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During 2010/11 season six climbers were killed in the "Roof of America." Along with the2008/09, both hit a record of fatalities. So far were about 6,500 climbers who visited the Aconcagua Park from November 15, 2011, 300 people more than when last season ended.

According to estimates, 3,500 were those who paid for climb and almost 3 000 opted for the short and long trekking. Number of resque evacuations reached 195, of which 170 were routine, 25 with some difficulty and 5 with an imminent threat.

The only case that could break the zero is the Spanish climber David Markaida Mendibe (42), who attempted to summit alone despite his expedition had 4 other athletes. Since the rescue team said their last sighting was 24 days ago and found no traces of him.

On 4 March 2012 the body of Ukrainian mountaineer Maria Khitrikova was discovered of Mount Elbrus, Russia.

The news of young (a mere 21 years old) Ukrainian alpinist Maria Khitrikova whose body was discovered yesterday on Mount Elbrus, at 5642m the highest peak in Russia, comes directly from journalist Anna Piunova. Maria was guiding a group of alpinists and had summited Elbrus on 2 March when she waited for two companions who had fallen behind in poor conditions. One of these, Roman Kutsiy, has been rescued and transported to hospital while the search is still underway for Denis Lisov. For Maria though, as Anna Piunova recounts, unfortunately no hope remained.

"Two groups of 11 Ukrainian mountaineers summited Elbrus on March, 2nd. They were caught in poor weather on their way down and two dropped behind. Maria Khitrikova, who was guiding one of the groups, stopped and waited for them while the rest of the party successfully descended. Several hours later Maria was able to telephone the rescue services to say that they had lost their way. Poor weather meant that the helicopter could not be sent, however the rescuers set out in search.

During the next evening the rescue team located Roman Kutsiy (at 4200m?), one of the two guys Maria had waited for. He was evacuated to hospital and was diagnosed angina pectoris after spending a cold night and day lying down on a snow flank and eating snow. Details are currently unclear, but according to Roman they untied after three repeated falls, the terrain was icy and Maria lost one of her crampons. They all were depressed and ready for the worst.

Her father, the famous alpinist Vladimir Khitrikov, arrived late night on March, 3. During the next afternoon Maria's body was found at approximately 4700m to the left of the Pastukhov Cliffs. The rescue of Denis Lisov is under way.

21 year-old Maria Khitrikova was the daughter of the Soviet Union Champion Vladimir Khitrikov. She was the big hope of Ukrainian Mountaineering, one of the country's most talented and promising female climbers. Considered the "Wondergirl of high altitude mountaineering", she summited Elbrus aged 12, her first 7000er aged 16, her first 8000er aged 21. She won the Elbrus Race and climbed Pik Lenin (7134m), Khan Tengri (6995m), Ama Dablam (6812m), Pik Korzhenevskoy (7105), Gasherbrum I (8035m) and Gasherbrum II (8068m)."

Anna Piunova, www.mountain.ru

The votes—nearly 72,000 of them—are in, and we're pleased to announce that Sano Babu Sunuwar and Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa are the 2012 People's Choice Adventurers of the Year. Their Ultimate Descent expedition to climb Everest, paraglide down, and paddle to the sea truly embodies the spirit of adventure. With borrowed gear and a bare-bones budget, there were no corporate sponsors nor social media campaigns, just the essentials for adventure—vision, creativity, and friendship.

The Ultimate Descent: Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa and Sano Babu Sunuwar

Two Nepalis complete a mission to launch a paraglider from Mount Everest’s summit and kayak the Ganges to the Indian Ocean.

When Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa first saw paragliders arrive in the Himalaya, he dreamed of flying above the massive peaks of his home—the Khumbu region. After his third successful summit guiding trip on Everest, he viewed paragliding as a simpler, faster, and more graceful way of descending through the peak’s perilous slopes.

In October of 2010, Lakpa borrowed a paraglider, got a few pointers, and launched from a hillside above his home. He promptly crashed into a tree. With his paraglider wing badly damaged, Lakpa set out for the town of Pokhara, considered to be the gathering spot for paragliders, to seek repairs and find a mentor. He ran into Sano Babu Sunuwar, whom Lakpa had met years earlier on Island Peak. Babu repaired the glider and the two men hatched the plan for the Ultimate Descent.

They would climb to the world’s highest point, launch a paraglider and fly for as long as possible, bicycle to a point where streams gathered into rivers, kayak across the Nepali border into India, and paddle the Ganges River all the way to the Indian Ocean. It would be an unprecedented first, but it was the overall combination of sports, audacity, and friendship that drew the duo to the idea. Babu, 28, had no climbing experience. Lakpa, 39, had never kayaked and didn’t even know how to swim.

In April of 2011, the duo had borrowed gear, slapped a basic plan together, and began their ascent of Everest. On May 21, they became the third party to launch a paraglider from the summit and set a new world record of 8,865 meters for free flight in the process. On the Kosi River’s Class V rapids, Babu got caught recirculating in a massive whirlpool in their two-man kayak, while Lakpa floated down river. Once they reached the Ganges, they paddled flatwater through unfamiliar country. They were robbed at knifepoint and had to live off fruit trees. After 850 kilometers, Lakpa and Babu reached the Bay of Bengal. On June 27, they became the first people to complete the descent from Everest’s summit to the Indian Ocean.

“When we arrived on the beach, we were frightened. We were surrounded by giant red scorpions,” says Babu. Later after showing pictures to friends, he would learn that these “scorpions” were in fact harmless crabs.

The Ultimate Descent team earned recognition from the international paragliding community, and the Nepali press hailed them as national heroes. Western adventurers admired their spunk, simplicity, and bare-bones budget. There were no social media campaigns, corporate sponsors, or expedition websites, just the essential ingredients for adventure—vision, creativity, and friendship.

—Fitz Cahall

THE INTERVIEW

Adventure: Babu, as a kayaker and paraglider, what was the most difficult part of the journey?

Sano Babu Sunuwar: On Everest I felt a great deal of discomfort. It was hard to breathe. Lakpa told me, “You are Sherpa. Be strong.” I am not a climber, but this was a great dream of mine to climb Mount Everest. Lakpa had done this many times. He helped me a great deal.

A: What was the most intimidating part of the journey?

Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa: The bugs. The ants. All animals—so active. Insects—so active. They are also busy. People so active. In the mountains, all creatures move slowly. In India, all the animals and the people move so fast. They are not still. I did not like the bugs. When we reached the ocean and took the kayaks to shore, the beach was covered in giant red scorpions. I was scared then, but we learned later that they were crabs and harmless. I also had a hard time breathing in the low elevation.

A: While the flight from Mount Everest might be the most eye-popping part of your adventure, it sounds like the Ganges and India were also difficult?

SBS: Sometimes whole villages would come down. We were robbed. They came with knives. We protected the camera, but gave them money. They left, but we paddled very fast. We could hear them coming with a motorboat. We found an island with tall grasses and hid. We slept in the kayaks the whole night.

LTS: We ate fruit from the trees, but the water was bad. We were not used to seeing dead bodies. In Nepal, we burn our dead. In India, they are put in the river. We would see two or three bodies a day.

A: For each of you, was there a favorite part of the journey?

SBS: Taking off from the highest point in the world. At first it was really windy, but the wind calmed. When we lifted off we were carried immediately upward.

LTS: The flight. I like to sing while I fly. We were very happy. We were both singing. This was a dream for both of us.

A: The "ultimate descent" earned you some attention both in Nepal and abroad. There was a short film made about your flight. What has it been like to be recognized for your achievement?

SBS: We love getting to share our dream. We came to Europe to show the film at a film festival. We feel a little like movie stars. People wanted to shake our hands. We were very happy to share our story.

LTS: When we got home, we were very excited to share our story not just with Nepal, but all over the world. It felt like a million people. There were a lot of foreigners who came to set records. We weren’t after a record, we just wanted to do all these things, climbing, paragliding, kayaking in one continuous trip

Apa Sherpa, the Nepali climber who has conquered Mount Everest a record 21 times was felicitated with the Guinness World Record. On the 44th day of the Great Himalayan Trail-Climate Smart Celebrity Trek lead by Apa, Guinness World Record Editor-in-chief Mr. Craig Glenday and his team met him and handed over a certificate at a function at Shree Saraswati Higher Secondary School in Gyalthum, Sindhupalchowk. Apa is accompanied by Dawa Stephen Sherpa (two time Mt.Everest Summiteer), Saurabh Dhakal and Sameer Jung Thapa, as part of a campaign to promote tourism and highlight the impact of climate change. The team that plans to walk 1,700 km has covered seven districts and a distance of 590 km so far.

“It feels great to receive this honour as Mr.Glenday himself has traveled this far to hand over the certificate. I feel proud to be identified all over the world,” Sherpa beamed. He further said, interacting with people is altogether a new experience to him and added, "Now onwards I will not climb up to the top of the world but I have been witnessing the hills and people for the last one and half months which has given me ample of opportunities to learn about the communities living in the vicinity of mountains". Hundreds of people attending functions expressed their happiness with the honour bestowed on Sherpa.

On the other hand Mr. Glenday expressed his feeling as “What Sherpa has achieved is unbelievable. He is not just a local hero but hero of the world. He is an inspiration to millions of people. It is a great privilege to hand him the official certificate. “The trip to Nepal has been amazing so far. It feels like I've been here for ever,” he added.

The sherpa from Thame, Solukhumbu; home town of Everest Legend Tenzing Norgay first summited Everest on 1990. Last year on May he conquered Everest for the 21sttime as the climbing leader of Eco Everest Expedition and became eligible for this award. He has shown his effort towards Everest clean up by engaging in Eco Everest Expedition since 2008 and continuing it for four consecutive years. He made his 18th summit in 2008, 19th in 2009 and 20thin 2010 and with Eco Everest Expedition organized by Asian Trekking to raise awareness about the impact of climate change.

February, 23 Ludmilla Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov reached the summit of Aconcagua. The climb has been carried out by the route False Polish Traverse. The weather was very bad, it was snowing. But the forecast for the next few days was even worse. So they had to fight to the end. Now everyone is happy. The next day, a group of friends met them in the Plaza de Mulas camp. The first ascent of the project Alpari - Seven Summits in 300 days, is committed.

Alpari: On Top of the World

Alpari has decided to take on a new challenge for the year 2012: planting the Alpari flag atop the tallest mountain on each continent. To accomplish this feat, we have put together a team consisting of three of the finest mountain climbers Russia has to offer. With this project, we are not only looking to expand our presence across the globe, to each of the world’s seven continents, but also to draw some attention to mountain climbing, a sport which has become something of a passion for many within our ranks.

“Mountain climbing as a spiritual journey… record-breaking climbs as a metaphor for achieving greater success in life,” commented Alpari Public Relations Director Valeriy Tarasov. “This is something we can relate to. Alpari is a bona fide leader in the Forex industry. For us, there is no mountain too high.”

Mountain climbing is already somewhat of a tradition here at Alpari. As recently as 2010, a team of our employees took part in an expedition to Africa, planting the Alpari flag on the summit of Kilimanjaro. Not long before that, there was a trip to Mont Blanc. “Climbing mountains is a great tradition for us; one where we must overcome great difficulties, the cold and harsh living conditions. But we always manage,” said Alpari’s Chairman of the Board, Andrey Dashin.

No one in Russia has ever completed the world-famous “7 Summits” challenge in under a year. Alpari’s hand-picked team is looking to do just that!

We wish them good luck. And good weather.

February, 23 Ludmilla Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov reached the summit of Aconcagua. The climb has been carried out by the route False Polish Traverse. The weather was very bad, it was snowing. But the forecast for the next few days was even worse. So they had to fight to the end. Now everyone is happy. The next day, a group of friends met them in the Plaza de Mulas camp. The first ascent of the project Alpari - Seven Summits in 300 days, is committed.

Alpari: On Top of the World

Alpari has decided to take on a new challenge for the year 2012: planting the Alpari flag atop the tallest mountain on each continent. To accomplish this feat, we have put together a team consisting of three of the finest mountain climbers Russia has to offer. With this project, we are not only looking to expand our presence across the globe, to each of the world’s seven continents, but also to draw some attention to mountain climbing, a sport which has become something of a passion for many within our ranks.

“Mountain climbing as a spiritual journey… record-breaking climbs as a metaphor for achieving greater success in life,” commented Alpari Public Relations Director Valeriy Tarasov. “This is something we can relate to. Alpari is a bona fide leader in the Forex industry. For us, there is no mountain too high.”

Mountain climbing is already somewhat of a tradition here at Alpari. As recently as 2010, a team of our employees took part in an expedition to Africa, planting the Alpari flag on the summit of Kilimanjaro. Not long before that, there was a trip to Mont Blanc. “Climbing mountains is a great tradition for us; one where we must overcome great difficulties, the cold and harsh living conditions. But we always manage,” said Alpari’s Chairman of the Board, Andrey Dashin.

No one in Russia has ever completed the world-famous “7 Summits” challenge in under a year. Alpari’s hand-picked team is looking to do just that!

We wish them good luck. And good weather.

February 22 a group of climbers of the project "Ingushetia on the tops" reached the summit of Aconcagua. We look forward to further cooperation with them to fullfil the next aim of the project -climb Mount Everest.

Summiters of Aconcagua: coach Sergey Bogomolov, guide Vladimir Korenkov, climbers Visa Yusupov, Aznor Hadzhiev, Moussa Hadziev, Leila Albogachieva, Magomed Aushev.

The team at the office of 7 Summits Club before flying to South America

The head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov congratulated the team of climbers on the phone.

Yevkurov thanked the climbers for the fact that the conquest of the top has been dated to 23 February: "You have honored the memory of our ancestors who innocently killed during the deportation of those who defended with honor and protect your homeland."

The head of the region in a telephone conversation, wished success to the climbers, and noted that the country is waiting for the main ascent to the summit of Mount Everest, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Republic of Ingushetia.

We remind the team of climbers going to hoist the flag of Ingushetia in the world's highest peak Mount Everest to the Day of the Republic of June 4, 2012. Ascent of Aconcagua - the second phase of the project, codenamed " Ingushetia on the tops" January, 25 this year, climbers conquered the first summit on the way to Everest - Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters above sea level, Tanzania).

February 22 a group of guys from the 7 Summits Club were at the top of Mount Aconcagua . Here are the names of climbers: Alexander Kolomiets, Vitaly Kolomiets, Nicholas Ostapov, Andrey Ternavsky, 7 Summits Club Guide - Dmitry Yermakov. One member Maxim has not reached the top quite a bit. The ascent was not easy. Climbers, after reviewing the weather forecast, they decided to go a day earlier than was planned. And to start from the camp Nido de Condores (5500 meters). That is, they had to overcome the drop in the 1,400 meters, and in the distance is about 7-8 miles. Judging by the happy faces, all efforts were not wasted ..

Hi! Ludmila Korobeshko from the expedition "Alpari on Top of the World”. So now, our team stands on the top of Aconcagua. This is a victory, the first one in our project " 7 summits for 300 days". Unfortunately, the weather is very bad. The forecast was better. But nevertheless, despite bad weather, despite heavy snow, we climbed to the top. And now, at about 12:30 local time, we are on the sunmmit. It was not easy, but we are happy. We're shooting video, photos, relax a little bit and then we will start going down. Best regards !

7 Summits, hello ! Dmitry Yermakov from the base camp Plaza de Mulas in Argentina. Today a team of heroes came down here in the base camp after a successful ascent. The weather turned bad, even at the base camp it is snowing. Therefore, we rejoice that we have chosen the right tactics. We were climbed in the beautiful weather, yesterday was absolutely zero wind, solar, visibility million per million. And now it snows even here. Hello! Dmitry Yermakov.

Dmitry Yermakov rang almost from the summit of Aconcagua. One hour before, his team started to descent from the summit. His clients asked to name their as heroes of Ukraine. That's right, today was a very hard day. According to the plan they will climb tomorrow, but the forecast was good only for today. So they decided to start from 5500 meters, from the camp Nido de Condores. And they have managed to climb to the top. Six climbers and guide Dmitriy Yermakov.

Ludmila Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Maksim Shakirov from Expedition “Alpari - Seven Summits in 300 days”, on this day climbed to the Cholera camp at an altitude of 6000 meters. They plan to climb tomorrow. At noon, they met a group of Sergei Bogomolov, the team of project "Ingushetia on the tops of the world." They all descended from the summit. All members, all seven persons were on the top.

Constantin Tsybunov a head of the group Extreme Planet (Planet Fitness Company), sent a historical photograph. February 20, 2012 14:00 Planet Extreme Team at the top of Aconcagua 6962 m.

9 people led by the guide of 7 Summits Club Victor Bobok. February 21 the team went down to the camp Plaza de Mulos.

Planet Extreme is a team of fitness professionals and amateurs, it's an image project of company Planet Fitness. We have 10 years. We invent and organize extreme fitness journey around the world. Now we carry more than 10 trips per year. We visited over 45 countries and made 70 trips.

From 12 to February 16, 2012 the 7 Summits Club team went to climb Mount Kenya. Our team: Denis Saveliev – as a guide of 7 Summits Club, Vyacheslav Adrov, Roman Gretzky.

The ascent took place in the so-called blitz scheme (up to 3 days from bottom to top). Another day was spent on the descent and transfer to the airport. Acclimatization to anyone was not required because all participants participated in various other climbs shortly before the trip to Kenya .

Denis Saveliev and Roman Gretzky climbed to the highest point of Mount Kenya - the peak of Batian graded 4-route using ropes and safety equipment. Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Adrov made the ascent to the peak of the Lenana, the next summit of the array that is relatively easy. By a trekking route with a local guide.

Today, February 20th, our team

Alpari - On Top of the World went down for a very short rest at Base Camp Plaza Argentina in 4200. February, 17 we went to the first assault camp at 4900. Drop of 700 meters we have overcome in less than three hours. In the evening a strong wind blew, the night turned into a hurricane. We just kept the tent by our bodies.

Morning of February 18 we changed the plan. Hurricane. We spent the second night in 4900.

February 19th the wind slackened, and we went out in the second camp at 5500. Now we have a rest in the base camp. Plan the following: 21.02 to go straight to 5500, 22.02 in 6000. 23.02 to try clinb the summit of Aconcagua.

Health and mood of the team is excellent. Hello!

Traditional meeting of friends of 7 Summits Club will be held March 15 at 20:00. The place is the same: store "Activny Otdykh" on the Great Pereiaslav Street, Building 7. We will tell you about our achievements over the past few months. Let's try to highlight the most interesting and significant record of our many trips. We also formally introduce our expedition to Everest and wish the participants good luck.

But the main event will be the performance on the evening of the great Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov, who takes part of our expedition to the highest peak in the world.

Dmitry Yermakovs’ group descended to the base camp. All is okay. They have a rest before going on the climb.

Here, there is also a team of climbers from Ingushetia. Her head coach Sergei Bogomolov informs: "Good day! All, all is in order. We are working according to plan, completed acclimatization. Good wishes to the people of the republic! Best regards, Sergey Bogomolov. "

The group guide Vladimir Korenkov, climbers Visa Yusupov, Aznor Hajiyev, Moussa Hadzi, Leila Albogachiev, Magomed Aushev are ready to go to the climb.

To climb all 21 peaks is my new goal. The “seven summits” I completed 2007. After climbing some of the “second seven summits” and some of the “third seven summits” I noticed that there is simply no uniform list regarding the ranking of the peaks. Therefore, parallel to the climbing, I started a DGPS Surveying project of all controversial discussed peaks. Following table should be considered as PRELIMINARY.

http://skyrunning.at/en

Hello. This is Maxim Shakirov from the Alpari: On Top of the World expedition.

Everything’s going according to plan for us. I wouldn’t really say that we are all in perfect health, but things are pretty upbeat. We have been overwhelmed both by the beauty of the night sky and by the people who live and work here. Let me hand off the phone to the head honcho here, our team captain Lyudmila.

Ludmila:

About our mood… We’re feeling great. Here’s a little bit about where we are at this point. We’re currently at 3,200 meters, in Casa de Piedra, and we’re heading to base camp at 4,200 meters.

Hi to everyone out there who’s following us!

http://www.alpari-life.ru/en

Hello! Denis Saveliev from Kenya. Today I and Roman Gretzky climbed Mount Kenya summit Batian, by a route of IV category of difficulty. The ascent to the summit lasted 7 hours and 4 hours we went down. Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Adrov ascended the peak of Lenana. In general, our expedition came to an end and tonight we all take the plane. See you soon!

Today we are staying in the first camp on our way to the peak. Pampa de Lenas is about three kilometers above sea level. Overall, we have already hiked about 20 kilometers from the entrance of Aconcagua Park through the valley of Punta de Vacas.

The views are incredible. This route is more picturesque than the classic route through Plaza de Mulas. There are fewer people and everything is greener and more beautiful. During the evening we sit with the gauchos, who drive the mules. We cook meat and bake potatoes. We still have about 20 kilometers to go before we get to the next camp.

Ludmila Korobeshko

And now a little bit of Argentinian culture:

Gauchos are part of an ethnic group originating in the 16-17 century. Gauchos were often the progeny of Spaniards and native women from Argentina and Uruguay. Originally, they led a nomadic lifestyle, living off of contraband, theft and the resale of cattle. Near the end of the 18th century, they took to commercial cattle ranching and began to hire themselves out as cattle herders.

http://www.alpari-life.ru/en

Hello from Argentina! Four our groups two days ago landed in Mendoza, that is almost entirely occupied by it. Someone came before. Someone later. Everyone was very fun to everyone. Evening, 25 people sat in a restaurant. The next day the team "Planet Fitness" flew in from Bolivia.

Yesterday, four buses were carrying members of the Seven Summits Club in Penitentes. A caravan of mules left in the morning today in the direction of the Plaza de Mulos with our things. Group of "Bolivians" from Planet Fitness with Victor Bobok was put into a helicopter. The remaining members went on foot toward the confluence camp.