South America - Page 39

January, 3th a traditional expedition of the 7 Summits Club to Aconcagua started. Eight participants led by a guide of 7 Summits Club Vladimir Kotlyar are going to climb the highest peak in the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere. While all goes according to plan. Today, the group must come to the base camp Plaza de Mulas. All participants (and guide) are cheerful, happy, send greetings and congratulations on Orthodox Christmas!

Jubilee expedition dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the 7 Summits Club President Alex Abramov started yet the end of last year. January, 31th a guide 7 Summits Club Sergei Larin arrived in Chile. He started preparing food and other things needed for the expedition. Alexander Abramov arrived in Chile on January, 2th and also was involved in preparations for the arrival of the main group. Today, the 3rd of January in Chile begin to arrive all other members of the expedition. Who is from where. Who from Moscow, who from Samara, who from Irkutsk, who from Khanty-Mansiysk, who from Antarctica after climbing Vinson. At this time in the team 9 members (2 women and 7 men), here is a list of participants:

1. Maria Dyachenko.

2. Catherine Pozdeyeva.

3. Alexey Boutin.

4. Vladislav Lachkarev.

5. George Kuzmin.

6. Yury Zimin.

7. Eugene Karjakin.

8. Semen Deyak.

9. Igor Pokhvalin.

We remind the goals and objectives of the expedition: climbing Ojos del Salado - the highest volcano in the world and the celebration of the anniversary (50 years!) 7 Summits Club President Alexander Abramov. If all goes well, the summit attempt will be made on the birthday celebrant - 16 January. If successful at Ojos Alexander Abramov complete the 7 Volcanoes program.

Chile – it is an amazing country of 1000 volcanoes and thousands of lakes, glaciers and deserts... In Chile, there is 15 regions, all lovely and picturesque. Today I want to show you just one - Atacama ...

Often travelers, who come to climb Ojos, in a hurry do not have time to see this beauty.

All (awesome) photos Atacama here >>>>>>>

Well, now a few words about the ascent ofOjos del Salado.... It's time ...

No special difficulties, most importantly, as always - be lucky with the weather. Well, no need to rush - 7000 meters yet – a need of acclimatization has not been canceled ...

I had hoped to acclimatize on Orizaba, but between the two mountains I got 14 days. A lot, too many. But I could not resist and tried to start climb on top of Ojos immediately after arrival. I had a luck, but... not right!

We had a picnic with a guide Mario first right into the crater, well then moved to the top, in total spending on the summit more than three hours. Good weather and lack of wind contributed to this. But in the end, the desire to go down to the restaurant and wash out to sea and had overpowered ...

Oh yes, our car was not able to climb up to 5800 meters, so we lugged all by yourself from the 5200 and back. From Copiapo to Copiapo we spent 6 days for the ascent ...

Along the way I lost the camera. Then it was found, but returned me only flash card with photos. Sorry for the camera, which was on Everest, South Pole, and many other points ...

But I'm happy, now I have something to show you ..

Take care of yourself! Good luck in the mountains. Vitaly S.

Gallery (50 pictures) "Ojos climbing" >>>>>>>

In December of this year, two of our climber of 7 Summits Club completed the program Seven Volcanoes. First is Olga Rumyantseva successfully finished a unique program "Seven volcanoes " for one year and alone (solo). Thanks to Kaspersky!

And so, we got a message that Vitaly Simonovic climbed theOjos del Salado. He performed this program climbing the highest volcanoes of all continents. Congratulations to the heroes !Russianow has three (first - Vyacheslav Adrov ) of the world's five "conquerors " of the seven volcanoes. We hope to extend this list next year! Alex Abramov is on queue, his trip to Ojos starts 1th of January.

December 1 Vitaly flew to Mexico, where the goal of his ascent will be the highest volcano in North America -Mount Orizaba. If everything will be normal, immediately after the descent, he crashes in Chile, where is his final object of Seven Volcanoes. This is the highest of all the volcanoes in the world Ojos del Salado.

The first of volcanoes for Simonovich was Kilimanjaro in 2011. There is a chance that Vitaly will be the fastest man in the world who have completed the program Seven Volcanoes . And, because not so long ago Vitaly Simonovicр has successfully completed the 7 Summits in two versions : with Carstens Pyramid and Kosciuszko, he could be the fastest on the sum of two programs: the 7 Summits and 7 Volcanoes .

Good luck!

The 7 Summits Club Club President Alex Abramov was hardly thinking, how and where he should celebrate his forthcoming 50th anniversary. It was an idea was to go alone from the South Pole to the ocean coast. There were other thoughts. But he accepted a decision, as always, non-trivial: to meet the anniversary at the top of the highest volcano of the World -Ojos del Salado! At an altitude of 6893 meters. And thus, to complete the project 7 Volcanoes. Now Alex went to a "global" expedition, which plans to climb the tallest volcano inAustralia–MountGiluve. If nothing unexpected happens, then on his return only the seventh volcanoOjos del Saladowill be to climb to finish the program.

YOU HAVE THEOPPORTUNITYTO JOIN jubilee expedition of Alexander Abramov!

Alexander Abramov invites everyone to Ojos. The program begins - January 3. Group size is limited.

The program is available here >>>>>>>

/programs/all/region_9/country_231/program_36/

The expedition of 7 Summits Club under the leadership of Denis Savelyev was completed in early March, when the participants returned home. It was quite successful, the topOjos del Saladowas reached by 4 climber and one guide.

This season is generally was with very bad weather there, so the victory was not easy. Half of expeditions cancelled climb because of the strong wind ...

On he top of Ojos del Salado were:

Yuri Lukyanov,

Nadezhda Lukyanova,

Lily Bogucharova,

Alexander Utvenko,

Guide Denis Saveliev.

Ivan Lukasiewicz and Irina Salova little reached the top.

Today we publish a large (huge) collection of photographs from the expedition - 158 pictures

See full .....

We're all alive. All participants feel fine. We in Copiapo.

Today we're going to spend the night on the ocean shore.

On the top of Ojos del Salado ascended:

Lukyanov Yuri,

Lukyanova Nadezhda,

Bogucharova Lilia,

Utvenko Sasha

And I - Denis Savelyev.

Nearly reached the top (but now feel good and also going out with a group):

Lukasiewicz Ivan,

Salova Irina.

Today at 1 p.m. Chilean time, five climbers 7 Summits Club reached the top of the highest volcano of the world Ojos day Salado. The ascent was a very, very hard. There was a strong wind, despite the good weather forecast. Therefore, we have two members out of the climb. But five of us overpowered it. Now, we all went down to the camp Atacama. Tomorrow we will wrap up camp and leave. Bye everyone!

Our guide Denis Savelyev sent an information from Chile, from the town of Copiapo. Yesterday, he met a group of the 7 Summits-Club (6 members) that arrived with transfers from Moscow. On the way, nothing is lost, no one got lost. Denis already purchased products, rented a car. Now together, they go in the direction of Laguna Verde. The group plans to make to begin an acclimatization climb.

Carlos Sa marathon runner and climber has entered the record books after his conquest of the highest peak in the Americas.

The Portuguese knocked nearly five hours off the record for the ascent of Aconcagua cutting the time from 20 hours to 15 hours and 42 minutes.

The mountain, in the Andes range inArgentinarises to almost 7,000 meters and this was Sa’s second attempt at the record.

Technically in mountaineering terms it is known as an easy climb, but it has what is called, “a hidden evil” the intense cold which has caused many injures to climbers in the past and Sa also had to cope with deep snow hampering his progress to the top and that record.

Source: Euronews 

From 7Summits-Club

Carlos Sa or Carlos Gomes Dasa - 39 years old ultra sky-runner of world class, one of the first on all ratings.

That record toAconcaguawas carefully prepared. Carlos Sa with his team arrived to Argentina in December. On December 27 there was his first climb of Aconcagua for acclimatization and route studying. The first attempt of establishment of a new record took place on January 13. However in the upper part of a route conditions were unfavorable - snow swept up the track. The second attempt took place in three days. On January 16 Carlos started at 5:20 a.m. from an entrance to the national park Horcones, from height of 2750 meters. His start was noted by employees of the park who and fixed then his finish. At the top of Aconcagua (6962 meters, on the last measurement) the Portuguese was approximately at 5 p.m.. . And at 8:34 p.m. Sa returned to Horcones. Total time, that is a new record – 15 hours 42 minutes. Distance – about 81 kilometers, vertical drop – about 4500 meters.

Time of the Portuguese runner is confirmed as record by official representatives of National park. Also it was reported that Karlush Sa broke a record of the Peruvian Holmes Pantoja Bayona (20:35).

It, probably, means so that the time shown in 2007 by Spaniard Jorge Egochiarega - 14 hours, 5 minutes and 54 seconds – are recognized informal, or more precisely, as the officially unrecognized.

In 2000 Pelissier, Brunod and Meraldi - Italian team (all stars of ski-mountaineering) climbed on top of Aconcagua from Plaza de Mulas in 3 hours 40 minutes (1:12 – for descent). Still this result is considered as a record.

Well-known Catalan Kilian Jornet (at the left, Carlos at the right ) intends to establish new speed records at all Seven Summits.Aconcaguais planed for 2014. What route he will choose ?

Photos sent by Dima Ermakov, a guide of the 7 Summits Club.

Seven Summits, hello! Dima Ermakov and Denis Saveliev send a message from the Cholera camp… Yesterday we were almost by whole team up at the summit, the highest point in the two Americas - Aconcagua. Only Semion Deyak could not reach the summit, a bit about 50 meters by altitude. Local rangers stopped everyone in their view who was climbing late. Well, nothing. We all have a good mood. Today we went down. Best regards!

Dmitry Ermakov and Denis Saveliev sent an information from the slopes of Aconcagua. Today, a group starts from the camp Nido de Condores to the area of the camp Cholera. The weather is good, everything goes fine. Tomorrow is set to be the decisive day of the expedition. The group will go to storm Aconcagua.

Dima Ermakov and Denis Saveliev with a group afer breakfast went up from the Canada camp to Nido de Condores. It is an acclimatization outing...

Today our big group (12 climbers + 2 guides) reached the base camp Plaza de Mulas. Everything is OK. Guides: Dima Ermakov and Denis Saveliev.

Season opened, as usual, on November 15. The number of tourists, climbers once again increased, by 10 percent. This occurred despite a significant increase in the cost of permits. Weather was good at first, but in December spoiled. Most climbers returned home without the summit, because of the strong winds

Many climbers asked for help from rescuers during the first period of the season. Mainly these were minor incidents.

The most significant rescue was in early December. Eliana Caamano, a girl-guide, hired by the U.S. company Mountain Trip, tried to climb to the top with a disabled Afghan war, 29-year-old American, Neil Duncan

 Eliana and Neil did not reached the summit because of bad weather and fatigue. On the descent they were hit by a snowstorm, gave a signal for help and stay for a night in the region of Independencia. A group of four young rescuers went to meet them. They went half night, and it was not in vain. Neil lost his sight (snow blindness), was in very poor condition. Only the use of artificial oxygen and medication has helped him gain strength for further fight for life.

The next day a large group came up for the rescue, it was about 25 people went out from the camp Plaza de Mulas. By the joint efforts they managed lowered Eliana and Neil to the Nido de Condores camp. From there, a helicopter was able to pick them up to Horcones.

At the end of the year there was a bad case with a Japanese mountain climber. At Plaza de Mulas Rangers suddenly noticed that 34-year-old Minoru Kawada does not come out of the tent third day. Opening it, they found a Japanese climber unconscious. He was urgently transported to the hospital inMendoza, but doctors do not guarantee that he can be saved. So far, he's in a coma.

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Colorado man among two mountaineers killed on Argentina climb

By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post

An avid climber and adventurer, Eric Nourse traveled to Alaska in 2006 to tackle Denali. (Photo courtesy of Candee Nourse)
When planning how to summit 22,841-foot Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, Greeley resident Eric Nourse, as usual, chose the riskiest route.

On Saturday, the decision had terrible consequences. He and longtime friend David Reinhart of Lake Oswego, Ore., died, likely from complications of altitude sickness. Only Eric's twin brother, Greg Nourse of Portland, Ore., survived.

"He never wanted to die. He's just a large risk- taker," Greg Nourse said of his brother.

Greg Nourse spoke Tuesday via Reinhart's satellite phone from Mendoza, Argentina, where Eric Nourse's body was taken for an autopsy.

Reinhart met the Nourse brothers at a fraternity at Oregon State University in the late 1980s. They shared a taste for extreme adventure, and for the next 23 years they often traveled together to the Alps, Denali or the Andes in South America.

Eric Nourse, 41, had a Greeley flooring business. Whenever he could, he was in the wilderness: kayaking, rafting, scuba diving, skiing, snowboarding, fly fishing, mountain biking, hiking, hunting elk.

The twins and Reinhart would plan big trips for months. In 2004, the Nourse brothers rode motorcycles through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize for two months. They climbed Denali twice.

Eric Nourse was full of life, said his wife, Candee Nourse.

"He could climb a tree like a monkey. There was something that was not quite human about him," she said.

Candee Nourse said she never worried previously about her husband going into danger because he was never worried, but this time was different. It wasn't that the South American peak was a technically difficult climb.

"He said, 'It's the weather. It gets brutal, and it takes lives,' " she said.

The three friends reached the "high camp" tents at 19,200 feet in elevation on Mount Aconcagua by Thursday. They considered going on the Polish Traverse but decided to take the more challenging route up the face of the Polish Glacier.

At 4 a.m. Friday, the three embarked for the summit with Eric Nourse leading the way under a full moon.

The glacier was almost all ice with little snow for traction, and it was much steeper than they had anticipated. They had not carried enough ice screws and snow pickets along for the longer ice climbs.

"It was more taxing and time- consuming," Greg Nourse said.

They didn't reach 22,000 feet in elevation until after dark. Reinhart was suffering from altitude sickness and couldn't go any farther.

Eric Nourse said he was going to summit the mountain in the moonlight, find the less challenging trail down the mountain and get help.

Greg Nourse said his brother climbed another 600 feet and searched for the trail down.

Climber Eric Nourse sets off on his 2006 Denali climb in Alaska with gear in tow. (Photo courtesy of Candee Nourse, The Denver Post)
When he couldn't find the trail, he climbed down the steep north face of the mountain.
"It was basically a sheer cliff," Greg Nourse said.

The decision slowed Eric Nourse considerably. The next morning, 10 hours after his brother had left, Greg Nourse strapped his friend to an ice wall and climbed the mountain to find the easier trail down.

He waited near the summit for 2½ hours before the first climber of the day reached the peak so he could ask how to get down the mountain. While there, he called Reinhart's wife, Char, who set into motion an emergency response in Argentina.

"It was a really emotional phone call. She knew we were in trouble," he said.

Six hours later, Greg Nourse made it back down to the high camp. His brother limped into camp 90 minutes later, exhausted. Argentine EMTs advised Eric Nourse to climb down the mountain and not sleep. The oxygen content in his blood was dangerously low. Porters offered to carry their equipment down the mountain for them. But Greg Nourse said his brother felt that would have been admitting defeat.

"Eric wouldn't have any part of that. We carried our gear up the mountain, and after a little catnap he would carry it back down. He was never concerned about dying," Greg Nourse said.

Minutes after Eric Nourse went to sleep in his tent, emergency workers tried to rouse him. His heart rate dropped. When it stopped, they tried to resuscitate him.

But he was dead.

It took another 2½ days before porters reached Reinhart's body on the glacier. Reinhart had somehow climbed another 150 feet up the mountain before collapsing.

Alex Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko came toBoliviato climb the highest peak in the countrySajama. First, they visited the holiday of end of the world, which took place onLake Titicaca. It was a great festivities, attended by the president of the country. Then, for acclimatization, Alex and Lyuda decided to climb the mount of Huyana Potosi (6088m). It is located close toLa Pazand is the highest in mountain range of theCordillera Real.

The weather was terrible. Of course, you can not climb in these conditions. But we decided to go up. Our Guide was Felix - a typical Indian. He led us through the GPS, almost without visibility. The ascent was made from the shelter in 8 hours, that is very fast.

After studying the weather forecast, we decided not to climbSajama. Instead, we visited the famous Huyuni salt desert. There we will celebrate Christmas.

After that, we're leaving inSantiago. From there, Luda goes toMoscow, and Sasha inPunta Arenas, where he meets a new group of 7 Summits Club. He flies with the new group toAntarctica, for a ski trip to the South Pole.

Merry Christmas for Everyone !

Alex Abramov and Lyuda Korobeshko from Bolivia

UAE-based adventurer scales Carstensz Pyramid in Oceania.

DUBAI: The UAE-based adventurer Suzanne Al Houby, a Palestinian, has returned from her latest expedition with another world record as the first Arab woman to scale Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya), the highest mountain in Oceania, peaking at 4,884 metres.

Al Houby is famous for becoming the first Arab woman to climb Mount Everest last year and with this latest climb she has now officially conquered six of the Seven Summits — the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. Compared to previous expeditions, Al Houby has embarked on a pursuit of her goal, Carstensz Pyramid, located inPapua,Indonesia, which offers its own set of unique challenges.

The approach for this climb is known as the most difficult in the world.

The area is extremely inaccessible, with the journey beginning in a multi-hour flight acrossIndonesia, with as many as six stops, before landing on theislandofPapua, where the mountain is located.

From there, Al Houby and the rest of her expedition made a gruelling six-day trek across steep terrain through rainforests, swamps, mud slides and rock walls just to get to the base camp.

The expedition was supported by tribal porters from the Dani tribe, a people who live outside of modern civilisation and who have practised cannibalism well into the 20th century.

During the trek, the expedition had to pay sums of money to tiny villages as they passed through for fear of animosity towards them.

“The weather conditions were really bad because of continuous heavy rains,” says Al Houby.

“We were wet all the time and the rain made steep sections difficult to cross.”

“The continuous deterioration in weather affected the health of some of the climbers.

“This made me develop a nasty lung infection that began to make me weaker each day until we reached the base camp,” she said.

After reaching the base camp and taking a day’s rest, Al Houby pushed through on her attempt to the summit.

“I climbed the vertical rock walls until we were high up on the summit ridge. There we stood in front of one of the highest mountain obstacles in the world: a 12-metre gap between two rock pinnacles with hundreds of metres drop in between.

Along with Al Houby on the expedition was another Arab climber, the Jordanian Mostafa Salameh.

“This was the first time I’ve ever had another Arab climber in the team with me and the camaraderie was just amazing.

“We had a great time and we crossed the most challenging section higher up together,” she said.

Besides being the first and only Arab woman to ever climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth at 8,850 metres, Al Houby was also the first Arab woman to climb Mont Blanc, Elbrus, Aconcagua, Vinson (the highest mountains in Western Europe, Europe, South America and Antarctica), in addition to Kilimanjaro and Toubkal, the highest mountains in Africa and North Africa respectively, amongst others.

The summit of Mt. Everest

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Everest hero Mostafa turns attention to charity and poles hikes

http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/everest-hero-mostafa-turns-attention-to-charity-and-poles-hikes-1-2659648

Mostafa Mahmoud

By David O’Leary

A FORMER city hotel worker who quit his job to climbMount Everesthas become the first Jordanian to scale the highest peaks on each of the world’s continents.

Mostafa Mahmoud Salameh, from Bruntsfield, resigned from his job as food and beverages manager at the Sheraton in 2004 to embark on the life-altering challenge of scaling the world’s highest mountain.

Not content with just reaching the 8850m summit, however, the 42-year old has gone on to complete the Seven Summits challenge and become a Jordanian national hero into the bargain – he has been knighted by the Middle Eastern state.

Last Friday, the Queen Margaret University graduate reached the summit of the Carstenz Pyramid in Indonesia, finishing an eight-year odyssey which has seen him scale Everest along the border of Nepal and Tibet/China; Mount McKinley in Alaska; the Vinson Massif in Antarctica; Aconcagua in Argentina; Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mount Elbrus in Russia.

He said: “It’s a relief to finally complete them all. I head toJordannext week to hand the flag back to the king ofJordan. It was easily the toughest trek I’ve ever done, just getting to the mountain through dense Indonesian jungle was an ordeal.

“It would take us a whole day just to complete 200 metres, there are also about 50 different tribes living in the area and we would have to stop and trade with each one.

“Everest base camp was a walk in the park in comparison.”

He added: “After weeks with no shower, eating rice for breakfast lunch and dinner, I finally made it to the top of a giant, jagged rock, raising the Jordanian flag on the last of my Seven Summits.”

The intrepid explorer still callsEdinburghhome, though, and regularly returns to the city.

He said: “Edinburghis my base and I return every couple of weeks. The next time I’m back I will go to a few schools and give some talks. My wife is pregnant at the moment and we are going to have a second child in four weeks time so this will be my next summit.”

Following the birth of his child, Mostafa will begin training for his next adventure in January and is planning a 60-day hike to the South Pole before flying toNorwayto begin a journey to the North Pole.

He added: “If successful I will become one of only 25 people in the world to complete both the Seven Summits and both poles. My plan is to complete the South Pole in November 2013 and finish the North Pole in April 2014.”

Next April, Mostafa will also lead 20 Jordanian celebrities to Everest base camp to raise more than a million dollars (?625,000) for the King Hussein Cancer Foundation.

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Blind climber receives Hillary grant for Seven Summits

Blind runner Neelusha Memon and helper Olly Marshall finish the Coast to Coast race at Sumner

News Pursuit leads to Hutt drugs, weapon bust Auction decides fate of family's farms Licence suspension rescheduled around tournament Kapiti killing accused appears in court Rare whisky remedy memorable, says doctor Post mortem for burnt-out car death Officers' actions played role in prisoner's death Wellington Santa Run raises cash for kids DOC hikes Kapiti Island fees to increase returns.

Legally blind adventurer Neelusha Memon’s dream of conqueringSouth America’s highest peak is one step closer thanks to a Hillary Expedition Grant.

Today it was announced she was one of seven teams to receive a Hillary grant, which provides funding from Sport New Zealand for Kiwis to undertake outdoor challenges.

The 28-year-old Wellingtonian has set out to summit the seven highest mountains across the seven continents, starting with the 6960m-high Mt Aconcagua.

Ms Memon said she was thrilled to receive the grant, which would help to fund her ascent of the Argentinian mountain with support guide Gavin Lang.

‘‘I didn’t think it would ever really go ahead, based on the fact we couldn’t get funding, so to get this grant is a massive thing for me.’’

The worldwide expedition was a personal challenge for Ms Memon, the ‘‘ultimate test’’ of her physical and mental endurance.

But she was also hoping to set an example for others to follow.

‘‘I’ve got impairments but I’m still able to complete my dreams, with the right support.

‘‘Once they realise it, pretty much everyone is limitless in what they can do.’’

When she was 16, Ms Memon lost 70 per cent of her vision after a post-viral autoimmune response caused her to fall into a four-month coma.

She also lost her sense of balance, and had to learn how to walk, talk and swallow again.

A lifelong fan of the outdoors, Ms Memon has been setting herself adventure challenges since 2010, when she climbed Mt Aspiring in the South Island.

In February this year, she became the first legally blind runner to complete the Coast-to-Coast race.

She hopes people will track her fitness, balance and altitude training as well as the November 2013 ascension of the peak on the Hillary Expedition website, and will be inspired themselves.‘‘I wantNew Zealandto come along on the journey with me, and be part of this – to encourage people to get out in the outdoors.’’

After reaching the summit of Aconcagua, Ms Memon planned to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Carstensz Pyramid,Denali, Vinson and Everest, over the next five years.

THRILL-SEEKERS

- Sarah Wilson will complete a Cook to Cook multi-sport expedition, climbing Mt Cook, cycling to Picton, then kayaking acrossCook Straitin January 2013.

- Brothers Nathan and Nigel Watson will climb 21New Zealandmountains over 2000m in 21 days in February, in theNelsonLakesNational Park.

- In April, Rob Frost, Ben Dare, Andrei van Dusschoten, and Scott Blackford Scheele will attempt to be the first Kiwi team to summit Himalayan peak Anidesha Chuli, also known as the White Wave.

- Kayaking team Jordan Searle, Barny Young and Shannon Mast will make a record-breaking attempt in April for the first kayak descent of the Grand Canyons of theChimbuRiverinPapua New Guinea.

- In May, Mayan Smith-Gobat will free-climb ‘‘The Nose’’ wall inCalifornia’sYosemite Valley, and will try to break the current speed record of 2 hours 26 minutes.

- Christine Burke will attempt to become the firstNew Zealandwoman to reach the summit of both the  Gasherbrum1 and 2 mountains on the Pakistan-China border, in June.

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To be the first sevensummiter in Colombia

Colombian climber Manolo Barrios prepares himself for one of the biggest challenges of his storied career: climbing the tallest mountain inAntarcticaby himself, reported local media on Tuesday.

In 2001, Barrios became one of only four Colombians to ever reach the top ofMount Everest. Such a feat would usually be the peak for any adventurer, but for Barrios it was not enough.

"What now?" Barrios asked after scaling the world's tallest mountain.

The idea of 'The Seven Summits' originated after Barrios and others scaledMount Everest. The idea is simple -- reach the highest point on every continent.

"We climbed Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount McKinley in Alaska, Aconcagua in Chile and Elbrus in Russia. But in my case," said the 55-year-old Barrios, "I need only this mountain [Antarctica's MountVinson] and one in New Guinea."

Located on the Ronne Ice Bank 1,200 miles from the South Pole,MountVinsonis 15,256 feet above sea level.

Barrios plans to climb the ominous peak in December, when the weather can be even more unforgiving than normal. Sunlight shines 24 hours a day and winds can reach speeds of up to 180 miles per hour. In addition to the hurricane winds and the unyielding brightness, Barrios will have to deal with the cold and the solitude.

"It is one thing to talk about it, it is another to live it," as Barrios put it.

If all goes according to plan, Barrios will make it to the top of Mount Vinson, the sixth of his 'Seven Summits', by the end of December and will plant the first Colombian flag onAntarctica.

But as Barrios himself admitted, summiting the mountain is dependent on one thing.

"The mountain will decide when I turn back."

On Everest

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Abkhazia declared a climbing war to Georgia

Mount Aconcagua (6962 m altitude) in Argentina become a theater of a climbing war between Georgians and Abkhazians. December, 20 four Abkhaz mountaineers (led by specially invited to this project famous Swedish explorer Johan Ernst Nilson) starts an expedition to conquer the tallest summit of America. Abkhazians want to plant on the top a flag of their country, Georgia's breakaway autonomy. Before the first trip to the Andes, the Abkhaz climbers have already set flags on Elbrus (5642 m) and Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m).

Abkhaz Foreign Ministry has decided to support the project with public funds and businessmen of the republic.

In January 2012, the well-known Georgian climber and politician George (Gia) Tortladze planted on a top Akonkagua not only Georgian flag but a banners with the words "Georgiawithout occupation." Later, in April, he climbed Mount Everest (8,848 m), setting on the highest peak in the world similar exposition with an extension, which added the words "Russiaget out from Georgia!".

- Due a weather conditions any flag or banner do not stay long on the tops, the main thing - to capture it all on film - George Tortladze told to the newspaper "Izvestia". - Then show it on different channels - this is a great response.

Tortladze criticized Swedish climber for taking part in the Abkhaz ascent.

Influential politician - George (Gia) Tortladze. Two times Everest Summiter

- I think he will get big money for this expedition. And if he did take part in the promotion of separatism, I put this in the world of travelers. Nielson will regret - said Tortladze.

Tortladze also continues his sports-political exploits. With the Georgia flag and an anti-Russian banner, 52-year Georgian plan to climb the fifth summit of planet - Makalu (8485 m) in the Himalayas. This will be in spring with an international team of 10 climbers.

In Spain, continues to grow and scale a reality show called “El Conquistador del Aconcagua” - Conqueror of Aconcagua. The program is conducted by the Public Basque TV for three years. On the one hand, this is a logical extension of long-term work with broadcasters famous climber Juanito Oyrasabal.

On the other hand, this is author's work a well-known TV showman 45-year-old Julian Iantzi.

Now it is the third edition of the program. The first, in 2010, was rather experimental. In 2011, it turned to be full-size. But only now it promise to reach expected scale and popularity.

Which of the 14 applicants will rise to the top, who will be eliminated by spectators, who then would not let the mountain itself? There is the central question that every Monday raised during a demonstration of the next story and then discussed by viewers under the famous journalist Iñaki Lopez.

Home Online TV

www.eitb.com/es/television/programas/

A huge amount of material posted to Youtube:

Video presentation

Daniel Gomez (director of Recursos Naturales Mendoza province – the main official person onAconcagua) believes that the program is very useful to promote the area. And the activity of TV team is completely under the control of the authorities, which do not allow to do anything that does not match right from their point of view, the behavior in the mountains.

So Gomez responded to emerging in regional government fears that the "Aconcaguais converting to the film set," and doing it "for cheap." 50,000 pesos - less than 11 thousand dollars, Basques pay for all permits. It adheres to draw up an annual rates. However, there are concerns that the scale of actions of visitors fromSpainis too big for such price.