and girlfriends! Vovchik Kotlyar, Pemba Sherpa and Pasang Sherpa advanced in the direction of the mountain in order to prepare the camps for the start of the Russian season in Aconcagua. Today we will spend a night in the Confluence camp at an altitude of 3400. Tomorrow we will go to the base camp, where we will begin work. We are looking forward to all!

In Crimea, the guides of the 7 Summit Club continue to train climbers. Guests from Moscow Tanya and Sveta successfully climbed two routes on the Crimean rocks - on Koshka and Merdven!

Hello from Chile! It is Artem Rostovtsev, your most southern guide. The other day I am going with a team to Antarctica with the goal of climbing Mount Vinson. In the meantime, preparations for the expedition are in full swing in the city of Punta Arenas. A month in Antarctica, you need not to freeze, eat good and comfortable, with hot food, move safely, relax in camps. We are preparing for all of this on the mainland.

 Alexandr Dorojukov fro Argentina: 

A team of the 7 Summits Club’s guides came to Mendoza. Soon we will be in the Aconcagua base camp. And now we rest and carry loads. We also check tents and equipment. But these photos we have not. There are only the following…

 For Aconcagua we have a long season ahead. The “Russian Camp” of the 7 Summits Club will host six groups, and all of them are large. And there is still the opportunity to join! Urgently call! The first group begins its trek to the highest peak of South America on December 18. But before this there is still a lot of preparatory work, which is better done under the command of the most experienced expedition organizer Alexander Abramov. In addition, this year, our friends from Nepal, Sherpas, will work in the “Russian Camp” as high-altitude porters. This is a new word in the service of climbers on Aconcagua. It should work out fine! Today  Vladimir Kotlyar and Alexander Dorozhukov flew to Argentina with Alex Abramov, and soon Andrei Berezin will join them. Great company!

Yesterday, December 7, there was the Annual Gala evening of the Russian Mountaineering Federation (FAR), dedicated to summing up the results of 2019. The main event, as usual, is considered the presentation of the prize for the best climbing achievement “Golden Ice Ax of Russia”. However, this time the evening began with a speech by our Nepalese guest Nirmal Purja (Nims).

The hero of the Himalayan year, who climbed all 14 eight-thousanders of the world in an incredibly short period of 6 months and 6 days, made a brief presentation to an impressive audience. It must be said that this year the evening of the federation  gathered a record number of spectators. And they listened with great attention and frank delight to Nims.

 Then there was the traditional procedure for awarding by Honorary Badges "Climber of Everest", climbers who first  time climbed the highest peak in the world this year. It was preceded by Maxim Shakirov with his presentation. In the past year, he carried out his own amazing project and climbed Mount Everest with video equipment for shooting 360. However, the project is not finished, we will wait for an internet site where you can admire all this.

And then Alexander Abramov and our Everest team were called onto the stage. See how it was:

After that, it was possible to move on to the main part of the evening - honoring the best climbers and the best climbing achievements of the year. But this is a different story.

Our story continued at the restaurant table…

 The first public performance of the Nepalese climber Nirmal Purji (easier, Nims) after the completion of his epic project Project Possible (14 eight-thousanders in 6 months and 6 days) took place in Moscow. The hero of this season came to Russia at the invitation of the 7 Summits Club. About 250 people came to listen to Nims's performance in the lecture hall of the Sport Marathon Travelers Club. The performance of the Nepalese was not long and detailed, he has no right to show part of his materials, because of obligations to sponsors. However, our audience remained completely satisfied. In particular, the fact that Nims devoted a lot of time to joint photographs and signing autographs. He withstood the whole rather big queue and this procedure took about an hour.

   The 7 Summits Club in the person of its President Alexander Abramov handed Nims "Golden Ice ax", so we evaluate his achievement ...

What was Nims talking about?

Nothing is impossible! The main thing in the project was precisely this idea! Show that it is possible. Nims sacrificed his pension,  laid his own house. And normal sponsorship appeared only after the completion of the first, most difficult part of the project.

 But at the same time, he wanted to show that Nepalese can be considered  as leaders in high altitude mountaineering. They consider themselves underrated.

Nims paid special attention to the fact that during the project, his team held four rescue actions. Critically, this could affect success. Especially at the very beginning, when the schedule was broken due to the rescue action at Annapurna.

The most difficult was, of course, Kanchenjunga. It was only the fourth day after the descent from Dhaulagiri. Fatigue was incredible. However, when on the descent, Nims's group found three climbers who were unable to move independently, they were assisted. And of the 40 climbers who were in the nearest camp, no one took part in the action.

Nims also climbed with  supplemental oxygen because there can be different situations on the ascent and often other climbers have to be helped. What would be impossible without additional oxygen.

Before K2 he was worried more than usual. After all, no one was able to get to the top before them. Even very strong teams. Under the mountain there were about a hundred climbers. When they arrived at the base camp, everyone turned to Nims with a question about their plans. He answered - today we drink (alcohol) and no plans. And in the morning his team took the storm of the most formidable mountain.

By the way, during the 16-year service in the elite unit of the English army (the Gurkhas are considered by many to be “the best warriors in the world”) Nims did not drink alcohol at all. But now he believes that it can even be useful in the mountains.

On Pakistan's eight-thousanders, the Nims team had difficulties associated with the work of local porters. Nepalis simply did not like the pace of their movement. Therefore, they carried goods under Broad Peak and Gasherbrum independently.

Nims plans to issue book,  ti finish a film, work in his company Elite Himalayan Adventures, make a new route to Cho Oyu, perhaps for new records ...

And! Collaborate with  the 7 Summits Club and work with our groups. And not only in Nepal!

From an interview with Forbes magazine:

I am not really afraid of anything. But there is an old saying: If someone says, “I’m not afraid of dying,” they must either be a Ghurka or they must be lying. I am a Ghurka (laughs)!

Reinhold Messner, the man of the era who first climbed the eight-thousanders: “Nims, I can see in your eyes - it comes from your soul, from your heart - I think you can do this project.”

 Now we made sure that Messner was right. Nims is a very honest, decent, pure in his goals, strong person in every way, and at the same time he is adequately thinking. We are friends now!

The hero of the year Nirmal Purja (Nims) is coming to Russia! On December 7, he will perform in front of audience of the 7 Summit Club at 15:00. And then later (from 19:00), he will visit the Annual solemn evening of the Russian Mountaineering Federation. On December 8, he is waited in St. Petersburg.

Evgeny Vdovin met the onset of the calendar winter on the rocks of Crimea. On Sunday, he completed the basic course of rock climbing in the Crimea! Together with the guides of the 7 Summits Club Evgeny climbed two long multi-pitches routes, received a lot of technical skills. And that’s in just three days!

Alexander Abramov is an extra-class climber who has been on the summit of Everest 10 times. Perhaps he is the main in Russia and one of the world's leading experts on high-altitude mountain expeditions. Alex told why people go to the mountains and why they die there. And also, how much does it cost to climb to the highest peak of the planet, and at what height the line between a man and a woman is blurred.

Fully - in Russian

For six months in the office - how do you keep your form?

 My form is my work tool. Any guide should be a priori stronger than any of his clients, only in this case it makes sense to pay him. Stronger both theoretically - to know more about the mountains, to have more experience, both morally and physically.

 Therefore, I do everything for my work. So, today I came to the office only at 13:30 - in the morning I ran, did exercises. I believe that every person is obliged to devote at least an hour, and this is 4% of the day, to physical training outdoor.

 Now I am 56, many have surrendered by this age, are hunched over. And I’ve been climbing for 38 years and don’t drink any pills.

Has your occupation made you rich? Do you have half a million rubles a month on your personal account?

I don’t know how much I earn per month, but this amount, the price of a used car, doesn’t scare me. I know that Gazprom top managers also have 3 million a month, but how happy are they at their offices at the meetings?

Whether I became rich or not is a difficult question, but the fact that I have a very interesting life is for sure. For me, every trip to the mountains is a bright spot burned in the brain with a laser. And sitting in the city is such a gray strip. I will never remember what I did on Friday of such and such a date, such and such a year. But if you ask me, remember, in the year 2012 you were on Everest? Remember, on May 3 we were there with the same person? I can recover all day in my head and tell you.

But the rest ... Yes, in order to live, you need to earn some chips, this is 100%, but this is just not so interesting.

Friends and fans of the 7 Summits Club! Alex+Lucy project is completed! These are two beautiful routes that lead along the Western and Eastern ridges of the South Face to the summit of Shaan-Kaya! We invite Alex, Lucy and all-all-all to climb it! Crimean guides of the 7 Summits Club.

Ludmila Korobeshko, Director of 7 Peaks Club and group guide:

Hello from Papua! Perhaps this is the last one. Tomorrow we're flying home, and today we were having a blast in Papua. We visited mudmen, hulimen, skeletonmen. With each of these tribes we sang and danced. Then we participated in the preparation of a special dish "Mumu" - thus, we were given a great honor.

 We also shot with bows and spears, visited the mausoleum with skulls, and met the family of the chief of the village of Paya, whose members appeared to us in a very naked form. Probably, it is also a sign of great respect for us...

 In General, we leave this hospitable country with a lot of pleasant impressions and photos. We promised local to return on their festivals. They invited us very much.

The mudmen

Have hulimen (or wigmen - that is, people in wigs)

At skeletonmen

In the village of Paya

Introduction to the family of the chief of the village of Paya

Ludmila Korobeshko, Director of the 7 Summits Club and group guide:

Greetings from Papua from a group called “Mudman on Giluwe-2”! 

Today we climbed to the top of Mount Giluwe and immediately went down without spending the night in the camp.

It seems that Ivan Stepanov, 16 years old, became the youngest Russian on Giluwe.

Ludmila Korobeshko, Director of the 7 Summits Club and group guide:

Greetings from Papua from a group called “Mudman on Giluwe-2”! We begin our ascent of Giluwe volcano. We want to make an express version, that is, to climb with only one overnight stop.

Ludmila Korobeshko, director of the 7 Summits Club, a group guide:

Hello from Papua New Guinea! Today is the final day of the program. In the morning we went to see the birds, which, alas, because of the rain did not want to show up. Then we walked through the forest with orchids. And then the Central event of the day happened – we visited the village of Paia. There we were given a solemn reception-baked pig, danced and sang.

All greetings from the group "Shaggy Yaks"!   Today we have completed trekking "Around Annapurna"! In the morning we walked around the local attractions  of Muktinath, a sacred place for three religions: Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism. And then we moved to Jomson, for rest.  Everything is OK!

Guide Alexander Dorojukov.

Greetings from Papua New Guinea from “the intrepid conquerors” of Giluwe!  Today we had a cultural day. First we visited mudmen (clay people with pots on their heads). First they tried to intimidate us, then we did it of them. Then we danced in Panka Village with hoolimen. In the end we stopped at the local market, bought betel nuts and tried them. That was awesome! Still under the impression...