All news: 2012

Guide of the 7 Summits Club Artem Rostovtsev took the high fifth place (80 participants) in the today competition Red Fox Elbrus Race - "Vertical Kilometer". In front of - only world leaders and two Russians. We consider this as a success. Come on, Artem, on! Good luck in the race to Elbrus.

Women.
1. Larissa Sobaleva (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky) 0:56:51
2. Jeanne Vokueva (St. Petersburg) 0:57:00
3. Aleksandra Dzik (Poland) 1:03:26
4. Elena Bolkhovitinov (Penza) 1:06:45
5. Nadezhda Korolyatina (Krasnoyarsk) 1:14:25

Men.

1. Marco De Gasperi (Italy) 0:44:39
2. Luis Alberto Hernando Alzaga (Spain) 0:45:47
3. Alexander Bolkhovitin (Penza) 0:51:25
4. Vitaly Shkel (Samara) 0:52:14
5. Artem Rostovtsev (Korolev) 0:54:51

Acclimatization of our expedition is over. All members and guides, except two sick, overnight on the North Col twice. And now we booked a bus and go down to a height of 4200 meters, to the villageof Tashidzong.

We will rest there for three days. Our goal - to restore our lost power. The mood is good. Below we will eat sheep, just relax. Weather Forecast: Snow will continue till the 9th of May, then begin the wind. Normal condition will be only after May 19th. For this time we plan our ascent of Mount Everest.

According to the plan, we wanted to climb MountChangtse by two groups May 5th from different sides.
The first part of our team – from the North Col and the second part - from the base of the mountain, from altitude 6000 meters. This second group had to make a traverse of Changtse and descend to North Col.

May, 4 the first group under the leadership of Luda Korobeshko and Sergey Larin went to the North Col and reached the camp at 4 p.m...

These were:
Sergei Larin,
Kyril Muraviev,
Fedor Konyukhov,
Igor Kadochin,
Jo Pratt,
Luda Korobeshko,
Maxim Shakirov.
Ivan Dusharin

On the same day the second team went down to the bottom of the mountain Changtse. We started from the point 6000 meters.

In the group:
Alex Abramov
Gelu Sherpa Mingma
Noel Hanna
Pemba Sherpa Nurbu
Pasang Sherpa
Dorji Sherpa

By 3 p.m. the team came close to the ridge at height of 6 800m. Not far from this place (400 meters) we planned to put two tents and spend a night. To continue the route in the morning, climb to the top Changtsze (7 680M) and go down to North Col. But this time the weather began to deteriorate sharply.
This is in line with the forecast, but the whole plan of the expedition did not give us the opportunity to postpone the climb ..
In 4 p.m. the weather deteriorated completely. Visibility of 20 meters, snow pounding horizontally, to continue the ascent became meaningless. We began the descent.
Storm raged until nightfall.

May, 5 in the morning, the first team woke up at the North Col.
Bad weather did not allow them to go along the ridge on the Changtsze. For acclimatization, they climbed about 300 meters above the saddles. Wind, snow, cold, zero visibility ...

Both teams are now at an altitude of 6400m, in the campABC. It's cold ..
We drink tea and plan to go down to the Base Camp tomorrow.
We will return to ABC May 12.
And now down to rest!!

The second part of our expedition, the team of Ingushetia, headed by Sergei Bogomolov, climbed today the North Col. Tomorrow they will try to get high as much as possible and descend to Camp ABC.

The first part - North Col

Luda Korobeshko

The second part - Changtse

Hello! This is Alex Abramov from the 7 Summits Club Everest expedition. Today we begin the last acclimatization phase. Alex Abramov, Noel Hanna, Mingma and two other Sherpas, we will try to climb Changtse from the base, from the altitude of 6000 meters. We will overnight somewhere in the middle of route. Today, the second part of our team goes to the North Col. They will spend the night at the North Col, and there also they will climb the summit of Changtse 7580 meters.

In general, tomorrow our two teams should meet at the top of Changtse. And then, the first team, together with the second part will go down to North Col. Thus, it will be Mount Changtse traverse. Probably the first in history. Most likely, such route was not done. And it will be our first step toward preparing traverse Changtse - Everest. Weather ... Weather, frankly, again, is not very good ... The last week there was a very strong wind, even broke some our tents. Now, on the contrary, the wind died down, but it starts to snow. We'll see. While the forecast for today quite good. But tomorrow, the day of the assault - is already bad. There an idea of how it all around: maybe we go at night. Because nights there are usually less snow, colder and less snow. After two days we contact and describe how it was. Good-bye!

From Jan Kielkowski "Nount Everest Massif"

Hello! This is Denis Saveliev. Yesterday at 9:00 am Nepal time, we have summited Island Peakwith the whole team. We started from an assault camp at 5600. Back we went down to the lodge in Chhukung. Weather on the ascent was, in principle, a good, but very strong wind was blowing. We are now in thevillageofPangboche, right at the foot of Mount Ama Dablam. A couple of days we expect to be in Lukla and and continue the flight to Kathmandu.

Hello! This is  Alex Abramov from Everest. Today we spent a night at the North Col (7000m). I do not remember  last few years such a heavy night. A very strong wind was, beater, very cold. The North Col, we climbed in the feather suits, and nobody wanted to take them off. Even at night. Now we went down. In the advanced base camp several tents is broken down. A very strong wind was here. But in general, all is as always, I mean according to plan. Before the ascent, we have about 20 days, all things will changed to better. Today, our second team, the team of Ingushetia, goes up to sleep on the North Col for acclimatization. Next in two days, we must once again climb the North Col. Then try to climb the summit of Changtse. This is North Peak of Mount Everest. The height of 7550 meters. Good-bye!

This is Dmitry Ermakov from Lhasa. Today, it is our second day in the capital ofTibet. Today we visited the Potala Palace of the Dalai Lama, made a walk through the city, visited the center of Tibetan medicine .. Tomorrow we go further along our route to Kailash, and will be in Shigatse. All participants feel good, everuthing is OK. Hello!

Hello! This is Alex Abramov from camp ABC. For three days we are in the advanced base camp of Everest. Wind is very strong and, in general, such a trap it is. We will not go down, still we want to go to acclimatize to the North Col and Changtsze. Up, but, we could not  go, because in the horizontal field before a beginning of steep slope at the North Col  there is a real hurricane 

Photo of the Alpari Team from alpari-life.ru

It is Alex Abramov from Everest. A few days ago we went down to the base camp, and then our team went on vacation 50 kilometers below the base camp at 4200 meters altitude. There we rested well. We stayed two nights in Tashidzhong, we ate mutton meat, useful for mental activity.

And finally, we reached the ABC camp at the height of 6400 meters. There are very strong wind, then we spent the past two days, two nights here ... Today, the second team comes from the bottom up.
Today our first team conducted studies on the natural ice. On the ice slopes we climbed up, then traverse across the ice, using ropes and went down. So a several times. It was quite useful.
Now on the North Col, where we're going to go to sleep, it is very strong wind. Half of the tent is broken. Our tents are all, because Sherpas have put them down in order to not break. Well we'll see. Well, until we have a plan to spend a night on theNorth Col.

Today, April 28, a new our Nepal program began: Trekking aroundAnnapurna. During the day the members arrived in Kathmandu, where they were met by 7 Summits Club guide Olga Rumyantseva. Almost immediately from the plane all people went for a walk on Tamel and buy a shirt for trekking. In the evening dinner will be arranged in a Nepalese restaurant. And tomorrow we will go towardsAnnapurna. Group members: Denis Nenakhov, Maria Nenakhova, Eugene Ganja, Alena Ganja, Maxim Gorbunov and Elena Gorbacheva.

April, 24 A team of 7 Summits Club Victor Bobok (guide) and Andrey Filkov flew to Nepal to climb Mount Baruntse 7129 m
The ascent is planned via the normal route - the Southeast Ridge. Baruntse of is located between Everest and Makalu (8471m). The approach to base camp is a multi-day trekking. The nature of the route, mostly snow and ice. The steepness of the ice can reach 50 degrees. One steep step is above 7,000 meters. Route is avalanche dangerous after snowfall. In the spring, it is often equipped with fixed ropes. But it depends on the number of climbers who have subscribed to this program.

Hello! This is Alex Abramov from Everest. We are now at an altitude of 6400 meters in advanced base camp. This is the first team. The second team is in the intermediate camp at 5800 meters. Weather, in general, it is not bad. The sun is shining, however, the clouds in the afternoon. Today we made a reconnaissance, we want to make a new route across the top of Changtse ascent on Everest. Today we made an exploration ...

Members of the 7 Summits Club Roman Gretzky and Alexander Lozhkin on April 11th, reached the extreme northern point of our planet. They came on skis in the program Last Degree. It was the first group of the season. They sent us some photos from this unforgettable trip.

Puja ceremony was held this morning. It was a prayer for the success of the expedition. Wind was blowing to the top - up the hill. So, it is time to go up. Now cooks prepare our traditional borshch (beet-root soap). The first group goes up to an intermediate camp, and tomorrow to the Advance Base Camp at 6400m altitude. Today, Semion Deyak has to come back from Dzhangmu. We sent him down with symptoms of acute mountain sickness. We think it is all good now. Alex Abramov.

Today, a large group of 7 Summits Club flies from Moscow to Kathmandu. They are members of the trek programs Everest Base camp and ascent of Island Peak. Guide of the 7 Summits Club Denis Saveliev rested after a heroic climb of Mera Peak and is ready to meet the group.

List of the members.

Island peak:
Petryaev Alexander
Emelyanov, Elvira,
Lutikov Alexander
Aglitsky Constantine
Lerner Roman
Lerner Julia,
Moiseeva Lola.

Trek to Everest base camp:
Manizada Jamil,
Tinin Yuri
Kovalenko, Ruslan.
Good luck, good weather, a good trip!

A trip to Tibet inevitably ends up arriving at the base camp. As the most exciting moment in which we remember the first sight of Everest, from the pass. Here, each participant would like to part with the old life and makes a decisive step into the future.

Today there was a lot of things "at first"

First, we made the first serious acclimatization climb. Hooray! Shegar Dzong was climbed to the top (4800 m). This mountain name is translated as Fortress Xegar and it is very unusual. At its base there is an ancient Buddhist monastery school gelukpa - Xegar. And on the top we met a stupa and prayer flags. The last few tens of meters to go the top led by a very steep scree slope. And from the top we have a stunning view of the Himalayan mountain range and on ...

Yes, yes - this is the second "first" ... we saw Mount Everest. The majestic pyramid with a huge white flag. Probably a strong wind blows the snow off the slopes.

We hope that to the time of our climb the storm will be over.

Tomorrow we go to the base camp of Everest. That is, tomorrow we'll spend the night in 5100. With headaches of course, what would be a good for acclimatization.

We are in Lukla. Tired and satisfied by the work done. The guys still do not believe that we were able to climb to the summit of Mera Peak. For all of the expedition has not issued a single day to the sky that it is not raining or pouring. Numerous teams coming down to meet us is not getting to the top does not inspire optimism and undermine confidence in the success of their stories, why they failed. Especially liked the story about the new  crack width all  of the slope and length of 2 meters, which can only be overcome only with the help of aluminum ladders.

As a result, we have been to the camp at 5800m. On the climb we were out as scheduled at 3 a.m.. The sky was cloudless, only the stars and the moon. But our joy was not long. Just a couple of hours everything was clouded, the wind rose and it began to snow. We reached that big crack. It turned out not so scary. We easy found a bridge and crossed it.

Vlad Lachkarev was the first on the top at 10:30, breaking the 30 - meter vertical wall on fixed ropes. Here, еру nature took pity on us and opened up a half hour panorama of the Himalayas - Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and other big mountains can be seen from the peak.

The way back to the camp was not easy. We were forced to stray among the cracks, because the visibility was about zero. The old tracks were covered with snow. Each one of us fell into a crevasse about three times.

On that day, our team was alone on the top. All groups canceled one after another, what is especially valuable to us.

Vsevolod Pulya. The first chair lift and two trails opened March 18 in the North Caucasus resort of Arkhyz. Alexander Khloponin, presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District, was the first skier to come down the slopes. In a celebratory speech afterwards, he noted that while this was certainly a signal event, “there is still much more to do.”

Jam made from pine cones, Cossack fur hats, mountain herbs for tea drinking, sweet homemade wine: these are the sorts of souvenirs tourists bring back from Arkhyz. At local stands they can also buy refrigerator magnets showing snowboarders and skiers against dramatic mountain backdrops. In reality, however, there aren’t any ordinary skiers on the slopes yet. Construction of the Arkhyz Resort has only just begun: instead of hotels there are improvised camp sites, there is almost no cell phone coverage, and there was no point paving the 8.5 miles road to the resort ahead of Sunday’s opening since the heavy construction trucks would destroy it in a matter of weeks.

Before the construction began, the only people who came here in winter were extreme skiers with plenty of money – or at least enough to hire a helicopter to drop them at the top of Arkhyz’s virgin trails. In the summer, mountain biking and rock climbing without the necessary infrastructure attracted only the daredevils.

But Arkhyz, which gets some name recognition from a widely distributed mineral water of the same name, is a resort with prospects. In the local dialect, Arkhyz means “beautiful girl,” and a glance at the landscape is enough to see why. Arkhyz is also in a very convenient location: less than four hours by air from most countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The nearest international airport, in Mineralye Vody, is only 125 miles away; the region also plans to build some smaller airports for private planes.

A Russian Les Arcs

Many of those who attended the opening ceremony at Arkhyz sported hats and scarves bearing the Latin words per angusta ad augusta, which means “through ravines to the heights.” The real heights at Arkhyz are still to be scaled. The new four-seat chairlift takes skiers up only 377 feet, to an altitude of 5,800 feet; the resort itself sits at an altitude of 5,400 feet above sea level. The first two trails are 2,200 and 3,600 feet long. The next stage — construction of five hotel complexes with 700 rooms – will be completed by this fall, in time for the start of the new ski season. By then, the combined length of open ski trails will be almost four miles. These figures may seem modest to inveterate downhill skiers, but these are just trial balloons. Arkhyz has more ambitious plans. “The real work on this resort will begin at the end of the year when we propose specific sites to investors,” Khloponin declared at a post-ski press conference.

Related :

The Caucasus – Ancient traditions and a complex history

Fighting terrorism with tourism

Time to remember, heal and build a good name
The builders say that when it’s finished, Arkhyz will be comparable to Les Arcs, the French ski resort in the Alps. All told, eight years from now, Arkhyz will consist of four tourist complexes housing a total of 24,000 guests; 54 ski lifts able to carry 45,000 skiers a day; аnd ski trails totaling 167 milres in length. All of this will be available with a single ski pass. At Resorts of the North Caucasus (KSK), the company in charge of developing the tourist cluster in the North Caucasus, specialists say that once Arkhyz is finished and in full operation, it should draw more than half a million skiers a year.

The first goal of the resort is to make downhill skiing affordable for averages Russians. “Resorts in the North Caucasus cluster should not compete among themselves,” said Alexei Nevsky, general director of KSK. “We have to develop a single concept, a single marketing and price policy.”

This project also has a social mission: it will create 10,000 jobs in the Republic of Karacheyvo-Cherkessia, according president of the republic Rashid Temrezov. At any rate, local grandmothers are ready to take in guests: their homemade meat pies and wool socks are already selling well.

Nature and history

Facts and figures
1,440 and 3,300 meters (4,700 feet-10,800 feet) above sea level is the difference in altitudes in Arkhyz Valley. The highest points: Mt. Pshish and Mt. Sophia
60 glaciers and mountain lakes are located in the valley
12 waterfalls crash down from the Sophia Glacier
170 km (105 miles) is the length of the resort’s main waterway: the Zelenchuk River
+14.8 Celsius (58 Farenheit) is the average air temperature in summer
- 5.6 Celsius (21 Farenheit) is the average temperature in winter
0,5-2,5 meters (18 inches-8 feet) is the average thickness of the snow cover
The Arkhyz Gorge is protected from strong winds and blessed with a mild climate. Its alpine slopes are covered with dense stands of fir trees and pine trees and it is the home of 26 natural mineral springs.

Meanwhile, for non-skiing tourists or those who want a break from the slopes, there are some unique local excursions. A mysterious natural icon of Christ is carved right on the steep left bank of the Zelenchuk River. Christ’s face looks down on ancient churches and the remains of the ruined city of Maas. The oldest of the churches was built 1,200 years ago, making it the most ancient religious edifice in Russia.

Thirty-seven miles to the west of Arkhyz is Adyukh Mountain, which has a small tower on its summit. The mountain and its fortress were named in honor of a girl who, as legend has it, was so unhappy in love that she threw herself off the mountain top; another legend claims that she threw off the rope ladder on which her unfaithful lover, a horse thief, was climbing. Visitors able to climb the 730 steps up to the top will be rewarded with a magnificent view of the Zelenchuk River and surrounding valley — the horizon stretches away to Abkhazia.

At the foot of Mt. Adyukh is the Adyukh Palace Hotel, whose owner is a veteran collector of antique automobiles. His collection includes a 1950s Mercedes, and old UAZ that has not driven even one mile in all its 40 years of existence, and a complete collection of Volgas, Chaikas and ZIMs.

A new cluster

The Legend of Caucasus - watch video
Arkhyz is KSK’s debut project. By 2020, KSK plans to have fully developed this tourist cluster with world-class ski resorts throughout the North Caucasus. Meanwhile, Dagestan’s Caspian Sea coast will be dotted with beach resorts. When construction of the cluster is complete, it will boast a combined total of 680 miles of downhill ski trails and 227 ski lifts, as well as hotels, apartments and cottages for 102,500 people.

Northern Caucasus resorts map + info. Click to view infographics
KSK anticipates that this cluster will receive between 5 and 10 million vacationers every year. The total volume of federal investment in the transport infrastructure and communications of resorts in the North Caucasus should equal 60 billion rubles ($20 billion). The Sinara Group, an investor in and builder of Arkhyz, put up 1 billion of the 3 billion rubles already spent on building the resort and its infrastructure. The project’s financing is being conducted on the principles of a government-private partnership. The project will receive a total of 80 billion rubles ($2.7 billion) in investment.

These Russian investors are expected be followed by foreign investors; investors from France and South Korea have already signed agreements on a joint enterprise, according to Nevsky. He confirmed that the South Korean company Korea Western Power is ready to invest $1 billion in the cluster’s electricity supply network, while the investment bank Singapore Nexus means to invest in the development of hotels.

The Everest expedition 7 Summits Club Everest meets the Easter holidays in the heart of Tibet. We spent a day in the city of Shigatse (3900m). It was very successful day. Nice sunny weather favored sightseeing tour, acclimatization, food intake and religious reflection on the eve of Easter. Next stop is Xegar (4200m).