South America - Page 8

The 7 Summits Club Guide Alexander Dorojukov reports from Chile:

Buenas to all! Arrived in Chile, opening the season on Ojos del Salado. Just four flights, with three bags, fun customs upon arrival, and I'm here. On the way, in Brazil, met friends, and of course they were flying in the same direction. In general, everyone fly to Chile, chill on Ojos.

Hello from sunny Mendoza! The advance guard of guides is already here and is starting to prepare for the long season on Aconcagua. Mendoza greeted us, as always, warmly. We passed passport control in 5 minutes, and customs did not even ask what we had in our huge bags. Argentina has changed a lot over the past year, the economy is stabilizing, all the locals note this, but, as a result of the reforms, prices have increased significantly. The official and street exchange rates of the dollar to the peso are almost the same, and the advantage that all foreigners had has disappeared. We have to get used to it...

First of all, we visited the office of our partners, discussed the innovations of this season, met new employees, looked around the warehouse with rental equipment and even tried on some things. By the way, our partners Aconcagua Vision are renting an office in the Diplomatic Hotel this year, which is very convenient for our participants and for us, since we rent a house right across the street. Today, we are planning to sort out the deposit and, at the same time, we are processing permits at the Migration Service. There is a lot of work, but we have everything worked out and tested over the years, there will be no problems. The season is long, until the end of February, and those who are still thinking about climbing Aconcagua have time. Sign up for groups, come, and we will organize everything here at the highest level. Guides Andrey Berezin and Valery Myasoedov.

Program and details…

Next trips: 11 and 23th December.

Ecuador. The final news from Rustam Makharramov. Greetings from Ecuador! Many are eagerly awaiting the final. We tell you!

Cotopaxi (the second peak of Ecuador and one of the most popular volcanoes in the world for guided climbing) turned out to be a difficult and interesting volcano with a relief that changed after the eruption - open cracks and rocky areas, requiring technical training and experienced guides.

The ascent to the summit was successful, but it required incredible efforts and a long, exhausting return to civilization. Thoughts arose about the advisability of continuing the program.

 But, after two days of rest, recovery and further acclimatization in the atmospheric lodge Marco Cruz at 4000 m, everything fell into place and at the appointed time the team reached the base camp of Chimborazo at an altitude of 5300 m. The move and night at 5300 was easy, the body was already ready for all further tests.

But, on the night of the assault, a storm wind arose (up to 100 km / h) and our group turned after 200 m of ascent. An attempt to climb was made, but the mountain did not let us this time!

But everyone is healthy and happy and are already making plans for next year, how to make another attempt to climb Chimborazo 6310 m. This highest peak of Ecuador and the most distant point from the center of the Earth has a harsh character. It is necessary to select an acclimatization program so as not to repeat the ascent of any of the previously descended volcanoes over two years! This is not an easy task!

And a very interesting plan has already been outlined, where volcanoes not only of Ecuador will be involved! A super-non-standard mega-trip is planned, which apparently no one has done before! So - To be continued!

The 7 Summits Club guide Andrey Berezin reports from Nepal:

 Namaste from Nepal! The "70s" group in full force climbed the summit of Island Peak! Due to the deterioration of the weather on the planned day, we decided to go from Dingboche to the base camp, without spending the night in Chukung. Result: we had good clear windless weather, and we stood on the top and admired the wonderful views.

Greetings from Ecuador from Rustam Makharramov from the summit of Cotopaxi (5897 m)!

Cotopaxi is the second peak of Ecuador, one of the most popular and beautiful volcanoes in the world and already the fifth peak of Rustam in Ecuador this time.

Also, this is the first representative of the 7 Summits Club, who climbed the summit of Cotopaxi with the changed relief after its last eruption.

It was not easy and not without adventures. But now two of the three highest peaks of Ecuador are already in Rustam's piggy bank.

Chimborazo is still waiting!

Greetings from Ecuador from Rustam Makhharamov! Today, according to the plan, is the second day of acclimatization and the second volcano (there are 78  volcanoes in Ecuador). This time it was the Pasochoa volcano (4230 m) southeast of Quito.

Pasochoa - translated from Quechua means "widower". We recently learned this and do not even know what it means. You know, there is a giant crater of a volcano that exploded 100,000 years ago. From the top you can see the full power of what happened. The summit is the top of a wall that goes 500 meters down into the former crater.

If you think about it, it's amazing! The lava flow reached the Pacific Ocean. And this eruption completely changed the geography of these places... there are giant boulders-peaks that are part of the caldera of the crater. And it seems like huge faces in them... like giants frozen in stone.

Most of the trekking on Pasochoa goes along the Andean prairies, from the summit there are stunning views of the volcanoes Antisana, Cayambe, Ilinica, Cotopaxi and somewhere in the distance you can see the inviting Chimborazo.

After another great day spent in the mountains, the evening program continued in the world capital - Quito. An excellent combination of time spent in the mountains and cultural leisure.

We are waiting for further news!

Hello everyone from Ecuador! Our second wave of ascents to the volcanoes of Ecuador by Rustam Makharramov has begun. Last autumn, Rustam climbed on the summit of the Cayambe volcano (5790 m) in unfavorable weather conditions. Cayambe is a unique place. This volcano is located almost on the equator and is the third peak of Ecuador after Chimborazo (6310 m) and Cotopaxi (5897 m).

This time, Rustam returned for Chimborazo, which he failed to climb last year. Now conclusions have been drawn, the acclimatization and rest scheme has been changed, another stage of annual physical training has been completed, a bunch of literature and articles have been studied. Fighting spirit!

So, this time we started acclimatization not with the usual excursion program around the capital of Ecuador - colonial Quito (2800 m) and the equator line (we have already been there), but with easy trekking along the slopes of the Ilalo volcano (3194 m) in the suburbs of Quito. The weather was favorable for our team and the day was a success.

A good dinner with good wine in good company also contributes greatly to proper acclimatization!

We are waiting for more news!

The 7 Summits Club guide Olga Rumyantseva reports from Bolivia:

Greetings from Bolivia! Yesterday, our group climbed the summit of Huayna Potosi with all of us. The climb was quite difficult. The weather conditions were not always pleasant. The upper part of the mountain threw up an unpleasant surprise. There was no snow there, and the last part of the way we had to climb over rocks. But in the end, all the participants coped. We all got new experience and unforgettable impressions.

The 7 Summits Club super guide Olga Rumyantseva reports from Bolivia:

News from amazing Bolivia from our guide Olga Rumyantseva:

"We arrived at the shelter at 4800, settled in. The next day we had ice training. We walked in crampons, in ropes and climbed ice walls. Today we go to the upper shelter and then on to climb to the summit of Huayna Potosi."

The 7 Summits Club guide Olga Rumyantseva sends from Bolivia:

 Greetings from Bolivia, where the Adventures of Zvyaginshtein group continues its journey. Today we had a very long day, full of various impressions.

Early in the morning we left La Paz towards Lake Titicaca to the city of Copacabana. We were very lucky. Yesterday the road was blocked by protesters, and it was impossible to drive along it. Now the road has been cleared. True, there were stones and all sorts of barricades left.

Therefore, traffic was difficult in some places. On the way to Copacabana, we stopped at the Kon-Tiki Museum - a place where the family lives, who helped make boats for Thor Heyerdahl for his expeditions. We looked at the boats and drove on.

To get to Copacabana, we crossed Lake Titicaca at its narrowest point by ferry from the town of Sao Paulo to the town of Sao Pedro. Such is the interesting geography. We walked around Copacabana a bit, looked at the local cathedral, walked around the market.

Then we got on a boat and went on a trip around the lake to the Island of the Sun. Upon arrival on the island, the first thing we did was look at the ancient ruins - the residence of the Inca emperor. Then we tasted local products. And after having a snack, we went on a short trek around the island to our hotel.

We checked into a very cozy hotel with a view of the Island of the Moon, where we will go tomorrow, and after a short rest we went for another walk to watch the sunset. Such a busy day it turned out to be.

Olga Rumyantseva, the 7 Summits Club guide, sends from Bolivia:

 Hello everyone from Bolivia! A group called "Zvyaginshtein's Adventures" arrived here at dawn today. Finding ourselves at an altitude of 4,000 meters, which is how high the La Paz airport is located, we decided that the best acclimatization is active. Therefore, immediately after a short rest, we went on an excursion to get to know this wonderful city.

We began our acquaintance with the Moon Valley. These are amazing natural formations, the result of erosion, reminiscent of the surface of the Moon. We walked among the bizarre stone towers, in places decorated with sun-dried cacti.

From the Moon Valley, we teleported to the city center. A local means of transport - a telerifica or cable car in our language - helped us do this. There are 9 cable car lines above La Paz, connected to each other like metro stations. And like the metro lines in Moscow, each cable car line has its own color.

Moving through the air, we looked at the city from above. From here you can see how the houses are located, clinging to the mountain slopes.

Our excursion was a little overshadowed by the fact that there are currently mass protests in Bolivia. The central square of La Paz was cordoned off by the police. So we did not go there. We walked along the oldest and very narrow street of the city. We went to the museum of musical instruments, where after viewing the exhibition, everyone could show their talent by playing the instrument they liked. Then we walked through the witches' market. We studied the assortment of miraculous potions for all diseases in the world.

We finished the excursion by looking at what fruits and vegetables are sold at a regular market.

After that, we decided that we had acclimatized enough, and returned to the hotel to rest.

The 7 Summits Club guide Olga Rumyantseva reports from Peru:

News from the Llamassitos group. Yesterday our group in full force climbed the Chachani volcano. Having left at one in the morning, we walked for a long, long time to the top and finally reached it. For all participants, this was the first experience of climbing a mountain over 6000 m.

In the evening, we celebrated the end of the trip in Arequipa. All participants in the climb received certificates and commemorative medals. And this morning, early in the morning, everyone flew home. That's how quickly our program ended.

Olga Rumyantseva, Guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Peru:

 Greetings from the Llamasitos group from Peru! Today we continued to get acquainted with the culture and history of this amazing country.

We toured some of the most interesting places in the vicinity of Cusco. We looked at ancient temples, ruins, explored mysterious caves and various sacred places, the origin and purpose of which historians do not fully understand.

In addition, we visited the farm, where we looked, fed and cuddled llamas, alpacas, guanacos and vicunias. And finally we found out who is who and how some differ from others.

That was the end of our city walks. Early tomorrow morning we will go to the Rainbow Mountains, and then we will start trekking and climbing Maria Peak.

We won't be in touch for a few days. But there will be the most interesting adventures.

Olga Rumyantseva, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Peru:

 Greetings from Peru from an as yet unnamed band! She is nameless, because so far all the participants have not managed to meet together and come up with a name.

Today, the second part of our group was not without adventures, but still, to our great joy, we reached Cuzco.

The advanced part of the group, after watching the Independence Day parade in the morning, moved closer to the Sacred Valley of the Incas to spend the night in the most unusual and most extreme hotel - in capsules nailed to the rocks.

To be precise, we have two hotels. Half of the group stayed at the Sky Lodge, which is a more modest hotel in terms of conditions. But to get to the place of accommodation, you have to go through a difficult path along Via Ferrata, overcoming various obstacles for an hour and a half.

The other half of the group stayed at the Star Lodge. Here, the path to the capsules on the rocks is not so extreme. But the accommodation is more comfortable and there are barrels of hot water in which it is so great to steam with a view of the valley. And although Via Ferrata is not difficult, it still leaves an unforgettable impression.

Especially when you return to your house on the cliff after dinner in the dark.

A very interesting and unforgettable experience.

I hope that tomorrow our team will finally get together and we will go on a tour of the Sacred Valley, and then take the train and go to Machu Picchu.

Olga Rumyantseva, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Peru:

Greetings from Peru! Today, the first half of a group of future climbers of various Peruvian mountains gathered in the wonderful city of Cuzco. We have many amazing adventures and experiences ahead of us. But today we have managed a lot. We got acquainted, the participants received gifts from the 7 Summits Club and walked around the center of Cusco.

Alexander Dorojukov, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Chile:

Group X sends greetings from Chile!  And we accept congratulations! The full our team was at the top on February 29th. The weather was gorgeous, it snowed only in the evening. But we all managed to get down before. In general, we all waited for orders and medals!

Alexander Dorojukov, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Chile:

The X Group of the 7 Summits Club sends greetings from Chile!  Today we went to the volcano of San Francisco (6025 m). And in full force, we climbed to the top in 5 hours and 40 minutes. The weather was great. With this climb, the acclimatization of the group is completed. Tomorrow we have a rest day and then our main goal remains – the summit of Ojos Del Salado.

Alexander Dorojukov, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Chile:
Hello everyone from Chile! Group X continues to work on the acclimatization plan. Today we went up to the Atacama shelter, had lunch and went for a walk higher. We went up to the Tejos camp and then went towards our goal. We reached 6200, sat for 40 minutes and went downstairs. Let's move on!

Alexander Dorojukov, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Chile:
Hello everyone from Chile! Group X is working according to plan. Today we walked towards the Tejos camp, reached an altitude of 5700 meters. The conditions of all participants are good, the weather was excellent.

Alexander Dorojukov, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Chile:

Hello everyone from Chile! Group X climbed on the summit of Seven Brothers Peak today for acclimatization. The weather is good, but as usual the wind picked up after lunch. We had a delicious lunch, now we are resting. Enjoying the views of the lagoon with flamingos.