All news

Greetings to all from Ascole from the "Don't even think" team!

Since we left the K2 base camp, our trek has been going through torrential rains every day. But everyone has their advantages: firstly, there is no sweltering heat, and secondly - the mountains surrounding us, wrapped in clouds, look quite gloomy, but no less beautiful.

Yesterday was a long and physically energy—consuming day - we walked 22 km from the Urdukas camp to Paiju. Before reaching a couple of kilometers to the campsite, we made a big halt on the river bank, spread out the mats, lay, chatted, drank tea and looked at the turbulent flow of the dark waters of the river. It was great!

Yesterday we spent the last night in tents, and early this morning we went out towards Ascole. We walked 14 km at a brisk pace in the rain, and then switched to jeeps, which brought us to our destination.

Our caring local partners have sent us the ripest and juiciest mango from Skardu for dinner!!! So today we have a real holiday! Tomorrow we leave for Skardu!

Svetlana Kotlyar and Alexander Spirin were in touch.

Nikita Slotin, super-guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Kyrgyzstan:

Greetings to all from the Lenin Peak base camp from the group "Everything is going according to plan"! On 22.07.23, the group in full force at 13:30 stood on the peak with a height of 7134 meters. For many, this height has become a personal record, at which none of the participants is going to stop! We left Camp 3 at 2:00. An unpleasant wind was blowing, but the sky was starry, it remained to trust our gut and forecast. At 8:00 we climbed the 6800 "knife", the sun came out, and life immediately got better. The wind died down, and we began to roast our carcasses, slowly wandering to the top. The ascent from the Plateau of Parachutists was not easy, especially these takeoffs, behind which, as you think, there should be a peak, and there turns out to be another takeoff. And here it is!!! The summit! And on the descent, a bonus was waiting for us - a climb from the jumper to the third camp, to the long-awaited tents... And today our team is already at the height of 3600 in the bar.

Bad weather has descended on K2 again. Rain in the base camp, snow along the route. The first and second groups are together in Camp-2, and the third remained in the ABC Camp. While waiting for news. There is a very strong company of Sherpas on the route, whose task is to make a route to the top. And it is possible that they will succeed.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Olga Rumyantseva reports from Tanzania:

 The Kilimanjaro climbing program of the “Kiliman 23” team has ended. Yesterday morning we woke up to the sound of rain - the first rain in all seven days of travel. Before that, the weather was perfect. And on the last day, the rain only wetted the road so that it was not very dusty. After breakfast, the traditional farewell ceremony with the team took place. Everyone sang and danced heartily. Many kind words were said. Saying goodbye to those who helped us these seven days, the guys left a lot of clothes, shoes and other things useful in the mountains as a gift.

After twelve kilometers of descent through a beautiful and slightly foggy forest, we came to the gates of the national park, where there was a farewell festive lunch.  At the hotel we continued to celebrate the end of the expedition. All climbers on Kilimanjaro received diplomas and commemorative medals for climbing.

And yesterday I met a new band on Kilimanjaro. Today the Kilimans flew home, a new group, which has no name yet, went on an excursion to the waterfall.

And tomorrow morning we will go on the route.

Today, the final, third group headed by Alexander Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko set off on their way to the summit of K2. They will spend the night in the ABC camp and tomorrow they will presumably go up to camp-2.

The first and second group are in Camp-2. Everything is fine with them, tomorrow they will go to the Camp-3.

Vladimir Kotlyar, high-altitude operator: We are in the second camp, altitude 6550. The weather is bad, for the second day in a row. A lot of snow has fallen. Yesterday there were several avalanches along the route, but we were not hooked, almost. We are idling in a tent, baiting stories. Tomorrow we will make our way to Camp-3.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Andrey Berezin reports from the Elbrus region:

News of the Elbrus region. The group "We don't change habits" is on the top of Elbrus! We did it, no matter what! More precisely, we did it to spite the weather. The forecast promised sunshine and a light breeze, but we got a fog cap and wind gusts of 40 km/h. The result:  only 10 minutes of a photo shoot at the top.

The RD Studio team reports from the base camp: Yesterday, July 21, the second group, consisting of: Maria Oglobleva, Ekaterina Safronova and Bartek. They went out into the rain.  And higher it is already snowing. Bad weather again on K2. The news from the first group is good. They are already in the first camp, the height is 6100 m. They are doing well!  Today, the third group headed by Alexander Abramov is going up.

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

Greetings from the Elbrus region! Today our group in difficult weather conditions made an ascent on Elbrus. We climbed to its Western peak (5642m.).

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Olga Rumyantseva reports from Tanzania:

Hello everyone from Tanzania! Today our team ascended Mount Kilimanjaro. It was not easy, but it left many indelible impressions.

And today we celebrated Andrey's birthday.  It was he who gathered a company of his friends to climb to the top of Africa with them that day.

July 20. All salaam from Pakistan from the participants of the expedition to K2 "High Altitude Gene 2" or briefly GenKa2!  The suspense with the fixed ropes is already pretty boring. Therefore, in the morning we went with Abramov to the camps to talk with the leaders. We had a very productive conversation with Ozzy (an Ecuadorian from SST, we had just been to Makalu with him). As a result, at 14.00 in BC K2, a general meeting of all the leaders was held, at which a new team was assembled for hanging the ropes and the release dates of this team were determined - July 22 so that they would come to the top on July 24.

 Based on this, we have developed our plans.

1. Team 1 - Bogomolov, Moskalev, a high-altitude operator and 3 Sherpas are released on July 20. The peak is July 25.
2. Team 1.1 - The twins and Bartek are released on July 21. The peak is July 25.
3. Team 2 - all others are released on July 22. The summit is scheduled for July 26.

By the evening, the first three were on their way.

 The heads of the expedition to K2 Alex Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko and the expedition doctor Andrey Selivanov are in touch.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Olga Rumyantseva reports from Tanzania:

Day 5. Karanga Camp 3900 - Kosovo Camp 4900.  So the day has come, to which we have been walking for almost a week.  Today we came to the assault camp, from where we plan to climb at night.  The first part of the march from Karanga to the Barafo camp was quite easy.

Here we drank tea and went on.

However, our people, I don't know who, got everything mixed up and first put our tents in the Barafo camp, from where they mostly start to the top. Of course, we were a little surprised, passing by a familiar camp. While we were drinking tea, our home front workers managed to remove the tents set up, take them to the Kosovo camp and set them up for our arrival. And they also met us at the camp again with songs and dances.

After lunch, we sat in the sun, warmed up (and in February it snowed here every time) and had leisurely conversations before going to rest before climbing, the exit for which was scheduled at midnight.

Greetings from Pakistan from the team "Don't even think!", which got its name closer to the end of the program!  We have reached the goal of our incredible trip to Pakistan: we visited the K2 base camp, met with a team of climbers, our favorite leaders — Alex Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko, shook hands with Sergey Bogomolov, for whom we are very sick and worried!

Together with our trekking group, Valdis Pelsh reached the Base Camp and yesterday the RD Studio crew began shooting eyeliners for the film "High Altitude Gene-2"!

The day before yesterday we moved from Concordia Camp to K2 Base Camp, admiring the stunning views of K2 and Broad Peak on the way, from one look at these mighty giants breathtaking!

We were very warmly welcomed at the camp, the evening was soulful: together with a team of climbers, we played guitar and sang songs.  In the morning, the expedition's doctor, Andrey Selivanov, walked with us to the memorial dedicated to those who died on K2 and Broad Peak.

We spent two nights in the camp, had a good night's sleep and rested before returning.

And now we are back at Camp Concordia and tomorrow we will move to Urdukas.

The guides of the 7 Summits Club are Svetlana Kotlyar and Alexander Spirin.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Andrey Berezin reports from the Elbrus region:

News of the Elbrus region. The group "We do not change habits" in preparation for the ascent made an acclimatization rotation to the Pastukhov rocks. The weather in the first half of the day was clear, in places it was even hot on the rise (it was summer after all), after lunch the weather deteriorated, a light snowfall and wind. Today we are resting, preparing for the ascent tomorrow. 

Deputy head of the expedition Lyudmila Korobeshko reports from Pakistan:

All salaam from Pakistan from the participants of the expedition to K2 "Hшпр Altitude Gene 2" or briefly GenKa2!

After breakfast, Alex Abramov arranged oxygen classes. Refreshed our memory of how to use oxygen equipment. And after lunch, the second group of trekkers, led by Sveta Kotlyar and Sasha Spirin, came to visit us. Yead of the RD Studia Valdis Pelsh also arrived with this group. He plans to stay with our expedition and make some live broadcasts for Channel One. The way to us was not easy - 6 long marches under the scorching sun and rains. But the team  overcame it!

In the evening, a "Guitar in a circle" evening was held in a large tent - the trekkers brought with them a guitar bought in Islamabad. We knew that Sveta sings well. But the fact that Dmitry Moskalev has a good voice and a cool repertoire has become a revelation for many.

The heads of the expedition to K2 Alex Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko and the expedition doctor Andrey Selivanov are in touch.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Andrey Berezin reports from the Elbrus region:

News of the Elbrus region. The group "We do not change habits" climbed to the National Park shelter, where it will stay for several days. We went to snow and ice classes, where we mastered the skills of movement in crampons, self-arrest with an ice pick and moving the slope in ropes. Tomorrow we go to the Pastukhov Rocks, we will try a new height.

 The guide of the 7 Summits Club Olga Rumyantseva reports from Tanzania:

Greetings to all from the slopes of Kilimanjaro from the Kiliman 23 group! Today we had a very long day, and a rather difficult march. From the Shira camp, we climbed the Lava Tower, which is located at an altitude of 4600 meters, had lunch, felt the altitude a little and went down to the Baranko camp at an altitude of 3900 meters.

On the way, we admired armfuls of flowers, a carpet of clouds under us and a view of the summit of Kilimanjaro. Fortunately, the weather welcome us with beautiful views, without dragging them into clouds.

And after lunch we went down to the forest of wonderful senecia plants, which impressed everyone. And there was also a view of the Kilimanjaro wall, which impressed no less.

Nikita Slotin, the guide of the 7 Summits Club, reports from Kyrgyzstan:

 Greetings to all from the slopes of the Pamir mountains from the group "Everything is going according to plan"! Today we actively rested. We went for a walk to the lakes, swam and played a little with pebbles, and also fried potatoes... Tomorrow is another day of rest and, according to the plan, on the night of 19-20, we will go to the second camp.

July 12. All salaam from Pakistan from the participants of the expedition to K2 "High Altitude Gene 2" or briefly GenKa2!  The most persistent celebrated the meeting on the Elbe all night - the meeting of our expedition and trekkers. In the morning it snowed again.

The trekkers decided to try to pass through Gondogoro La after all and left our camp at 11 am. And we just got some not very good news from above - our entire Camp-2 was blown away by the wind. 8 tents are missing. 5 seem to have remained. The gas is all gone.

In general, we decided to postpone the exit for one more night. 

 July 13.

Due to the lack of tents, we decided to go out in two groups. The first is 9 participants and 6 Sherpas. This morning, immediately to Camp-1, overnight, then to Camp-2, overnight, then exit to Camp-3 and immediately down. The second group of 3 participants and 2 Sherpas - ABC, C1, C2, down.

 The hurricane raged all night. Our tents were almost torn in the camp. The toilet was torn after all. We got up at 4 in the morning. They tried to put a toilet. In vain. Let's go wake up Vladimir Kotlyar and congratulate him on his birthday. He seemed pleased. At 5 a.m. we went out with a strong wind. By 7 in the morning they came to ABC. We rested a little and went to the first camp. In 4-5 hours we went from 5300 to 6100. There's a problem with places here. There is nowhere to put tents - about 10 tents were barely huddled over the abyss. We were accommodated in 3 tents for 3 participants. And two more Sherpas.

We rest, eat, acclimatize. Tomorrow we will go higher.

 July 14th.

The night in Camp 1 passed quietly. The wind died down. It was even hot. In the morning, everyone woke up long before 7 o'clock - it was at this time that the general rise was planned. We had breakfast and left before 8 am. On the way, we admired the views, who could. The ascent became steeper, there were many rocky areas and mixed. By 11-12 days we came to Camp-2 under the fireplace. It was hardly possible to place 5 tents here. The toilet is a quest again - on a steep slope you have to somehow manage to do something.

After lunch, we decided to make an acclimatization rotation. We climbed 300 meters vertically. On the way, I had to climb the chimney  - everyone was impressed here - 50 meters of almost vertical mixed climbing with flowing ice. But the rest of the route was much simpler and the views are very beautiful - both Gasherbrum, Broad Peak, Masherbrum, Chinese Summits were opened…

We went down to dinnertime to our Camp-2. Having dinner, getting ready for bed at 6600. Tomorrow morning we will go down to the BC to rest and prepare for the decisive assault on the summit.

 July 15th.

We woke up at 6600 in Camp-2, again earlier than planned. At 6 o'clock there was a start according to the plan, but most did not sleep well at this height and at 5 in the morning they were ready to go down. The weather in the morning was not very cloudy and windy.

Around 7 a.m., the descent began. Near the first camp we met our second group with Sergey Bogomolov, Dmitry Moskalev and Volodya Kotlyar. They walked briskly up. By 10 a.m. we were at ABC. We drank tea and rode to the sun for lunch. Kristina was waiting for us here with a film crew, Coca-Cola and - most importantly - with compote!!!

We returned almost whole and healthy.  Only Arno was slightly touched by a stone on the descent, another whistled very close to Daniil, and I managed to fall into a crack not far from BC - I got off with one wet foot!

As it turned out, during the three days of our absence from the camp, the popularity of our expedition doctor Andrei Selivanov increased significantly - a Pakistani princess began to come to his office - that's how we dubbed her. In fact, this is a famous Pakistani climber from the family of a Pakistani government official, Naili Kiani. She has already climbed 8 out of 14 eight-thousand meters. Of the Pakistani ones, only Broad Peak remained to her.  And the next morning news came that rescue work was underway on Broad Peak…

 July 16.

In the morning, everyone slept off after a difficult acclimatization exit. Although the weather forecast was expected to be good, it started raining in the morning. By lunchtime, our second group - Sergey, Dmitry and Vladimir - came down to the camp. The guys worked out their program well and returned satisfied with the results.

After lunch, Alina Pekova came to visit us. This modest girl has gone 5 eight-thousand meters in three months and tomorrow she goes to the sixth - Broad Peak. And then - it looks like K2 and further on all 14. What to say? You can only take off your hat!

A beaming doc came to dinner and boasted that he had just pulled out a tooth of one of the Sherpas, who had been suffering with a bad tooth for a long time. In general, our expedition doctor Andrey is a resuscitator. But here in the camp under K2 he has to face various problems to restore the health of participants in fact of all expeditions:

Yesterday I did a blockade to a Pakistani who fell and got a compression fracture; I was struggling with the asthma of a participant from Estonia who went 4 eight-thousandths without oxygen and now wants to go to K2 without oxygen too…

 July 17.

The morning began at 4.00, when a messenger from the trekking group from the Goro II camp came running and said that oxygen and a doctor were urgently needed, as one of the group was ill. Oxygen was sent urgently, and the doctor came down later.

There was a lot of fuss and commotion, but when mobile communication appeared, it turned out that our group of trekkers was already doing well and they were moving normally to Concordia.

In the afternoon, we held talks with our sirdar about plans for installation of high-altitude camps. So far, the ropes are only up to the Camp-3 (7400 m), plus 8 tents and gas flew away from us in the last bad weather, so it's difficult to plan the upper camps. And according to the forecast, the weather will worsen again soon.

But in the evening, the twin sisters pleased us - they cooked stuffed peppers and mimosa salad!

In touch - the leaders of the expedition to K2 Alex Abramov and Lyudmila Korobeshko.

 Dasha Sivova, guide of the 7 Summits Club:

Already in the capital of Pakistan, we summed up the results of this incredible journey in numbers:

 ⁃ More than 130km has been covered;

 ⁃ Maximum height reached: Gondogoro Pass 5480m;

⁃ Longest crossing of Khuspang-Khushe: 26km.

But the most important thing is the team that has come all this way together!

We discovered the most beautiful places in Pakistan, which took your breath away. We have passed paths that only a few people have walked. Wild and pristine.

Now our team has finally agreed that you need to go trekking to the K2 Base Camp at least once in your life! And this is the most beautiful trekking in the world!

 The group "Me and my young team" led by the highly experienced guide Viktor Volodin entered the walking part of the route on July 6, 2023. First day - transfer to Jula camp (3300 m). The route ran along the Braldu River.

July 7. Transfer to Paiju Camp (3383m). A rocky, sometimes dusty trail rises from the riverbed to the Paiju Glacier. Along the way, there is a view of Paiju Peak (6,600 m) and the Cathedral Towers (6,017 m).

July 8. Exit to the glacier and trek to the Urdukas camp 4050m. The longest march. Rain and lack of visibility prevented seeing the famous Trango and Muztag Towers.

July 9. Trek to the other side of the glacier to the Goro II camp. The weather has improved, some views have opened (Broad Rick, Gasherbrum -IV) M. Goro II is located at an altitude of 4382 m.

July 10. Not a very long walk to the Concordia camp (4600 meters).

July 11. March to the Base camp K2 (5100 m). Meeting with the participants and guides of the expedition on K2.

July 12. Day of rest at Base Camp K2.

July 13. Трек to Ali Camp. At night, exit to the Gondogoro pass (5480 m).

July 14. Descent from the Gondogoro pass. Descent to Huspang.

July 15th. Descent to Saicho, transfer to Skardu. Completion of the trek.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Andrey Berezin reports from the Elbrus region:

 News of the Elbrus region. The group "We do not change habits" began acclimatization on the slopes of Cheget.  We went to the Ai cafe.  We drank mountain tea, ate local hychins and chebureks. We took lots and lots of photos and went down to the hotel. In the afternoon we took the necessary equipment.  Tomorrow we will go to the National Park Refuge, where we will spend three days and continue to acclimatize.