All news - Page 5

The 7 Summits Club Super Guide Boris Egorov sends a message from Nepal:

 Greetings from Nepal! Today we had an active time in Namche. We went to the Everest Café after gaining 400 meters and admired the mountain panorama. We could see both Everest and Lhotse. And, of course, our destination, Ama Dablam, in all its glory. In the meantime, we came up with a name for the group: "Experienced Yaks."

On the way back, we visited the eco-museum and the Sherpa Museum. At the latter, our Sherpa Sona showed us his photo—he's a two-time Guinness World Record holder! Winter ascent of K2 and the shortest Everest-K2 ascent in 114 days.

The most experienced Super Yak, Boris Egorov.

Alexander Abramov, leader of the "Super Dogs on Elbrus" expedition, reports from the Elbrus region:

 The Super Dogs project on Elbrus. SUMMIT!!! Today, October 18th, a historic event took place. Three Sherpa dogs, Mingma, Pemba, and Lhakpa, reached the summit of Elbrus, working as sled dogs. They pulled climbers Alexander Abramov, Viktor Simonov, and Ilya Gladkikh.

As a result, the team of three dogs and three climbers ascended from an altitude of 5,100 meters to the summit in 3.5 hours. It's interesting that these dogs pull sleds in winter, but they've never been to the mountains. So, Elbrus is their first summit as dogs. The weather was terrible. After the summit, we descended in a blizzard and 50 km/h winds.

The route was in rough firn conditions, with some ice in places. The dogs proved themselves heroes.

The 7 Summits Club guide Artem Rostovtsev reports from Papua:

 Hello, Seven Summits! This is the Carstensz Pyramid expedition. We all arrived safely in Timika (the closest civilization to the mountain). Our flight down the mountain was slightly delayed, just a day. We decided not to spoil you with any news and photos. So, the first decent news is from base camp, where we arrived this morning. We immediately headed out to the rock wall to refresh and strengthen our skills. We were doing so well that we were already considering a summit attempt today. But current mountain regulations prevent this. We finished the acclimatization and educational walk, had a snack, and had our health checked. We're waiting for rain so we can retreat to our tents for a nap, with a break for dinner. We plan to set out for the summit early in the morning.

The 7 Summits Club President Alexander Abramov flew to Moscow for 24 hours. Our captain took part in the 7 Summits Club's 18th anniversary celebration and was back at the Elbrus Refuge this morning. The weather is excellent and sunny, but windy, and the slopes are icy. Temperatures at the summit are forecast to be -30 degrees Celsius with winds of 50 km/h. Tonight, the group will attempt to climb Elbrus on dogsleds.

Namaste from the Himalayan Leopards group! Today we spent the day in Namche Bazaar. We slept in the morning, then went to the Everest View Hotel. The weather was kind, and we were able to see all the beauty of the Himalayas – all the main peaks, including Everest, were revealed to us. We drank tea at the hotel and descended. In the comfortable lodge, we showered, had a massage, and rested. Today is our last day, when the weather is really warm. We then leave the forest zone completely and walk through Tingboche Monastery to our favorite lodge. With you was Sergey Avtomonov, the 7 Summits Club guide.

The 7 Summits Club Super Guide Boris Egorov reports from Nepal:

Hello everyone! We continue our journey to the summit of Ama Dablam. Today we successfully reached Namche Bazaar. This is not a first trek for all of the participants, and the area is familiar to everyone. We'll be happy to spend a couple of days here.

The 7 Summits Club Guide Boris Egorov reports from Nepal:

 Two more Ama Dablam climbers arrived in Kathmandu today. We finalized all our arrangements in the city, walked around, and, of course, bought all the necessary supplies. Tomorrow, according to plan, we fly by helicopter to Lukla and finally begin our trekking and climbing program!

Alexander Abramov, leader of the "Super Dogs on Elbrus" expedition, reports from the Elbrus region:

 Today, the 7 Summits Club Super Dogs team climbed to our Refuge ("National Park") on the slopes of Elbrus at an altitude of 3,800 meters. Everything was covered in snow. They were digging out the cabins. The dogs were the main attraction on the cable car.

We settled into the shelter. We were in the cabins, our Chukchi sled dogs were on the snow. Everyone was comfortable.

Today, we made a test hike with the dogs to Refuge 11. The dogs immediately started pulling up, just like they would in a sled on snow. The speed was actually twice as fast as without the dogs. They pulled even better on the snow than yesterday on the rocks at Cheget. And they're less distracted. So far, the experiment is going great.

Tomorrow we'll try to climb Pastukhov Rocks. The weather, frankly, is bad. A blizzard. But the dogs are used to it. In Chukotka, in winter, they pull sleds and sleep outside at -50 degrees. So, Elbrus is a real treat for them. It's like a resort. But they're not climbing alone...

Greetings from Nepal from the "Himalayan Leopards" group! Yesterday we gathered in Kathmandu. The participants rested from the flight, and checked their gear in the evening. This morning, we flew to Lukla by helicopter. We admired the magnificent mountain views from the helicopter. Then we entered the National Park and walked to our final destination—the beautiful Shangri-la Lodge. This is our home for today, and tomorrow we head off to Namche Bazaar, the Sherpa capital. This was 7 Summits Club Guide Sergey Avtomonov.

 Congratulations to Olga Kalinichenko on her successful ascent of one of the most beautiful mountains in the world - Ama Dablam! She completed the climb on a private program with local guides. Olga was among the first climbers to reach the summit of Ama Dablam this fall. Congratulations, and thanks for wonderful photos from the summit!

The 7 Summits Club Guide Artem Rostovtsev, from the road:

Hello 7 Summits! One of the rarest expeditions in the Seven Summits program, an ascent to Carstensz Pyramid, is beginning. Our small team is currently en route to New Guinea, where we'll all meet. Wish us luck!

 Photos from previous years

Alexander Abramov, leader of the "Sherpa Dogs on Elbrus" expedition from the Elbrus region:

 Today, October 14th, we made our first acclimatization ascent with dogs to the slopes of Mount Cheget. The result exceeded all expectations. All four dogs moved briskly upwards and pulled reliably. The ascent speed doubled. We reached the Ai Café in an hour and a half. The dogs are all renowned. They've been on the North Pole, but this is their first time in the mountains. Well done!

Tomorrow we're climbing to the refuge at 3,800 meters. There, we'll acclimatize the dogs and the participants for three days. The dogs have protective goggles. They don't like them much, though, and try to rip them off. I hope they get used to them.

 And there's another problem: these are running sled dogs. They pull not only up but also down. And that's dangerous. So we're getting used to each other. And we're trying to agree that the dogs will walk down together and not drag each other down. We're filming a movie.

Alexander Abramov, Viktor and Makar Simonov, Ilya Gladkikh.

The 7 Summits Club Super Guide Boris Egorov reports from Nepal:

Greetings from Kathmandu! The 7 Summits Club's first major expedition to the most beautiful mountain, Ama Dablam, is about to begin! Participants have already begun to slowly gather in the city. While preparations are underway for the trekking trip, Sergei Avtomonov (the second guide) and I found some time to warm up on the climbing wall right across from the hotel.

Alexander Abramov, leader of the "Sherpa Dogs on Elbrus" expedition from the Elbrus region:

 Today marks the beginning of a new and unusual expedition for the 7 Summits Club to Elbrus. We will be climbing with Sherpa sled dogs. The thing is, the Chukchi sled dogs have been given Sherpa names: Mingma, Pemba, Pasang, and Lakpa. Their owner, the renowned polar explorer Viktor Simonov, believes they are ready to climb Elbrus. We are once again breaking new ground in mountaineering. The hardest part today was checking the dogs in as luggage. It took all day. We rescheduled our tickets twice, thanks to Aeroflot for being so accommodating!

The expedition stayed at the Povorot Hotel and began preparing for the Elbrus climb. The hardest part so far has been figuring out how to train the dogs to wear glasses. They're still a novelty for them. The group is scheduled to summit Elbrus in a week.

Today marks the beginning of a new and unusual expedition to Elbrus by the 7 Summits Club. We'll be climbing with Sherpa sled dogs. The Chukchi sled dogs are named after the Sherpas: Mingma, Pemba, Pasang, and Lakpa. Their owner, the famous polar explorer Viktor Simonov, believes they're ready to climb Elbrus. We're exploring a new direction in mountaineering again. The hardest part today was checking the dogs in as luggage. It took all day. We rescheduled our tickets twice, thanks to Aeroflot for being so accommodating!

 It's now 9:40 PM. We'll arrive in Mineralnye Vody at 1:30 AM. So, I'll send photos of the dogs tomorrow. For now, just our exhausted faces.

We face a second problem: finding crampons for our dogs.

Alexander Abramov, leader of the "Sherpa Dogs on Elbrus" expedition.

Greetings from Adyl-Su to everyone from the guides of the 7 Summits Club! Following our exercise regimen, we started the morning with a formation. Dmitry opened the lineup today. After that, we headed out to the slopes of Elbrus. The snow fell nonstop, accompanied by gusts of wind. We were the only ones on the slope. Apparently, there aren't many people here who enjoy being trapped in the snow!

We tramped through the snow, made our way through drifts, and demonstrated our belay skills. We checked the slope for avalanche danger. Overall, we lived up to our title of super guide, and our examination committee confirmed it.

Your super guides: Alexander Dorojukov, Evgeny Fedyunin, Dmitry Semenov, Kristina Putintseva.

Greetings from the 7 Summit Club guides from Adyl-Su! Early in the morning, we set out through the Dzhantugan alpine camp towards the Kashkatash Glacier. We showed each other how to properly cross rivers and navigate scree slopes. The higher we climbed, the more interesting and varied the terrain became, and an incredibly beautiful panorama from the glacier to the forest valley opened up before us. On the glacier, our examiners gave us very interesting tasks, so we didn't have time to get bored or freeze. We jumped into crevasses, pulled each other out…

All in all, we completed the tasks successfully, finishing everything before dusk.

 Your super guides:

Alexander Dorozhuk,

Evgeny Fedyunin,

Dmitry Semenov,

Kristina Putintseva.

Greetings from the super guides in the Adyl-Su Valley! There was a very strong thunderstorm last night that lasted all night... Luckily, the clouds began to clear in the morning, and we went to the rock module exams. We demonstrated our ascent and descent skills, organized rescue operations, and climbed various rock routes. Our examiners, strict and attentive, kept a close eye on us, and we joyfully completed all the tasks!

 Your guides:

Alexander Dorojukov, Evgeny Fedyunin, Dmitry Semenov, Kristina Putintseva.

The 7 Summits Club Guide Boris Egorov reports from the Elbrus region:

I thought I'd rest somewhere by the sea after climbing an eight-thousander, and then head back to Nepal, to Ama Dablam. But the mountains wouldn't let me go: I rushed to the Elbrus region for my guide certification. And there were new locations: the Dzhan-Tugan rock laboratory, the Kashkatash glacier, and the good old snow on Elbrus. I passed all my tests with flying colors. It's great when you love what you do!

Greetings to everyone from Rustam and Franklin, still from North America!

As a reminder, Rustam is returning for the third time to climb Chimborazo (6,310 m, Ecuador's highest peak and the farthest point from the center of the Earth), but decided to acclimatize in Mexico. The plan was to climb Mount Orizaba, North America's highest volcano. Rustam had already been to Ecuador twice and climbed all of the country's most interesting volcanoes. Don't go the same old route!

 Well, what can I say! After wonderful acclimatization trips in Mexico on smaller volcanoes, Orizaba herself decided to show what she's capable of when she's not in the mood! Before reaching the summit, there was sunshine, then storms began somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and snow fell over Orizaba, and then it started raining. All the other teams turned around, but ours continued on!

When we reached the glacier, at 5,000 m, we finally decided that acclimatization was sufficient and that it was time to turn back. We returned to base in splendid isolation, alone with the mountain and the storm in the Pacific Ocean.

At the hotel, we finally wrung out all our belongings, dried off, rested actively, recharged, and before flying to Ecuador, we stopped to see the famous pyramids in Mexico City. But we didn't climb them because it was still raining!

 Goodbye, Mexico! Hola Ecuador! Chimborazo is still waiting!