All news: May 2023

Anton Pugovkin:  There are 44 days of the expedition behind me and we already want to put an end to it. Therefore, after 6 hours we go to Camp 2, at 6300. Then, according to the plan, on the 19th C3 (7100), on the 20th C4 (8100), on the night of the 20th to the 21st we go out to storm the summit, well, there's a matter of technique. What we need, yes, in principle, everything is there, except that a little bit of luck definitely won't hurt. See you later!

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Andrey Berezin reports from the Elbrus region:

News of the Elbrus region. The UralSib group went to the Pastukhov Rocks as part of acclimatization. The weather, while we were walking along the ridges, was beautiful. There was no wind, only a slight frost. On Friday we are going to storm  the summit.

Friends, we received a message via satellite that Alexander Abramov's team has climbed Everest!  Alexander Abramov became a 12-time Everest summiter today!

Now there is a descent, so detailed information will be later.

 The president of the 7 Summits Club, the head of the Everest expedition Alexander Abramov reports from Nepal:

The whole team has climbed 8100m. We are going to storm at night. At 22:00 local time (19:15 Moscow time), the team starts to climb the highest mountain on our planet!

 The Assault Team of the 7 Summits Club:

 Alexander Abramov - head of the expedition

Ilya Alyoshkins

Andrey Golov

Kazbek Gulmagomedov

Alla Mishina

Andrey Polyakov.   

This morning on May 17, the 8000 Club team led by Lyudmila Korobeshko was able to climb to the top of Makalu 8485m! Now the group is coming down, everyone is healthy and safe. Details will come later.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Evgeny Fedyunin reports from the Elbrus region:

Hello everyone! The group "It's snow time" of the 7 Summits Club made an attempt to climb Elbrus! It was, of course, not torture, but in conditions of zero visibility, close to it. Blitz is always like roulette, and if you add bad weather, the chance is doubly reduced!

But we honestly trod and struggled with the snowfall. Having reached the saddle and weighed all the pros and cons, we decided to repeat what we started at a more favorable time.

All the weather and good luck!

Today, the 8000 Club group led by Lyudmila Korobeshko climbed to Camp 3 at a height of 7,400 meters. The weather is very bad, a hurricane-force wind is blowing. In such conditions, climbing to the top is impossible. We need to wait for the weather to improve.

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

We are in Camp 2. View of Camp-3 at an altitude of 7100 m, the crest of Mount Everest and the summit of Lhotse.

The second day of good weather, which is promised for at least another week.  And the second day of climbing to the top of Mount Everest. Our group is going up to Camp-3 tomorrow. Everything is according to plan and without haste.

Sergey Bogomolov went down yesterday from Camp 3 to Base Camp. Full of emotions. Alexander Abramov shot a video with him, who had not yet had time to take off his overalls.  Sergey Georgievich climbed to a height of 7100 meters. "It doesn't happen easily", ahead of the continuation of preparations for the summer expedition to K2.

Svetlana Kotlyar, manager of the 7 Summits Club and a member of the expedition, reports from Nepal:

Greetings from the Everest Base Camp from the team "We are just tourists!" of the 8000 Club! This morning we left Namche Bazaar after four full days of rest and flew to base camp, which has already become so dear to us in a month! After breakfast, we attended a briefing, at which we approved the plan for the next 6 days:

May 15: Camp 1 — 6100

16th of May: Camp 2 — 6400

May 17: Camp 3 — 7100

May 18: Camp 4 — 7900

May 19: 8848 Everest summit and 6400 descent

May 20: descent to Base camp

We went to the camp of the 7 Summits Club, where Alex Abramov gave us a practical lesson on the use of oxygen equipment.

After lunch, we charged gadgets, collected snacks and other things. The whole team is in a pleasant excitement! We're finally getting to the finish line!

Wish us good luck!

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Andrey Berezin reports from the Elbrus region:

News of the Elbrus region! Today, the Shuttles group, in difficult weather conditions, climbed  the Western peak of Elbrus. All the way with us were: wind, snow, fog, our will to win.  As a result, we are on the top! Congratulations to the Shuttles team on this difficult ascent! Guides of the group Berezin & Semenov.

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

Our vacation is over. Yesterday, the whole team returned to the Everest Base Camp.  The wind was blowing hard. The wind has calmed down today. And today, the Sherpas have posted a route to the top. And already the first climbers set off on their way to the top of Mount Everest. Our team does not want to get into traffic jams on the mountain. According to the forecast, 10 days of good weather are ahead. Therefore, our exit is scheduled for May 15 and according to the plan, the top is on the 18th. While the whole team is in the ranks. We are preparing for a heroic assault.

Guide Alexander Abramov, Lena Abramova, Andrey Selivanov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Sergey Avtomonov reports from Nepal:

The Letter U group made a heroic ascent on Island Peak! The whole team reached the top and we were able to descend from it! Everything is fine, now we are resting at the Chukung Lodge, sharing our impressions after climbing and planning the next ascents. Then it will be descent to Kathmandu, rest and return home.

The head of the expedition on Makalu Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Nepal:

May 13. In the morning, a helicopter arrived and finally our entire team of Makalu Minions gathered in Makalu BC. Yesterday, due to bad weather, only part of the group - 5 people - was able to fly. Even the pilot Simone Moro himself could not immediately take off. And he spent about 2 hours with us at the base camp waiting for the weather to improve.

So, there are 9 of us. Marina Gevorgyan completed her program "Touching the Makalu" and flew home. Veronika Zaripova, one of the strongest participants of the expedition, fell on the descent after the second rotation and suffered a severe knee injury. Until the last, she hoped that she would be able to return to the ranks. But the doctors said that a month minimum load is prohibited. So Veronica had to complete the expedition. She has already left Nepal.

Yesterday there was a strong wind and a terrible cold in the camp.  The weather has improved this morning. And at 8.00 the good news came - a team of Sherpas led by our Lakpa hung ropes to the top!!!  There is the first ascent on Makalu in the 2023 season!!!

By the way, Kristin Harila also climbed the summit of Makalu.

Tomorrow we are going to start - the first climb to C2 and further according to the plan.

 List of climbers:

1. Lily Kovalenko
2. Irina Zisman
3. Vladimir Belkovich
4. Yuri Lukyanov
5. Igor Smirnov
6. Vasily Kernitsky
7. Valery Babanov
8. Israfil Ashurli (deputy leader)
9. Lyudmila Korobeshko (leader)

 Wish us good luck!

Svetlana Kotlyar, manager of the 7 Summits Club and a member of the expedition, reports from Nepal:

Greetings from the 8000 CLUB team "We are just tourists!" After the second rotation, our team moved to Namche Bazaar for a rest. We checked into the hotel "Namche Hotel", today we were joined by the head of our expedition — Viktor Volodin. We have already spent 3 days in Namche.

Today we found out that on Fridays and Saturdays there is a local market. Many locals descend from the mountains to Namche for 3 hours to buy vegetables and fruits here. We bought fresh juicy mango and bananas. After that, we looked into the butcher shop. The male half of our team decided to buy meat and cook soup for the arrival of Viktor Volodin!

The owners of the "Yeti Bar" next to us gave us the whole kitchen and we cooked a delicious rich goat meat soup. Tomorrow is another day of rest and the day after tomorrow we return to BC. The assault on the summit of Mount Everest is planned for May 19.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Andrey Berezin reports from the Elbrus region:

News of the Elbrus region.  The weather did not spoil us much during acclimatization, and on the planned day of the ascent it deteriorated altogether. Therefore, we decided to go down to the hotel for one day. Before that, however, we worked hard, clearing the doors to the houses and the dining room from snow drifts to have breakfast in the morning. Then we went down to the hotel for the night. And now we are going back up to the shelter, according to the forecast, the weather is promised to improve on Saturday. 

P.S. We also celebrated the birthday of our participant at the hotel.

The head of the expedition on Makalu Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Nepal:

Part of our group flew under Makalu. Barely maneuvering between the clouds. And then the weather completely deteriorated. Simone Moro made an attempt to fly out for the rest of the participants, but got into heavy clouds. He had to come back, turn off the screws of his helicopter and sit with us at 5700 waiting for the weather to improve…

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

 The little holidays have passed. Several trekking groups passed through our Base Camp. 50 people exactly. Not counting numerous friends and members of the 7 Summits Club. All this time the team was resting down the valley. The wind was at the summit of 50-85 km per hour all the days. Clouds raced across the sky like torn "Crabs".  And now our prolonged rest is coming to an end. The wind has weakened.

From 6 to 12^th of May we warmed up in loggias and ate from the belly. Everyone was able to recover and overcome the cough. The whole team is healthy and ready to go. Now that's it: the last stage of the expedition begins. Climbing the summit of Everest. The plan was approved.

On the 12th we fly to BC.

13th and 14th preparation.

On the 15th, Camp 2. 6400m.

On the 16th, Camp 3. 7100m.

on the 17th, Camp 4 - The South Col 7900.

On the 18th, the Assault on the summit of Mount Everest 8848.

The head of the expedition on Makalu Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Nepal:

Greetings from Nepal from the magical Rivendell from the Makalu Minions team! We have the third (it is the last) day of rest. Yesterday, some of the Minions went for a fabulous walk to the village, where no one had been before - the Portse. It is located on the opposite bank of the river. To get into it, you need to climb to the Tengboche monastery, then descend 300 meters, cross the river and climb 300m again. There are practically no tourists in the village (it is far from all routes). But there are many mountain tours in the vicinity, musk deer, ulars, eagles are found here.

 In the evening, Alla Mishina from the Everest Masala Team group gave us a surprise - a festive dinner at home style: fried potatoes with onions, baked chicken with garlic, sauerkraut ... we were shocked ... pleasant.

Closer to night, we received news from Makalu base camp that Kristin Harila had arrived there. Now the fixing route will definitely  fast!

In the morning, I solemnly signed my new books with all the participants of our exp. (the first 10 copies were delivered to me from Moscow - thanks to Kristina for bringing them to Nepal).

Our participant Marina Gevorgyan was escorted to Kathmandu today. Her program "Touching the Makalu" has ended. But she promised to continue to pray for us. 

At lunch, we walked to the stupa above Tengboche and ran down to the soup that Alla had prepared. In the evening, she promises some kind of surprise for dinner ... tomorrow morning on May 12, we fly to BC Makalu. Most likely, this will be the plan.

 May 13 - preparation at the base camp (BC)

May 14 - move immediately to Camp 2

May 15 - climb to C3

May 16 - climb to C4

May 17 - summit and descent to C2

May 18 - descent to BC.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Sergey Avtomonov reports from Nepal

 All namaste from the Letter U group! Today we spent the day at the lodge.  We adjusted our equipment, took what was missing at the rent office. Then we went to practice with jumars and ropes. We have mastered the technique of rope climbing. We will have a lot of them on the ascent. Then we learned how to use descent devices. After lunch, we did a workout on how to walk on ladders lying through cracks! There is a feeling that we are preparing for Everest, but no - this Island Peak is so interesting this year!