All news: March 2024

Today, on March 31, the Double group of the 7 Summits Club with a guide Viktor Volodin climbed the summit of Mount Elbrus 5642m - the highest point in Europe!

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Viktor Volodin reports from the Elbrus region:

Yesterday, the "Double" group of the 7 Summits Club rode a cable car to Garabashi station. We settled in the refuge and after lunch moved towards Refuge of Eleven for the acclimatization. The weather was good, and the participants feel great.

Today, the Double group went on an acclimatization rotation to the Pastukhov Rocks early in the morning. The weather stopped delighting us in the middle of the day, the wind rose, the sun went out, but this did not prevent it from carrying out our plans. Everything is going according to plan, we feel good.

 On March 28, the staff and friends of the 7 Summits Club and the 8000 Club summed up the results of the last season at the Winter 2024 After Party. We talked about our achievements over the past six months in Antarctica and South America. Those who closed the "Seven Psummits" and "Seven Volcanoes" programs over the past year were awarded.

And then we met the onset of a new season of climbing and trekking. Our climbing teams on Everest (two groups), Dhaulagiri, Lhotse and Kanchenjunga were solemnly conducted! Thanks to everyone who came and shared this little holiday with us!

Artyom Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Iran:

 Hello to the 7 Summits Club! A ski-touring expedition to Asia's highest volcano, Mount Demavend, has ended. The weather has repelled our attempt at climbing, but we will be back. The team is already going home today. Yesterday we spent time on tours of Tehran, mostly wandering around the Grand Bazaar. And in the evening, at a gala dinner, we celebrated our successes and gained invaluable experience.

Victor Volodin, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from the Elbrus region:

Greetings to all from the Elbrus region!  The "Double" group arrived in Terskol late last night, had dinner, settled in. This morning, we checked the participants' equipment according to the list and went out to acclimatize to the Devichy Kosy waterfall. So everything is according to plan, the weather is fine, we feel good.

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Iran:

 Greetings from Iran from the ski-tour team of on Demavend! Today was the most important day of our trip - we went out early in the morning to storm the summit. The weather forecast showed some kind of small window with a decrease in wind strength. So it was, but only for an hour. And then the storm started. They retreated at about an altitude of 5150m. There is a reserve day tomorrow, but perhaps not - the wind is 95km/h in the forecast. But none of the participants were upset, it was interesting and there is a reason to return.

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Iran:

 Hello 7 Summits Club! The skitur Damavand expedition continues. We spent the second day in the vicinity of the Tochal ski resort. We caught good weather again in the afternoon, walked the species ring through the nearest ridge. And after dark, we checked our readiness for a night out on the Demavend - we went to the top of the Mount Tochal. Caught wind gusts up to 60km/h. As a result, we are ready to start climbing Damavand.

The Transglobal Car Expedition continues despite the fact that one of its leaders, Alexander Abramov, had to leave it for a while due to the lawlessness of the Canadian authorities.  On March 21, the team covered 63 kilometers across the ice of the Arctic Ocean and got 55 kilometers closer to the pole. Now there are less than 700 km to the North Pole! The expedition set up camp at 83 degrees 47” north latitude. Fuel supplies are expected to be received from the air here.

 In general, the pace of progress has been stable over the past 10 days, thanks to the ice reconnaissance service. Only a couple of days were hampered by the lack of visibility and ice hummocks. One day there was a need to stop for a small repair. In general, cars do not fail.

The diary...

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Iran:

 Ski-tour expedition on Damavand. We had the first active day of the expedition. Already in the mountains. In the morning, we had a little skiing at pistes of the resort. And after lunch we climbed on ski the nearest peak.

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, sends from Iran:

Greetings to the 7 Summits Club from Iran! We are opening the climbing season on Demavend.  We coped with the first task - we arrived and walked around Tehran. The palace, the national museum, a TV tower with a rotating restaurant. And now let's go to the mountains. By the way, on skis, we still have a ski expedition to Demavend!

Alexander Dorojukov, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Khibiny:

Greetings from the group Iskorka from Khibiny! We did it!  We climbed the summit and got a mountaineer badge. The program has been completed, we could go home!

Guides Alexey Lonchinsky, Ratmir Mukhametzyanov, Alexander Dorojukov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club, Alexander Dorojukov, reports from Khibiny: 

Greetings from the group Iskorka from Khibiny! Today, our team got out on the rocks again. We practiced climbing rocks, learned how to work with embedded elements, use improvised devices for descent, if we lost original descender, learned elementary polispast. Then everything is according to plan, we are working.  The day before, our team went on an ascent. But soon the wind rose in gusts up to 50-60 km/h and we were blown off the slope. And the forecast was good. Well, it's hard to guess the weather.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club, Alexander Dorozhukov, reports from Khibiny:

Greetings from the group Iskorka from Khibiny! We are moving on with the program.  Today we spent the whole day on the rocks, practicing climbing and descending on vertical fixed ropes. Then there was a little rock climbing, and we smoothly moved on to snow classes. We are all pleasantly tired right now and we are resting before tomorrow's classes.

 Guides Alexey Lonchinsky, Ratmir Mukhametzyanov, Alexander Dorojukov.

Lyudmila Korobeshko, a guide of the 7 Summits Club from Tanzania:

 March 13th. Greetings from Africa! This morning, our Space Team climbed on the summit of Kilimanjaro - Uhuru Peak! It was not easy - the wind and cold, but the views from the top and the fact that we managed to overcome themselves paid off all the difficulties.

At the top, we opened a bottle of champagne and photographed Klim's book (we also did not forget to take pictures of ourselves). Already in the Kosovo camp, we were hit by hail, but this did not overshadow the joy of victory.

Now we have gone down to the Millennium. We wash off and eat off. We're going back to civilization tomorrow.

The Transglobal Car Expedition continues despite the fact that one of its leaders, Alexander Abramov, had to leave it for a while due to the lawlessness of the Canadian authorities.

March 1–5, 2024

We've left Resolute, Nunavut, the last community on our route before the North Pole. It was hard. We have to have everything we need for two to three months! But we are ready.

 166km achieved on the way to the North Pole, which is a really good pace. A few bits of difficult ice, but we think our satellite and radar images are helping a lot.

 March 6–10, 2024

We had interesting days working on our vehicles with the windbreak of the abandoned Isachsen weather station. We took breaks by exploring the buildings, but of course leaving everything intact as we found it. We also took a terrific trip a few km away to see a C-47 that crashed in 1949 with all eight on board suffering only minor injuries. A haunting but beautiful icon in the white desert.

 Then we got our first real taste of pack ice and open leads. There was a good amount of ice chipping to make a route over the pressure ridges, then we got to an open water lead that we were planning to cross - getting the boat ready - but it opened so much wider and so quickly that we elected to look for another route.

Valery Myasoedov, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Mexico:

Greetings from Mexico from the Quetzal group! The final news from us, in which I will try to fit the most striking events that have happened to us over the past 24 hours. So, in order, in the form of a kaleidoscope.

1, When we left our partner Roberto's cozy hostel in Zoapan, we left a significant mark behind us. Quetzal's initiative group organized the decoration of the flag of the 7 Summits Club in the living room, in which dozens of flags of different countries and companies were hung, but ours was not there. Now there is!

2. On the way to Puebla, we managed/were lucky enough to see the real eruption of the Popocatepetl volcano. They write about him everywhere now, even the airport was closed in Puebla.

 3. Puebla itself. Two hours is negligible for such a paradise tourist center. You can wander for hours - the unique churches of the 16th century, the church of Santo Domingo of the Dominican Order, in which the altar and decorations are made of bread, countless streets with many souvenir shops. And, of course, we learned how to drink tequila. Only with sangrita now!

4. From Puebla, we returned to Mexico City, stayed in one of the best hotels in the city of Barcelo, in the Premier Suite. It is worth noting separately that according to the program we had the best hotels and haciendas, you can also write a lot about this. Only 20 minutes for accommodation, and for a festive dinner and an award ceremony. Many kind words and wishes, discussion of plans for future programs. I am glad that I was able to share the joy and emotions of climbing with such a great group!

The group Super Girls of the 7 Summits Club celebrates the successful ascent on the descent from Kilimanjaro. The participants and guides spent the night at the Horombo hut. In the morning, after breakfast and traditional dances by the local staff, the team went down the valley. To continue the celebration at the hotel.

Lyudmila Korobeshko, Super-guide of the 7 Summits Club from Tanzania:

Greetings from Africa!  From Barranco camp at 3900m on the slopes of Kilimanjaro from the Space Group! Yesterday we made the trek to the Shira Cave camp. On the way, we met two species of African mice, a dozen brazen white-necked ravens and many endemic plants. An evening of song and dance was held in the camp before dinner. Our Tanzanian team sang to us in Swahili, and we answered them with Katusha. Everyone was satisfied.

We had dinner with borscht with garlic and all sorts of pickles, went to bed early, because the next day there was a long walk ahead.

The morning of March 10 greeted us with a stunning sunrise and fragrant Ethiopian coffee (thoughtfully purchased at the transfer in Addis Ababa). We started at about 9 a.m. in parallel with our friends, the "26 Baku commissars" (a large group of Kenyan climbers).

After 3 hours of climbing, a tea point was set up. An hour later we had lunch near the Lava Tower at 4600.

After lunch, we started to descend towards the camp. The rain scared us at first, but it stopped quickly. On the way, we arranged a photo shoot with incredibly beautiful thickets of senecia. We went down to Barranco's camp almost at 6 pm. Tomorrow we will storm the Barranco Wall. Getting ready - sharpening ice axes, checking platforms (joke). In fact, we are taking a shower (partially) and plan to drink some white at dinner.

Valery Myasoedov, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Mexico:

Greetings from Mexico! Details of the successful ascent of the Quetzal group to the summit of the Orizaba volcano. In the afternoon, after a short acclimatization trek, we had time to rest and even sleep. In general, the acclimatization was successful, and our attitude was the most determined. The route from the South is not often used by Orizaba. So, our Mexican guide Julio, who goes to the summit twice a week in the season, was here with us for the first time this season. All the other ascents he had were from the North. The route from the South is mainly an ascent along a loose trail and some sections of large stones. In places, the trail is not obvious, which brought its own difficulties. The last 200 meters is a loose slope, covered with small and medium-sized stones, and a rock hazard. We were the first on the route, so there was no chance that someone would drop rocks on us.

 Going out at midnight at night did not affect our well-being in any way. In my opinion, the difference of 9 hours with Mexico is beneficial here. When it's midnight here, it's 9 a.m. in Moscow. The body does not have time to fully adapt to a different time zone, and it is not necessary to struggle with sleep, as in Kilimanjaro, for example. We are at a good pace, we climbed to the top in 7 hours and 15 minutes. The sun was already shining. We took a bunch of photos and videos. To be honest, we were not even very tired. The descent took only 2.5 hours. But, it should be noted that the pre-summit 200 meters on the descent require special concentration and attention, since the slope is quite steep, 25-30 degrees. After a light snack, we moved to Zoapan, where we were served a delicious lunch with wine, and then to Puebla. Sorry if the report turned out to be boring… But I promise you interesting news from Zoapan later. And a photo report from Puebla, where we have an excursion part of the program today.

 Preparations have begun for our huge expedition to Mount Everest this year. 25 Sherpas are collecting cargo. The day after tomorrow, they fly to the Everest Base Camp. The Sherpas still have to level the glacier and set up camp. They will have a whole month to do this.

And our participants arrive only on April 12th.