The company of 7 peaks. Climbing Everest with the 7 Summits Club

Members 7 Summits Club (7 Summits Club) are climbers who have climbed the highest peaks of all 7 continents. The idea of \u200b\u200bthis project arose in 1981 (naturally, in America), and the first members of the Club appeared in 1985 and 1986 (there are two versions of the list of the 7 highest peaks, more on that below). Today Seven Summits is one of the most popular commercial programs among "climbing collectors": tens of thousands of people are trying to implement it. At the end of 2011, at least according to one version, only 348 climbers managed to do this. In the framework of the 7 Summits program, ascents are usually carried out along the simplest "standard" routes.

7 Summits

So, the 7 highest peaks of all continents are:

1. Everest (Chomolungma), 8848 m. Asia
2. Aconcagua, 6962 m. South America
3. McKinley (Denali), 6194 m. North America
4. Kilimanjaro, 5895 m. Africa
5. Elbrus, 5642 m. Europe
6. Peak Vinson, 4897 m. Antarctica
7a. Carstens pyramid (Punchak Jaya), 4884 m.Australia and Oceania (New Guinea)
7b. Kosciuszko Peak (Kostsyushko), 2228 m. Australia

There is disagreement about Australia's highest point. If we consider only the continent of Australia, it will be the Kostsyushko peak with a height of 2228 m.The highest point of Australia and Oceania (which, in addition to Australia, includes the adjacent islands and archipelagos) will be the highest point of the island of New Guinea - Carstens Pyramid (Punchak Jaya), 4884 m. Therefore, today day there are two versions of the Seven Summits program: with the Kosciuszko peak and with the Carstens pyramid. The main (and more complex) one is the Carstens pyramid program.

Route to Elbrus from the south, through Shelter 11

The route of climbing Elbrus from the North

4897 m Antarctica. Perhaps the most difficult to reach peak of the seven. The Vinson Massif was discovered only in the 50s of the last century during an airplane flight. Unexpectedly, this peak was the highest in Antarctica. Technically, the route is not difficult, but it is extremely difficult and expensive to get to the foot of the mountain, especially since the organization of the ascents is monopolized by the Canadian-English office "Adventure Network". Nevertheless, more than a thousand people have already visited the top of Vinson.

View of Vinson Massif

Carstensz Pyramid (Punchak-Jaya, Carstensz Pyramid), 4884 m. Is located in the Irian Jaya mountains on the island of New Guinea (in its western part, belonging to Indonesia) and is the highest point of Australia and Oceania. The first ascent of Carstens in 1962 was made by the Austrian climber Heinrich Harrer (known to us from the film "7 Years in Tibet"). However, until recently, the peak was little known and this ascent did not arouse much interest. The very ascent to the summit made of limestone is not particularly difficult, the main difficulties are the lack of infrastructure, inaccessibility and a difficult equatorial climate.

Carstensz Pyramid (Punchak-Jaya, Carstensz Pyramid)

Kostsyushko Peak, 2228 m - the highest point in Australia. It is a summit in the ridge of the Snowy Mountains, slightly rising above the neighboring ones. The ascent does not present any technical difficulty.

Kostsyushko Peak ... somewhere there

History of the 7 Summits project

The idea to climb the highest peaks of all continents first occurred to an American millionaire Dick Bass after he climbed McKinley (Denali) - the highest point of America in May 1981. Another millionaire became his partner in the project - Frank Wells... In 1981, they went to Elbrus - organizationally, it turned out to be not difficult, the system of MALs, the harbingers of today's commercial mountaineering, already worked. Only Bass entered the top. The next was Aconcagua, and not the easiest Polish route was chosen (like acclimatization and training before Everest). Once again, only Bass entered the summit. In 1982, Bass and Wells joined Lou Whittaker's expedition, which was planning to traverse the route along the Norton couloir - unfortunately without success.

In 1982, after climbing Everest classically from the south, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe 7 Summits project captured and Patrick Morrow, a professional mountaineer and photographer from Canada. An unspoken competition began.

In September 1983, Bass and Wells visit Kilimanjaro, and a week later, Elbrus. Morrow climbed three peaks from the list in 1983 - Elbrus, Kilimanjaro and Kosciuszko Peak in Australia. Until the completion of the program, he only had Vinson in Antarctica, in those years practically inaccessible to climbers. Bass and Wells managed to organize an expedition to Antarctica at the end of 1983, in which Chris Bonnington and A. Morrow didn't have the $ 200,000 needed to join this expedition. At the end of November, the expedition members managed to get to the summit (), Miura, in addition, went down from the summit on skis. On the way back, Bass and Wells visited Kostsyushko Peak in Australia. Morrow organized an expedition to Antarctica in the winter of 1984-85, but due to bad weather and aircraft breakdowns, they were unable to reach their destination.

On April 30, 1985, Bass still managed to climb Everest from Nepal - thus he became the first member of the 7 Summits club in the "Kostsyushko Peak" variant. Frank Wells never made it to all 7 peaks, in 1994 he died in a plane crash.

Patrick Morrow reached the top of Vinson on November 19, 1985, and he still had Elbrus. He was not satisfied with the role of the second, so he decided to support the idea, which he was actively promoting Reinhold Messner - in the list of 7 Summits there should be the highest point of Australia and Oceania with a height of almost 5 kilometers, and the peak of Kostsyushko, which is not of any climbing interest, with a height of only 2228 m.

Messner at that time (actively trying to become the first climber to climb all 14 eight-thousanders that he managed in 1986) also decided to join the Seven Summits race. He ascended Carstens back in 1971, it was his first peak from the list of 7 Summits. In 1983, Messner ascends Elbrus and Kostsyushko Peak - and he only has the hard-to-reach Vinson, entering which on December 3, 1986, he becomes the 2nd member of the club according to the "Carstens pyramid" version (this option is also called "Messner's List") and 5th - according to the version of "Kostsyushko peak" (Bass's list). Morrow entered Elbrus on August 5, 1986, becoming 1st in the list of "Carstens pyramid" and 3rd in the list of "Kostsyushko peak". Morrow was also the first to enter all 8 highest peaks (this list includes the Karstens pyramid and Kostsyushko peak).

Records

The very format of the Club - "the highest peaks of the world" - involves the pursuit of records and their careful recording. The number of possible nominations "the very first" is almost infinite, but we will list the most significant "records". So:

First woman to complete the 7 Summits Program - Junko Tabei in 1992

In 2007, Austrian Christian Stangl climbed all 7 Summits in the Messner version alone (presumably, without the help of guides - it's hard to imagine a solo Everest along the classic route) and without additional oxygen. However, Messner, Ed Vesturs, and Czech climber Miroslav Kaban also entered Everest without additional oxygen (and on other peaks it is not needed) within the framework of the 7 Summits program.

American Kit DesLauriers in October 2006 not only went to all 7 peaks in the Bass version, but also downed them on skis (as far as possible). A year later, Swedes Olof Sundström and Martin Letzter skied off the Carstens Pyramid, skiing down from all 8 highest peaks.

Lezter with skis under Carstens pyramid. It's not clear where you can go there, but at least I brought it to the top of the ski :)

Age records: On May 17, 2006, Rhys Jones performed the program on his 20th birthday, after that the record was updated almost every year, on December 24, 2011 American Jordan Romero reached all 7 peaks (the last one is Vinson), in aged 15 years 5 months and 12 days.

In January 2010 Spaniard Carlos Soria Fontán entered Kilimanjaro, completing the 7 summits program at the age of 71.

New Zealanders Rob Hall and Gary Bol were the first to enter all 7 peaks during the year, in 2008 the Danish Heinrich Christiansen completed the program in 136 days, in 2010 Vern Tejas improved this achievement by 2 days. Christiansen's schedule was as follows: January 21 Vinson, February 6 Akokagua, February 13 Kotsyushko peak, March 1 Kilimanjaro, March 14 Karstens pyramid, May 8 Elbrus, May 25 Everest and June 5 Denali. The female record of 360 days was established by the Englishwoman Annabel Bond, and in 2013 Vanessa OBrien reached all 7 peaks (including the Carstens pyramid) in 10 months.

How much does it cost?

The 7 Summits Program is one of the popular products of commercial mountain tourism. Moreover, it is almost impossible to organize an ascent to some peaks, for example, Vinson Peak or Carstens pyramid, due to their remoteness and inaccessibility.

For example, the cost of climbing according to the 7 Summits program of one of the Western operators (in $) and one of the Russian (in rubles). Surely you can find prices and cheaper, but these figures give a general idea.

Material prepared: (Leonid Smidovich)

The publication of this material on other resources only with the permission of the site administration.

Everest, the legendary Chomolungma is the dream of any climber, rock climber or extreme. Its height reaches almost 9000 meters above sea level. Climbing Mount Everest requires special training and professional guidance. It is an exciting but, without a doubt, dangerous journey. The fate of many brave people who tried to conquer Chomolungma still remain a mystery to the general public.

The 7 Summits Club offers several Everest climbing programs, which start in April. They differ in the number of groups, the complexity of the route and the duration:

• climbing the North Saddle of Everest (7000 m), travel to Nepal and Tibet. This route is for those who are just starting to improve their experience in the field of mountaineering, rock climbing and travel, designed for 23 days;
• climbing Mount Everest (8 848 m), travel to Nepal and Tibet. An adventure for experienced travelers. The expedition lasts 44 days.

Climbing Everest with the "7 Summits" club is a real exciting journey that will not only help you fulfill your dream and climb to the highest point on Earth, but also get a lot of new, unforgettable impressions. Under the guidance of experienced guides, the members of the expedition visit interesting places in Kathmandu and the legendary ancient capital of Tibet Lhasa, during the route they live in several base camps.

(eng.)russian (1918-1999) conquered the peaks of five parts of the world - Denali (1947), Aconcagua (1949), Kilimanjaro (1950), Kostsyushko (1956) and Mont Blanc (1956). At that time, Mont Blanc was considered the highest peak in Europe. Hackett tried to conquer Mount Vinson and received permission to climb Everest, but due to a number of circumstances (frostbite, lack of funds) this did not happen.

In 1970, a Japanese climber and adventure lover Naomi Uemura became the first to have Everest among the five conquered peaks. He conquered Mont Blanc (1966), Kilimanjaro (1966), Akongaua (1968), Everest (1970, alone) and Denali (1970, alone). In 1978, after a solo expedition to North Pole he planned to conquer Mount Vinson and in preparation for this expedition he made a solo ascent of Denali in 1984, but on the way back went missing after a blizzard.

In 1978, an Italian climber Reinhold Messner first conquered six of the Seven Peaks - Jaya (1971), Aconcagua (1974), McKinley (1976, now Denali), Kilimanjaro (1978) and Everest (1978). On his list, Mount Jaya on the island of Papua New Guinea was considered the highest peak in Australia, but in 1983 he conquered Kostsyushko to meet all the requirements of the conqueror of the highest points of the Earth, and in the same year he climbed Elbrus and named it the highest point in Europe, which quickly accepted among most climbers. After conquering Vinson in 1986, he became the fifth person to complete the Seven Summits program.

Mount Kostsyushko

In 1986, Canadian climber Patrick Morrow became the first conqueror of the Seven Summits from Messner's list (Carstens version): he conquered Denali (1977), Aconcagua (1981), Everest (1982), Kilimanjaro (1983), Kosciushko (1983), Vinson, Elbrus (both in 1985) and Jaya (the Karstens pyramid), with the last peak conquered on May 7, 1986. Morrow also became the first to climb the Seven Summits from lists compiled by both Bass and Messner. In 1990, Rob Hall and Gary Ball were the first to complete the Seven Summits program in seven months, starting the ascent of Everest on May 10, 1990 and ending the program with the conquest of Vinson on December 12, 1990, a few hours before exactly seven months.

In 1992, Junko Tabei became the first woman to complete the Seven Summits program. The first American was Mary Lefever, who conquered Kostsyushko on March 11, 1993 - a little earlier, at the age of 47, she became the oldest woman to conquer Everest. In January 1996, Chris Haver (eng.)russian the first American to conquer all seven peaks on skis. Yasuko Namba became the second of the Japanese women to conquer all the Seven Peaks, but died while descending during snow storm on Everest in May 1996

Climbing Vinson, 2000

As of December 24, 2011, 118 people were named who conquered the Seven Peaks, taking into account both Bass and Messner programs; 231 people completed the Messner program, 234 people completed the Bass program. In total, there were 348 people among the conquerors of the Seven Summits who completed at least one program.

Climbing statistics

Climbing the Seven Summits depends on the list where the Carstens Pyramid, also known as Jaya (list Richard Bass), or Kostsyushko (list Reinhold Messner), but, according to some opinions, the mountain should also be among the conquered peaks Mont Blanc ... By January 2010, 275 climbers have conquered all Seven Summits from the Bass or Messner lists, about 30% of them have conquered all eight summits from both lists.

Records

In 2000, the Croatian completed the Seven Summits program Stipe Bozic ... In 2002, Susan (eng.)russian and the Phil Ershlers were the first couples to complete the Seven Summits program. Reinhold Messner also became the first climber to conquer the Seven Peaks without the use of additional oxygen cylinders on Everest; the second is considered to be Miroslav Chaban (in 2005 he graduated from Carstens); a similar achievement was established by Ed Visturs. In 2002-2007 Austrian Christian Stangl (eng.)russian completed the Seven Summits program on Messner's list without additional oxygen cylinders, alone and with a record ascent time of 58 hours 45 minutes.

On December 16, 2014, the first twin conquerors of the Seven Summits appeared in the world. They were the sisters Tashi and Nungshi Malik ... Colin O'Brady (eng.)russian from January 17 to May 27, 2016, he conquered all seven peaks, starting with Vinson and finishing with Denali - his achievement in 131 days was another record.

The youngest conqueror of the classic Seven Summits and the Volcanic Seven Summits was Australian Daniel Bull (eng.)russian , who achieved it in 2017 at the age of 35 and became the first Australian to do so.

On January 6, 2018, Chris Bombardier, a hemophiliac patient, became the first person with such a disease to climb the Seven Summits on Messner's list - that day he climbed Vinson

Criticism

Negative

Height K2

The writer John Krakauer in 1997 in his book "Into the Thin Air" called quite realizable in comparison with the Seven Summits and a more serious project " Second seven peaks "- conquering the second highest peaks on the continents. The project was not considered seriously until January 2013, as the peaks of Asia (including K2 height 8611 m) require more skill to conquer than Everest, and the factors of altitude (atmospheric density, wind and cold) do not change. It is believed that some of the conquerors of the Seven Peaks are well aware of what the participants in the conquest of the Second Seven Peaks will experience. In the 2000 preface to the book Seven Peaks, Morrow said that the only reason Reinhold Messner didn’t conquer all seven peaks was the fact that he was too carried away. eight-thousanders

Positive

Bill Allen, who has completed the Seven Summits program twice, said that this ascent will never cease to be relevant. All eight-thousanders are in East Asia: Nepal, China, India and Pakistan are in one narrow region, and many ascents are dangerous and sometimes end in the deaths of those who have almost conquered all 14 eight-thousanders. Another problem is considered that although there are 14 main eight-thousanders, there are also sub-peaks with a height of more than 8 thousand meters, as a result of which in 2013 the authorities planned to recognize these additional peaks also officially as eight-thousanders.

see also

Notes

1. 7 POTS: PROJECT AND HISTORY.
2. Alexander Elkov DICK BASS AND THE "SEVEN PEAKS" PROJECT
3. American Alpine Journal : In Memoriam - William D. Hackett, 1918-1999 AAJ 2000, Volume 42, Issue 74, Page 435.
4. abc-of-mountaineering.com "History of the Quest for the Seven Summits (2004)" Archived October 17, 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
5. British Mountaineering Council: "60 years of Seven Summits peak bagging (08/29/2013)" by Lindsay Griffin, thebmc.co.uk, Retrieved 2 January 2015.
6. Naomi Uemura, renowned Japanese adventurer "Archived January 8, 2015, nikon.com, Retrieved January 2, 2015.
7. About gerry roach (unspecified) . climb.mountains.com... - "" After climbing Mount Everest in 1983, he went on to become the second person to climb the highest peak on each of the seven continents in 1985. "". Date of treatment November 2, 2017.
8. Jahoda, Petr (2006). History of 7 Summits project - who was first? ... carstenszpapua.com. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
9. , pp. 44-45.
10. Horn, Robert. No Mountain Too High For Her: Junko Tabei defied Japanese views of women to become an expert climber (eng.) // Sports Illustrated : magazine. - Meredith Corporation (eng.)russian , 1996. - April 29.
11. Mary "Dolly" Lefever (unspecified) ... EverestHistory.com.10 May 1993. Date of treatment June 4, 2013.
12. Balf, Todd Mountaineering: One Per Continent (unspecified) . Outside (May 2, 2004). Date of treatment June 4, 2013.
13. Tharp, Mike... One Skier's Seven Summit Quest (January 29, 1996).
14. NOVA Online | Everest Quest | Newsflash: May 2, 1996 (unspecified) .
15. Harry Kikstra "s 7Summits database at http://www.7summits.com
16. The 7summits statistics: the Carstensz Pyramid list (English)]
17. The full 8 summits list: both CP & K (eng.)
18. The 7summits statistics: the 8 summits: both CP and K (eng.)
19. Stipe Bozic (unspecified) . EverestHistory.com... Retrieved October 10, 2015. Archived September 14, 2015.
20. Ershlers First Couple to Climb the Seven Summits (unspecified) ... International Mountain Guides.
21. History of seven summits (unspecified) ... carstenszpapua.com.
22. Czech climber tops seven summits (unspecified) ... The Prague Post.
23. 58 Stunden, 45 Minuten Archived April 10, 2008. , Süddeutsche Zeitung , 10 December 2007. (German)
24. Fastest Everest climber eats 3, 6000m peaks in 16 hours Archived August 12, 2008. , MountEverest.net, 9 November 2006
25. Youngest ever mountaineer completes seven summit challenge: journal. (unavailable link)
26. Rhys "Everest Adventure (unspecified). - BBC.
27. Riddel, Brad. On Top of the World // Boys "Life (eng.)russian : magazine. - Boy Scouts of America (eng.)russian , 2009. - November. - P. 7.
28. Pete, Thomas... Malibu's Johnny Strange, 17, becomes youngest to bag Seven Summits (June 9, 2009). Retrieved September 26, 2012.
29. Krushnaa Patil: Bio (unspecified) (October 9, 2014). Date of treatment January 29, 2019. Archived June 30, 2018.
30. Supermom wins Seven Summit title (unspecified) .
31. After Everest, Krushnaa Patil sets sight on new peaks - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis (unspecified) (March 8, 2011).