All news: 2010

The expedition of 7 Summits Club and PECO Guaranty Company to Ararat has finished happily. Our group has safely walked down to Dogubeyazit. Tomorrow the adventurers are going to the museum devoted to the search of the Noah's Ark. Everyone is healthy and everything is Ok.

On the other side of Asia, the group under direction of Ludmila Korobeshko started a trip to Khan-Tengri. Three our adventurers will have to pass two nights in intermediate camps before trying to reach the main summit. Weather forecast is far from ideal, but it is necessary to go and try to overcome…

Today, August, 5th, the group of 7 Summits Club in a body climbed the Western Top of Elbrus (5642 m). At seven o’clock a.m. there were 7 people staying on the summit: our guides, Alexander Abramov and Sergej Onufenko, and also Andrej Prozukin, Alexander Buriakov, Erich Wenzel, Tina Taova and Vadim Volkov.

Then the group divided into 3 smaller groups. Sergej with four people went to the North of Elbrus. Alexander Abramov and Tina went to the East summit (the Cross), after that they were going to visit the South of Elbrus.

Two other adventurers, Gennadij Maikov and Vlad Maikov, climbed the Western Top of Elbrus at 10 o’clock a.m. Now they are descending with their private guide Sasha.

August, 4th 37 adventurers from “RESO-Guarantee” and 5 guides from 7 Summits Club climbed the mountain. The weather was nice, it wasn’t windy.

The group has already descended to the camp 3300m. Everyone is healthy and happy. In the evening they are going to celebrate the ascent. And tomorrow they will go down to the hotel in Dogubeiazit town.

July, 30th the group of the 7 Summits Club led by Ludmila Korobeshko went up to Camp 1 on the slopes of Khan-Tengri. The next day, we went to camp 2 (5600m). It was hard work: a real ice-wall, plus bad weather. Fixed ropes are iced over, jumars not holding. The marsh took 8 hours. That night it was heavy wet snow. Everything was wet. The weather is not conducive to climbers on Khan Tengri. Only one group climbed from the north. We met our friends from Ecuador Edgar and Katie. They spent four days in the assault camp at an altitude of 6000 meters, but could not get through to the top. Generally, we meet a lot of friends: Kofanov Sergei, Vladimir Lavrinenko Nikolai Zhilin, Eugene Winogradsky. Now we are resting in the base camp. Unfortunately, our team fell by one participant: Alexander Viktorov decided to go back home.

Ludmila Korobeshko - guide of the group.

Flight to Turkey was not easy, we had to change planes in Anapa. Nevertheless, a group of 7 Summits Club - RESO- Guarantee arrived by special plane to the Turkish airport Van. After formalities on the border and dinner, in the evening the expedition moved by bus to the city of Doğubeyazıt. It is situated at the foot of our destination - Mount Ararat. Now, on Sunday morning, we drove to the village of Ely, and then we begin our ascent route to Camp 1. All climbers are in excellent shape and good spirits, all 51 members and 5 guides…

Charlie Wittmack plans a new slant on climbing Everest, by completing a triathlon that is being publicized as the possibly the toughest human endurance event yet conceived.

The 33-year-old practising lawyer from Iowa, who is also involved with the Department of Global Health at Des Moines University, starts in the UK with a 275-mile swim down the Thames to the sea and then across the English Channel to France.

From there he is planning to cycle 9,000 miles across Europe and Asia to reach the Bay of Bengal, his projected route taking in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan and China.

He will then run c950 miles from sea level up to the Nepalese Himalaya, where he hopes to finish his odyssey on the summit of Everest.

Wittmack’s journey through 12 countries is planned to take 11 months, and is, inevitably, being documented by a film crew.

This is no hair-brained project from an inexperienced adventurer. For a start, Wittmack has already climbed Everest. In 2003 he reached the summit with a Sherpa companion in arduous conditions on their third attempt. His success on the world's highest peak came after seven years of ascents on well-known major summits around the globe.

He's also trekked across East Africa, sailed the Indian Ocean in a handmade boat, and made a c5,000-mile cycle ride across the United States.

The English Channel remains his bête noire. In early 2008 he was placed first in the 32nd Annual Swim around Key West, a notoriously difficult marathon ocean race. However, during August that year, 15 miles into his attempt on the Channel, he was pulled out hypothermic and unconscious.

The World Tri, as the project is billed, is also attempting to raise money for education and global health. But not for the Triathlon itself, which is being totally financed by Wittmack and his wife Cate, who is a writer focused on maternal health and childhood education.

Keeping to schedule is important. It's difficult to get permission to swim the Channel and his pre-booked launch date is the 2nd August.

Wittmack also needs to reach China's border with Kyrghyzstan by the end of October, in order to allow enough time to cross the Tibetan Plateau to India before winter sets in.

But if all goes to plan he should be at Everest Base Camp before May 2011, in order to make an attempt on the summit.

Already, Wittmack has had to deal with a minor setback. Eight days into his swim down the Thames, he inadvertently took a small sip of water, spent that night being violently ill, and ended up having his first experience of the National Health System in a Maidenhead hospital.

He recovered swiftly and is currently around half way through the swim.

By Lindsay Griffin

Today, 29 July a large group of climbers 7 Summits Club climbed the Western Summit of Mount Elbrus. It included 11 members and 4 guide.   8 from them, led by Alexander Abramov, began their descent to the north, the area of Emmanuel Glade. Some of them climbed the Eastern Summit by the way. Other climbers have successfully gone down to the refuge Barrels. The Weather was favorable for ascent.

Shailee Basnet co-coordinator of the Everest Women Seven Summits Eco-Action speaks in a press meet in Kathmandu on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. The team successfully climbed the tallest mountain in Australia, Mt Kosciuszko/Targangil and after a great start in Australia, the team is now gearing up to climb the tallest peak in Europe which is Mt Elbrus (5642m) in Russia starting on 23rd August 2010. Everest Women Seven Summits Eco-Action is a group of women mountaineers from Nepal aiming to summit all seven of the highest peaks in each of the seven continents.

KATHMANDU: The Everest Women Seven Summits Eco–Action (EWSSE-A), a Nepali team of nine women organised a press meet at Nepal Tourism Board Office on Wednesday to brief the media about their successful mountain climbing attempt in Australia. They successfully climbed the highest peak Mt Kosciuszko/Targangil (2228 metres) in the Australian continent. They had left for Austrialia on June 28.

Shailee Basnet co-coordinator of the Everest Women Seven Summits Eco-Action made a presentation on their successful mount climbing story.

The team who had successfully climbed the mountain includes nine members from various professions. The mountaineers are Asha Kumari Singh, Chunu Shrestha, Maya Gurung, Ngabhang Phuti Sherpa, Nimdoma Sherpa, Pema Diki Sherpa, Pujan Acharya, Shailee Basnet and Usha Bista.

The Australian part of the project was supported by the Government of Nepal, Nepal Mountaineering Association, Nepal Airlines Corporation, The North Face, The Crossing Land Education Trust(Australia), Outdoor Education Group(Australia), and the ‘Be Vegan, Go Green-Save the Planet’ campaign, Supreme Master TV, ICIMOD, Non-Residential Nepalis, Nari Nikunja and Nepal Tourism Board. The bid to scale Mt Kosciuszko in Australia coincided with the golden jubilee anniversary of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Australia.

The team is scheduled to climb the tallest peak in Europe Mt Elbrus (5642m) in Russia starting on 23rd August 2010.

If they succeed in their mission to climb the highest peaks in each of the seven continents, they will become the first all-women team to achieve the feat. In 2008, they became the first all-women team to scale Mt Everest.

By RAJESH GURUNG

The 7 Summits Club proud to inform that we will organize climbing program for Elbrus for Women Seven Summits Eco–Action....

ExplorersWeb: “American Marty Schmidt, Canadian Don Bowie, Russian Alexei Bolotov and Czechs Radek Jaros and Libor Uher have checked in from the top of Hidden Peak. Their's may be the first GI summits this season since previous summit claims last week were left unconfirmed or denied by the climbers themselves”.

Don Bowie site (www.calpinist.com):

“Don called at 7:45 am (July 28) PKT to announce that he and Alexey along with Czech climbers Radek Jaros and Libor Uher and American climber Marty Schmidt have summited Gasherbrum I. Don reported that a storm was due to come in shortly, so they would not be long on the summit. He expected the return trip to base camp would be a long, arduous one due to inclement weather, deep, unstable snow, and tired climbers. However, at the moment, they were all elated to have accomplished their summit goal”.

It is possible that Alex and Don will continue the expedition. They will try to climb Gasherbrum - II.   Gasherbrum I was for Alexei eighth eight-thousanders, plus he was first on Lhotse Middle. Bolotov was awarded by two Piolet d'Or (for Makalu and Jannu).

Site Alexei Bolotov, our friend and colleague: http://alexbolotov.ru

Picture of Don from the first attempt on G-I http://alexbolotov.ru

Group of climbers from the 7 Summits Club, arrived by helicopter to the base camp on the Glacier North Inylchek. Ludmila Korobeshko is a head and guide of expedition, that includes three participants – Alexander, Viktorov Sergey Schekoldin, Andree Julin. First, they must draw up a timetable of acclimatization climbs. And for this you need to know the weather forecast. An English source of information about weather in the mountains www.mountain-forecast.com argues that our climbers in the next three days to go through heavy rain, and on Friday - is also quite heavy snow. Most likely, the first days of acclimatization will be held in tents with no exits in the alpine zone.

The Basque mountaineer Alberto Iñurrategi has just completed a committing traverse of all three Broad Peak summits, beginning with a new route to Broad Peak North.

The complete traverse of the three Broad Peak summits, North (7,550m), Central (8,011m) and Main (8,051m) had only been achieved twice previously.

In 1984 the legendary Polish mountaineers Jerzy Kukuczka and Wojiech Kurtyka, in alpine-style and with no previous attempt, climbed the difficult North West Ridge of Broad Peak North and continued over the Central to Main summit in four and a half days.

This was only the second time that both the North and Central summits had been climbed.

In 1995 the same route was taken by Japanese, Toru Hattori, Toshiyuki Kitamura and Masafumi Todaka, who also climbed in alpine style and completed the round trip from base camp in seven days. Todaka was actually on honeymoon with his wife, who remained at base during the ascent.

On the 9th July Alberto Iñurrategi, Juan Vallejo and Mikel Zabalza reached the summit of Broad Peak North after climbing a new line up the west-facing glaciated slopes leading directly to the 7,350m col between the North and Central summits.

The weather was very windy and they spent a rough night back at the col after a short ascent of the South Ridge of North Peak. Next day they were faced with the hardest section of the traverse, the ascent of the North Ridge of Central Peak.

Receiving a weather forecast that confirmed these strong winds would continue to prevail for the next two days, the three decided to return to base camp.

The Basque trio set out again on the 16th, regained the col on the 17th after a bivouac at c6,300m, and the same day Iñurrategi repeated their previous ascent of the South Ridge to the summit of Broad Peak North.

Next day they left at 3:00 am, expecting that it would take 11-12 hours to reach the summit of Broad Peak Central and descend to a bivouac on the 7,800m col before the Main Summit.

They were wrong. Although they climbed the first 400m of the ridge in two hours, it took another 10 to finish the remaining 300m, and then two more to negotiate the summit ridge.

Snow conditions were abysmal and at one point they took five hours to gain only 50m of elevation. All declared it was the worst snow they had ever experienced.

By the time they got to the 7,800m col, they had been on the go for 17 hours, were exhausted and, having travelled very light, were completely out of food. As it was nearly dark, they decided to descend to Camp 3 at 7,100m on the Normal Route.

After just seven hours rest, only Iñurrategi felt like getting up at 3:00 am and going for the Main Summit. It took him six hours, in an exhausted state and suffering from stomach pains, to reach the top. The saving grace was that he was able to follow the track opened by other climbers on the Normal Route several days previously.

He regained camp in just over four hours. As testament to the outstanding ability of this climber at high altitude, his time was faster than most fresh and well-provisioned mountaineers would clock for this section when reaching the top via the Normal Route.

In 2002 Iñurrategi became the 10th man to complete all 14, 8,000m peaks, but only the fourth to do so without supplementary oxygen.

By Lindsay Griffin

Yesterday, on Sunday, a group of the 7 Summits Club arrived in Alma-Ata. On the same day we climbed to the top of Kok-Tobe (1130m), which is located directly on the edge of town. The expedition began - its goal is an ascent of Mount Khan Tengri. A Guide of group - Ludmila Korobeshko, members - Alexander Viktorov Sergey Schekoldin, Andrey Julin. Near the top of the Kok-Tube we photographed with the Beatles, which is there in the form of sculpture. Then we had lunch at a local restaurant.

We had breakfast on Monday already in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. A dinner was on the shore of beautiful lake Issyk-Kul. In the evening we hope to be in Karkara, the starting point from which shall be airlifted to the base camp on the glacier Northern Inylchek.

Maps: click to enlarge

Members of the 7 Summits Club are also on the way to other seventhousanders of the Central Asia. Also at the beginning of the route. Victor Sedov, arrived at the foot of Lenin Peak, successfully overcoming an obstacle, called the town of Osh. In his post, he inform hat now the situation is calm. Valery Miasoedov went to Tajikistan, to climb Korjenevskaya Peak. He is in Jirgital Village now, already the fourth day, in anticipation of a helicopter into a base camp at The Glade of Moskvina. Approximately 100 people from different countries are also waiting for a helicopter. The bad news is that all are in complete ignorance, and when that happens.

A Highland mountaineering instructor returned to Scotland last night after successfully climbing the last of the world’s Seven Summits.

Di Gilbert is now one of just 276 people to have reached the highest point on each of the seven continents, after successfully climbing Mount Elbrus in Russia.

Last night, the 36-year-old climber said she was delighted with her accomplishment, which she described as a “bit of an ambition” among fellow mountaineers.

She said: “It’s been my unintentional aim to do this. There is no way I would have been able to do the summits if I had to pay for them, so I worked my way up them.

“I was an exhibition leader or guide during the Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Vinson, Mount Everest, Carstensz Pyramid and Aconcagua climbs, helping others achieve their dream.”

Miss Gilbert added: “I completed the Denali climb in North America in a group of personal friends, and this last one with just my partner, Derek. As it was my seventh summit I didn’t want to work on it, I wanted a break with someone that was special to me.”

Miss Gilbert, of High Street, Grantown, who grew up at Alford in Aberdeenshire, admitted climbing the summits had been both physically and mentally challenging, but said it became a “little bit easier” to complete Elbrus knowing it was the last one.

She added: “All of the climbs were unique, and challenging in different ways – whether it be physically or logistically. Everest was perhaps the toughest as it is the largest, but they all had their own quirks.”

Miss Gilbert, who is a full-time mountaineering instructor, plans to spend time climbing in Scotland before deciding on her next far-off adventure.

By Shona Gossip

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Seven summits. From http://www.digilbert.co.uk

"Mountaineers thrive on challenge: the desire to stand on top of the highest point on each of the seven continents has fired the imagination of climbing enthusiasts of all levels from around the globe.

Everest, Asia (8848m)

Aconcagua, South America (6960m)

McKinley, North America (6194m)

Kilimanjaro, Africa (5895m)

Elburs, Europe (5642m)

Vinson, Antarctica (4897m)

Carstensz Pyramid, Oceania (4884m)

Completion of this amazing feat, known as the Seven Summits, demands much of the climber - to travel to the remote and exotic corners of the world, scale the heights of mountain giants such as Everest and McKinley, and face extreme weather conditions and hostile environments for long periods over many years." Seven Summits, Steve Bell

On the 20th July 2010, Di Gilbert finally finished her unintential aim to climb all Seven Summits by standing on the top of Mount Elbrus.

It has never been on Di's agenda to climb the Seven Summits, purely due to the financial implications involved with such a large undertaking. However, she was aware that the only way she would be able to climb them, would be to work on them. And work on them, she did...

In 1999, she was Expedition Leader for World Challenge Expedition's Kilimanjaro Expedition, climbing the mountain via the Marangu route. She enjoyed it so much, she returned in 2001 as Expedtion Leader for Jagged Globe's Expedition via the Umbwe route.

In 2003, whilst working as a Guide for Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions, Nick Lewis and Di climbed Vinson via the normal route as every day work.

In 2004, she started working for Adventure Peaks as an Expedition Leader and successfully led their Cho Oyo (8002m) Expedition in Tibet. This provided the launch pad for Di to then lead their 2005 North Ridge Everest Expedition, where she was responsible for putting celebrity Jake Meyer on the summit on the 4th June.

In 2009, Di was joined by Derek Boggan and Catrin Thomas, where they flew into Denali National Park for an attempt on the Cassin Route. They had to settle for the West Buttress due to conditions on the mountain at the time.

Di was always realistic about the opportunity of leading an expedition to Carstenz Pyramid, but Adventure Peaks once again provided the opportunity and in 2009, Di and her 4 clients, successfully summited this elusive mountain.

Having now stood on 5 out of 7, Di made the conscious decision to try and finish the remaining peaks. She was Expedition for the Adventure Peak's Aconcagua Expedition in 2010, which left just one...

On 20th July 2010 at approx 1300, Di wept her way up the final slopes of Mount Elbrus after an 11 hour trail breaking ascent from Uncle Nick's Hut on the North Side of the Mountain.

Di climbed her 7th summit with her partner Derek and their Russian Guide Kirill Ivanov.

Photo's of the Expedition can be found here

http://www.digilbert.co.uk/gallery.asp?gallery_id=30#

and the report can be found here (I'm working on it now:))

On our site, we published a gallery of photos, depicting an ascent of our guide Victor Bobok and his team on Elbrus. With his team, Victor went to the Western summit twice in one day. A few days later he went again himself, with his wife Marina. Group members: Fred Cobey, Naim Logic, Alisa Schwarz (all - the U.S.), Ariana Leigh Myers (United Kingdom), Sashko Kedev (Macedonia), Dmitry Vladimirov and Dmitrii Kurkovich (Russia). Experienced guides Oleg Miller and Pavel Milanov also worked with this group ..

TO SEE MORE >>>>>>>>>>

Matt Moniz, 12, and his father, Mike, stand atop the 13,804-foot Gannett Peak, Wyoming's tallest mountain. The two recently climbed the highest points of all 50 states in 43 days. Though he's only 12 years old, Boulder alpinist Matt Moniz has climbed through plenty of steep rock, snow and ice on his way to the summits of a couple of 20,000-foot peaks. But on his most recent adventure, he had to watch out for cows, too.

While trying to climb to the highest point in each state in 50 days, Matt flew in a borrowed Cessna to a rough landing strip near the Illinois high point.

"We had to fly by the runway to make sure there were no cows" before landing, he said.

He and his father, Mike Moniz, rode bikes from there to the high point, Charles Mound.

The pair stood atop their 50th high point, Hawaii's Mauna Kea, on July 16, stopping the clock at 43 days, 3 hours, 51 minutes and 9 seconds. It appears to be a new speed record for high points -- which are generally self-reported to the Highpointers Club but not verified by them, according to highpointers.org.

The Monizes started the journey when they reached the summit of Alaska's Denali, the most difficult of the 50 high points. If they couldn't get up it in a timely fashion, the goal of 50 in 50 would be impossible.

"It would be hard to put aside three weeks for Denali for the speed record," Matt said.

For Matt, the 50 in 50 goal was another adventure that helped raise awareness and money for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Matt has taken up the cause because his best friend, Ian Hess, has PAH. Last summer, the Monizes climbed 14 Colorado fourteeners in eight days for the same purpose.

"After we did 14 fourteeners, we wanted to do something bigger to raise awareness," Matt said. "And not just in Colorado, in the whole United States."

Mike said this experience was different than the 14 fourteeners.

"With the 50 in 50, as much as anything, it was a cultural experience for us," he said. "We heard everything from local politics to environmental issues. It was great."

In addition to flying, Mike and Matt made a 12,000-mile loop by van -- nearly half the driving distance covered by the last group to attempt this, Mike said. Volunteers from the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and Joel Gratz, a Boulder meteorologist who became the trip's weather man, drove them state-to-state, nearly around the clock.

In the northeast, they did six high points in one day. Mike said they often snoozed in between in the van.

Mike started climbing when he was a student at CU in the 1980s. Matt's enthusiasm for climbing -- sparked by a trek to Everest Base Camp -- has rekindled his, he said.

"Matt got me re-energized in mountaineering, in the alpinist world."

Matt also serves as an ambassador for Outdoor Nation, which focuses on getting kids outdoors. Mike said he likes for the family to include community service in their climbing.

Matt wasn't sure what they'll do next summer.

"We're thinking about next year taking a little bit of a break, slowing it down a little bit, maybe doing some individual rock and ice climbs," he said.

"Maybe not do any big expeditions for a while."

By Jenn Fields fields@coloradodaily.com

VIENNA (AFP) – At the age of 63, former US president says he has one more mountain to climb before he dies -- and that's Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.

Clinton revealed the secret goal -- along with his dream of running a marathon -- while in reflective mood at the 18th International AIDS Conference, where he made the keynote speech on Monday.

He explained that one of his favourite movies was "The Bucket List," a 2007 film in which two terminally ill men, played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, draw up a list of things they wish to do before they die, and then travel around the world to do just that.

"I'll soon be 64, so I think I'm old enough to join Jack and Morgan in making a bucket list, but I have an A list and a B list, and the B list would be fun to do but doesn't amount to a hill of beans whether I get to do it or not," said Clinton.

"I'd like to climb Kilimanjaro before the snows melt, I'd like to run a marathon before I give out, there's lots of things I'd like to do but it doesn't really matter whether I do them."

Clinton said his "A" list was far more important than his "B" list..

"What I'd really like to do if I could have my wishes, I would like to live to see my own grandchildren.

"And I'd like to live to know that all the grandchildren of the world will have the chance in the not too distant future to live their own dreams and not die before their time."

Located in northern Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro, 5,963 metres (19,563 feet) high, draws thousands of hikers a year to its long but relatively gentle slopes. Walkers stay in camps at several phases on the climb before ascending the final stage at night to enjoy the view of the African plains at dawn from the peak.

In 2009 a US study warned that the snows capping Kilimanjaro could vanish altogether in 20 years, most likely due to global warming.

A veteran campaigner who has attended every International AIDS Conference since 2002 -- this is the fifth since then -- Clinton quipped that he relished the ability to speak freely since leaving office, despite the downside of being an ex-president.

"That's the great thing about not being president anymore, I can say whatever I want," he said.

He then added to a swell of laughter from the audience: "Of course, nobody cares what I say anymore, but I can say it!"

The 'scariest thing' she's ever done …

Champion paraglider Pierre Carter needed all his experience yesterday to fly safely off the top of Mount Elbrus in Russia with top climber and The Times photographer Marianne Schwankhart.

The daring pair reached the summit of the 5642m Mount Elbrus at about noon and succeeded on their third attempt - after two crash landings - in flying tandem on a paraglider back to their high camp at about 4200m.

The South Africans aim to be the first team in the world to climb the highest peaks on each continent and fly off all the summits.

Carter, 43, who has competed internationally, said: "We had no wind and it was the hardest take-off I have ever done.

"But it was more scary for Marianne as she could see what was coming [the pilot flies at the back on a tandem flight]."

Schwankhart, 33, who has climbed dangerous and difficult rock walls from the Andes to the Karakorum, said this was the "wildest experience ever".

"We were okay but Pierre landed on me and the camera hit my nose.

"On the third attempt we had a slight, slight breeze. We ran and ran until the paraglider lifted me and then Pierre had to run for both of us. It was now or never, but it was the most scary take-off."

She said the weather was clear and still when they left for the summit at 4am, but it was a tough ascent and took about eight hours.

By CLAIRE KEETON

The Times Johannesburg

We are often asked about the situation in the Caucasus. Is it safe to travel to Russia to climb Mount Elbrus? We can say that it has not been a single criminal case in relation to foreign tourists. Even if they come on their own. Traveling with our company, you are in complete safety. Thousands of climbers successfully make ascent to Elbrus and return home happy. We believe that is only beginning of new era. The North Caucasus is in the center of attention of federal authorities.

A bit strange but typical peinture: two presidents of Russia love skiing

The North Caucasus is transformed into a huge construction site. To do this, our leaders created a special structure, a new federal district. Alexander Khloponin - one of the best managers of the country, was invited to lead this work. Already, the road to the northern slopes of Mount Elbrus started to build. There will be construction of a new resort. Each year the Mount Elbrus area is changing.

Big money, which will be brought to the area, forcing many local residents nervous. Everybody wants to be on the first film. Therefore, the struggle is between different groups and factions, a struggle which is often not visible, but its results are visible. It is not visible for tourists and climbers, fortunately.....

Five new ski-resorts on the map (red)

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That's what the site says PlanetaSKI.eu

Forget The Tirol, the 3 Valleys or the Dolomites. In a few years it could be resorts in Karachayevo-Cherkessia or in Kabardino-Balkaria. The Winter Olympics in 2014 may just be the start of skiing in Russia.

Russia it seems has a huge untapped potential and the powers that be want to do something about it. The names don't quite run off the tongue in the same way as the popular resorts in the Alps but the mountains, snow and peaks are just waiting to be developed by the ski industry.

That is according to the Russians anyway.

5 new ski areas are being planned for the end of the decade in a $15b development. The resorts would be linked and available on one ski ticket. There would be 800 km of ski runs; bigger than many of the linked resorts in The Alps.

The Russian government is backing the move in a public-private partnership. Both President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin are keen skiers.

Just the start perhaps

It's hoped a catalyst will be the 2014 Winter Olympics that will be held nearby in Sochi on the Black Sea.

According to reports in the Russian media international banks including JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are looking at getting involved.

The building and running of the 5 resorts would create 160,000 jobs.

The government is also hoping for a political benefit too as the mainly Muslim area has a high level of political instability and it is hoped new jobs and the economic benefits will ease tensions.

Over 1,000 people lost their lives in the area in the past 12 months in political violence.

The resorts will be constructed at Matlas, Dagestan; Mamison, North Ossetia; Arkhyz, Karachayevo-Cherkessia; Lago-Naki, Adygeya; and on Mount Elbrus in Kabardino-Balkaria.

Ambitious plans indeed.

Program “Seven volcanoes”, it is climbing the highest volcanoes all continents over the world, Club Seven Summits organized in early 2011 the first mountaineering expedition to the highest volcano in Antarctica Mt. Sidley. Head of expedition - Alexander Abramov. Among confirmed participants: Dmitry Moskalev, Italian Mario Trimeri (who can become the first person climbed the seven volcanoes), Romanian climber Crina Popescu, which in December will celebrate 16 years (she also ends the program "Seven of the Volcanoes").

Mount Sidley is located in the mountain massive Executive Committee Range. This is chain of volcanic mountains in Antarctica, called the Marie Byrd Land. The thickness of the ice cover in this part of the continent achieves two kilometers. In the case of complete disappearance of the ice covered at this site will be an archipelago of volcanic islands such as Japan.

The height of the Mountain Sidley - 4,285 meters, the foot of the volcano has an altitude of about 2500 meters. Coordinates: 77 ° 02 'S 126 ° 06'z. E..

Mt. Sidley - a gigantic volcanic massif, a huge bulge dominates the uniform ice surface of the surrounding area. One side of the mountains form a huge caldera crater with a diameter of 5 km, its walls towering about one km altitude. And there may be found difficult climbing routes. On the other side there is only a gentle slope and the path to the summit can be maid on skis. However, the question with the highest point is still not fully clear. There may be several points in the ridge

We will have to check several points in the long summit ridge, with GPS, make sure a correct climbing line for next climbers. So we have to climb with the elements of a full exploration, as we have no high-quality report from first climbers.

 American base in 2000 and Mt.Sidley

The mountain was discovered by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd on an airplane flight, November 18, 1934, and named by him for Mabelle E. Sidley, the daughter of William Horlick who was a contributor to the 1933–35 Byrd Antarctic Expedition. Despite its lofty status, the volcano languishes in obscurity due to its extremely remote location. It is little known even in the mountaineering world compared to the far more famous Mount Erebus, the second highest Antarctic volcano which is located near the U.S. and New Zealand bases on Ross Island. The first recorded ascent of Mount Sidley was by New Zealander Bill Atkinson on January 11, 1990, whilst working in support of a USAP scientific field party.

For the first time the foot of the volcano Seeley was reached by scholars of the American Antarctic Expedition ATV in the season 1958-59. The leader of expedition a Scottish glaciologist John Pirrin climbed up its slope nearly to the top, but to the highest point is not reached.

Under the program of studies US-ITASE American scientists visited the volcano area Seeley in 2000. Then they have a large collection of rocks and minerals, which enabled them to reconstruct the geological history of the volcano.

The route of our ascent involves a standard flight Punta Arenas - Patriot Hills on the big plane and then to the base camp on Mount Sidley on a small plane. What is the ascent to the summit, we can only guess. But we hope that our expedition will go down in history in many ways. And above all, accurately establishing the route, identifying the highest point of the ridge, taking pictures of all this and widespread throughout the world of information.

Russkaya station at Cape Berks on coast of Marie Byrd Land worked in ten years (1980-1990), it is only 300 km from Mt. Sidley.

To the Top of Europe

By FREDRIK WESSLAU

Published: July 16, 2010

“He doesn't do a lot of sports, does he?” asked Elena, our Russian mountain guide, pointing at me. It was not a very promising start for someone hoping to climb to the peak of Mount Elbrus.

I had accepted a last-minute invitation to join three other amateurs set on climbing the mountain. The thought of conquering Europe’s highest peak was irresistible, even though the guide wasn’t far off the truth with her question.

While Elbrus is not considered a technically difficult climb, the elevation and unpredictable weather make it a challenge. At the peak, 5,642 meters up, air contains only about half the oxygen available at sea level. Normal functions such as walking can become extremely laborious.

After spending a few days acclimatizing ourselves, we settled into our base camp on Elbrus’s southern slope at 3,750 meters. The camp consisted of nine cylindrical huts made from an old Russian pipeline and painted in the colors of the Russian flag. The accommodation and food was basic, though this didn’t seem to bother the mice.

The view from the base camp made up for the no-frills lodging. The Caucasus Mountains stretched out before us to the south.

Elbrus stands just north of Russia’s border with Georgia, straddling the Russian federal republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia. The inactive volcano dwarfs its neighbors. On clear days, you can see the Black Sea from the summit.

This part of the Caucasus has captured the imagination of Europeans for millennia. The ancient Greeks believed it was here that Zeus chained Prometheus to a mountainside and had an eagle eat at his liver as punishment for stealing fire and giving it to mankind.

Local folklore has it that Noah’s ark ran aground on Elbrus before eventually settling on Mount Ararat several hundred kilometers to the south. As it broke free from Elbrus, the ark’s keel split the mountain in two, creating its trademark twin peaks.

In more modern times, Elbrus has continued to mesmerize. In August 1942, as part of Operation Edelweiss aimed at taking Baku’s oil fields, a Nazi mountain division captured Elbrus and planted a Nazi flag on the summit. Six months later, a Soviet alpinist (who happened to be the father of one of our guides) climbed the mountain and tore down the flag as the Germans retreated.

During the Cold War, Elbrus was locked behind Iron Curtain. The mountain lost its place in the West’s consciousness as the highest mountain in Europe. Schoolchildren in the West were taught that this honor belonged to Mont Blanc in the French Alps, while travel guides, encyclopedias and newspapers affirmed this to the world. Denying that Elbrus was Europe’s highest peak became a way of denying that the Soviet Union was part of Europe.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the expansion of the European Union has done much to align political Europe with geographic Europe. Today, only the Black Sea separates the Caucasus from the E.U. And Elbrus again enjoys the title of the highest peak in Europe.

All of this felt rather abstract at 3,750 meters. After a short night, we stepped out of our pipeline-huts at 3 a.m. The night was cold, and the thin air pierced my lungs. We set off under a star-coated sky to conquer Elbrus.

From 4,700 meters, we moved up the southern slope’s main route. As day broke, Elbrus’s twin peaks appeared before us, and the Caucasus mountains paraded their rugged contours behind us.

At 5,000 meters we turned left to traverse to the saddle between the two peaks. The sun was bright but the wind and altitude kept temperatures well below zero. My head was thumping and my heart was on overdrive. Every step felt like a small triumph. From the saddle, we walked diagonally up across a steep overhang, toward the Western summit.

Then, around noon, after nine hours of trudging through the snow with crampons strapped to our boots, we reached the summit plateau. From here it was a short walk to the summit — the undisputed highest point in Europe.

Fredrik Wesslau is a political adviser to the European Union’s special representative for the South Caucasus.