All news: April 2022

Two groups of the 7 Summits Club simultaneously begin their trekking to the Everest base camp.  Their routes differ only slightly. In one, Alexander Dorojukov works as a guide, in the other two women – Maria Bessogonova and Olga Startseva. All participants successfully flew to Kathmandu and stayed in a hotel.  The guides inspected equipment, all people walked around the Tamel and part of the group managed to visit the Monkey Temple - Swayambunath. In one of the groups we have the youngest participant - the boy Savva, who is 12 years old.

In the evening they had a festive welcome dinner in the unique restaurant of traditional Nepali cuisine at The Dwarika's Hotel. Everyone is flying to Lukla tomorrow. The mood is great!

Olga Rumyantseva, a member of the expedition: The Everest-22 team descended from Camp 2 at an altitude of 6500 to the base camp. And again we passed through the Khumbu icefall. For the next three days, we will all rest and sleep off. Well, I will have time to tell detailed stories just in these three days.

You asked if there is snow in the base camp. Compare with the photos of the days when we just arrived with today.

We came to Camp Two at an altitude of 6450 meters. Compared to yesterday, it is an easy walk along the plane and a gradual climb. But the height makes itself felt.

We have a very limited amount of Internet. Therefore, I will not abuse it. And for your patience, here is our beautiful morning view of the Everest - Lhotse traverse from the first camp.

 View of the second camp. Well, as experts suggest, this is the Valley of Silence.

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

The team "Touching Everest" reached the base camp. We spent the previous two nights in the town of Lobuche, recovering from a vigorous climb. Which was not superfluous at all. Now at the base camp we are preparing for the main event – the "touch" itself. Today we held rope classes on the ice, we felt confident, tomorrow we will repeat and fix it. And then – into the icefall!

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

News of the Everest 2022 expedition. Today our team held ice training sessions. All participants learned a lot of new things. How to walk with jumar. What is means of self-arrest and most importantly, how to walk up the stairs over crevasses. And there are a lot of crevsses on the Khumbu icefall this year. Many thanks to our team of Sherpas who prepared the traces and controlled the process!  Tonight we are going out for the overnight to Camp 1 6000m and then we will go up to camp 2 6400m and come back. This will be the first acclimatization rotation.

 Let me, after all, fulfill my promise and start talking about how our camp is organized.

Here it is. Or rather, ours – it is in the right part of the frame, outlined by yellow tents.

That is, light green. The participants of the expedition live in them - a slender row of 12 tents, guides and superiors - a row of smaller tents.

Of course, everyone is interested to know how it is inside.  It's nice inside. These are two-layer insulated tents. Each tent is for one person. A small dressing room with hooks for clothes and hanging shelves.

And the main, insulated room, where there is a folding bed, mattress, blanket, pillow, small table.

The pillow, however, is so high that it is impossible to sleep on it.

Electricity is installed in the tent.

From a solar battery - very weak, but enough to keep the light on and it was possible to charge, for example, a powerbank through the USB connector.

There is also an extension 220. It is powered by a generator that is turned on from 17 to 22.

But it hasn't been working in my room for the second day. They promise to fix it. But not yet.

Hurray! The electricity was fixed for me.

But you can also charge electrical appliances in the dining salon, where there are several tables, an inflatable sofa, there are a bunch of extension cords and besides, it is heating.

There are also various board games and one paper book "Anna Karenina".

The dining salon is connected to the bar. In the bar, as usual, they pour. There is also a hair dryer, as it turned out today. Which is very valuable.

In the general photos, these are two hemispheres standing side by side.

Moving on. The long purple is the kitchen. Here the chef from La Sherpa restaurant makes wonders.

I'll tell you more about them later.

 On the contrary, there are utility rooms in an orange large tent. And in the largest, white hemisphere there is a dining room.  That is, a restaurant with a panoramic view of the glacier.

There are two washbasins next to the dining room. There is soap, antiseptic, paper towels.

In the mornings and evenings, warm water is poured there. So it's very comfortable to wash. But liquid soap is mostly frozen.

Well, since we are talking about washing, here is our washing room for you. It is located in a large orange tent. There is a dressing room where you can undress and a room where there are huge pots of hot water on the gas. There are also barrels of cold water.

The technology is simple: a basin, a ladle, mix water and wash. The main thing is, taking hot water, do not forget to add cold water to the pan so that it warms up for others.

There is also a portable shower where you need to pour water, but for me it's somehow easier with a basin.

The water is not constantly heated. They turn it on after breakfast and turn it off somewhere in two or three hours, when it gets cold and it won't work to wash without risking getting sick.

We have another big orange tent of the same size. It is a massage room. Well,  inside the masseur lives by himself. While the sun is shining outside, as in all other tents, it is warm. As soon as the sun disappears, it becomes noticeably cool and it is better not to go for a massage.

And so the massage is wonderful.

Here, by the way, is our masseur. He has lived all his life in Kathmandu, he has never been to the mountains. This is his first high-altitude experience.

To acclimatize, he went trekking with us from Lukla and said that the higher the mountains, the more they admire him.

There is also a tent where the doctor lives. His medical office is also there. Fortunately, I haven't been inside yet.

Well, everyone, as usual, is interested in what's going on with the toilet.

You probably noticed several purple houses of a characteristic shape. That's what they are.

And inside it looks like this. Considering where we are, it's just gorgeous.

 That's all, actually.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today was the opening day of the camp – Puja ceremony. The entire team of participants and Sherpas gathered in the center of our camp. There a monk was reading a prayer.

It started snowing. But we persisted in praying.

Artem Rostovtsev, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

Greetings to all from Periche from the team "Touching Everest". We are gradually gaining a foothold at new heights, today we spent the night at 4250m. We go according to the plan, along a beautiful path, in a good mood. Today we are moving to Lobuche.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today, the team of the 7 Summits Club "Everest-2022" reached the Base Camp, where they were met by a team of Sherpas.  First of all, the participants went to the bar, the traditional resting place of the team members. And then the participants were waiting for a great dinner from the chef.  Tomorrow there will be a celebration of the opening of the camp – Puja.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

 Today Alex Abramov and Elena Abramova reached the base camp, where we were met by our Super-Sherpas. And the Super Chef of La Sherpa restaurant.I still didn't understand how he can cook dishes of real Haute cuisine from ordinary chicken and ordinary pork.

Also, on the way, a historic meeting with the famous French climber, 70-year-old Marc Batard, took place in Gorakshep. He is making a new path to Everest, bypassing the Khumbu icefall. An exchange of views on this issue took place.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

The Everest-2022 team has successfully arrived in Lobuche 5030m.  On the way we visited the memorial to the lost climbers. There are also our friends there. Tomorrow Alex Abramov and Lena Abramova will go to the Base Camp to check its readiness. And the day after tomorrow the whole team arrives there. The weather is clear but windy.

Base camp

Artem Rostovtsev, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

News of the group "Touching Everest". Hello everyone from the scenic trail to the Everest base camp! This year it is loaded, there is a constant flow of tourists, and we are flowing with them towards the Big Mountain. After arriving in Lukla, the team reached Namche Bazaar in two days. Here we will rest for a day and then go further, or rather - forward, closer to our goal.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Our team is confidently moving towards the Everest Base Camp. Today we are spending the night in Periche. The whole team has already become friends. We go, have fun, admire the views. We went to the Monastery of Tiangboche. Caught the service, left the money.  Everything is according to plan. Trekking to the Base Camp is the best part of our Everest expedition. This is the time to get a good acclimatization and make friends with the team.

Olga Rumyantseva, member of the expedition of the 7 Summits Club "Everest-2022":

Today is the most beautiful day of trekking: we moved from Namche Bazaar to Dingboche. First of all, we were shown Everest and my favorite Ama Dablam. Secondly, we walked in rhododendron groves, enjoying their exuberant color.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

There are many women in our 7 Summits Club team. But the most famous of them is Lhakpa Sherpa. She already has a world record among women: 9 ascents on Mount Everest. Now she has come with an American film crew to set a new World record for women: 10 times on Everest.

Artem Rostovtsev, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, from Nepal:

The expedition of the 7 Summits Club team "Touching Everest" begins. All participants gathered in Kathmandu.  Today we spent half a day on local history, on excursions and tomorrow we will start our journey towards Everest. The group's program involves a trek to the Everest base camp and then an ascent to Camp 2 through the Khumbu icefall using additional ("artificial") oxygen.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today our team moved from Phakding to Namche Bazaar.  Here we settled in the best hotel in the town - Sherpa Land. Each in a single room with a shower.

Since we have all-inclusive meals on the trek, we really overeat delicious Nepali food.  On the way, the rain caught us and we were wet for the last 2 hours. The day ended with a visit to the Irish Pub, this is a tradition of our expedition. Tomorrow will be a day of rest. And we will sleep for a long time.

At five in the morning, very sleepy, we arrived at the airport. And flew to Lukla.

Everything turned out somehow quickly.  The hotel, the airport, the first flight was ours. We hand over our things and immediately go to the plane. A small plane for 15 people. Forty minutes of flight among the mountains, and now we are landing at Lukla airport. 

A short runway in one direction breaks off into an abyss, in the other - rests on the slope.  Very impressive.  Airplanes take off and land one after the other like fixed-route taxis. It is necessary to have time to make as many flights as possible before the weather deteriorates.

 Lukla Airport is considered one of the most dangerous. Takeoff and landing here require considerable skill.

 In Lukla we have breakfast and set out on our way. Today we are waiting for a short walk to Phading. Four hours of a simple walk.

Almost all the participants of the expedition gathered at the briefing.  Leader Alex Abramov told how the team will live in the coming days. And finally the whole team got together, it was also an evening of acquaintance of the expedition participants. Basically, most of them are familiar with each other from past ascents in the 7 Summits team. Elbrus, Kazbek, Orizaba, Aconcagua, Ojos del Salado - in general, a standard set. Someone climbed Lenin Peak. There are those who have been to Denali in Alaska.

Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, leader of the Everest expedition, from Nepal:

Today, the first part of the Everest-2022 team arrived in Kathmandu. We checked into the Hyatt Hotel. The members are resting from a long flight.