Peak conquerors

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The most interesting figures of the held "Congress of Climbers" were the Caucasus Mountains children – the only Azerbaijani Everest climber Israfil Ashurly and the Ingush Everest conqueror Leila Albogachiyeva. She got the award of “Everest Climber” and said: “You should go to mountains with good intentions and prayer. I always ask Allah to help me in climbing. The greatest happiness is to be useful for my people.”

Vestnik Kavkaza managed to talk to other climbers at the congress.

Ivan Dusharin, vice president of the Mountaineering Federation of the Russian Federation

-    Please tell us about yourself and your ascents.

-    The first one was Russia's first ascent of Everest in 1992, when we left the Russian flag there for the first time; it was a kind of landmark. Then in 2005, the second ascent took place, and this year, on May 19, I participated in the third one. Any ascent is a piece of life, which leaves you in the mountains, so the feeling related to it is the most favourable. But first and foremost it is big work before feelings. The main thing is work.

-    Do you use Sherpas while climbing?

-    In commercial expeditions – yes, we do, but that’s not me but the organizers of the expeditions sometimes hire Sherpas in order to ease the ascent for the participants. But this is a commercial expedition. In 1992, our expedition was a sporting one, we had no Sherpas. We did all the work by ourselves - hung ropes, applied loads, set up camps, etc. This is the difference between commercial expeditions and sports: athletes do everything themselves, and commercial expeditions use Sherpas for the "unskilled" work.

-    How long does preparation for an ascent usually take?

-    It depends what it is. In principle, it can be a lifetime. It all depends on the kind of climbing, route, altitude, and so on, so it's not a simple question. As for Everest, we must be prepared for it, in principle, in every moment of our life, but the expedition itself lasted about two months.

-    How much time do athletes spend on top of Everest?

-    It all depends on the weather, the mood, the state. Of course, people generally do not want to leave, but there is a goal to come down. Therefore, if the first time we were on top for almost one and a half hours, the last time, on May 19 - it was about 30 minutes.

-    How many oxygen cylinders do you need to rise to the top?

-    It depends on where you start to use oxygen. In conventional expeditions we started to use it at 8000m, in the last expedition - at 7800m. There are no balloons there; you should count the number of litres. So an experienced body needs about six litres to go up and down.

-    Share your opinion about the Congress of Climbers.

-    I think it is, on the one hand, a certain starting point, on the other hand – a fixing point. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest by a Soviet team, and the 20th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest by a Russian team. So this is a landmark year. And this event, the Congress of Climbers – Conquerors of Everest, in my opinion, is a starting point which the Mountaineering Federation of Russia wants to establish and from that moment to award badges for the ascent of Everest to all those who will reach the top of Everest in the future.

Fritz Vridzhlandt, president of the International Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing

-    Tell us about your ascent of Everest.

-    On May 17, 2000, I reached the summit of Everest the day after the Russians had been there. It was a great day at the highest point of the planet. It was wonderful to be there. When you're on the top, you're happy that it is not necessary to go further, you need only go down from there. Only when I reached the camp located below, did I realize that I had done it. I was really very happy.

-    How do you assess Russia and the former Soviet Union in terms of climbing?

-    I think that now for people all over the world it has become much easier to visit the mountains located on the territory of Russia and the former Soviet Union. I am sure that in Azerbaijan there are truly beautiful mountains, and in the future they will attract more tourists and mountaineers.

Maksut Zhumayev, captain of the team of Kazakhstan in mountaineering, the conqueror of all 14 eight-thousanders of the world

-    Please tell us about your ascents of all 14 eight-thousanders.

-    I undertook them as part of the Kazakh national team in mountaineering, and in 2011 the team of Kazakhstan completed the entire program of climbing to the tops of all the world. A year later, last year, I completed the program personally. I trained and climbed like everyone else.

-    How did you start and when did you finish? What was your first eight-thousander?

-    I conquered my first eight-thousander  in 2001, it was Dzhivandzhitu, the smallest eight-thousander. For 10 years and 10 days I conquered all the highest peaks of the world - Dzhivandzhitu, Kanchenjunga, Shishabangma, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Everest – all the 14 peaks.

-    What was the most difficult?

-    For me, K2 is the hardest top. It is the second highest in the world, but it is the hardest by difficulty. In the last year my partner Vasily Pevtsov and I climbed the north ridge without oxygen, like during all the ascents.

-    And did you make the ascent of Everest without oxygen?

-    Yes, of course, without oxygen.

-    And what it was like?

-    It was hard. I felt as if I was run over by a train. Because at those heights going without oxygen with a small period of acclimatization, as we have done, is quite hard. In principle, any climbing is difficult, but there is no serious impact on the health if you are well trained. Therefore, as my coach told me, the more you practice, the better you look in life. So here are the guys who climbed Mount Everest - it's good, I am happy to be here. There are a lot of people with the fifth group of blood - the people in whose veins flows the blood with a love for the mountains, because the mountains for us are our home. No matter who you are - Russian, Kazakh, Armenian. Most importantly, we have one common feature: we love the mountains. This meeting is proof of it.

Viktor Kozlov, head of the expedition of the Russian team in mountaineering

-    Please tell about your team.

-    This is the Russian national team in mountaineering. This team was formed in 1997. In 2001, our team climbed the last eight-thousander - Lhotse peak, 8500m, and Putin awarded us orders for this ascent. Three years later, we prepared for another climb. In 2004, we crossed the north face of Everest for the first time in the world, no one did this except for us; this evening is linked with Everest. Then we again prepared for three years and in 2007 we passed across the western face to the top of K2, 8600m. Then we again prepared three years for this winter and tried to climb to the summit of K2 in winter for the first time in the world. But, unfortunately, at the base camp we lost our comrade, Vitaly Gorelik, and returned to Moscow. Now we will prepare for a second attempt of a winter ascent of K2.

Nikolai Cherni, honoured coach and master of sports in mountaineering

-    Please tell us about the Soviet expedition to Everest in 1982.

-    The most difficult thing was get to this expedition. Now it is impossible to imagine it. It's like a camel slipping through the eye of the needle. All in all, I was in command, but then I was unlucky. We worked there, everything was fine. In the end Vova Shopin and I found ourselves in the last group. The leadership got disturbed: Smyslovsky  had already frozen, Moskalets had already fallen into a crevasse, and they had already decided that enough is enough, and we were not allowed to start off. The feeling of the expedition was quite gloomy. Party groups in Soviet times was a nightmare. Later I was in 8 expeditions to the same area. And, finally, in 2005 and 2009, when I was 66 and 70 years old respectively, I was on Everest as a guide, led clients and had no luck with the weather in general. And this expedition was unfortunate in the sense that the authorities decided that enough is enough.

-    Tell about your feelings on the top.

-    This is space. Almost nine thousand meters. This is space, and you feel joy that you have done it.

Karina Mezova, climber:

-    How did you come to climbing?

-    I am the fifth woman from Russia to visit Everest,. I live in Nalchik, and the first thing I see out of the window in the morning is the main Caucasian ridge. Of course, when you live in such a republic, you cannot help seeking the mountains. In my family, too, my father climbed in his youth. This is some chain of events that led me to climbing. I certainly do not regret it - I'm so glad that I have become a guide in the mountains and mountaineering.

-    Tell us about your climbing Everest.

-    It was half a year ago, in May 2011. I went up in the command of Alexander Abramov. We had 8 people from Russia. The expedition was memorable and very well organized. Those people who ascended with me were absolutely wonderful, each their own sphere, although they were not all mountaineers, just mountain lovers who had such an expensive dream and came to this dream. Therefore, it was a very interesting experience. Thank God I had prepared a long time for this ascent, and I had no health problems. Of course, there is a big load on the body. The whole expedition was quite successful, and, of course, I want to go to the high mountains one more time - maybe not to Everest, but also to some eight-thousanders. When you carry out an ascent at such a high altitude, it starts to pull you over again and again.