All news: 11 July 2023

Guide and director of the 7 Summits Club Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Pakistan:

July 11th. All salaam from Pakistan from the participants of the expedition to K2 "High Altitude Gene 2" or briefly GenKa2! Today was an eventful day.  First, finally, the weather has improved. The sun came out (although it was snowing all night, which was not in the forecast).

Secondly, we held a meeting of the leaders of all the expeditions to K2 about the joint hanging of the fixed ropes. We agreed to join our efforts. So according to the general plan, a joint team of route workers will start above Camp 2 on July 14.

Thirdly, our first group of trekkers arrived in the evening. We thought they would be completely exhausted after so many transitions in the rain and snow. And they turned out to be cheerful. We arranged a joint buffet and dancing. Many were previously familiar with joint expeditions. And some people have just met. Uncle Vitya (Viktor Volodin) brought a rare copy of moonshine of his own production. Dasha brought us the most long-awaited - coffee and a little tequila.

Tomorrow we go up  for three nights. Trekkers will most likely go towards the Gondogora La pass in the hope that it will be opened (the weather has improved after all).

Svetlana Kotlyar, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Pakistan:

  Greetings to all from Skardu! Today our team had a very busy day! We decided not to waste time waiting for permits, and after breakfast we went by jeep to Deosai National Park!  We spent two hours on the road, which turned out to be very picturesque: alpine lakes, gorges – stunningly beautiful nature!

Deosai is the second highest high-altitude plateau in the world after the Tibetan one. It is located at an altitude of more than 4000 m at the junction of the Karakoram and the Western Himalayas. From the 4000 m mark, as acclimatization, we walked a little higher, up to 4200.

The plateau is known all over the world for its rich flora and fauna. And we were lucky enough to meet a huge groundhog here today!

After the walk, we refreshed ourselves and drove back to Skardu, where another member of the group, Valdis Pelsh, was waiting for us. He will be walking with us to the K2 base camp for the filming of the film "The High Altitude  Gene-2". We listened to his fascinating stories all evening!

In the evening, joyful news came — we received permits! Now the whole team is assembled and tomorrow early in the morning we will start in Ascole!

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

Greetings to all from the slopes of the sacred mountain! Today we finally gathered together in the city of Dogubayazit. We collected all the remaining things, distributed souvenirs, waited out the downpour and moved to the slope! While we were walking, the rain started several times, we got a little wet. But then the sun came out and dried us out. About four o'clock we arrived at the camp. We settled in tents, had lunch and rested.  In the evening we had a little wine and are trying to agree on the name of the group. There is no final decision yet. Tomorrow we will go to the assault camp for acclimatization. The weather is promised to be good, so they should not get wet. 

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Dasha Sivova reports from Pakistan: July 10th.  News of the 7 Summits Club group "Me and my young team".  We're at base camp! The GenKa2 group welcomed us very warmly, they gave us a real holiday!

Daria Sivova and Super-guide Viktor Volodin.

Nikita Slotin, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Kyrgyzstan:

 Greetings to all from the first camp of Lenin Peak from the group "Everything is going according to plan"! This is where our ascent really begins. Today was a good five-hour walk from the base camp. A little tired, but everyone is happy. The northern slope of the mountain and the peak of 7134 opened in all its glory. Today is the first night at 4300, we are waiting for interesting dreams. Tomorrow, according to the weather and the condition of the participants, we will continue our acclimatization.

 Alexander Dorojukov, the Guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from the Elbrus region:

 The group "Franciacorta" today completed its program by climbing the summit of Elbrus. The weather was very borderline, the wind and snow did not leave us alone all the way. It poured in a couple of days very well, but, as they say, we still got into a small weather "window". Before this day and after it, the weather was not promised at all. We tried our best. And half of the group reached the top.