Vinson(4892)

This is Rumyantseva Olga from Antarctica. Today we went up to the High camp on the Vinson massif. In general, all groups are up here, because tomorrow's forecast promises the best day. Although forecasts are not very true recently. We decided to go out tomorrow for a climb. So keep your fists for us and wish us luck! Bye!

Before our team flew out to Antarctica, we asked them to share some of their thoughts regardingVinson Massif. The area around the mountain is a pretty unique place and a popular destination for adventure travelers, but for a number of reasons, including the extremely high cost, only a select few are able to make the trip. The rest of us can only experienceAntarcticathrough the words of others.

Now that the team is back in Base Camp, safe and sound, we would like to declare “Alpari: On Top of the World” a success.

About Vinson and Life

Lyudmila Korobeshko:

“I was the only one from the team that had already been to the summit of Vinson, so I had a pretty good idea of the difficulty and the danger that were in store for us. The toughest parts had to be going two weeks without a shower and dragging sleds filled with our own waste. Well, that and the cold, of course. Everything else was fun.”

This was Lyudmila’s second trip toAntarcticathis year. In January, she went on a ski expedition to the South Pole. Almost a year later, she returned toAntarcticato take a shot at the summit of Vinson. It seems that there are women out there that prefer endless fields of ice to endless beaches!

What can we say about our new world record holder, Lyudmila? She’s humble, strong and quiet. and she always wears a smile on our face. Earlier this year, Pearl Goings, a climber fromNew Zealand, appeared on the scene, going after the same Seven Summits record as Lyudmila. HoweverPearldropped out of the race on her third mountain. Lyudmila continued onward, making it through the seven peaks in just 300 days, shattering the old women’s Seven Summits speed record. In spite of her remarkable achievement, Lyudmila remains as caring and humble as ever. Each morning she makes the team tea and handles the expedition’s organizational matters.

Ivan Dusharin, 65.

Dreams do come true.

“I’ve wanted to visitAntarcticafor a long time now. After my team back inTolyatticlimbed Everest in 1992, we came up with another idea for an expedition: ‘From the South to the North Pole’. The idea was to make it to the South Pole, climb Vinson Massif and then drive along the world’s longest mountain system (the American Cordillera, which runs from South America to North America and is made up of a series of mountain ranges including the Andes and the Rockies) in a VAZ-Neva (a car produced back at the AvtoVAZ factory in Tolyatti, Russia, where Ivan worked at the time), climbing 16 of the more well-known peaks along the way. The final summit would have beenMountMcKinley. We didn’t go through with the expedition, but the dream never died.”

“I really hope everything works out for us on the expedition; that we make it through all of the challenges ahead; that the frigid cold ofAntarcticawon’t damage the warm friendship we’ve developed; that we will be able to complete our mission and get some sense of satisfaction from doing so. Wish us luck. And let’s hope my dream comes true. Until next time.”

Ivan Dusharin finally realized his dream of traveling toAntarctica– at the age of 65. As if the Honored Master of Sport hadn’t already garnered enough respect from the global climbing community! Ivan is the author of a number of books that are read by novice and experienced climbers alike.

Lyudmila wasn’t the only one from Team Alpari to set an individual record during “Alpari: On Top of the World”. When he reached the summit of Vinson, Ivan became the oldest Russian climber to complete the Seven Summits.

Maxim Shakirov is already planning his next climb. This year, Maxim will be ringing in the New Year atop one of the world’s highest peaks. This isn’t anything new for Maxim. He has been celebrating New Year’s on a different summit every year for more than a decade.

Maxim, asked what he was expecting from Vinson, answered, “Vinson? I’m expecting an entirely new experience. I’m hoping and also scared that Vinson will leave even more of an impression than McKinley and Kosciuszko.”

Maxim later sent us a voice message from Vinson Base Camp on December 13: “The mountain ridge was incredibly beautiful – probably as beautiful as inAlaska. It might have been even more beautiful. We were filled with emotion.”

It’s great to know that there’s always somewhere on the planet that can surprise you. What’s important is that you don’t miss out on your chance to visit.

Source: http://www.alpari-life.ru/en/antarktida-xolodno-tyazhelo-no-veselo/

Magellan monument

At Union Glacier

At basecampVinson

At the top

With an Alpari banner

Farewell to Vinson

All video of the project

http://www.alpari-life.ru/video/

The second group of the 7 Summits Club (Anatoly Stegney, Vitaly Simonovich, Dmitry Sokov and Alexander Lozhkin) with a Guide Olga Rumyantseva arrived in the Vinson base camp. After arrival in the Union Glacier they were almost immediately taken to the next plane. They flied to the base camp even without having dinner in UG. Now they made the first acclimatization outing. Everything is OK.

See photos from the first group.

Olga Rumyantseva

Coming from Antarctica to Punto Arenas, first of all Lyudmila Korobeshko sent us a photo report about their climb of Mount Vinson. Lyuda, Ivan and Max reached the top of Antarctica 11th of December. They finished their program "7 Summits for 300 days"

Lyudmila Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov ended their travel to Antarctica, the last part of the program "7 summits for 300 days" (292 days 2 hours and 2 minutes). Climbing the Mount of Vinson, they made a new world speed record for climbing seven summits for women and for a team of three climbers.

 The "Alpari on top of the world" in Punta Arenas

Igor Stolyarov also climbed Mt. Vinson

Alex Abramov met Harry Kikstra in Punta Arenas

This morning, our second group flew to Antarctica. They are: Anatoly Stegney, Vitaly Simonovic, Dmitry Sokov and Alexander Lozhkin. Guide the group Olga Rumyantseva awaits them in Antarctica.

The weather is good, we hope that the return flight will be not delayed. We are waiting for the return of our team Alpari from Antarctica. They have to go back tonight.

I imagine how they want to celebrate the successful completion of the project “7 Summits for 300 days”!

We are waiting!

Alex Abramov from Punto Arenas

Alex Abramov met a new group of the 7 Summits Club inPunta Arenas. They came for the program Climbing Mt. Vinson. The team consists of: Anatoly Stegney, Vitaly Simonovic, Dmitry Sokov and Alexander Lozhkin. Our Guide Olya Rumyantseva awaits them in theAntarctica, at the Union Glacier base..

Today, the company ALE organized a briefing and our team listened all in pure American English. This was the first hard test.

Alex had a friendly conversation with Mike Sharp, co-owner of ALE.

The united group Alpari - 7 Summit Club  was taken today from the Vinson base camp to Union Glacier. Now they could relax, waiting for a plane to Punta Arenas. Alex Abramov today arrived in Punta Arenas. He will wait for our heroes and next group. In his plans - to climb some peaks in Bolivia and then to lead a ski-tour to the South Pole. Olga Rumiantseva in Union Glacier will wait for the next group to Vinson.

On December 11, in the International Day of mountains, the team "Alpari on top of the world" - Ludmila Korobeshko Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov, at 22-32 Moscow time, climbed the top of the Antarctica Mt. Vinson and planted the Alpari flag there!

From a telephone call of Lyudmila Korobeshko:

We climbed up rather quickly, despite of cold and wind. Now we are starting to go down. We congratulate all on successful completion of the project!

According to our calculations, the world speed record for climbing seven summits for women and for a team of three climbers is now 292 days 2 hours and 2 minutes.

This is also the absolute speed record for Russia. Ivan Dusharin - the recordsman of Russiaon age (65).

First press conference of February 8, 2012

Aconcagua. February 23, 2012. 19-30 Moscowtime

Kilimanjaro. March 11, 2012

Everest. May 19, 2012

McKinley. June 30, 2012

Elbrus. September 8, 2012

Kosciusko. November 5, 2012

Vinson December 11, 2012, 22-32 Moscow time.

My calculation: 292 days 2 hours and 2 minutes ..

Today our group reached the High Camp on Mt. Vinson. Tomorrow  they plan to climb the highest peak of Antarctica. Climb of Mt.Vinsonis  it is the final stage of the epic "7 summits in 300 days” for Lyudmila Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov.  

Hi! This is Lyudmila Korobeshko from the expedition "Alpari on top of the world." So, we are in Antarctica under the Mt.Vinson massif. Yesterday we arrived at base camp, spent a night, and today went up to the next camp, the so-called Low Camp. It was quite a difficult trip. We're spent about 7-8 hours. Walking was difficult, because we have a heavily laden sledge. The back of Ivan Dusharin still hurts, but we hope that soon he will get better. The weather is still good. Near the camp in the morning quite a large avalanche came down ... But we are not affected.

Greetings for all.

Best regards !

Source: http://www.alpari-life.ru/low-camp/

Climb of Mt.Vinson is the final stage of the epic "7 summits in 300 days” for Lyudmila Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov.

The team

Hello! It is Olya Rumyantseva from Antarctica. This morning we took a small airplane and flew from the Union glacier to the base camp ofMt.Vinson. Now we are checking our things, settle down putting the camp. Soon we will prepare dinner. And tomorrow morning, early, we plan to start fro the lower camp. We are fine, the weather is pleasant. We hope that this will continue.

All, bye!

"Yes, we are now already in Antarctica. In the morning the phone woke us up at 6 am. We leave. At 9 am we took off from Punta Arenasand arrived at Union Glacier. Now it's warm here, we can say even hot. This is summer. In general, we are not fooled, we really came to the south. We all feel good, the mood is amusing. And we hope that today, a little later, we will fly to the Vinson Base Camp".

Lyudmila Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov will climb the last mountain of their attempt “Seven Summits in 300 days”.

In Punta Arenas

The plane was delayed and landed just after midnight. Ivan Dusharin and Max Shakirov came out last, than they made Lyudmila be worry. 48 hours of flights were pretty tired for them. However, they immediately started with jokes.

But there is no time to rest. The weather is good and representatives of ALE promise 4th or 5th December a flight to Antarctica at Union Glacier.

Team Captain of "Alpari on top of the world" is now in the southernmost city in the world -Punta Arenas. Here it is the first day of summer. Summer in the south of Patagonia is cool, but all here blooms and green . Lyudmila prepares to meet his friends, teammates Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov, which today fly out of Moscow. The final stage of the epic "7 summits in 300 days" begins, the goal - Antarctica and Mount Vinson....

Member of the 7 Summits Club, our good friend Andrey Podolyan climbed Mount Kosciuszko almost simultaneously with the team of "Alpari on top of the world." This was his crowning ascent program 7 Summits. 7 Summits Club congratulates Andrey and wishes new heights! Bravo!

Seven Summits of Andrey Podolyan:

Kilimanjaro, September 5, 2009

Aconcagua, February 11, 2010

Elbrus, August 1, 2010

Vinson, 23 December 2010

Everest, May 20, 2011

McKinley, July 5, 2012

Kosciuszko, 05 November 2012.

Everest 2011 www.vidgeversa.ru

And also:

Communism Peak, August 18, 2012

KorjenevskayaPeak, August 10, 2012

Andrey Podolyanu 40. He lives in Velsk,Arkhangels kregion. He was born and grew up in this area in the north of Russia. Andrey is one of the most successful businessmen in the area. He paid much attention to charity, built a church, built sport hill and did a lot of other good things. Andrey was a paratrooper in the Army, he is fond of hot-air balloons. Andrey now has the biggest balloon in Russia.

Employees trip of 7 Summits Club in Velsk, to visit Andrey Podolyanu. Photography.

https://7vershin.ru/news/all/item_2438/

Rohan Freeman – the first Afro-American and Jamaican on the Seven Summits.

In April 2009, Rohan Freeman embarked on an incredible journey to accomplish his dream of summitingMount Everest. In May 2009, he reached the world’s highest peak. In June 2009, he returned home with his sights set on establishing his own engineering consulting firm.

Mr. Freeman was born and raised in Jamaica, and came to the University of Connecticut to explore his interests in the field of civil engineering. He went on to become a dually licensed Professional Engineer and Land Surveyor. His innate leadership talents and project management abilities have been enriched by his 25 year career in the industry working for nationally recognized firms, as well as the City ofHartford’s Public Works Department.

He is a man that is characterized by his passions, pride and drive. He embodies the spirit, culture and values of his firm. The establishment of Freeman Companies has been a challenging and exciting accomplishment, and Mr. Freeman is excited about the future success and the endless possibilities that lie ahead. Failure is not an option.

Rohan’s summit ofMount Everestis part of his larger initiative to summit the highest peak on each of the world’s seven continents. His conquest ofMount Everestmarked the fifth of his seven summits. He climbed in support of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, and has served as an active member of the organization’s Board of Directors since 2008.

A former track star at the University of Connecticut, Freeman said he first wanted to climb mountains in 1998, when he booked his first vacation to a winter resort. One winter sport led to another, he said, and in June 2002, Freeman and several friends climbed Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain. He then scaled three of the other "Seven Summits" -MountMcKinleyinAlaskain June 2004, Mount Elbrus inRussiain June 2006 and Aconcagua inArgentinain December 2006 - before he attempted to climbMount Everest.

"Just the idea that he's done outreach and work with the youth of Hartfordand has shown them a much broader world ... that was very important [to us]," said fund President Kirk Sykes.

After Everest Freeman climbed the last two of the "Seven Summits": Vinson Massif in Antarctica and Mount Kosciuszko in Australia- in 2010. And finished this story climbed Pyramid Carstensz in fall 2012.

"When I returned from Everest, I stared my own engineering company," Freeman said. "I'm trying to see if I can make that a success."

Premlata Agarwal

Premlata Agarwal has added yet another mountain to her kitty! The oldest Indian woman mountaineer to have scaled Mt Everest has now also become the only Indian woman to climb Carstensz Pyramid, the highest peak of the Australia/Oceania continent, which is deemed one of the most difficult to climb.

Talking to mediapersons on her return, Agrawal (48) said she reached the 16,024-feet steep Carstensz summit ofIndonesiaon October 23, after seven days of trekking. She has now scaled five of the seven highest summits of all continents.

She took a tumble innumerable times during the expedition, braved consistent rainfall and slipped on slushy tracks to the base camp. “It was a very difficult and challenging climb. Several elements came across our trek but we did not lose heart. But I’m very happy to have come back successful,” she said.

It rained throughout the journey, in which she had threeUSmen climbers as part of the team. “We flew into Timika fromBalion October 15. Then we took a hour-long flight to Sugada village, which is one of the openings to the base camp,” Premlata recalled.

This resident ofJamshedpurwill go to Mt Vinson Massif (Antarctica) in December and re-tryMountMcKinley(North America) in May-June next year to complete her seven-summit campaign. She was forced to return without climbing McKinley last June due to inclement weather.

Agrawal has set sight on completing the mountaineering challenge of climbing the Seven Summits and Tata Steel is the proud sponsor of her expedition, and is supporting her with a sponsorship of Rs 80 lakh. Conquering all seven summits makes one a member of the Hall of Fame for mountaineers.

If Premlata achieves this remarkable feat — she is targeting 2013 for it — she will become the first Indian woman, and one the oldest in the world, to do so.

Antarctica's Tallest Peak

NASA’s DC-8 flying laboratory passes Antarctica’s tallest peak,MountVinson, on Oct. 22, 2012, during a flight over the continent to measure changes in the massive ice sheet and sea ice. The flight is part of NASA’s Operation IceBridge, a multi-year airborne campaign to monitor changes in Earth’s polar ice caps in both the Antarctic and Arctic. Ice Bridge science flights from Punta Arenas, Chile, began on Oct. 12 and continue through early November. Mount Vinsonis located in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica.

Dr. Clare O'Leary

She's already conquered Everest, completed the world's Seven Summits and become the first Irish woman to reach the South Pole.

But now Dr. Clare O'Leary is aiming to make history once again as part of the first Irish team to cross the perilous, but little-known North Patagonian Icecap.

The pint-sized adventurer, from Bandon, Co.Cork, is part of a five-strong team that also includes Kerry explorer Mike O'Shea, which is attempting to cross the treacherous 120km distance.

The team, which set off from their base inChilelast weekend, is expected to spend the whole of this month hauling their sledges across the remote cap, which has only ever been crossed by a handful of people.

Even preparing for the challenge and packing the correct clothing was a logistical nightmare, as temperatures, on altitudes ranging from 1200m to 1500m, can range from -30C to 30C on the same day.

Both Clare and Mike have spent months training for the gruelling adventure, which is deemed particularly challenging because of the difficulty in accessing the icecap.

The team will have to climb a towering glacier before setting foot on the cap, while the journey will also include boat trips, camping and horse riding with South American gauchos and crossing a rainforest.

Earlier this year both Clare and Mike were forced to abandon their bid to become the first expedition to make it to the North Pole.

They were forced to pull the plug on the challenge to reach the remote Arctic point, because their plan to share chartered logistics with other teams fell apart.

Clare is the first Irish female toclimbMt.Everest and also the first Irish woman to complete the Seven Summits, which includesMt.Vinsonin the Antarcticand Mt. McKinley inAlaska.

Keep track of their progress at irishnorthpole2013.com.

Traditional evening meetings of friends 7 Summits Club will be on 27th of September. It will be focused on the end of the summer season and our birthday. The legendary Russian climber Alexander Ruchkin will act as the chief guest. And for the first time, theMoscow team members will present a new route to the summit of Muztagh Tower. Guides of our Club spent the summer on the mountain routes of the world and they have stories to tell. We will also present our future plans.

As usual in September the 7 Summits Club celebrates another birthday. So we will lay the table and, as usual, you will be a raffle prizes and gifts.

September 27, next Thursday, at 20.00 in the store "Aktivny Otdykh" (Bask) at m.Prospekt World ul.B.Pereyaslavskaya, 7

Alexander Ruchkin

Muztagh Tower and the Moscow Team

February, 9 Ludmila Korobeshko flew to Argentina. The next day she was followed by Ivan Dusharin and Maxim Shakirov. So practical implementation of the program "Alpari on top of the world" begins. The 7 Summits Club not only delegated to the program our director, but we take all organization and logistics. Alpari project can enter their place in the general history of the program Seven Summits. Here is a list of World and National records that our team can beat on success of the event:

1. Fastest collective (more than two people).

2. First all Seven by not classic routes.

3. First all Seven Summits by traverses.

4. The fastest female for the Seven Summits. At the moment the record is 360 days (Annabelle Bond, United Kingdom - Hong Kong)

5. The first TWICE of the 7 Summits for woman by Ludmila Korobeshko

All of them, of course records will be valid for Russia (Europe and CIS ....)

Actually it will be an absolute national record of speed for 7 summits.

And national age record for Ivan Dusharin - 65 years.

In Mendoza

Project Alpari: On Top of the World

Alpari has decided to take on a new challenge for the year 2012: planting the Alpari flag atop the tallest mountain on each continent. To accomplish this feat, we have put together a team consisting of three of the experienced mountain climbers from Russia has to offer. With this project, we are not only looking to expand our presence across the globe, to each of the world’s seven continents, but also to draw some attention to mountain climbing, a sport which has become something of a passion for many within our ranks.

“Mountain climbing as a spiritual journey… record-breaking climbs as a metaphor for achieving greater success in life,” commented Alpari Public Relations Director Dmitriy Tarasov. “This is something we can relate to. Alpari is a bona fide leader in the Forex industry. For us, there is no mountain too high.”

Mountain climbing is already somewhat of a tradition here at Alpari. As recently as 2010, a team of our employees took part in an expedition to Africa, planting the Alpari flag on the summit of Kilimanjaro. Not long before that, there was a trip to Mont Blanc. “Climbing mountains is a great tradition for us; one where we must overcome great difficulties, the cold and harsh living conditions. But we always manage,” said Alpari’s Chairman of the Board, Andrey Dashin.

No one in Russia has ever completed the world-famous “7 Summits” challenge in under a year. Alpari’s hand-picked team is looking to do just that!

We wish them good luck. And good weather !

Here’s the plan:

Aconcagua (South America): February 11-28 (18 days)

Kilimanjaro (Africa): March 7-13 (7 days)

Everest (Asia): April 11 – June 8 (59 days)

McKinley (North America): June 20 – July 10 (21 days)

Elbrus (Europe): September 1-7 (7 days)

Kosciuszko (Australia): November 3-7 (5 days)

Mount Vinson (Antarctica): December 1-19 (19 days)

ROUTES

Mount Aconcagua (6,962 m) – Although ascending Aconcagua often seems simple at first, this mountain is susceptible to sudden changes in weather and violent storms.

False Polish Traverse, descent by classic to Plaza de Mulos

Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) – Ernest Hemingway once sang the praises of Kilimanjaro, which promises to be the perhaps the warmest and least inhospitable climb for our team.

Umbwe route, descent by Marangu route

Mount Everest (8,848 m) – Each year, the world’s tallest mountain draws in hundreds of climbers looking to test their personal limits, and each year, many of these climbers end up paying the ultimate price.

New route traverse North Summit (Chagtse) – Main Peak.

Descent to the North Col and ABC camp

For Everest Traverse our team will be strengthened. Currently, Alexander Abramov (as a leader), Ludmila Korobeshko, Ivan Dusharin, Maxim Shakirov and Mingma Gelu plan to take part in the ascent. The route will start from the campsite Changtse on the left moraine of the Rongphu Shar Glacier (Changtse camp - 6000m). From there the group plan to climb to the North (North East) ridge and then to the summit of Changtse 7543 meters. Where exactly they will rise to the North East ridge of Changtsze it will be determined on the spot. There are several options. From the top of Changtsze descent leads by a steepslope via South Ridge on the North Col - 7000m. Then the group will use standard camps on the classic route at 7700 and 8300 meters. From there they will try to climb the main summit of Everest (8848 m). Way back to the North Col and down to the standard camp ABC at 6400 meters.

 From Jan Kielkowski. Mount Everest Massif

Акщь

Mount McKinley (6,194 m) – Known to native Alaskans as Denali (“the great one”), McKinley is the tallest mountain in the world measured base to peak. During the ascent, climbers must confront the bitter cold, an exhaustingly long climb and stringent legal restrictions, including a policy which requires all climbers to carry all of their “waste” back to base camp.

West Rib

Descent by Western Buttress route

Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) – Located in the Caucasus Mountains, Elbrus demands a great deal of focus and discipline from climbers. This guileful inactive volcano often surprises climbers with streaks of brutal winter weather and strong winds.

Traverse from the East (Irik Valley) Eastern Peak - Western Peak

Descent via the Khotiu-Tau Pass

Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m) – Getting to this mountain is difficult, but the view from the top makes the trip worth it.

Route Main Ridge Track from Charlotte Pass

Descent to Thredbo

Mount Vinson (4,897 m) – Our climbers will come face-to-face with ice storms and some of the coldest weather on our planet to reach the highest peak in Antarctica.

Probably Rudi's Runway (Lang 1991) Route

The team

Ludmila Korobeshko

Ludmila was the first woman from Russia to complete the “Seven Summits” challenge and just the third Russian woman to climb Everest. Her resume includes more than 50 successful climbs and a trip to the North Pole. She has been working as a mountain guide/translator and organizing expeditions for more than a decade. She also writes and makes short films.

The first Russian woman to complete the “7 Summits” challenge

The first Russian woman to complete the “7 Summits +1” challenge (the +1 being the Puncak Jaya, or Carstensz Pyramid, in Indonesia)

The third Russian woman to climb Everes

An experienced mountain guide and director of the “7 Summits Club”

14 years of experience climbing mountains and organizing expeditions (9 years professionally)

More than 100 successful ascents across the world

Class A mountain climber, guide, English translator

Has climbed and trekked in the mountains of the Causasus (Russia), France, Peru, the United States, Tibet, Nepal, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Tanzania, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Turkey

Has led more than 20 expeditions to the peak of Elbrus

Ivan Dusharin

Ivan is a world-class mountain climber with more than 300 successful climbs under his belt, including Everest. He is an experienced guide and leads expeditions all around the world. His hobbies include photography and filmmaking. Dusharin is the author of a book “Crossing the Abyss on a Wire”.

http://www.alpari-life.ru/en/alpinisty_vaza/

Maxim Shakirov

Maxim is the man behind “New Year’s on the Summit” as well as a 2014 Olympic Games flag-bearer. He has already planted the Olympic flag atop mountains on five continents, including Mount Everest. He is a journalist, filmmaker, photographer and traveler

 Niken Prathivi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta. Indonesian mountaineering group the Nature Lovers Society (Wanadri) is on its way to conquer Mount Everest after successfully reaching Vinson Massif’s peak, 4,897 meters above sea level, in Antarctica on Jan. 7.

It was the fifth summit conquered by the team of six, who aim to reach Mount Everest’s peak, 8,850 meters above sea level, in May in order to complete a two-year Seven Summits expedition.

If they scale Mount Everest, they will be the second Indonesian team to reach all seven summits. The Mahitala team, from the Parahyangan Catholic University (Unpar) in Bandung, West Java, was the first to complete the mission.

The expedition is aimed at promoting nature conservation, with the group’s experiences and the lessons learnt during the expedition to be included in a manual for climbers, particularly those from tropical countries like Indonesia, explaining how to scale mountains outside of sub-tropical regions.

“We are now preparing our six mountaineers so they’ll be ready for the final climb in May and April. So far, they’re 75 percent ready in terms of physical condition, but in sponsorship, we’re still only 20 percent ready,” Seven Summits Indonesia director Yoppie Rikson Saragih told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The Wanadri team is made up of team head Ardeshir Yaftebbi (28), Nurhuda (22), Martin Rimbawan (25), Fajri Al Luthfi (25), Iwan Irawan (37) and Gina Afriani (23) — who is the only woman in the group.

Yoppie said that his team expected higher participation from state-owned and private companies to support the trip.

“Each mountaineer needs around US$60,000 to be able to reach the Everest peak. So we need strong funding support,” added Yoppie, who is the Wanadri chief, about the iconic mountain located between Nepal and Tibet, China.

The Sports and Youth Ministry, state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, state-owned liquid petroleum gas company Perusahaan Gas Negara and cellular operator Telkomsel are among the expedition sponsors.

The Seven Summits expedition started with Puncak Jaya (4,884-m), locally known as Ndugu-Ndugu but more widely known as Carstensz Pyramid, in Papua in April 2010.

After scaling Carstensz, the six climbers went on to conquer Kilimanjaro (5,892-m) in Tanzania in July 2010 and then Elbrus (5,642-m) in Russia.

In the attempt to reach the fourth summit, at Aconcagua (6,962-m) in South America, Gina failed to reach the peak due to physical barriers.

“At that time, we kind of miscalculated the difficulty of the trip while having a woman in the group. We should’ve taken more days for acclimatization at a certain height for her. But, we did not do that and Gina failed to continue the trip to the peak. Lesson learned. We will surely share such experiences in the book,” Yoppie said.

The fifth and sixth summits reached were at McKinley (6,194-m) in Alaska and at Vinson Massif.

Yoppie hoped that the results of the expedition, which will be recorded in the manual, would enlighten people about the importance of protecting nature, especially from global warming.