Antarctica 2022 - 2023

The next ascent to the highest volcano in Antarctica, Mount Sidley, has been successfully completed. As part of the international group, the summit was reached by representatives of the 7 Summits Club, 28-year-old Romanian Adrian Ahriţculesei and 68-year-old Estonian Vambola Sipelglas. With this ascent, they completed the "Seven Volcanoes" program, reaching the summits of the highest volcanoes on all continents. The heroes received commemorative ordens from the 7 Summits  Club. And now we send them our congratulations!

Artem Rostovtsev, guide of the 7 Summits Club:

The season in Antarctica has ended. It was not the longest for the 7 Summits Club, but as always productive. All the participants and guides managed to stand on the top of the Vinson massif. And the final group was lucky to be on the summit in quiet sunny windless weather, so the predicted -32 felt like -10. Now everyone has already gone home, the expedition equipment has been checked, repaired, preserved and is waiting for the next season. We invite everyone! Everyone who is ready.

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

January 5th. We safely descended to the base camp. It remains to wait for the weather and fly to the Union Glacier base. No one was injured during the walk down from the assault camp. We went down and celebrated our success qualitatively. We hope that tomorrow we will be at the base and will have the opportunity to learn a little more about Antarctica before flying back. Sunny snowy greetings to all!  On January 6, it looks like there will be no charter, we will arrive according to the original plan. That is, on January 9th.

January 6th. The expedition on the Vinson Massif returns step by step to civilization. Today we managed to fly from the base camp to the Union Glacier, they not only feed here, but also entertain. On a late sunny evening we went on an excursion to Elephant Head Mountain. And after that, medals were awarded to all climbers on the Vinson Massif in our team. And there are 100% of them!  If there is weather, maybe we will get to the South Pole.

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

Greetings from the Vinson Massif Assault Camp.  We came down here after conquering the peak. We climbed to the top, as planned, slowly, admiring the beauty. The weather allowed it to be done. All team members have reached the highest point of Antarctica. We stayed there for more than an hour, took pictures, even took a photo topless. Tomorrow we are all going down to the base camp and we will wait for the weather to fly back to the Union Glacier. Huge greetings from the freshly baked climbers on the Vinson Massif!

 Photos from previous expeditions

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

Greetings from sunny Antarctica! The team of the 7 Summits Club had a good rest today before the upcoming climb to the assault camp. We are promised several days of good weather, so we are not in a hurry, we are calmly going to the goal. Tomorrow we go up to the High camp, and the day after tomorrow we plan to go to the top of the Vinson Massif. Everyone feels good, they are ready to hard work on the mountainside.

Photos from previous expeditions

The 7 Summits Club Guide Artem Rostovtsev from Antarctica:

To everyone who hears us, we warmly congratulate you on the New Year from the coldest continent! Happiness to you! We have everything according to plan. We walked halfway to the High camp. We worked up acclimatization and confidence moving along the fixed ropes. And then there was the New Year. From the Urals to New York. We didn't miss a single time zone, we remember everyone. Tomorrow is a well-deserved rest. And then we will go up to our goal – the summit of the Vinson Massif. Happy New Year! Artem Rostovtsev and the team.

 Photos from previous expeditions

The 7 Summits Club Guide Artem Rostovtsev from Antarctica: Today, as planned, we moved to Low Camp.  At a good pace. The weather is amazing. Tomorrow we will go out on the Ropes, work up acclimatization and refresh the ability to move on fixed ropes. And then the New Year, with which congratulations to everyone! We will note that we will rest on January 1 (you can't work on a day off) and go to the assault camp. Happy New Year to everyone!

The 7 Summits Club Guide Artem Rostovtsev from Antarctica:

We flew to Antarctica.  It's windy and cold at the Union Glacier base. The wind means there are no clouds and you can fly to Vinson's base camp. Which is what happened. Now there is a record number of participants going up the mountain, it took 9 flight flights to transfer everyone.

To the base camp for 8 people in the plane, count for yourself. We promptly set up camp and had dinner, the rest of the expedition envied. Now we are already sleeping, resting. Tomorrow we want to move to Low camp.

 Photos from past expeditions:

Artem Rostovtsev, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, transmits from the plane:

We are taking off! Everyone is on board the plane and we are already starting to take off. We will be in Antarctica in 4 hours. And it looks like there will be an opportunity to fly to Vinson's base camp right away.

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

An expedition on Mount Vinson. We are in standby mode and hope for tomorrow morning's departure to the Union Glacier. The luggage has been handed over and is already loaded on the plane. Literally, we have just been informed that the captain of the aircraft has made the final decision about the flight. We're flying early in the morning. And if the weather in Antarctica allows, we will be immediately transferred to the Vinson Massif base camp. In the meantime, we are enjoying the last evening in civilization before tomorrow's flight to Antarctica.  Almost everyone is exciting.

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

Chile says hello! We have started another expedition to the Vinson massif in Antarctica. Today, all the participants finally gathered at our starting point of the route - the city of Punta Arenas. From here, the plane will take us to Antarctica. The main equipment is already on the white continent. We are preparing for departure, we hope everything will happen without delay. We start the day after tomorrow. In the meantime, the last preparations: purchases, packing of cargo and excursions in free time. Those who arrived a little earlier were able to admire the beauty of the Torres del Paine National Park. Today we have plunged into the history of the discovery of the Strait of Magellan and the first explorers of Patagonia. We are waiting for the departure, and we keep our fingers crossed for good weather. Antarctica is waiting. And in parallel with us, Alex Honold will go to Vinson, did everyone watch Jimmy Chin's movie "FreeSolo"?

Antarctica is a place to meet interesting people. You never know who you might meet on our super trips. And here is a new and completely unexpected surprise. At the Union Glacier base, we were met and greeted by the famous Will Smith. Pleasant acquaintance!

Will was in Antarctica in preparation for the show “Pole to Pole" of Walt Disney National Geographic.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Punta Arenas (Chile):

Our expedition to Antarctica on the Vinson Massif has ended. Of the 12 days, 8 had terrible weather. We fought with the wind, held flying tents, carried loads and took photos with frozen fingers. But the result is excellent, the whole team was standing on top of the highest mountain in Antarctica - Vinson Massif! The whole team rallied like one powerful fist. The team had participants from different countries: India, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Russia. This is a true friendship of peoples. Everyone helped everyone, worried, rejoiced together.  Great team!

As a result, the first Kyrgyz, Kadyr Nurmamatov, stood at the top of the Vinson Massif. And also the oldest Indian who completed the project "Seven Summits" - Sharad Kulkarni. And the second Indian woman who ascended the Vinson Massif is Anvita Padamati. The rest of the participants also climbed to the top, together with two guides Alexander Abramov and Artem Rostovtsev.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Antarctica:

We arrived at the Base Camp at 6 am. We walked in the shadows. The temperature was around -30C. We walked all night. It was light, but cold.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Antarctica:

The weather is fine, visibility for a thousand kilometers, a light breeze. The whole team of the 7 Summits Club (at midnight Moscow time) it stands at the top of the Vinson Massif: 2 guides and 8 participants.

Now the team has gone down to the High Camp. And we continue the descent to the base camp. The weather is deteriorating.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Antarctica:

Hello everybody! Our team is at the High camp. We climbed here in 6 hours, having overcome 700 meters of fixed ropes. There is almost no wind here now. Beautiful weather. We set up tents and found all the equipment that we left last year. Now we have had dinner and are getting ready for bed. Tomorrow at 11 am we plan to start for the summit. For me, this should be the 19th summit of the Vinson Massif in my life. And for our main guide in Antarctica Artem Rostovtsev – the 11th. On December 17th we plan to return to the Base Camp.

President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Antarctica:

Yesterday our group had a rest day on Vinson Massif. The wind was blowing hard. Now we are going to the Assault camp (High Camp) with all the things. Tomorrow, according to the plan,  we will go to the summit of the Vinson Massif. Wish us good luck!

 President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Antarctica:

News from Antarctica from the Vinson-2 group. Today we made an acclimatization rotation  to an altitude of 3500 m.  The shadow comes to the Lower Camp (Low Camp) only at 3 a.m. and the cold period lasts until 10:30, so we had breakfast at 12:00. Then Artem Rostovtsev and Kadyr Nurmamatov started a high-speed ascent to the High Camp at 3800 m to check everything we have there. All the other seven participants and Alex Abramov climbed at their own pace a thousand meters along the railing rope. We took with us to the end of the ropes some equipment and food for the High Camp. Tomorrow we have a day of rest and preparation for the decisive days.

And on December 15th, our plan is to climb to the High Camp already to storm the summit. On the 16th - the summit, the 17th descent and, ideally, a flight to the Union Glacier base. On December 18, we have scheduled a flight to the Mainland.

 President of the 7 Summits Club Alexander Abramov reports from Antarctica:

Today our team moved from the Base Camp to the Low Camp in seven hours. The weather has finally improved. We set up tents, had lunch and are now getting ready for bed. Tomorrow, according to the plan, we climb to the end of the fixed ropes for acclimatization. And after that we will be ready to storm the summit.

 Photos from previous expeditions

A message from Antarctica dated December 10. Alexander Abramov, President of the 7 Summits Club, reports:

Today our team observed bad weather at the Vinson Massif base camp. Some of the groups went to the upper camps. But we stayed because the forecast is bad. In the afternoon, Artem and Kadyr ran to the Low Camp camp, checked the depot. The rest of the participants were resting from yesterday's hike. We were playing chess when we suddenly heard a cry that the tent was flying away, one tent was blown away by the wind. We started fighting the squall. Hell. We rushed to sprinkle all the tents with snow for 50-60 cm around with a snow shaft. The wind was getting stronger.  An hour later, all the tents, including the dining room, presented the appearance of snow caves. The strongest hurricane is expected tonight. Then the wind will weaken. And we're going to Low Camp.

The guides of the 7 Summits Club are Alexander Abramov and Artem Rostovtsev.