All news: May 2012

On May 26, the Nepalese embassy in Moscow held a special event to commemorate the 30-year anniversary of the first Soviet expedition to Everest.

The Nepalese ambassador to Russia gave some opening remarks. In his speech, he pointed out that Nepal and Russia have long enjoyed friendly relations.

Many of the climbers who took part in the first Soviet expedition to Everest were there to reminisce on their climb three decades ago. Unfortunately, some of the climbers from the team aren’t with us anymore. Adorning the halls of the embassy were pictures of the team and photographs from the expedition. The pictures took those in attendance back to the dawn of Soviet mountaineering, back to the months of training for the expedition and back to their time on the mountain in 1982, when the team rewrote the history books by opening a new route on the mountain; one that no expedition has taken since.

The leader of the team, Anatoliy Georgivich Ovchinnikov also spoke at the gathering, telling some stories from the expedition and describing some of the problems he had to deal with as the team captain.

Edward Vikentevich Myslovskiy, also spoke at the event, sharing some of the emotions he experienced as the first Russian to reach the peak of Everest. Myslovskiy, who turned 75 this year, was actually part of a two-man team with Vladimir Balyberdin, who died in a car accident. Two of the other climbers from the expedition also celebrated their 75th birthday earlier this year: Vladimir Shataev and Roman Giutashvili.

Andrey Volkov, president of the Russian Mountaineering Federation, also addressed the crowd. Volkov, who is among the few in Russia who have climbed both Everest and K2, mentioned his friend, mentor and climbing partner, Ivan Dusharin, in his speech. Volkov then informed the audience that they were in for a real treat: Ivan Dusharin of “Alpari: On Top of the World” was on the line, calling all the way from Kathmandu! Dusharin, fresh off completing his third expedition to Everest, congratulated the Soviet team on their 30-year anniversary and wished them many more years full of life and new achievements. He spoke some about his own experience on Everest and expressed his regret that he wasn’t able to make it back to Moscow in time for the event.

The dinner to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Everest expedition was organized by the Russian Mountaineering Federation and the Nepalese embassy.

alpari-life.ru

Every year, thousands people make a pilgrimage to Kailash, following a tradition going back thousands of years. Pilgrims of several religions believe that circumambulatingMountKailashon foot is a holy ritual that will bring good fortune. The peregrination is made in a clockwise direction by Hindus and Buddhists.

Club 7 Summits provides a special program for Russians traveler to make this KORA. It was a great trip ! A group led by our guide Dmitry Ermakov had visited this country in the beginning of May. See below…

The whole team crossed the border. Now we're sitting having breakfast in Kodari. Here we met Vladimir Zaitsev, who came to make a film about Fyodor Konyukhov. In the evening we will be in Kathmandu. May 28 the first part of the expedition arrives inMoscow. Alexander Abramov and the group of Alpari arrives May 31.

News from the Alpari team’s Everest expedition

Lyudmila Korobeshko reporting from ABC (6,400 meters)
Yesterday, on May 19, our team took the summit of Mount Everest. Honestly, two or three days ago I had doubts as to whether it would happen. On the North Col (7,100 meters) there were serious doubts as to whether we would all make it up together: I had a temperature and wasn’t feeling well, Ivan was being bothered by a cough and Max had gotten a little discouraged at the sight of us. If we hadn’t started feeling better he would have had to have gone alone and plant the flags and bring them back all by himself.

I even started to question whether it made sense to go up to 7,700, thinking it might be better to just head straight down from the North Col. That I wouldn’t make it above 7,700 seemed almost certain to me. When on the North Col my temperature shot up to 38.4, the guys thought I might have malaria (I was in African recently where on the last days there I began to get a temperature each evening. On the North Col I was literally shaking for about an hour). Surprisingly, however, when we made it to 7,700, I started feeling better. And the higher we went, the better I felt. Ivan’s cough, however, was only getting worse. By the way, he had told us much earlier that he has had some problems with his lungs for a long time. His doctors even forbid him from making high altitude climbs.

We spent the night at 7,700 meters without any problems. That’s of course if you don’t count sleeping at a 30-degree angle where you and all your stuff are always sliding down, and you need to use ropes to go to the bathroom, which is in full view of the whole camp.

The trek up to 8,300 meters turned out to be difficult: it started snowing and was windy. The tents at 8,300 are even more slanted than the ones below due to the terrain being steeper. Sleeping is out of the question: the best you can hope for is 3-4 hours of relative rest (drink tea, dry your boots, and gather your belongings). The plan was to set out at 22:45. By the way, in order to set out on time you need to start getting dressed at least an hour before you’re supposed to leave.

We started our ascent in total darkness. And just about immediately we came to a steep face which leads right to up to the summit ridge. Ivan was out in front and, it seemed to me, breathing quite heavily. Max was behind, shaking out his frozen hands. And heading up the mountain from behind was a procession of other climbers hoping to make it to the top on this first (and perhaps only) day with good weather. So we had to hurry and not let anyone pass us otherwise we could get stuck in ‘traffic’ at the difficult final pass — we could get too cold and our oxygen could run out. It’s a tough game!

It was freezing cold and gusts of wind just about knocked us off our feet. There were a lot of places where the ground crumbled under your feet, making slipping down the rock face a real possibility. At one point I fell. My ropes weren’t taut and I fell down a couple of meters and tore my down pants. The rest of the way I was walking in a cloud of the down feathers of my pants.

We made it to the top around 5 a.m. It was dark, early and cold. We stopped about 50 meters short of the peak in the hopes that we could wait and catch the sunrise from the peak. But after about 25 minutes we were frozen stiff. We ended up just going to the very peak. And there it was – shrouded in Nepalese prayer flags. We tried to shoot some pictures but the camera didn’t work. Our fingers were freezing and it was still dark.

The wind kept getting stronger and we had only limited supplies of oxygen. We started our descent. For safety’s sake, we needed to try to descend as much as possible, ideally to 6,400 meters. And here some problems began: we kept running into climbers making their way up. You can’t go around them, particularly in the steep places where you have to rappel*-especially at the Second and Third Steps. We waited for 25 minutes above the Third Step, letting other climbers pass. Then we managed to descend, somehow managing without ropes to get around other climbers. Below 8,300 meters, the weather is much worse. At 7,700 meters, high winds tear at the tents. At the North Col we ended up in a snowstorm. By evening we made it down to 6,400 meters. And that’s it.

We did it. It probably won’t hit us until later what we’ve done.

Hi to everybody.

The Alpari Team.
*Rappelling – descent using ropes and a special device called a figure-eight. The figure-eight attaches to the climber’s harness and allows climbers to make rope descents. By controlling the pressure on the rope, the climber can control the speed of his descent.

Camp 8300 м

Up to 8300 м

North Col

Alex

Aznor Khadjiev

Sergey Larin

Gulme and Luda

Max Shakirov

Luda next morning

Fyodor Konyukhov

The pair Victor Bobok (guide 7 Summits Club) and Andrey Filkov attempted Baruntse. he climb stoped near the top due a bad weather condition. See below some best pictures from 20 days expedition.

May 17, 2012 Mikhail Turovsky climbed the summit of MountMcKinley . This was his final climb in the program 7 summits . Our congratulations to Michail, who was in our team last year, climbing Everest and Vinson. It should be noted that Michail climbed solo and in a rather difficult weather conditions. It was only the fifth ascent of the season on Mount McKinley.

Summit photo

The project team "Alpari on the tops of the World" launched the flags on the highest point of the planet - Mount Everest.

Maxim freeze your fingers, the doctor makes his shots in the stomach. The most difficult, the third, the mountain let go of our project team with minimal losses.

Here is the Everest is very early in the morning:

Famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov ascended Mount Everest at the age of 60, for the second time in his life, his son Oscar said on Saturday.

"Fyodor Konyukhov as a member of the Seven Summits Club team climbed to the top of Everest in 6:15 local time on May 19, 2012," Oscar Konyukhov told RIA Novosti.

The current climbing is timed to a 20-year anniversary of Russians' first ascent of Everest in May 1992. The famous traveler was among the first Russians who reached Everest top in May 11 twenty years ago.

An extensive traveler, Konyukhov has reached the North Pole three times, the South Pole, the Pole of Inaccessibility. He has set world records by crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat in 46 days, as well as crossing Greenland on a dogsled in 22 hours. He has also made several round the world trips alone on yachts.

Today, the second group of 7 Summits Club expedition reached the summit of Everest. Joe Pratt and Noel Hanna were the first, followed closely by Leila Albogachieva and Vladimir Korenkov (team of Ingushetia). Sergey Bogomolov and Igor Kadochin reached the summit after about half an hour. Now they are going down. We are waiting for them at thecamp ABC.

Seven climbers of 7 Summits Club expedition reached the summit of Everest. It happened at about 5.30 Tibetan time. Alekandr Abramov (4th ascent of Mount Everest), Sergei Larin (5th, it seems), Ivan Dusharin (65 уеars, 3rd time), Fyodor Konyukhov (60), Maxim Shakirov, Ludmila Korobeshko (for all 2-nd), Aznor Hajiyev (1 - s ascent, the first Ingush – north Caucasusmountain people). They were with seven Sherpas. Also, two climbers from Donetsk (Ukraine) went with them in the group.

The second group of our expedition is preparing for summit push next night.

Hello! Alexander Abramov from the camp at an altitude of 8300 meters. We are OK, a few hours later we're going to start our summit bid. The entire first group of seven members and seven Sherpas is here. All are feeling well. There are about 100 climbers are preparing for climb here. Now it would be a meeting of guides in Chinese camp.... We will decide who, when will start. It is necessary that pushed the crowd.

--

According to Max Shakirov, the group will start at 8:00 p.m. Nepal time.

The first group of 7 Summits Club expedition reached the camp 7700 meters. Everyone feels good. Sunny, calm, no wind. Beautiful scenery. We drink tea.

This is our team; Alex Abramov, Sergei Larin (guides), Fyodor Konyukhov, Aznor Hajiyev, Luda Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin, Max Shakirov and seven Sherpas. Sherpas start tomorrow very early, to set a camp at 8300 meters. We follow them starting about 4 hours later.

The second group stay to the North Col. This is Sergey Bogomolov, Noel Hanna (guides), Leila Albogachieva, Vladimir Korenkov, Joe Pratt, Nathan Schneider and Igor Kadochin.

The route

The first group of 7 Summits Club expedition climbed the North Col. This is Alex Abramov, Sergei Larin (guides), Fyodor Konyukhov, Aznor Hajiyev and the team of Alpari (Luda Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Max Shakirov). The weather is good, no wind.

The second group will climb to the North Col the next day. This is Sergey Bogomolov, Noel Hanna (guides), Leila Albogachieva, Vladimir Korenkov, Joe Pratt, Nathan Schneider. Igor Kadochin may join them if he will feel better. Unfortunately, Kyril Muraviev fell ill (temperature 39 degrees) and he was sent to the base camp.

The summit bid for the first group is scheduled for 19th of May, for the second - on the 20th of May. The weather forecast is good enough. Almost everyone who is on the north side, plans to climb the summit of Everest for these days.

Office of 7 Summits Club is located in the village Terskol, not far from the Cheget Glade. We are in the same building, in which previously was the company of Alpindustria.

Welcome to Elbrus!

In early May the good conditions for climbing were on Elbrus. Many climbers from different countries have made successful ascents.

Our complex includes:

- Shop of climbing equipment;
- Equipment rental;
- Agency for the organization of climbing Elbrus;
- School of Mountaineering (climbing, ice climbing, ski-tour);
- Repair of ski equipment;
- Information Center;
- Free Wi-Fi -24 hours.

First time on the North Col

 Luda Korobeshko on the most exposed part of climb

Altitude 7500 m - impossible to shoot

Max Shakirov in the ABC camp

The great success - so you can call the results of competitions named Festival Red Fox Elbrus Race 2012. It took place from 7 to 11 May on the southern slopes of the highest mountains in Europe, on the classical route. It is near the village of Terskol. Several hundred participants started in several sport disciplines (vertical kilometer race, sky-running, ski-mountaineering, snow-shooing) . This is much more than two years ago. World leaders of sky-running for the first time took part in the Elbrus race . After a year pause, connected with operations against terrorists in the area, Mount Elbrus (from the south) is open for the public, open for climbing.

Guide 7 Summits Club Artem Rostovtsev took a very high place in the competition. He was the fourth in the vertical kilometer race and fifth in the race to the summit of Elbrus.

Route:

Azau Glade –Western Summitof Elbrus

The whole length of the route is around 12200 meters
Vertical drop of the route 3240 m

Men

1. Luis Alberto Hernando (Spain) - 3.41

2. Marko de Gasperi (Italy) - 3.44

3. Vitaly Shkel (Samara) - 3.53

Women

1. Janna Vokuyeva (St. Petersburg) - 5.02

2. Alexandra Dzik (Poland) - 5.39

3. Nadejda Korolyatina (Krasnoyarsk) - 6.12

Amateurs.

Refuge Bochki (Garabashi) –Western Summitof Elbrus

Men.

1. Denis Provalov - 3 hours of 17 minutes

2. Vladimir Klebansky - 3.22

3. Ismail Achabayev - 3.45

Women.

1. Zoya Spirina - 5.16

2. Valeria Merkuryeva - 5.46

 Russia Today TV

It is the head of 7 Summits-Club Everest expedition Alex Abramov. For the last couple of days there were some events. First, we carried out, after all, a party, some kind of reception devoted to the Victory Day May 9th. About 50-70 people came in our camp. All guests were happy, thanked. Now, we consider, all expeditions of North side know each other, it will be easier to work on the slopes ofMount Everest. The party ended at about half past two in the nights. Really, it was cool. Yesterday we held a tournament on table tennis among members and guides of our expedition. There were six teams, played in pairs. The team ofUkraine, that means fromDonetsk, won. The Fight was hard.

And according to the plan, the first our teams leaves the base camp on 13 th of May. They go to the Middle Camp and farther to ABC. Within the next week our expedition will be is in full readiness for a summit bid.

PARTY

PING-PONG

Yesterday in Tashidzong we held a meeting of guides. The main decision was to break our command for 2 groups.

Assault exits on Everest we plan for approximately May 20 and 21st.

The first group (8 people).
Guides: Alexander Abramov, Sergei Larin.
Members:
Ludmila Korobeshko,
Maxim Shakirov,
Ivan Dusharin,
Fedor Konyukhov
Igor Kadochin,
Kyrill Muraviev.

The second group (7 people).
Guides: Sergey Bogomolov, Noel Hanna
Participants:
Joe Pratt,
Nathan Schneider,
Leila Albogachiev,
Aznor Khajiev
Vladimir Korenkov.

Ivan Dusharin

Kyrill Muraviev

Fedor Konyukhov on the route to North Col

and in Tashidzong