All news: 25 December 2010

27/12/2010 Hello! December 24 - the day before Christmas night. In the morning there was a terrible storm, a hurricane roared overhead, on the ridge. The wind reached a speed of 80-100 km per hour. Within days, there was no connection with the High Camp, where seven people left. We all worried, but today, at 12 a.m. they came to a connection. They said that there are a few broken tents, one tent flew away. But in general, everything is OK.

When we were in the High Camp and went down, I joked that at Christmas the weather must be good. And now, the Christmas night, at 2 a.m. the peace was established between heaven and earth. Deathly silence, the sun is shining. Here in Antarctica, the sun always shines. Just perfect weather, perfect visibility. Deathly silence. Probably tomorrow, seven climbers who spent several days in the High Camp, go on climb. We also have a plan. Tomorrow morning, we will hear the weather forecast, and if all goes well, tomorrow we leave for night in the High Camp. And the next day, probably December 26, we plan to climb Mount Vinson.

God help us !

Goodbye !

Tomorrow, 26th of December, we are waiting for her in Punta Arenas. Crina Coco Popescu will see her dream come true on Christmas Eve when she will leave for Punta Arenas to complete her most important expedition till now, „Antarctica 2010-2011”.

http://www.celmaisus.ro

Crina will begin the new year by climbing the Mount Vinson (1-10 January 2011), then she’ll take the Romanian flag on the Sidley’s peak (14-23 January 2011). On 22nd of February she will return to Bucharest as „the youngest woman to complete the Volcano Seven Summits”. We are crossing our fingers for her and we’ll wait for her to come back home.

You will be keep you updated with news from the expedition on the Journal section. But, just so you know how will the Coco’s life adventure will look, here’s the schedule of the „Antarctica 2010-2011”:

24th of December: departure from Bucharest, on the route Paris – Atlanta – Santiago de Chile – Punta Arenas;

26th of December: meeting at Punta Arenas with the organizer’s agents, 7 Summits Club and Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions;

27th of December: expedition’s briefing with the agents of 7 Summits Club and Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions;

28th of December: the equipment’s verification;

29th of December: the take-off on the route Punta Arenas – Patriot Hills (the base camp in Antarctica);

1st of January: flight with an easy airplane Cesna, from the base camp in Patriot Hills to the base camp in Mt. Vinson;

1st of January – 10th of January: climbing on Mt. Vinson;

11th of January: coming back to the base camp in Patriot Hills;

13th of January: close up flight in Mt. Sidley, departure from Patriot Hills camp;

14 th of January – 23th of January: close up march, ski and climbing on Mt. Sidley;

24th of January: coming back to the base camp in Patriot Hills;

25th of January: coming back to Punta Arenas (Chile);

30th of January: departure from Punta Arenas to Santiago de Chile;

1st of February – 18th of February: Climbing on Ojos del Salado (Atacama), acclimatization program for Everest (the climbing is due for spring 2011);

20th of February: departure from Chile;

22nd of February: arrival to Bucharest

 Antarctica will be the first serious expedition without his father

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My name is Crina Imola Popescu but everyone knows me as Crina COCO Popescu. My dear friends simply call me COCO. I ‘m 16 years old and I’m a climber.

I was born in Rasnov, a town close to Brasov and I have been climbing mountains since I was 6. At first I climbed around my hometown: the Bucegi Mountains and Postavarul. Then I’ve wanted to climb higher mountains…and I did it. When I was 11, I went to the Alps and climbed the 4000 m high Dente del Giante. Next there were other dreams accomplished: the Olympus, Ararat and Mont Blanc.

At only 12, I went for the first time in Nepal on Kalapatar. When I first saw the Himalayan giants, I fell in love with them: I realized that I want more. Slowly, what was more of a hobby turned into a real passion. At 13 years old I have seen my dream accomplished on Kazbek in the Caucasus, Damavand and Alam Kuh in Iran.

I didn’t have only successful attempts. The failures convinced me that, without passion and efforts, you can’t reach for the highest high, both in life and on mountains. An important lesson that I’ve learned was when I first attempt to climb on Aconcagua and a cold hold me back. From that moment on, I learned that precaution must represent an objective for me in order to continue my dream.

Searching for new objectives, I found out about Seven Summits and Volcanic Seven Summits. I said to myself: this is what I want to do!

In 2008, when the Altitude Mountain Club was born, my dream spread its wings. In late 2008 I went on the Ojos del Salado in the Atacama, the world’s highest volcano. In January 2009 I was on Aconcagua – the South American giant. They were followed by Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus. I already had three peaks of the Seven Summits and four of Volcanic Seven Summits. For these achievements I received the title of “Master of Sports”, a great honor for me.

In autumn 2009 I received a new lesson that prepared me for the future: I had decided to climb Cho Oyu, but due to an imperfect acclimatization we decided to descend from an altitude of 6700m, putting safety before everything. In January 2010 I went to Oceania where I climbed the mount Kosciuszko, Carstensz Pyramid and Giluwe. In June 2010 I climbed Pico de Orizaba in Mexico and McKinley in Alaska, highest volcano and summit in North America.

What I've climbed so far...

From December 2010 to February 2011 I’ll be in South America and Antarctica. I’ll climb on Vinson and Sidley and in April 2011 I’ll be on Everest.

Until now I have already conquered five peaks of the Seven Summits and six peaks of the Volcanic Seven Summits. Plus other six records in alpinism.

I wouldn’t have succeeded this performance if my father hadn’t been extremely supportive with me. He imbued me with his passion for the mountains and made me fall in love with nature. I don’t have enough words to thank my parents for their support and all their efforts. But I’m trying hard to make them proud.

Many thanks to all the people from the Club! Because of them, I now have the hope to fulfill my dream: I want to become the youngest woman to climb the Seven Summits and Volcanic Seven Summits.