All news: 2024

Greetings from Papua New Guinea (PNG)! The guides Boris Egorov and Olga Rumyantseva are in touch. Today, our group spent almost the whole day in the village of Paya, where we got acquainted with the locals and their traditions.

The visit to the village began with a pig cooking ceremony. A pig in PNG is a great value, which is prepared only for special occasions. For example, for a wedding. Well, or if tourists come. The pig is being prepared very slowly. First, it is burned and cleaned, then cut up, then wrapped in banana leaves. Sweet potatoes and bananas are also put there, as well as various herbs. After that, everything is wrapped in leaves again and laid with red-hot stones. And leave to bake for several hours.

While some watched the pig cooking, others got to know the villagers, talked about the place where we came from, asked questions about life in PNG, took pictures, watched the local strange animals - a tree kangaroo and a cougar bird.

The locals dressed up in traditional costumes and prepared a program for us - they sang, we danced and took pictures. Actually, many tourists go to PNG for such colorful photos.

But that's not all we're after. Tomorrow we will embark on our journey to the top of Giluwe, the highest volcano in Australia and Oceania.

During a short tour of the village, we were told about ancient customs, about how people used to live and showed artifacts of bygone days. Shields, spears, magical figurines and the skulls of dead chieftains. It was a tradition to preserve the skulls so that the leaders would help their community even after death. They gave her wisdom.

In general, the day turned out to be eventful and interesting. We moved from the village to the mountains, from where, after spending the night at the lodge, we will go to the beginning of trekking tomorrow.

Greetings to all from the team from Dhaulagiri from the head of the expedition Lyudmila Korobeshko:

According to our sirdar Makalu Lakpa, our entire team made the climb from C1 (5800) to C2 (6500) today. And spent the night at camp C2. The wind has increased slightly, but tomorrow it is forecast to weaken. All the members are feeling well and tomorrow they are already planning a descent down to the Base Camp (4700).

I am still in Pokhara and I still hope to fly to BC Dhaulagiri every day.

I offered prayers to Shiva so that the children at Dhaulagiri would be well on acclimatization. And for me to finally fly to their Base Camp.

The final rotation of the acclimatization cycle is the ascent to the Pastukhov Rocks. Four groups of the 7 Summits Club went out on the slopes of Elbrus today in order to climb as high as possible. The weather was great in the morning. However, when the groups began to approach the Pastukhov Rock massif, the weather turned bad. Visibility disappeared, it became damp and cool. Therefore, our groups stopped their ascent in different places of the rock massif.  Group guides: Alexander Dorojukov, Alexey Lonchinsky, Dmitry Semenov and Evgeny Fedyunin. Tomorrow is a day of rest for all participants and guides and preparation for the assault on the top of Mount Elbrus. As well as a day of weather observation. It depends on whether the assault will be scheduled for Friday or postponed to Saturday.

Nastya Kuznetsova, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

Nepal/Lukla, Evechess 2024 team news.

Hello everyone! We had some important news today. First of all, the whole team flew from Kathmandu to Lukla! Two helicopters flew from Kathmandu and took off at 5 and 7 a.m., the other half of the team took off to Lukla from Ramechap and left Kathmandu at 2 a.m.

The team gathered in Lukla and went on the route to the Everest base camp. Today's destination is a great lodge in Phakding on the riverbank, where you can still enjoy a hot shower and heated white sheets. 

Now we are resting and preparing for tomorrow's transfer to the capital of the Sherpas Namche Bazaar (3450 m), where we will spend 2 nights.

Your guides are Valery Myasoedov, Andrey Berezin and Anastasia Kuznetsova.

Phakding / Nepal.

Hello everyone, the Koniyaki team is with you! Today our group started the day with a delicious breakfast in the cozy Namche Bazaar! After that, we went on an acclimatization route to the Everest View Hotel, where we enjoyed a cup of tea while admiring the view of the majestic Everest. Then we immersed ourselves in the cultural heritage by visiting the monastery where the yeti scalp is kept. A delicious lunch at the lodge added energy before returning to Namche Bazaar. Tomorrow we will have new adventures, we will go towards the Everest base camp. The guides of the 7 Summits Club Daria Goryacheva and Sergey Avtomonov were with you!

Evgeny Fedyunin, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from the Elbrus region:

 Hello everyone! Today, the group "8 Summits" of the 7 Summits Club climbed to the Refuge National Park, at an altitude of 3900m. We went higher to the ruins of Refuge-11, to a height of 4100m, and held snow classes and classes on the technique of movement on fixed ropes there! We worked out self-arrest and everyone was happy!

Lunch and dinner from our chefs are, as always, amazingly delicious. Tomorrow we will continue the high-altitude acclimatization.

Nastya Kuznetsova, a guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

News, Nepal EVECHESS 2024 team

Greetings from exciting Kathmandu!

Today was an amazing day!  In the morning, the rest of the team arrived and immediately after the flight joined a tour of Kathmandu with the incendiary Elena Trishankova. The tour took place in the top places. We started from the royal Durbar Square, where we reviewed all the carvings on temples depicting scenes of the Kama Sutra and not only, received a blessing from the living goddess Kumari.  

At the Swayambunath Monkey Temple, we made a bark around an ancient stupa, admired the views of Kathmandu from the top of the hill and purchased the most sonorous and clear-sounding singing bowls from a local master.

At the Buddhist stupa, Boudinath received a blessing from local monks (its will be useful to us now), found their place in the wheel of samsara, relaxed on the roof with beer and a breeze, went to the tank painting school.

Instead of 4-5 hours, it turned out to be 7! And it could have been even more if it hadn't been for the international chess tournament, in which our team is represented on the Russian side.

The tournament was exciting. All the fans were sweating and rooting for ours. There was a live broadcast. There were 5 rounds, everyone played with everyone. The score is 4:1 in favor of the Nepalese team.

After the match, a welcome dinner was held in the almost throne room. And after dinner, those who did not have enough of the tournament went to play a little more chess. Tomorrow we have a "fly to Lukla" quest and the first day of trekking!

Your guides are Valery Myasoedov, Andrey Berezin, Anastasia Kuznetsova.

Nepal / Kathmandu

Alexander Dorojukov, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from the Elbrus region:

Greetings from the Elbrus region from the band "Don't Panic"! Our program continues as planned. Today we walked to the Refuge at Eleven and learned to distinguish an ice axe from crampons. May is unrealistically warm, pens are running. We are working on, hello everyone!

Lyudmila Korobeshko, the head of the 7 Summits Club expedition, reports from Nepal:

Greetings from the team from Dhaulagiri and from the head of the expedition Lyudmila Korobeshko!

Our team entered the second rotation this morning. We climbed from BC (4700m) to C1 (5800m) on the slopes of Dhaulagiri, bypassing the icefall. According to our chef Dendy, who stayed in touch with BC, the whole group successfully reached C1 after lunch and stayed there overnight, as planned. Tomorrow we should go even higher in C2 (6500m).

I'm still in Pokhara - I can't fly out in any way. Planes and helicopters do not fly due to poor visibility. Fires are raging around Pokhara, no one is putting them out - today I specially went around the neighborhood to look at the situation…

Dmitry Semenov, the super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from the Elbrus region:

 Fizkult-greetings from the slopes of Elbrus! Today, our group "Tear out the eye" held training sessions on the snowy terrain in the area of Refuge Eleven (4070 m). We worked out movement in ropes, self-arrest during a breakdown, using an ice axe. The weather and the condition of the group are excellent.

All namaste! Today, our friendly Koniyaki team had a great walk and went up to Namche Bazaar, the capital of the Sherpas. Our march took about 6 hours. We passed through the famous suspension bridges, which impressed us very much. Upon arrival, a warm shower and white sheets were waiting for us.

Tomorrow we are waiting for the first meeting with Everest, as the plan is to walk to the Everest view hotel.

The guides Sergey Avtomonov and Daria Goryacheva are in touch.

Our big Papuan adventure begins. To be precise, it officially starts tomorrow. But today, having made a difficult journey through half the world, which took us three days and three nights, after resting from the road, we began to prepare the expedition - we checked the camping equipment and bought a lot of delicious food.

Today, those participants who want to recover after a long road for one day, and not immediately embark on all adventures, began to fly to us.

There are a lot of adventures waiting for us. Our large group of 17 people, there have not been such groups in Papua yet, will go to the highest volcano in Australia and Oceania, Giluwe. After that, part of the group will fly home, and some will continue the program and go to the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea - Wilhelm Peak.

Tomorrow we will continue to meet the participants and get acquainted with the flavor of this unusual country.

So the climbing season on Elbrus has begun. At once, three groups of the 7 Summits Club began their acclimatization on the slopes of Mount Cheget. Our guides Dmitry Semenov, Alexander Dorojukov and Evgeny Fedyunin work with them. The weather is very warm, there are streams everywhere from the remaining snow. Everything is turning green a little bit. All the groups walked to the Ai cafe at an altitude of 2800. After lunch, participants visited the rental point, where they took the missing equipment.  Tomorrow, there will be the ascent to the refuge situated already on the slopes of Elbrus.

Nastya Kuznetsova, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

  Nepal news, Day 1, April 29th. The EverChess 2024 team. Greetings to all from dusty Kathmandu! Here begins one of the most intriguing expeditions of this season, or maybe of the year, or maybe in general in history. The intrigue is that the Russian Chess Federation, with the support of the 7 Summits Club, is organizing an international chess tournament at an altitude of 5,300 m for the first time in history. It will take place at the Everest base camp, at the camp of the Everest expedition of the 7 Summits Club, where the high-altitude adaptation of the expedition participants is already underway.

The participants of the tournament will have to follow the classic trekking route to the Everest Base Camp in order to have time to adapt and get used to the altitude by the beginning of the tournament. The tournament itself is scheduled for May 8, 2024.

  Part of the group has already arrived and is resting after the flights, we will meet the rest of the participants tomorrow. But that's not all! Tomorrow, in addition to a tour of the ancient beauties of Kathmandu with an amazing guide Elena Trishankova and a welcome dinner, another significant event will take place. It will be a friendly match between the chess players of the Nepal Chess Federation and our chess players from Russia. The President of the Nepal Chess Federation has already come to us today to discuss the details. He wants to take part in the tournament personally!

In the meantime, our team is just going to Kathmandu and all the fun is still ahead!

Your guides are Valery Myasoedov, Andrey Berezin, Anastasia Kuznetsova from Kathmandu, Nepal.

Lyudmila Korobeshko, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Nepal:

Greetings to all from the team from Dhaulagiri from the head of the expedition - Lyudmila Korobeshko!

I'm still stuck in Pokhara, where I arrived yesterday in the hope that it would be easier to fly from here to BС Dhaulagiri. But fires are raging around Pokhara and there is smog. Helicopters and airplanes do not fly.

I am in touch with the team that is currently in the Base Camp. Yesterday, the members rested and walked around the neighborhood. A Puja consecration ceremony was held at the camp today. Early tomorrow morning, the team under the leadership of Sirdar Lakpa Makalu leaves for the second rotation in the upper camps. According to the plan, tomorrow the climb to C1 (5800), the day after tomorrow - C2 (6500), then another night in C2 and descent down.

Good luck!

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Sergey Avtomonov reports from Nepal:

Greetings from Koniyaki group from Nepal!  We arrived in Lukla today and started our trek. We got up at 4 a.m. to get on the first helicopter. The main team left at dawn. Then we had breakfast, got permits and moved up the beautiful valley towards our lodge. We had lunch and went to the monastery. We go to Namche Bazaar tomorrow.

The 8000 Club guide Viktor Volodin reports from the Everest Base Camp:

I finally had the strength to give information! We, the 8000 Club team, are doing great. We went to 6100, then to the second camp at 6500, spent the night, acclimatized. It wasn't easy, but we coped and today we went down to the base camp, where we were very well received and fed, thanks to Lena Abramova.

 Greetings from the Dhaulagiri Base Camp! Irina Zisman and the Team sends:

And again, greetings to all from the slopes of Dhaulagiri! We made the first rotation at 5700, touched the Mountain. The exit was scheduled for 6.30, everyone lined up as one for the solemn photo of the team. Our Sherpas seemed to be more worried than us, even organized a mini puja before going out. Throwing handfuls of rice, we walked cheerfully to the mountain.

As we moved along the slopes, the fun was replaced by surprise, alertness and, in places, clicked in some places! - how different it is from the Everest, dear to every heart, hung to the centimeter!

The set of 1000 m also made itself felt, the last hours passed in silence, only deep breaths reminded some words not used in decent society.

After 7 hours, the tents finally appeared, fatigue was replaced by the bustle of arranging temporary nests, we discussed the nuances of sensations and conditions, exchanged pills and received a cup of warm sweet water called Black Tea. There was no aperitif at 6.30 pm, the organisms refused everything except painkillers, sleeping bags and soup from the bags.  A windless morning greeted swollen faces with the sun and relative warmth, everyone survived, some even rushed to walk towards the second camp, but they did not walk for long, about 10 minutes.  Hastily pouring into themselves a thick gray soup of positive temperature, they gathered on their way back.

Fragments of fixed ropes were periodically encountered; the ropes cowardly went under the snow and ice. It was especially unpleasant to part with ropes in front of cracks with melted bridges. Here it is necessary to note the heroism of our Sherpas, they just walked and groped for an alternative passage with their feet.

The prospect of beer after the first washing and a delicious lunch on this expedition added coherence and cheerfulness to the team. And after some 3 hours we were at the base camp, surrounded by the care of a Dendy who persistently sent us to wash …

The 8000 Club guide Viktor Volodin reports from the Second Everest Camp:

Good day to all! Today is April 26th and we are at an altitude of 6500, in the Second Camp. As always, we have the best of everything and even at this height there is Internet. And only with us.

Brief news from Dhaulagiri.  Our climbing team, led by Sirdar Lakpa Makalu, left the Dhaulagiri base camp (4700m) at about 6.30 am today for the first camp at 5800 for overnight stay and acclimatization. By lunchtime, according to our cook Dendy, the whole group was already in the first camp. The weather is good. Tomorrow, according to the plan, our group should go down to the base camp for rest.