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Nominees for the national award " Golden Ice Axe of Russia" in 2011. The Expert Group of Russian Mountaineering Federation selected six nominees, contenders for the prize for the best climbing achievement in 2011:

1. Latok III, 6940 m, Pakistan, new route, the team of A. Odintsov

2. Shark Tooth, 1555 m, Greenland, A. Ruchkin - Mikhailov

3. Trango Nameless Tower, 6251 m, Pakistan, new route, the team of V. Volodin

4. Ushba, 4710 m, Georgia, the first winter ascent of Titkin’s route, the team of O. Khvostenko

5. Great Trango Tower, 6286 m, Pakistan, new route, the Russian-Ukrainian women's team

6. Grossvenor, 6376 m, China, new route D. Sushko - D. Paramonov

Now, team captains will select a winner. First, each team will provide presentation of their project, then the vote will choose the winner. Each selected team will have one vote.

Awarding ceremony of the "Golden Ice Axe of Russia” will be held on 3th December. Place is already traditional: Press Center at Luzhniki Stadium, beginning at 7 p.m…

Today, rain fell all day. Our group rose from Mandara Hut to Horombo. Everybody wet, but came to the shelter in a good mood. In the evening all members and guides take a preventive medication. Mainly in the form of whiskey. A guide Denis Saveliev dried stuff on a local, very colorful kitchen. This process is facilitated convergence of Russian and Tanzanian peoples. For tomorrow the weather will be better. It will be a day of acclimatization, with return for overnight to the Horombo camp. The group will go in the area of picturesque cliffs Zebra Rocks and in the afternoon they will rest and prepare for the next step.

This is a joint group of “Bank Plus” (Russia) and "Tsesnabank" (Kazakhstan)

JSC "Bank Plus" begins the conquest of the great peaks of the world. We want to draw attention to the development of a extreme sport among Russians - mountaineering.

Leaders of our bank are professionally engaged in climbing the mountains around the world for many years. We plan to cover these sporting events in the media, to attract interest in the sport a wide audience: to show the colorful mountain scenery of the world, infecting people in the spirit of conquest with elements of primeval nature…

On Thursday, representatives of ALE warned that we should be ready by 6 a.m. Friday. In fact, the departure from Punta Arenas took place around 3 p.m. local time. The adventures began. Our IL-76 and the flight to Antarctica, for beginners, this is a real adventure. Landing, as always, was not soft.

Alas, the first news from the owners, was not good. Axel Heiberg Glacier area, where the group must deliver the following by a smaller plane, is closed by clouds. Again, wait! Now, on the base of Union Glacier. All members are eager to do something, go on skis, walking through the neighborhood. Conditions are excellent, the temperature is about minus ten, around us - magnificent mountains, good snow. And on Sunday evening, representatives of ALE promised flight on Monday.

Before the beginning of the expedition, Victor Bobok gave an interview to the company BASK, which equipment has proved itself very well in our Antarctic expeditions.

The Russian National Climbing Team is ready for their K2 winter ascent. The Russian alpinists are striving to become the world’s first men to complete a winter ascent of K2, the planet’s most challenging and northernmost peak beyond 8,000 metres.

The Russian National Team of climbers will accomplish their endeavour between December 2011 and March 2012 in Pakistan. The alpinists are scheduled to fly out of Moscow to Islamabad on 9th December 2011.

Their kick-off press conference is to take place at 12, Krasnopresnenskaya Naberezhnaya, 2nd Floor, Entrance 4, on 5th December 2011.

The ultimate success the climbers are seeking to achieve is of importance not only to them. The Russian National Team’s ascent is essential to the profile of Russian sports and the country at large. The Russian climbers are looking to hoist on top of K2 this winter the national colours of Russia and the official colours of Sochi-2014 Winter Olympics.

http://k2-winterclimb.ru/eng/

Sportsmen:

Alexey Bolotov Yekaterinburg

Vladimir Belous, Irkutsk

Eugene Vinogradsky Yekaterinburg

Nicholas Totmyanin St. Petersburg

Valery Shamalo St. Petersburg

Vitaly Gorelik Novosibirsk

Ilyas Tukhvatullin Podolsk

Andrew Mariev Togliatti

Vadim Popovich Nizhny Tagil

Leaders:

Viktor Kozlov, Moscow leader of the expedition

Nikolay Cherny Moscow head coach of the expedition

Victor Pleskachevsky St. Petersburg Organizing Committee Chairman of the expedition

Subsidiary of:

Sergei Bychkovsky Ekaterinburg expedition doctor

Igor Borisenko Moscow expedition cameraman

Vladimir Moscow Merchants Expedition Photographer

Yuri Dimchuk Moscow correspondent of TV

Sergei Gaidukov Moscow Expedition Photographer

PR Newswire: Mega Tourism Resort Project in North Caucasus Mountains Becomes First Russian Entry to Win a Prestigious International Commercial Real Estate Development MIPIM Award

HONG KONG. /PRNewswire/ -- The development company overseeing construction of a massive system of ski, beach and natural health spa resorts covering 50,000 sq km in the North Caucasus Mountains, stretching 1,200 km from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and bordering Asia, was named the first Russian winner ever of a renowned MIPIM global real estate competition.

 Northern Caucasus Resorts Company (NCRC) executives will accept the award, based on innovative, technical, environmental and architectural merits, in the Central & Western Asia Futura category at the annual MIPIM Asia awards ceremony here on Nov. 16. MIPIM, short for Le Marche International des Professionnels d'Immobilier, is the premier world promoter of the international property trade. Eighty entrants from 15 countries are involved in the contest, including China, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia and the UAE.

 "Asia-Pacific investors seeking to diversify outside their domestic markets to mitigate risk and secure higher returns will find great opportunity within our unique plan for developing a sustainable tourism industry in the mountains on our country's southern border with Asia," said NCRC Chairman Akhmed Bilalov. "We expect many also will be attracted to the chance to participate in the first major step in a proposed new national strategy to use public-private initiatives in tourism to spur much-needed economic growth in depressed regions of the Russian Federation."

 Moscow-based NCRC was established last December to drive the massive tourism project, which will create up to 300,000 new jobs. A collaboration with the federal government, the development is part of a long-term strategy to address the economic lag that underlies social tensions in the North Caucasus region. The plan includes industry, agriculture and youth vocational training reform.

 With the explicit support of President Dmitri Medvedev, the federal government initially capitalized the bold undertaking with a $2.0-billion allocation for development of transportation, communications, electrical power and other infrastructure. NCRC is actively pursuing investment from financial institutions and global property developers. The ten-year project is anticipated to require up to $30 billion to complete all phases, including a cluster of five world-class skiing and five modern seaside resorts, as well as an array of health spas that will take advantage of the area's legendary healing mineral and hot springs.

 To facilitate international and domestic investment, the Russian government has designated the entire 50,000-sq-km development area a special economic zone (SEZ). State guarantees will cover up to 70 percent of investments for three to ten years. The state will impose no corporate or transportation taxes for the first ten years, no land taxes for five years and no VAT tax will be applied on equipment imported into the SEZ. The project offers opportunities for foreign companies interested in hospitality, health and wellness, food and beverage, retail, real estate, logistics and warehousing industries.

 "The success of this grand and important project depends on investment being thoroughly diversified and international," said Laurent Vigier, director of European and international affairs for Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC). The French state-owned banking group and long-term investor has signed a strategic joint venture with NCRC to provide advanced technical, legal, planning and environmental expertise to support the project. "The current outreach to the Asia-Pacific investment community is a major and critical step toward generating a broad and effective portfolio of investors for the North Caucasus," added M. Vigier, who will join NCRC executives here to present the tourism project.

 About 20 French companies have already expressed interest in investing in ski lifts, hotels, airports, mountain tunnel and other construction projects. The first investment from Asia came Nov. 2 in the form of a joint venture with Korean Western Power Company to build up to five power and heating plants in the region, integrating renewable energy sources from wind and solar generation. The investment is worth approximately $1.0 billion.

 NCRC's skiing resorts, the centerpiece of the overall project and including the tallest peak in Europe, Mt. Elbrus, will open between Dec. 2012 and Dec. 2015, in time for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the neighboring Black Sea coastal town of Sochi. Once completed, the North Caucasus ski cluster will become the world's third-largest ski destination, rivaling famed resorts located in the European Alps and the North American Rockies. With over 2.9 billion people in Russia, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia living within a five-hour flight from the ski resorts, over ten million tourists of various income levels are expected to visit the mountains annually.

 Company representatives will be available for one-on-one meetings with representatives of the financial, business and media communities. To schedule a business session, please contact Pavel Achikyan: +7 916 199-5313 or pavel.achikyan@gmail.com; for media interviews contact Mark D'Anastasio, +1 202 550-1235 or +7 985 999-3855, mdanastasio@emcommunicate.com

 A video of the ski resort cluster project can be viewed at

For additional information about the company visit www.ncrc.ru. A press briefer can be found on the MIPIM Online Media Center site: http://www.mipim.com/en/mipim-asia/press/press-kits-and-releases/

Project "Bank Plus on top!" begins November 23. Teams of "Plus Bank" (Russia) and JSC "Tsesnabank" (Kazakhstan) with guides of 7 Summits Club Ludmila Korobeshko and Denis Saveliev depart on an expedition to the tallest point in Africa - Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania).

JSC "Bank Plus" project begins to conquest the highest mountains of the world. Management of the Bank wants to attract attention to the development of mountaineering among the youth.

Bank Plus is an initiator and an official sponsor of the program "High-speed records on the 7th highest peaks of continents". Plus Bank is sponsoring the Captain of Red Fox Asia Team Andrey Puchinin , who entered in 2011 on the Russian national team on skyrunning.

The project "Bank Plus on top!" will be covered on television and print media to attract interest in the adventure sport a wider audience. We want to show the colorful mountain scenery of the world, infecting young audience a spirit of conquest wilderness.

The first in Denmark ... Stina Glavind became the first woman in Denmark, which managed to complete the program "Seven Summits". July 14, 2011 she went to the finishing summit of the list - Carstensz Pyramid. She is 36 years old, grew up and lives on the island of Bornholm, far enough away from the capital. Stina is a manager of Carlsberg, which has helped her in raising funds for trips.

On May 22, 2010. Mount Everest. "It was one of the greatest experiences of my life..."

"The purpose of life, you define yourself. I'm happy to have found a hobby, and I managed to get away from everyday life, from coffee with cream and Dancing with the Stars on TV."

Shawn Dawson: Seven Summits - the seven charitable projects

Shawn Dawson - a successful Canadian businessman. He walked up the steps a business career: starting with restaurants, then retail and real estate, then in the media business. Once, friends invited him to go with them on Mount Kilimanjaro. Traveling to Africa has changed the priorities in life of Canadian. He became closely acquainted with the organization Habitat for Humanity, a charitable group engaged in construction in poor African countries. The idea was born - to climb seven summits for charity. And the seven charitable projects add on to the project climbs. Dawson has created a special fund called the Dream Mountains, to implement their plans.

http://www.dreammountains.com/

Seven Summits program is completed and a positive balance amounted to $ 142.114. This amount has gone to seven charitable projects. But the work continues. Dawson gathers a group of track to the foot of Mount Everest, maybe he will come up with something more interesting.

Dawson completed the program climbing Carstensz, which had reached on May 4, 2011. Finnish climber Atte Miettinen was with his team, one of those who are currently studying Punto Arenas waiting for a flight to Antactica.

For the whole Finland

In fact, Veikka Gustafsson (b. 01/14/1968) represents the whole Finnish climbing. A professional mountain climber, he achieved a lot: 14 eight-thousanders without artificial oxygen, and without permanent partners. Frankly, I do not know what he miss and had climb for the seven summits yet. At least he was at Vinson before..

Veikka – the high-class climber

It is not surprising that Atte Miettinen invited Veikka to joint climbs on top of missing the "seven". Namely: Vinson, Aconcagua, McKinley and Mount Everest.

Atte lives for many years in Dubai with his wife an Englishwoman. His business projects related to information technology, and thus transcend political and geographical boundaries. Miettinen also started with two trips to Mount Kilimanjaro. Then there was Elbrus, attempt to Aconcagua and this year - Carstensz. Despite a decent amount for their own accounts, Atte had found for his project quite good sponsors. Red Bull is among the sponsors - http://sevensummits.fi/

The beginning of a trip of our group had to travel in a period of a long bad weather. Airlift Kathmandu - Lukla was broken, hundreds of passengers were blocked  at airports. The world's leading news agencies reported that. It seemed that all the plans have failed and should concede defeat in the struggle against the Nature. But the climbers of the expedition 7 Summits Club decided to fight. They took the opportunity to fly by helicopter to the settlement situated below Lukla. This option assumes that the part will be walking on two longer. As a result, our guys are not only caught up with the schedule, but could reached  the Everest base camp. They ended the program today, by a successful ascent of the Island Peak.  Heroes season: Andrew Bykanov, Nikolai Kirilov, Andrei  Mangushev and their Sherpa guide Lakpa Passang ...

As it often happens, the schedule of departures to Antarctica isn't maintained. A departure of expedition SYDPOLEN AMUNDSEN-JUBILEUM 2011 have postponed and it is clear that for a long time. Cargo flight will be the first by turns. It delivers to the Union Glacier a heavy bulldozer for runway alignment. Members of expedition, including Victor Bobok and Igor Grishkov have gone for some days to national park Paine, to feet of fantastic towers of Torres, to glaciers running directly in the sea. The delay will take into question possibility of achievement of a pole in a holiday on December, 14th. The group has spent one night in a mountain hut and next day was already in Punta Arenas (on the average 5 hours' journey).

 On Saturday evening there was a meeting with the well-known climbers  Simone Moro and Denis Urubko. It is the program The Speaker Series organized by The North Face in cooperation with the company of Jeep. In their plans to conduct such lectures with film demonstrations in the largest climbing centers of Europe: Turin, Barcelona, Munich, London, Moscow. It is pleasant that our capital has got to such list. The North  Face has the right to be proud of the work, I mean the first winter ascension on Gasherbrum II….

Climbing is freedom !

Film Trailer

Amazing journeys always have a start and an end, watch what it took Moro, Urubko
and Richards to make history with the over 8000m winter summit of GII in Karakorum

GRAND PRIZE 2011 BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL

COLD

Producer / Director: Anson Fogel

Forge Motion Pictures (USA)

Experience Gasherbrum II in the middle of a deep, dark winter, as seen from the raw, honest perspective of alpinist and photographer Cory Richards. The film deftly captures the interweaving of pain, doubt, and fear — and reveals a harrowing descent that amplifies the isolation and exposure.

“ First, we want to congratulate all the filmmakers. It’s very competitive out there and you should know that if you’re in this Festival you’re already a winner. Jurying is a tough task. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that there’s been a lot of discussion and debate throughout the week. When it came to the grand prize we all agreed. We are awed by this film: its sensitivity, humility, great storytelling and technical achievement.”

— 2011 Jury member Jacki Ochs

Well-known climber from the Southern Tirol, a guide and the head of climbing school Hans Kammerlander (born 1956) finishes a series of trips on cities of Austria and Germany. Public lectures and performances come to an end usually with conversations with journalists. On a traditional question on plans, the traditional answer follows: I am going to Antarctica to finish the program of "Seven Second Summits” . To made it, Kammerlander should climb only one, but really hard mount of Tyree. The second summit of Antarctica has only two successful expeditions and seven climbers on the top ….

The group of the 7 Summits Club has passed 9 days of trekking with day drop up to 2500 м, passes with altitude above 4000м. We have visited recently found out ancient constructions of Incas (cities, a fortresses, terraces on slopes for agricultural needs). It was sometimes difficult. Yesterday a long-awaited visiting of Machu Picchu has taken place. All the day long has been devoted to excursions on the city as well as independent survey. The most active memberss have visited "sun gate" - a construction in the east from Machu Pikchu over whom it is possible to observe rising the sun, being in a city. In the evening all group has gone to Cuzco by railways along the river Urubamba.

For the remained 2 days we have planned excursions on ancient capital of Incas - to a city of Cuzco, and sightseeng in Lima.

"Hi, Here are our photos from the Orizaba climb. Today we got to Mexico. Sports program has ended. Now we are waiting for the solid cultural and others program"

Olga Rumiantseva

4th of November a new expedition 7 Summits Club to the Himalayas has started. The aim - Island

Peak (6130 m), one of the most beautiful trekking peaks in Nepal. Lukla due the bad weather had been closed for several days. So our team rented a helicopter and flew not to Lukla, but to Karikole. Two days' journey to Lukla guys ran for one. Now the group is already in Tyangboche (3800 m) and is moving ahead of schedule.

The team:

Andrew Bykanov 
Nikolay Kirilov
Andrew Mangushev

Guide - Sherpa Lakpa Passang

On November 7 of a 7 Summits Club team climbed the highest volcano in Mexico and all North America, Orizaba (5700m): All our members reached the summit.

So we met a holiday, which was once a day on November 7. By the way, Mexico - a country of the first victorious socialist revolution. In general, everyone is happy and healthy. Best regards !

We congratulate all the members of the expedition:

Vladislav Lachkarev

Olesya Lelyushkina

Roman Lerner

Sergei Pikkat-Ordynsky

Igor Pokhvalin

Olga Rumyantseva

The famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov was today a guest of the 7 Summits Club. He came to say goodbye before a long expedition to Ethiopia. In particular, Fedor and his team is going to climb all the highest points of this country. Alexander Abramov and Ludmila Korobeshko discussed with him a program of trekking to the foothills of Mount Everest in April and May 2012. Fedor wants to organize a group with participation of Orthodox priests.

Fyodor Konyukhov, who was the first Russian climbed Seven Summits and reached two Poles. They have discussed various travel ideas, tell each other about their adventures and climbs, about Antarctica and Mount Everest.

Previous information

http://7tops.com/newsarchive/all_1/date_2011_2_9_1/item_2270/

The season of 2011-2012 marks the centenary of Amundsen's and Scott's expeditions to the South Pole. Many expeditions have already started and many arrive to Punta Arenas and waiting for next flight to Antarctica. Almost all of them devote their travel to Amundsen's or Scott's Centenary celebrations, paying homage to the courage and determination of these great men and their colleagues. Among them two our travelers Victor Bobok and Igor Grishkov who take part in the South Pole Jubilee Expedition 1911-2011.

List of expeditions

 http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/news.html

South Pole Jubilee Expedition 1911-2011

Norwegian polar explorers Christian Eide and Borge Ousland have organized a South Pole Jubilee Expedition. The Jubilee teams will follow Amundsen's 700 km route up the Axel Heiberg Glacier, arriving at the South Pole by December 14. Along the way they plan to climb Mt Nansen, which has only had one previous ascent. In 2010 Christian Eide set the World record for fastest solo unsupported ski to the South Pole in 2011, while Borge Ousland completed the first solo Antarctic crossing in 1996 and was the first person to ski solo, with no re-supply to the North Pole.

Sørpolen 1911-2011

Sørpolen 1911-2011 will follow Amundsen's route from the Bay of Whales to the South Pole, covering the distance in the same number of days as the famous explorer. Led by Jan-Gunnar Winther, head of the Norsk Polarinstitutt, this expedition will showcase Norwegian polar history and spotlight current climatic and environmental challenges. The Expedition is part of the Nansen-Amundsen Year that honors both Amundsen's South Pole conquest and 150 years since the birth of Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen.

http://sorpolen2011.npolar.no/en/ (English)

The South Pole - 100 Years After

Asle Johansen crossed Greenland in 1988, one hundred years after Nansen, using period clothing and equipment. Now Johansen will celebrate the Amundsen Centenary in a similar fashion, with teammates Agnar Berg and Gaute Grindhaug. The three Norwegians will follow Amundsen's Axel Heiberg route from the Ross Ice Shelf to the South Pole using replica clothing and equipment to better understand Amundsen's journey. Johansen, a physician and researcher specializing in the body's response to extreme physical and mental stress, emphasizes that this is not just a replica expedition, but a scientific journey.

http://www.nansenamundsen.no/no/events/okt/asle-t-johansen-sorpolekspedisjon.html (Norwegian)

South Pole 1911-2011

Albert Bosch and Carles Gel from Spain will ski unsupported from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole. They plan to arrive by December 14 and thus commemorate Roald Amundsen's historic feat.

http://www.albertbosch.info/en/minisite/29/

Hvitserk Ski South Pole

Norwegian Outfitter Hvitserk will lead an Anniversary South Pole Expedition. The team will follow the 'Messner Route' and ski unsupported to the South Pole, arriving by December 14 to join the Amundsen Centenary celebrations.

Steffen Dahl

Norwegian Steffen Dahl is skiing to both North and South Poles in 2011 to honor the achievements of Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen. Dahl reached the North Pole on April 11 and will ski alone and unsupported from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole.

http://polfarer.no/ (Norwegian)

Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race 2011-12

Two teams. Two routes. Skiing unsupported to the South Pole. Six members of the British Army will re-trace Amundsen's and Scott's routes to the South Pole, in a tribute to the courage, determination and pioneering spirit of these great explorers. The Amundsen team, led by Henry Worsley (Shackleton Centenary Expedition 2008) will depart from the Bay of Whales, cross the Ross Ice Shelf and ascend the Axel Heiberg Glacier. Mark Langridge (solo to the Pole 2008) will lead the Scott team from Cape Evans, across the ice shelf and up the Beardmore Glacier. Both teams expect to cover their distance in about 70 days, arriving at the South Pole in early January.

http://scottamundsenrace.org/

One Call Wintercamp

Nine Norwegian skiers will ski and kite-ski from 88° 30'S to the South Pole. The expedition celebrates Roald Amundsen's dream to achieve something many believed was unattainable.

http://www.onecall.no/wintercamp2011/ (Norwegian)

Ski Last Degree Expeditions

A number of Antarctic enthusiasts, including the Norwegian Prime Minister, will ski shorter distances to the South Pole in celebration of the Amundsen and Scott Centenaries. Many of the groups will ani ski last degree, the last 60 nautical miles, taking from 7 to 10 days to complete their journey.

Other Antarctic Crossing and Ski South Pole-Return Expeditions

Kaspersky ONE Transantarctic Expedition

Felicity Aston (2009 Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Expedition Leader) is heading back to Antarctica - this time solo. Felicity will make a 1700km, 65-day journey, becoming the first woman in the world to cross Antarctica alone. The documentary film about Felicity's 2009 expedition will be screened at the Banff Mountain and Dijon Adventure Film Festivals this November. But don't expect to see Felicity there!

http://www.kasperskyonetransantarcticexpedition.com/

Aleksander Gamme

Aleksander Gamme will ski solo from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole, then turn around and ski solo back to the edge of the Antarctic continent. Inspired by Amundsen. Gamme admits to feeling "humble" when he thinks about the physical and mental challenges of being alone in the icy wilderness for so long.

Mark George

Explorer and motivational speaker Mark George plans to ski solo and unsupported from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole, then return by kite-ski to the coast, for a total of 2,300 kms.

http://www.searchingforsanta.com.au/

Crossing the Ice

Two Australians Justin Jones and James Castrission will trek from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, without assistance of any kind. Their expedition will raise funds for You Can, a fundraising campaign to build specialized youth cancer centres across Australia.

http://casandjonesy.com.au/expeditions/crossing-the-ice/

South Pole and Back - Ski and Kite

Polar explorer and speed-record holder Richard Weber will lead a 35 day, unsupported trek from the "Messner Start" on the Filchner Ice Shelf to the South Pole. From the South Pole the team will kite-ski back to Hercules Inlet at the edge of the continent.

http://www.weberarctic.com/

Ski South Pole - Messner Start and Hercules Inlet

ANI Ski South Pole Messner

ANI guide Hannah McKeand holds the record for most ski expeditions from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole - and this year she will again cross the icy continent. McKeand and fellow ANI guide Charlie Patton will lead two ANI Ski South Pole - Messner teams to the South Pole.

Pole to Pole Run

When endurance runner Pat Farmer starts his Antarctic expedition, he will already have run two marathons every day, no days off, for almost a year and clocked nearly 13,000 miles through 14 countries. This is the last leg on an incredible trek from the North Pole to the South Pole to raise $100 million for the International Red Cross.

http://www.poletopolerun.com/

Mark Wood

"The North South Solo expedition has been classed as the toughest expedition on the planet." But this is exactly what polar explorer Mark Wood plans to undertake. He will ski from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole. Then next spring, head to the Canadian Arctic to ski solo to the North Pole.

PolarExplorers Ski South Pole - Hercules

This guided expedition will traverse from Hercules Inlet at the edge of the Antarctic continent, to the South Pole.

Thompson Reuters Eikon South Pole Expedition

It's about challenge and proving greener technologies for Polar exploration, says their website. This expedition will attempt to beat the overland record to the Pole in a specially-built, efficient, bio-fuelled vehicle. They will use solar panels to further reduce their carbon footprint and real-time GPS Satellite communications and tracking.

http://thomsonreuterseikon.com/south-pole-expedition/

Counterterrorist operation (CTO) in the Elbrus and the part of the Baksan regions of Kabardino-Balkaria canceled on November 5. The head of the Kabardino-Balkaria Arsen Kanokov said that the CTO regime will be off to the beginning of winter ski season. The CTO regime throughout the Elbrus and the Baksan areas of Kabardino-Balkaria was introduced February 20, 2011.

«…because of continuing threat of subversive and terror acts, the republic keeps all its mountain resorts near Elbrus closed for tourists. In order to prevent possible threats to life and health of people, being guided by Article 11 of the Federal Law 'On Counteracting Terrorism', during a counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime, it was prohibited to let tourist groups and individual tourists to the ski resort near Elbrus, which is inside the CTO area,"

Welcome !

Elbrus - is invaluable pride and property №1 among the main miracles of Russia. The greatest mountain of Europe! One of the seventh of most magnificent highest tops that hold a firmament on different continents of our planet.

The material has been made during small travel to Caucasus and ascension to Elbrus from February till March, 2011. Despite heavy weather conditions, we still were able to embody some beautiful fragments of life of this wonderful mountain.

Enjoy viewing!

video from Vladimir Voychuk

Latest news from JSC "Northern Caucasus Resorts”

03.11.2011

THE AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW ABOUT SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES WILL ATTRACT PRIVATE INVESTORS TO THE NORTH CAUCASUS

JSC "Northern Caucasus Resorts” agrees with the changes to the law on special economic zones, which were coordinated with environmentalists. On the November 2 The State Duma at the second reading passed thе version of the legislation that as far as possible ensures conservation of the reserved areas and at the same time privides conditions for the effective development of the touristic zones.

Earlier, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NCR Akhmed Bilalov was categorically against submitted to the Duma edition of the bill and insisted on its correlation with the views of influential environmentalists. "The tabled version of the law is presented as dictated by the needs of the North Caucasus tourism cluster. However, some officials have tried to put into this law all their problems which they did not want to solve for many years. We will ensure, that the changes will affect only those sites that are being developed within the special economic zones for tourism and recreation under strict government control”, - said Bilalov.

During further consultations a mutually acceptable version of the bill was developed. "The new version of amendments accordes with most of the claims of environmentalists," - said in a statement of WWF Russia. "We managed to find formulations that allow the development of environmental management in the biosphere ranges - that is their primary goal, but it does not entail damaging effects as the previous bill project, - said Igor Chestin, director of WWF-Russia.

Akhmed Bilalov expressed his confidence that the accepted amendments to the law on special economic zones will not harm protected areas.and will contribute to the effective development of the North Caucasus region will attract private investors to the tourism projects in the south of Russia.

"The bill provides tax deduction for residents of tourist-recreational SEZ for a period up to 2023, greatly simplifies the form of land use and technical regulations. The preferences, which are established by the bill are extremely attractive for investors ", - said Bilalov. He also reminded that the project of the North Caucasus tourism cluster will create in the region more than 300 thousand new jobs.

*** The project of the tourism cluster in the south of Russia in 2011-2020 involves the construction of five world-class mountain resorts: Lagonaki (Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Adygea), Arkhyz (Karachay-Cherkessia), Elbrus-Bezengi (Kabardino-Balkaria), Mamison (Republic of North Ossetia - Alania), Matlas (Republic of Dagestan). The planned total length of ski runs will be almost 900 km and they will have 179 ski lifts. The hotels with varying comfort levels will accommodate 89 000 people. Daily capacity of the resorts will reach 150 500 people and each year the North Caucasus tourist cluster will be visited by 5 to 10 million tourists.

The total cost of the ski project is estimated at 451 billion rubles. The project is financed by a public-private partnership. Government invests via "NCR" corporation 60 billion in transport and utilities infrastructure, private business is financing the facilities of resort infrastructure.

The Russian government is considering the inclusion of the coastal area of the Caspian Sea (Dagestan), Caucasus Mineral Waters (Stavropol Territory) and the Republic of Ingushetia to the North Caucasus tourism cluster project.