Kazbek 2021

Alex Abramov, from Georgia: There is the summit of Kazbek!   The team of the 7 Summits Club "Pink skis" climbed to the highest point consisting of 8 participants and 5 guides. After leaving the refuge at 4: 00 am, the climbers of our team reached the top in 6.5 hours.   The ascent took place in conditions of strong winds of 50-60 km per hour, and in conditions of periodically poor visibility. At the top, the wind died down and nature opened up gorgeous views.

Our skier also made a descent from the slopes of Kazbek, on a heavy, icy slope.

Now hot Batumi is waiting for us!!!

Alex Abramov, from Georgia:

Today our group "Pink Skis" was finishing acclimatization and arranged snow and ice training on the slopes of Kazbek. We climbed 300 meters up to the chapel and then had fun walking on crampons, in rope teams and learning how to use ice axes. Tomorrow, early in the morning, we leave for the ascent. Now the wind is very strong - 50 km per hour, with gusts up to 70. But, thank God, the snow stopped falling yesterday. We hope for the best.

Alex Abramov from Georgia:  News from the team "Pink skis" - Kazbek 21.  The sun was shining this morning and it was warm as in paradise. We moved from the Alti Hut refuge to the 3765 m  Meteostation. The route passes through a moraine and a glacier. We were overtaken by horses and people carrying loads. As soon as we arrived at the Meteotation, a hurricane started and snow fell.  But we live well at the shelter. There is a great restaurant here.  Tomorrow – a new acclimatization climbing rotation.

Thank you to the Ukrainian team who left us handmade chocolates!

The weather is very windy. Yesterday and today, more than 10 teams were unable to climb the summit of Mount Kazbek.

Alex Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club:  The team "Pink skis" went on the climbing route to Kazbek. One participant was going to ski down from the top. He is a master of alpine skiing and a participant of the 2014 Olympics. Unfortunately, the horses refused to carry the skis. So everything has to be done the old-fashioned way. Now we spend a night at an altitude of 3200 in a super-comfortable refuge. Tomorrow, twe climb to the refuge Meteostation.  All the participants are healthy and cheerful, our team is super!

Alex Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club and the guide of the group: Today our team "Kazbek 2021" arrived in Georgia. We saw Tbilisi, Mtskheta and came to the mountains. Now we live in the Rooms 5* hotel, the best in the area. Awesome view of Kazbek! Tomorrow our team goes on the route. I am very pleased with the hospitality of our Georgian friends.

Alexey Lonchinsky, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Georgia:  

Good afternoon, today is Friday 13. Our group, had a good rest after the climb at the Meteostation Refuge (3700). Thanks for the excellent food: 3 times a day and the opportunity to make a coffee break at any time. This helped to quickly restore strength. At 9 o'clock in the morning, we loaded the horses with some of our personal belongings and went down light. The journey to the church took 2 hours (usually 4). From there we went to our excellent hotel in Stepansminda by car. We're going home tomorrow morning. Thank you  Kazbek, Georgia and the host operator for the opportunity to make a great ascent!

Alexey Lonchinsky, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Georgia: The IronMan group climbed on the top of Kazbek today. The day before, the weather forecast was alarming and there was an option to try to postpone the assault to the day after tomorrow. But there the forecast was even worse. There was an intrigue until one o'clock in the morning, but now it's time to make a decision and - yes, there is a chance! We are starting! After 45 minutes, we came to the surface of the glacier, then the movement was with limited visibility, 30-50 meters. When dawn broke, the fog receded in places, a light wind blows. We are going in a tight group, other groups are going in parallel, quite a lot. At 9 and 9-30, we finally reach the top. Unfortunately, there was no visibility, we were standing in the cloud, but the task was completed. Our group went down to the Meteostation Gefuge at 13 o'clock.

Alexey Lonchinsky, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Georgia:    August 11.  Today, in the first half of the day, we held training sessions in the snow, walked around in roped team and with helmets.  Now we are preparing for an early exit to storm Kazbek and are watching the weather...

Alexey Lonchinsky, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Georgia: Good afternoon! The “Kazbek-IronMan” group is in touch.  On August 8, at 10 o'clock in the morning, my colleague Guram and I picked up the members of group at the Marriott Hotel in Tbilisi. We got acquainted with the group and went on a short journey - 2.5 hours to Stepansminda (altitude 1700 m), from where we will start our ascent on Kazbek. We stayed in an excellent hotel, which stands above the center of the village.  It offers stunning views of the surrounding mountains! Here we met another of our guides - George. Everything is going fine so far, the weather and the mood are on top!

Today, on August 9, we moved out of the hotel on two Trucks, passed the PCR and immediately went up to the Sameba Church. We loaded the horses on a large platform and started the track to the AltiHut shelter (3014m).  We reached it at a good pace! Everything is fine, we were lucky with the weather, it was windless, without precipitation and cloudy (not so hot).

Guide Maxim Shakirov  from Georgia:  Greetings to all from Sakartvelo from the team "Shvili of Mountains"! We had a very long day today: we got wet in the rain, jumped through crevasses, listened to rockfalls, and also saw Elbrus in the distance from the top of Kazbek!

We're going to bed now…

The photo shows us today at the summit of Kazbek, with the whole team.

Greetings to all from the slopes of Kazbek from "Shvili of the Mountains"! Yesterday, our team, at a good pace (in less than 7 hours), having overcome a little more than 1500 meters vertically, reached the refuge Meteostation. To our great regret, we did not have a chance to admire the surrounding beauty - rain and fog.

Today we walked to the church at 3900 meters and there we congratulated a member of our group, Alexandra, on her Birthday! We managed to get down to the weather station when it started raining again...

According to the plan, on July 29, at 2 am, we go out to storm. The group's guide is Max Shakirov.

Group guide Max Shakirov: Today we spent the first day of acclimatization with pleasure and joy, climbing from Stepantsminda to the Church of the Holy Trinity. We gained about 500 meters in height. According to the forecast, we were promised rain, but it was not... It was comfortable, that is, not hot. In a word, we got a real pleasure! Tomorrow we have a climb to the refuge Meteostation, and on the 29th, according to the plan, we will storm the summit.

Maxim Shakirov, guide of the 7 Summits Club from Georgia:

Greetings to all from the hospitable Georgia from the group "Shvili of Mountains" and the guide Max Shakirov! Explanation: in Georgian, "shvili" is a child. Now we are in Gudauri and tomorrow we will begin to acclimatize before climbing Kazbek. The weather is still cloudy, but everyone is in a good mood - we are celebrating the birthday of our team member Yulia!

The group of the 7 Summits Club made an ascent on the summit of Kazbek according to the VIP program. Our guide Artem Rostovtsev led the assault on the summit and sent a series of photos.

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club:  Greetings from Georgia! Mount Kazbek. Refuge Meteostation, 3650m.  We are gradually moving towards the top. Yesterday we reached the hut AltiHut 3014, we did not stop there and took a walk to the glacier before dinner. Today we have already moved to the refuge Meteostation. We gained a little more acclimatization, went up to 3900m to the church and enjoyed the views. We'll continue tomorrow.

Artem Rostovtsev, a guide of the 7 Summits Club: Gamarjoba! Georgia is on the line, an expedition on Kazbek. Yesterday, the team gathered in Tbilisi and moved to Stepantsminda near Kazbek. We have equipped ourselves at the rental office, and now we are ready to go up. It remains to do the necessary PCR tests upon arrival in Georgia and the road to the top will be open.