Our club's news - Page 7

The concert began July 13 at 13 p.m. on the Rocks Pastukhova, at an altitude of 4800 meters or a little higher .. With great difficulty the parties have raised 60 kilograms of equipment, two snowcat brought up the audience, among whom were members of the group of 7 Summits Club. The concert was, as they say, "with a bang!" In an atmosphere of general euphoria. Weather contributed to the successful performances. One and a half hours bards sang it together, one by one. Eugene Kruten shot everything on camera, so we'll wait for the video. Arthur Gladyshev , the main engine of the event, sends gratitude to Alexander Abramov and all 7 Summits Club for the help.

The following year, the concert will take place at the top ofMount Elbrus.

 7 Summits Club became friends with a bard Arthur Gladyshev, who sang at our parties inMoscowandSt. Petersburg. We fully supported the idea of record-breaking concert at the mountain summit of Elbrus. At one time this idea was suggested by our other good friend Nick Seleznev. He died in an avalanche in April of this year. His blessed memory this show will be dedicated . 7 Summits Club will try to give organizers the best possible care.

 Festival "BARD-ROCK Elbrus" will be held from 10 to 16 July 2012 in the Elbrus region.

This year we plan a concert on teh "Pastukhov Rocks" (4800 meters above sea level). In 2013 - the concert will be held at the Saddle and on one of the peaks of Elbrus (5642 meters west, 5621 - East). It will be applied for in the "Guinness Book of Records" - the highest concert in the world.

May 17, 2012 Mikhail Turovsky climbed the summit of MountMcKinley . This was his final climb in the program 7 summits . Our congratulations to Michail, who was in our team last year, climbing Everest and Vinson. It should be noted that Michail climbed solo and in a rather difficult weather conditions. It was only the fifth ascent of the season on Mount McKinley.

Summit photo

Guide of the 7 Summits Club Artem Rostovtsev took the high fifth place (80 participants) in the today competition Red Fox Elbrus Race - "Vertical Kilometer". In front of - only world leaders and two Russians. We consider this as a success. Come on, Artem, on! Good luck in the race to Elbrus.

Women.
1. Larissa Sobaleva (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky) 0:56:51
2. Jeanne Vokueva (St. Petersburg) 0:57:00
3. Aleksandra Dzik (Poland) 1:03:26
4. Elena Bolkhovitinov (Penza) 1:06:45
5. Nadezhda Korolyatina (Krasnoyarsk) 1:14:25

Men.

1. Marco De Gasperi (Italy) 0:44:39
2. Luis Alberto Hernando Alzaga (Spain) 0:45:47
3. Alexander Bolkhovitin (Penza) 0:51:25
4. Vitaly Shkel (Samara) 0:52:14
5. Artem Rostovtsev (Korolev) 0:54:51

 Winter season on Elbrus smoothly into spring and summer’s

Winter leaves Elbrus. No full satisfaction, but it was not disappointed. Sometimes it was not enough snow. Sometimes it was felt that not everyone decided to come. Again, the terrible tragedy of climbers on Elbrus ... But there was a lot of good. There are a lot changes for the better. And in the safety order, and in lifts. Our favorite hotel Povorot was worked almost "at five". And we look forward with optimism of the summer. However, it is spring. And we are waiting for the May holidays, waiting for the competition Elbrus Race of the Red Fox. It is always a big event. And this year it will record number of participents.

Latest news:
Completed a series of festivals in the Elbrus region. Management has prepared the region this year, a lot of pleasant surprises for the tourists. From 25 to 31 March it was held contest for ethnic artAltyn Square with the participation of teams fromRussia and CIS countries. On March 31 the baton took Elbrus Festival 2012, sponsored by the well-known musicians from Moscow and St. Petersburg: Michael Bashakov, Yuri Garin, Michael Kalinkin, Arthur Gladyshev, Dmitry Yurkov, the band "Kings of the Kitchen." Did the weather. Sunny days were followed by heavy snowfalls, so that skiers have an excellent opportunity for the free ride on the Cheget, and to be ridden on groomed slopes of Elbrus. And in the evening all gathered at the "Povorot."

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http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web12s/wfeature-elbrus

Elbrus
Casey O'Malley Posted on: April 6, 2012

[Photo] Mt. Elbrus courtesy of Mountain Madness/Savejko Photo.
It has been over one year since Mount Elbrus (5642m), Europe's member of the seven summits, was targeted in a terrorist attack. On February 18, 2011, two unidentified men stopped a van carrying five Moscow tourists to the Elbrus area—the men opened fire on the passengers after claiming to be plainclothes policemen. Three of the passengers died; two were hospitalized. Later that day, a bomb damaged a support tower for a cable car that travels up the side of Mount Elbrus. Thirty of the forty-five cars were damaged, but no people suffered injuries. The next morning, Russian officials diffused three improvised bombs containing 70kg of TNT, all found in a single car parked in the parking lot of a hotel at the base of the mountain.

The attacks happened just two weeks after Russian Federation President Dmitriy Medvedev unveiled a $15 billion plan to establish five ski resorts in the war-torn Caucasus Mountains, which guard the border between Russia and Georgia. Additionally, development for the 2014 Winter Olympics, slated to take place in Sochi, Russia, is in full swing less that 250km to the west.

In response to the February 2011 attacks, President Medvedev launched a fierce anti-terrorist campaign in the Caucasus. Military strikes canvassed the valleys. Regional governor Alexander Khloponin ordered a halt on tourist entry or exit to the area, claiming that the government needed to "clean up the territory" and only then "explain and show to everyone that it is safe in the Caucasus." A strong military presence covered the area and non-residents were not allowed to pass certain checkpoints. The Baksan Valley, which surrounds the southern aspect of Elbrus was closed off to all visitors.

The majority of Mount Elbrus's thousands of yearly visitors use local guides. The most popular southern route is often completed in as little as seven days, with chair lifts and snow cats carrying climbers sometimes as high as 4600m, depending on snow conditions. There are three successive chairlifts that constitute the beginning of this route: it was the second of the three, between stations Stary Krugozor and Mir, that was bombed. This moderate and popular route—the bread and butter of local companies' Elbrus tours—was unreachable all of 2011 because of the Baksan Valley closure.

In a typical seasons, routes from the north and west are far less travelled. These routes are more challenging and take more time to complete. They lack the permanent facilities, like the barrel huts and the "world's nastiest outhouse" (so dubbed by Outside magazine in 1993), that are encountered along the southern route.

The southern route remained closed for the entire 2011 season, leaving climbers to try the more technically demanding and less frequented northern and western routes. Military checkpoints sprouted along access roads to base camp on the northern side of Elbrus, enforcing inconsistent access rules. "Checkpoints on the north side were pretty much for show," writes Gleb Myasnikov, a guide who lives in the area. "One could go around the closed area on basic roads and it was not even a violation." Some companies directed their groups on a 90km detour around checkpoints. Sometimes with a cash payment officers would allow groups to pass by the checkpoints.

By August 2011, the northern route was officially opened and military checkpoints disbanded. The southern route was declared open on October 28, 2011. Though federal and local government promises no more lengthy access closures, many companies advise flexibility in route choice since the situation may change unpredictably. "This is the Caucasus, something is always happening," writes Myasnikov, whose company has not planned any short seven-day trips for the 2012 season. Instead they have opted for longer trips which give groups the flexibility to choose either the south or north route depending on access conditions.

The social climate of the Caucasus was rocked politically and economically by these measures. "The area is still dangerous may be even more than before...due to the year-long economic blockade, the local people became more desperate and chance of being robbed or killed for the reason of robbery is very obvious," writes Alex Trubachev, a guide based in Moscow whose company has halted their Elbrus tours. "Locals have lost everything—two seasons of nothing," agrees Myasnikov.

The region is not a stranger to conflict. Ethnic, religious and political tension dominate the history of the Causcasus; six separate wars have plagued the area since 1988. Elbrus itself has been a platform for political messages many times before.

In 1929 the burgeoning Soviet government founded an official mountaineering section of their tourism bureau, and Elbrus became the star of their programs. Over the next decades, the government sponsored mountaineering camps (alp'lageri) and training programs in all of the Soviet Union's mountain ranges to give citizens access to the mountains and training to reach their summits. The Elbrus region hosted the first alp'lageri, built in 1929, and many Soviet citizens visited each year to begin their training as climbers. With its moderate, non-technical climbs to the summit, it was reasonable for beginners to reach the summit after a brief training period—and its summit was the tallest on the continent. With every successful climb of Elbrus, Soviet citizens were standing on the top the Europe, and it was the Soviet government that made their ascents possible. The government portrayed each successful climb as a testament to the opportunities and enrichment that were offered to its citizens.

What is seen as contemporary Russian mountaineering style—large groups and siege-style climbing—is rooted in the curriculum of these structured Soviet mountaineering camps. The Soviet program focused on getting as many people involved in the sport as possible to manifest the government's Communist ideals. This meant that not only did many people visit the mountaineering camps each summer, but many people would participate in group climbs as well. For example, a 1935 climb of Elbrus saw 638 farmers reach the summit of Elbrus in a literal display of the heights that the lowly proletariat could reach with the support of their new government.

Massive group climbs became the staple on Elbrus, with a record being set in 1960 when an enormous party of 1,395 people ascended the mountain in honor of Vladimir Lenin's 90th birthday. The party placed a bust of Lenin on the summit (now only a concrete base remains).

During World War II, Elbrus invited international political statements. The German Gebirgsjaeger Unit, an elite mountaineering military division, left a Nazi flag on the summit in the summer of 1942. No battles occurred on the slopes of the mountain, and anecdotes report that Hitler was furious with the unit for wasting their time on such a stunt. But the lure of a flag on the highest mountain in Europe was unavoidable. After German forces left the area in January 1943, the Soviet army's first action in the Caucasus was to send a military group to the summit of the mountain to replace the swastika flag with the Soviet Union's hammer-and-sickle banner.

But these historical demonstrations on Elbrus were not violent. And that's what changed in the February 2011 attacks on Elbrus. "2011 was the first time that tourists and climbers became victims," writes Myasnikov. "Understand—Elbrus is a ski resort, not a war zone...but there are rebels in the Caucasus and to them, this is just their business. Nothing personal. And that may never change."

We can say about a great success, even about a record that was set yesterday at a traditional evening of 7 Summits Club. Only registered users we had 70 persons. But there were those who came later, were not calculated. So the total number of visitors at the event was about 200! Fedor Konyukhov plans were amazing. Until 2020, all is planed like this: "I come from a six-month campaign from the Arctic, and I am already waiting with a boat to cross Atlantic. I come from three month hike on camels, and I am already waiting for a solo submarine to reach America from Black Sea. "Great !”

All performances of our guides were extremely successful. It seems that most of the visitors appreciated it. Many did not want to go home, even after midnight. Well, we will wait for a new meeting. Hopefully, we can organize it in early summer, after returning from Everest.

The picture of Fedor Konyukhov was sold for 90,000 rubles (3000 dollars)

Dmitry Yermakov Antarctica 2011-12

Ludmila Korobeshko - Two summits from the program "Alpari - 7 summits for 300 days"

Climb with us

Traditional meeting of friends of 7 Summits Club will be held March 15 at 20:00. The place is the same: store "Activny Otdykh" on the Great Pereiaslav Street, Building 7. We will tell you about our achievements over the past few months. Let's try to highlight the most interesting and significant record of our many trips. We also formally introduce our expedition to Everest and wish the participants good luck.

But the main event will be the performance on the evening of the great Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov, who takes part of our expedition to the highest peak in the world.

Two stages of Courses of Russian Mountain Guides School in Austria ended safely. Permanent snowfalls and wind made it difficult to substantially the practical part of training. But the program has been implemented. As a result of the School for all candidates will be receiving a certificate from the Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) on successful completion of the module on avalanche safety (Level 1). Cadets on the final day went to the lab company's GORE-TEX ®, which has kindly provided the opportunity to see with own eyes to the opportunities and technology, "breathable" fabrics. Oksana Chekulaeva, program manager for Free-ride School on the 7 Summits Club was one of the students. We offer some of her photos.

What will be the main event in the coming year? This is not the London Olympics, not the NATO aggression in Syria, did not fall of the euro, not the presidential elections in Russia and did not even winter K2 ... Opening of the Higgs boson? No, much more interesting. This, of course, the End of the World. As always, according to the dialectic, there are good and bad news. Good in this case is that it is the exact date of the End - December 21. That means we have almost a year ahead! You can and should do everything: climb the Seven Summits and plant a tree, look at elephants in Africa and raise a son, build a house and reach the two poles of the earth.

Ideas on how to spend a year of The End of the World, can be millions. A lot of them are listed on our site.

Keep optimistic attitude to life, work with real enthusiasm ! And just believe that good professionals will be needed even after the end of the world ...

With respect and love,

7 Sunmmits Club

Hi everyone!
Almost all the guide and managers of 7 Summits Club comes in the Crimea, and not just relaxing, but also to gain new knowledge and skills of the profession of mountain guide. But let’s start from the very beginning!

On Saturday evening we arrived in the glorious village of Simeiz.

Of course, in the first day we did not have lessons, but staged a night swimming in the Black sea. Honesty to say, not all the guides of 7 Summits ventured on it's, but those who has found the forces in itself for this were satisfied and happy:)

In Sunday we started with lectures about medicine in the mountains, from our friend, Dr. Igor Pokhvalin. Igor gave us a short course about a typical disease in the mountains, the psychological aspect in the work of a mountain guide and about the specific of high-altitude ascents.

After this, despite the rain, we went to practice our skills on the rocks. Our team was split up into two groups, with one works instructor - Denis Saveliev, on the other Igor Pekhterev.

The first trainee on the rocks

Judging by the exhausted, but still pleased faces of our guides, all have a lot of enthusiasm for learning, and working hard receiving new knowledge.

Our instructor Igor Pekhterev and the doctor and mountaineer Igor Pokhvalin. Experience exchanging

 Instructor Dan Saveliev shows how Canadian guides makes the ancors

On Monday we continued our training, learning to properly work with the client in short rope, walking with him on the rocks, and much more. On the same day we were joined by our chef - Alexander Abramov.
These are the routes we climb.. for warm-up)))

On Tuesday, we plan improvement of skills of work on a rocky terrain, and certainly a lot of new and interesting things!

Buy everyone, the Team of the 7 Summits Club!

Programs:

The ascent of Massif Vinson - the highest peak of Antarctica
Expedition to the South Pole. "The last degree" (Ski tour 111км). Antarctica

Hello friends!

We still have the last 3 places in Antarctica to the South Pole, and Vinson Massif.
Vinson Massif - check in from December 26 to January 12.
The South Pole - check in from 2 to 19 January.
On all other dates groups have already been formed and there are no places!

Now we have 2 groups of "the Last degree" at the South Pole:
From 13 to 29 December (full)
and from 2 to 19 January (there are 3 places)

2 groups on the Vinson Massif:
From 13 to 29 December (full)
From December 26 to January 12(there are 2 places)

Be defined urgently till August, 15th
Opportunity only knocks once!

Ours congratulations to our guide, Lyudmila Коробешко, which is now somewhere on the way to the height of the 5100м at the Peak Korzhenevskaya, happy Birthday!!!
We wish Ludmila, that she always stay the same beautiful, strong and cheerful and a lot of new, interesting places and meetings!
Well, for those who want to congratulate her and write something warm in this day, here is her satellite phone number, to which you can send a message: +8821621278807

When one place is meeting many friends, there is a peculiar aura, there is something special sense of unity. And the sense of the meaning of what we do. Of course, this may not happen often. But I would like it to be at least four times a year. The evening party began with a demonstration of the film, whose name can be taken as an epigraph for the whole of our work. "We are living rightful." As later said Victor Bobok, "at the plain we're just getting ready for real life, which is up there. In the mountains." We see on the screen Pavel Shabalin with his little daughter Masha. We see Alexander Abramov on the North Face of Aksu Peak ....

Workshop "Go to the Alps in the summer!" held March 22 at KSC Bitza. It was devoted to summer holidays in the Alps. Organizers - company Skiexpo, at the request of tourism departments of Chamonix and Aosta Valley. Representatives of these regions Agnes Ducroz and Anna Sodin, well speaking in Russian, set the tone throughout the work. Their joint appearance lasted more than an hour. Because such statements they made not the first time, they talked fluently and good. From time to time, their narrative speech was interrupted by a very appropriate emotional digressions. The hall has gathered some 100 people, there were at the same time representatives of the tourism business, media and just guests…

Pavel Shabalin, one of the best climbers of the world, "Father of Ice climbing sports” and motor of sports ideas in the Mountaineering Federation of Russia. Pavel - our old friend and we are always happy to see him...

Finally, we all come together. Importantly, our president and leader Alexander Abramov will be available for a few days before departure to Nepal and Tibet. “National climber of Russia” Viktor Bobok will be also, it is difficult to catch him in Moscow. Straight from the event, he will go again to his beloved Africa, at his beloved Mount Kilimanjaro. In addition, we prepare as a surprise, a few interesting guests. And so, in the program: appetizer buffet, exclusive drinks ... and reports, among which are the loudest: climbing the highest volcano in Antarctica Mount Sidley (Abramov), through the jungle to the top of Carstensz (Luda Korobeshko), on the glaciers of Patagonia (Luba Ivanova), violent season on Aconcagua (Bobok) .... The plans, of course, as usual, a raffle,,,, and informal part, meeting with close friends ...

In short, the event that can not be missed!

Finally, we all come together. Importantly, our president and leader Alexander Abramov will be available for a few days before departure to Nepal and Tibet. “National climber of Russia” Viktor Bobok will be also, it is difficult to catch him in Moscow. Straight from the event, he will go again to his beloved Africa, at his beloved Mount Kilimanjaro. In addition, we prepare as a surprise, a few interesting guests. And so, in the program: appetizer buffet, exclusive drinks ... and reports, among which are the loudest: climbing the highest volcano in Antarctica Mount Sidley (Abramov), through the jungle to the top of Carstensz (Luda Korobeshko), on the glaciers of Patagonia (Luba Ivanova), violent season on Aconcagua (Bobok) .... The plans, of course, as usual, a raffle,,,, and informal part, meeting with close friends ...

In short, the event that can not be missed!

Workshop "Let's go to the Alps in the summer!" will be already presented in the 2 nd time. The theme - summer tourist potential of the Alps, of two major regions - Chamonix and Aosta Valley. Organizer - Company Skiexpo, which is organizing the exhibition ski industry in Russia – Skisalon.

Tens of thousands skiers from Russia went in the Alps during the wintertime. Summer holidays in the Alps are little known in our country. Details of summer travel programs of Italian and French Alps will be presented at the workshop "Let's go to the Alps in the summer. Resorts Valle d 'Aosta and Chamonix will be presented by the Ministry of Tourism of the region Valle d'Aosta and the Tourist Office Chamonix Mont Blanc.

Next week most of the staff of the 7 Summits Club, including general management, will spend in the Alps. Mountain air and bright spring sun should stimulate our intellectual activities. We will be skiing and work. Together, we will discuss the strategic and tactical issues, not forgetting the technical one, of course.

We all stay in touch.