All news: 2016

Hi all, here is Vladimir Kotlyar.

 Today our team visited Fort Bulnes, the first settlement on the shore of the Strait of Magellanic. Now it is restored monument to the history of development of the region. Place, in my opinion, charged some special energy.

 After visiting the fort we were at the briefing in the office of the ALE. Before briefing the Japanese team gave amateur theatrical performance on Chekhov's play "The Proposal". The funny thing is that the piece played in Japanese, then translated the content into Spanish, and then sounded it to us in English, and then the play is Russian.

 Currently we receive boarding passes for our native IL-76, and tomorrow, if local gods give local weather window, we start to Antarctica !!! -

 The flight mode))))

 That  we ended the preparations for the expedition, collected equipment, food purchased, got a pair of kilograms .  In the morning  we could fly to the icy continent. I will be gone for a month from the radar, because in Antarctica there is no internet.

 All Happy New Year!

 Kindness, love, and bold dreams!

Lyudmila Korobeshko:

 Motors and heart tightly sheathed. All collected, packaged, weighed. About 300 kg of the whole burden of our ski expedition to the South Pole. In 12 hours ALE promise to take us  in the heart of Antarctica. Later – all communication is only via satellite phone.

 All of the upcoming holidays!

December 15th in the rock wall at Rock City next training session was held under the guidance of coach Egor Dulnev. Everything went perfectly. Join our mountain training school!

   We are waiting for the next training session at Rock City!

Today two teams of the 7 summits Club came to Punta Arenas. One group is going to Vinson, under the leadership of Alex Abramov and Vladimir Kotlyar. The second group is  for the "Two last degree", 220 km to the South pole. Leader – Lyudmila Korobeshko. Now we have two days of training and 18 th December we should fly to Antarctica.

And yet: good food and fresh air.

Lyudmila Korobeshko: Preparing to fly to Antarctica is in full swing. We check all equipment and at the same time divide it (as long as no fights). After all, at the Union we will have to divide it - Volodya and Sasha fly to Vinson, and I will go in the direction of the South Pole. Two degrees is not one degree!

Vladimir Kotlyar: Today, Sasha and Luda introduced me to Russian pilots, board a team of IL-76! Interesting people, both as of  adventure books! The commander and the radio operator Anatoly and Alexei have two hundredth landing on the ice a few days ago, and today we have noted it with an excellent lamb !!! Thank you guys for your hospitality and  for the  great day!

Some views of Punta Arenas

A team of the 7 Summits Club guides arrived to Punta Arenas. We met the Kazakh team. Then we met Christine and her husband, Hannibal. And burrows ...

Photos from the window of the hotel on the Strait of Magellan. Tomorrow we will have a tough day. It is necessary to check all equipment.

By decision of the UN General Assembly on December 11^th  every year is celebrated as the International Mountain Day, to draw attention to mountain regions in the world, to their potential and challenges on the path to sustainable development.

  The 7 Summits Club congratulates all fans of the mountains, all the inhabitants of mountainous areas, all those who, one way or another, connected with the mountains!

2016 Theme — "Mountain Cultures: Celebrating diversity and strengthening identity"

Covering around 22 percent of the earth’s land surface, mountains play a critical role in moving the world towards sustainable economic growth. They not only provide sustenance and wellbeing to 915 million mountain people around the world, representing 13 percent of global population, but mountains also indirectly benefit billions more living downstream.

Mountain Day logoMountain Cultures

This year, the celebration of this Day aims to highlight Mountain Cultures. Mountains host communities with ancient cultures and traditions, and are places of religious worship, pilgrimage and rituals all over the world. The concept of traditional heritage, culture and spirituality is intrinsically linked with peoples’ livelihoods in the mountains, where it is often traditional lifestyles that determine the way people make a living and subsist.

Mountains are also the sources of springs and rivers and have been revered as the home of deities throughout history. In times of drought, the Kikuyu people faced Mount Kenya and asked the God Ngai for rain. The Inca people constructed their temples on the highest peaks over 6 000 metres (m) in the Andes. In China, villages traditionally dedicated a temple to the local mountain deity responsible for clouds and rain.

A large proportion of the world's minority populations live in mountain areas. While most of these consist of small numbers of people, some large groups exist, such as the Quechua in the Andes, the Amhara people in Ethiopia, and the Tibetans and Yi in China. Isolation, created by the rugged topographic barriers, has helped create and maintain many diverse cultures relatively intact. Unfortunately, the stability of mountain populations, each with different values and belief systems, is threatened by migration, urbanization and conflict. 

Mountain peoples have long held vital roles in the management of their ecosystems. Over the centuries, they have developed remarkable land-use systems, climate change adaptation approaches, traditional diets and mountain products that are unique and rich in globally significant biodiversity.

Often grounded in a deep connection with the land, mountain communities’ worldviews guide them in their agricultural activities and care of the environment and natural resources. In the Andes, for example, mother nature Pachamama, worshipped by the indigenous peoples, presides over planting and harvesting, embodies mountains and is believed to cause earthquakes. Rituals to honour Pachamama reinforce the relations between human communities and their natural environments, bringing together people from different clans and villages at various points of the agricultural cycle.

Furthermore, mountains and mountain-protected areas are places of spiritual solace, inspiration, recreation and relaxation. From skiing and climbing to viewing mountain gorillas in Rwanda and visiting the rock churches in Ethiopia, mountains offer an array of possibilities to all kinds of tourists. According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 376 of the world’s 669 Biosphere Reserves, or 56 percent, contain mountain ecosystems.  

The impacts of tourism on culture and identity in the mountains can bring both possibilities and challenges. Community-based mountain tourism can ensure a more equitable distribution of income, help maintain local cultures and knowledge, reduce out-migration and provide incentives for the protection of mountain ecosystems, their goods and services.

While Mountain Culture is the suggested theme for 2016, countries, communities and organizations are welcome to celebrate International Mountain Day through the choice of a different theme that might be more relevant to them.

Friends, on Wednesday, December 7, our office is closed.

 We're moving into a new office. On Thursday, December 8, 2016 and later, the office of  the 7 Summits Club will operate at

 Maly Karetny Pereulok, 10

On Saturday, December 3  a solemn evening of the Federation of Mountaineering of Russia (FMR) took place in the center of Moscow in the Telegraph hall. The action is devoted to summing up year and delivery of awards to the caused a stir athletes. The awarding the prize "Gold Ice Axe of Russia" for the best climb of year was the main event, of course. However evening began, and it was very pleasant, from a celebration of new summiters of Everest. Since 2012 FMR awards them with the special medal.

 The organizers caused on the stage of our heroes of Everest. Members of the expedition of the 7 Summits Club: Vlad Moroz, Roman Reutov, Irena Harazova, Igor Demyanenko. And also Masha Gordon, who climed from the South and forgotten in 2012 (when awarded all, since 1982) Vyacheslav Skripko. A bit later the award found one more heroine – Tatyana Yalovchak from Ukraine. She just was late. Awards will also be transferred to two more participants of our expedition: Oleg Pimenov and Vladimir Kotlyar.

The 7 Summits Club Expedition of the Pyramid of Carstens, the highest point in Australia was held from October 20 to November 6, 2016.  Leader Alexander Abramov. All memberss underwent a difficult trek through the jungles of New Guinea and then climbed to the top of the rocky route.

 Due to the expansion and opening of the new perspective directions, the office of the 7 Summits Club changes dislocation and moves closer to the center.

New address: Maly Karetny, 10

We hope to finish our moving till December 7th.

In this regard, small delays with answers by mail are possible. But we will try to respond as much as possible to all letters and calls even in the course of moving …

Climbing Breithorn in good weather - it is a pleasant walk along the snowy slopes with simple skills of climbing to an altitude of 4165 meters.

At this time, the weather is promised no surprises, except pleasant. The sun was shining, there was no wind, the trail to the summit was carefully trodden by numerous climbers, who left early in the morning.

The ascent took place in late September in the framework of the Alpine trek on the way the Russian army under the command of Alexander Suvorov in 1799.

On Saturday, December 3  a solemn evening of the Federation of Mountaineering of Russia (FMR) took place in the center of Moscow in the Telegraph hall. The action is devoted to summing up year and delivery of awards to the caused a stir athletes. The awarding the prize "Gold Ice Axe of Russia" for the best climb of year was the main event, of course. However evening began, and it was very pleasant, from a celebration of new summiters of Everest. Since 2012 FMR awards them with the special medal.

 The organizers caused on the stage of our heroes of Everest. Members of the expedition of the 7 Summits Club: Vlad Moroz, Roman Reutov, Irena Harazova, Igor Demyanenko. And also Masha Gordon, who climed from the South and forgotten in 2012 (when awarded all, since 1982) Vyacheslav Skripko. A bit later the award found one more heroine – Tatyana Yalovchak from Ukraine. She just was late. Awards will also be transferred to two more participants of our expedition: Oleg Pimenov and Vladimir Kotlyar.

We congratulate heroes of Everest!

And also the team of Moscow which won "Golden Ice Axe of Russia" for Thalay Sagar new route

and other winners of this evening.

Photos from Facebook from different authors:

November 26, three climbers from the 7 Summits Club Dmitry Ogurtsov, Sergey Bakulin and Eduard Zakharov made an ascent of Mount Toubkal, the highest in North Africa - 4167 meters.

 In September 2016 GRIT&ROCK announced a launch of an annual international FIRST ASCENT EXPEDITION PRIZE to enable female first ascents. The award, the largest of its kind globally, will fund a female-led expedition team up to the amount of GBP5,000. The aims of the annually awarded prize is to promote and encourage female participation in pioneering alpine ascents. The Award is open to individuals and climbing teams with majority female participation and is meant to provide funding for those who need it most.

The application deadline is January 31, 2017. The jury comprising Victor Saunders, Catherine Destivelle, Lydia Bradey and Lise Billon will choose a winning project by March 1, 2017.

To learn more, please download the award document here

or contact us at award@gritandrock.com

*******

The Alpinist magazine:

Masha Gordon, the founder of Grit & Rock, explains: "During my Explorers Grand Slam record bid [She holds the female speed record—Ed.], I spent over a hundred days in various base camps around the world where I have encountered quite a few budding female alpinists in commercial groups doing normal routes on high altitude peaks," Gordon said. "That contrasted with very few independent women climbers who were part of the teams launching alpine-style ambitious summit bids. That made me wonder about the disconnect. I looked at the history of Piolets d'Or, the Oscars of Alpinism, and discovered that in its twenty-four-year-long history it has been won only twice by women. Fewer women alpinists get sponsored as brand athletes.... As a result, women get less expedition experience and, perhaps, dare less, feeling unqualified. This vicious cycle creates an unintended high-altitude glass ceiling. Our $6,000 First Ascent Expedition Grant was designed to act as a catalyst to encourage more competent female alpinists to launch their first ascent bids."

Gordon said she wasn't sure how much interest there would be when she announced the grant. "Our fear was that we would get few applications," she said. "So far, the queries we've had came from highly competent climbers. So far, so good!"

The selection panel consisting of Lydia Bradey, Catherine Destivelle, Victor Saunders and Lise Billon will award the first prize in February. Bradey was the first woman to summit Everest (8848m) without supplemental oxygen in 1988. Destivelle did an eleven-day solo first ascent on the Petit Dru (3732) in 1991, the Destivelle Route (VI 5.11b A5, 800m), and the following year she became the first woman to complete a solo ascent of the Eiger Nordwand, which she did in winter in 17 hours in 1992, among many other climbing feats. Saunders is still blazing new routes in alpine style at age 66, which he did earlier this month on Sersank Peak (6050m) with Mick Fowler in the Indian Himalaya. Billon is a 2016 Piolet d'Or recipient for the second ascent of Cerro Riso Patron (2550m) in Chile via a new route called Hasta las Webas (AI5+, M5, ED- 1000m), which she climbed with Jerome Sullivan, Diego Simari and Antoine Moineville.

[Photo] Masha Gordon collection

"If we can encourage women to think outside of the box, lead their own expeditions and explore routes in remote parts of the world, it would be a fantastic achievement," Bradey said.

"Our Foundation's goal is to help raise a generation of brave and confident girls through the power of [the] outdoors," Gordon said. "These girls need role models. This prize is aimed at helping create them."

The 7 Summits Club opened booking  of the group in 2017: Climbing Kazbek (5033 m), Georgia.

Mount Kazbek - one of the most famous peaks of the Caucasus, the height of 5033 meters above sea level. Climbing requires little mountaineering experience. Georgia - a country which surprised by their attitude to the guests. Local guides are real professionals, they will ensure a safe ascent.

 Standard program

 Arrivals every Sunday - the next date of June 11-16.

Price: 480 euros.

 VIP program

 Dates: September 3-9.

The cost of 1190 euros.

November 24, the 7 Summits Club held a lecture in our office on the Grand Pereiaslavskaya street. Lyudmila Korobeshko was the keynote speaker, she spoke about his impressions of the visit to South America, told interesting facts. She gave a lot of useful information about the organization of trips to Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. Olga Rumyantseva helped Lyudmila, she spoke about her favorite area - Patagonia. Thanks to everyone who came and listened! We hope for new meetings and joint travel...

  Our group named HOT SIZE under the command of the 7 Summits Club guide Vladimir Kotlyar rapport on completion of the program. Everything was great! All the plans made at 100%! Khumbu Valley, Base camp, Kala Patar and Island Peak...

Galina Rossova: We had a great work out, we try new routes and new methods of technology. We remind you that everyone at every level (even if it is any one) we are happy to meet for Mondays in the DDS palace, on Thursdays - in the Rock City.

Today, the group of 7 Summits Club, all members, under the leadership of our guide Vladimir Kotlyar climbed Island Peak – the famous Himalayan peaks. Well done! Watch the video clip directly from the top!

Vladimir Kotlyar, the guide 7 Summits Club expedition to Island Peak: Hello everyone! Today we stopped in Chhukung. We held classes on movement on fixed ropes, learned to climb up and down.

Irina Zisman:

... Tomorrow we begin the ascent to which we went  8 days … We have behind us the Everest base camp, climbing KalaPatar. And today we look at the whole day to Island Peak - the goal of our journey ...)

Many thanks to Andrey Balta for the wonderful pictures!