Aconcagua 2022 - 2023

On February 6 of this year, at 14.30 local time, as part of the 7 Summits Club group, Indira Weaver and Jamila Bashirova ascended the highest point of South America, Mount Aconcagua. Cousins, Kazakh by nationality, they come from the small village of Sosnovka, in the Semipalatinsk region, East Kazakhstan. The Semipalatinsk test site was located 200 km from Sosnovka, more than 400 nuclear tests took place there from 1949 to 1989.

  The famous Kazakh artist Karipbek Kuyukov was born 100km from the landfill, and was born without hands due to radiation from nuclear tests. As a child, he fell in love with art, and learned to draw by holding a brush in his mouth and toes. At the moment, Karipbek is an activist of the anti-nuclear movement, a speaker, an artist, and was even nominated for the Nobel Prize as an activist for peace.

 Tells Indira Weaver: Last year, during our first attempt to climb Aconcagua, we met Miguel Doura, an Argentine artist who lives and paints in the base camp. He showed great interest in the culture and traditions of the Kazakh people, and in Kazakhstan in general. Not many representatives of the Kazakh people have visited Aconcagua, and according to our data (from the Internet), only one Kazakh girl, Saphira Kanaeva from Russia, ascended on the summit in 2014.

 So the idea arose to connect two countries and two cultures through art and Aconcagua.

 After the Canaleta, where everyone left backpacks, Jamila and I took turns carrying my backpack, so there was a picture there. At Karipbek's request, after our successful ascent, the painting was donated to Miguel's private collection.   Miguel was pleasantly touched by such a gift from distant Kazakhstan, and in turn decided to draw a picture especially for Karipbek. Fortunately, Valery Myasoedov still returned to the mountain with the final group of the 7 Summits Club and was able to pick up the painting from Miguel. At the moment, the painting is with him in St. Petersburg, and soon Valera will send it directly to Karipbek in the city of Karaganda.

Super-guide of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Dorojukov reports from Argentina:

Hello everyone from Argentina! The season is over, the equipment has been sorted out and dried, we are waiting for new participants next year. Guides Andrey Berezin, Dmitry Semenov, Valery Myasoedov, Viktor Volodin and Alexander Dorojukov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club, Alexander Dorojukov, sends from Argentina:

Greetings from the Tango for Cash group! We did it! Yesterday, a day before the program, we climbed on the summit of Aconcagua.  Before that, we looked at the forecasts for a long time, consulted and decided to start a day earlier. And our idea burned out. Today there is wind and snow in the area of the peak. We have already descended to the Plaza de Mulas, rewarded the climbers, and are resting.  Soon there will be Mendoza, steaks and delicious wine.

Guides Dmitry Semenov and Alexander Dorojukov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Dmitry Semenov reports from Argentina:

Greetings from Argentina from the "Tango for Cash" team!  Today we have completed the acclimatization program by going to our assault camp Colera (5950 m). Today and tomorrow we rest at the base camp Plaza de Mulas at an altitude of 4300 meters.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Dorojukov reports from Argentina:

Greetings from Argentina from the group "Cash for Tango"!  Our team continues to acclimatize on the slopes of Aconcagua. Today we took a walk to Plaza Canada. We climbed very briskly and well. Tomorrow we have a rest day before spending the night on Nido de Condores. In general, we are resting, relaxing before difficult days.  Guides Dmitry Semenov and Alexander Dorojukov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Dmitry Semenov reports from Argentina:

Greetings from Argentina, from the group "Tango for Cash"!  Today is our first day at the base camp at the Plaza de Mulas. The day went very well because it's a day off.  Today we walked to an abandoned hotel located on the other side of the gorge. And then we visited the highest art gallery. Tomorrow is a harder day, we will have a rotation to the Plaza de Canada (5000m.). The group's leaders are Alexander Dorojukov and Dmitry Semenov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Dorojukov reports from Argentina:

Greetings from the group from Argentina "Tango for Cash"!  Today we moved to our base camp Plaza de Mulas. The walk took us 7 hours with all stops. The weather is gorgeous, everyone's condition is excellent. Now we are resting, gaining strength after a long walk. Guides Dmitry Semenov and Alexander Dorojukov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Dmitry Semenov reports from Argentina:

Greetings from Argentina, from the group "Tango and Cash"! Today our group reached a height of 4000m.   We took a walk towards Plaza Francia, which is located under the Southern Face of Aconcagua. After staying there for about an hour, we started the descent. The weather today was "for us", without wind and sunny. Everyone is resting now. Tomorrow we will have a difficult trek to our base camp Plaza de Mulas 4300m.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Dorojukov reports from Argentina:

Hello from sunny Argentina, from the group "Tango and Cash"! Our team entered Aconcagua National Park today. The weather is hot, beautiful views, a dusty road - everything is as we like. In general, we started our climbing program.

Guides Alexander Dorojukov and Dmitry Semenov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Dmitry Semenov reports from Argentina:

Hello, from sunny Argentina, from the group "Tango and Cash"! Today we left the hospitable, but very hot Mendoza, and moved to our first camp - in Puente del Inca.  It is located in front of the entrance to the Aconcagua National Park. Today we visited a local landmark, the Inca Bridge. In the evening we are preparing for tomorrow's start of walking. Good luck to everyone in the mountains! Guides Alexander Dorojukov and Dmitry Semenov.

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

Buenos Dias to everyone!  On February 6, the Campeones group in full force ascended on the highest point of the Americas - Aconcagua.  Now the whole group is already at the Plaza de Mulas base camp and tomorrow we are going to Mendoza, where all the participants of the ascent will be awarded. The guides of the group are Andrey Berezin, Viktor Volodin and Valery Myasoedov.

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

Buenos Dias from the slopes of Aconcagua! The Campeones group spent the night on Nido de Condores, at 5600 meters. And to consolidate acclimatization, we went to the Colera camping place, to see the assault camp, from where all the groups go out to summit climb. After that we returned to the Plaza de Mulas.  Next, according to the plan, there will be a day of rest and recuperation.  The guides of the group are Andrey Berezin and Viktor Volodin.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club, Alexander Dorojukov, reports from Argentina:

Greetings from Argentina, from the group "7000 above the ground"!  Our group completed the program and safely descended to Mendoza.  Here the guides handed over certificates of ascent to the participants. Now we are warming up in a hot city and waiting for the next participants.  Guides Dmitry Semenov and Alexander Dorojukov.

Guide of the 7 Summits Club Valery Myasoedov from Argentina:

What is better:  a morning cup of coffee or an evening glass of wine?  At the Base Camp of the 7 Summits Club on Aconcagua, at an altitude of 4,300 m, our participants do not have such a dilemma, because there is an opportunity to enjoy both. Malbec and Chardonnay are traditionally served for dinner, but we took care of the morning coffee ourselves. The organization of the process took some time. We have purchased a capsule Nespresso coffee machine, with a choice of 10 varieties of natural coffee for every taste.  Not every Mendoza coffee shop has such an assortment!   At the same time, we have a separate solar panel that feeds only our coffee machine. Do you think it was worth doing such a laborious process for a cup of coffee in the morning?  We didn't even have such a question. We always think about how to make the stay of our participants in the expedition as comfortable as possible. And again, no company on the Plaza de Mulas has such a service. So our friends, neighbors and the staff of the Aconcagua Vision kitchen come to us to enjoy a fragrant drink. And maybe you will have time this season? Well, if it doesn't work out in this, then welcome to the next one!... Bienvenidos a Argentina! From Aconcagua Base Camp Valery Myasoedov.

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

Buenos Dias! The Campeones group continues to acclimatize and prepare for the ascent on Aconcagua. Yesterday we went 5000 meters to the Plaza Canada.  Everyone is in a fighting mood. The weather is beautiful.  Along the way, we radioed with the groups of the 7 Summits Club, who climbed to the top that day.  Today we are resting. And tomorrow we go to Nido de Condores with an overnight stay. We will master a new height - 5600 meters. The guides of the group are Andrey Berezin and Viktor Volodin.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Dorojukov sends from Argentina:

Greetings from Argentina from the group "7000 above ground"!  We have successfully climbed our peak, which is the highest for the two Americas and is included in the list of "Seven Summits". We immediately escaped from the mountain to the base camp. Guides Dmitry Semenov and Alexander Dorojukov.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Artem Rostovtsev reports from Argentina:

Hello to all from the Quatro Mosqueteros group! Yesterday we had the summit. Despite the so-so forecast with strong winds along the top, the weather yesterday was almost exceptionally perfect and, for our part, did not prevent us from going to the mountain in any way. Moreover, in full force. The Musketeers did not think it was enough to walk to the top and they decided not to stay in the assault camp on the descent, but to go straight down to the base camp - Plaza de Mulas. Today we come to our senses, blow off the dust from the equipment.

Tomorrow he goes down and we move to Chile to Atacama, to our next goal - the volcano Ojos del Salado. Active assistance in the ascent was provided by another guide of the 7 Summits Club, Valera Myasoedov, who played the role of de Treville.

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

Buenos Dias! The Campeones group took a walk on the day of rest to the Casper House - that's what we called the abandoned hotel.  It took half an hour to walk from the base camp. We took pictures, looked at Aconcagua, and returned to the camp. Tomorrow we go to Plaza Canada, it's 5000 meters. We begin high-altitude acclimatization. The guides of the group are Andrey Berezin and Viktor Volodin.

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

Buenos Dias! The Campeones group made a long march from the Confluencia camp to the Plaza de Mulas camp. There, as always, we were hospitably welcomed. The next day, according to the plan, we have a rest and a short walk to the abandoned hotel. The guides of the group are Andrey Berezin and Viktor Volodin.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Dorojukov reports from Argentina:

Greetings from Argentina from the group "7000 above the ground"!  Our team has become smaller, unfortunately. Today we are going to the summit climb, we will be out of touch. We hope for good weather and our strength. Guides Dmitry Semenov and Alexander Dorojukov.

 The guide of the 7 Summits Club Artem Rostovtsev reports from Argentina:

A group of four Musketeers come out of the Plaza de Mulas. The plan is simple - to climb to the top of Mount Aconcagua in a couple of days. We are ready for this. The wind calmed down a little, fingers crossed, fists held.