This is a blog that I should have posted a while back. In September two more people completed the V7S. Both climbed Mount Giluwe to achieve this and the ascents were within 8 days of one another.
The first was Fahd Abu Aisha, an Egyptian of Palestinian heritage. He works in the property industry out of London but spends time also in the Gulf.
He has kindly permitted me to use this picture of himself on Giluwe’s summit.
He said “This climb was relatively easier compared to the other volcanoes on the list but getting to the top of this one was the most satisfying”. He has also been raising money for the charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians. His Just Giving page is here for donations – Fahd Abu Aisha is fundraising for Medical Aid for Palestinians (justgiving.com)
He was only the second person to complete the V7S on Giluwe. Although two Africans have previously completed the V7S, Fahd is the first north African.
Hot on his heels was James Allen. He is an Australian resident and also a seven summiter. In addition to his mountaineering, he enjoys other explorations such as diving, yachting, paragliding and rock climbing.
He commented in his Instagram account “I’ve actually enjoyed the volcanic 7 summits way more than the big 7 summits.
“I love the fact that very few people have ever been to these places so they are still relatively raw. I also love the fact that they are volcanoes and the cultures around these active energy sources reflects the power of these mountains.”
Certainly Ojos del Salado, Mount Sidley and Mount Giluwe are significantly less visited than their seven summits counterparts.
As I post this, the 2023 expedition to Mount Sidley has just started. So I am anticipating a further seven V7S completers in the next week or so.
Because the numbers competing are rising seemingly exponentially, I am considering stopping the publication of the list. Any views on this?
In the meantime I set out below the current list of V7S completers:
| Climber, nationality and age at completion | Date of Final Summit | Final summit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mario Trimeri (Italy) (58) | 24th January 2011 | Mount Sidley |
| Crina "Coco" Popescu (Romania) (16) | 24th January 2011 | Mount Sidley | |
| 3. | Viacheslav Adrov (Russia) (52) | 18th January 2013 | Mount Sidley |
| 4. | Aleks Abramov (Russia) (47) | 13th September 2013 | Mount Giluwe |
| 5. | Olga Rumyantseva (Russia) (36) | 9th December 2013 | Ojos del Salado |
| 6. | Vitaliy Simonovic (Russia) (42) | 19th December 2013 | Ojos del Salado |
| 7. | Francois Bernard (Fr) (49) | 17th January 2014 | Mount Sidley |
| 8. | Sophie Cairns (UK) (32) | 10th June 2014 | Elbrus |
| 9. | Paul Nicholson (Canada) (54) | 5th December 2014 | Ojos del Salado |
| 10. | Liana Chabdarova (Russia) (28) | 12th January 2015 | Ojos del Salado |
| 11. | Andrey Filkov (Russia) (49) | 16th September 2015 | Damavand |
| 12. | James Stone (UK) (59) | 14th January 2017 | Mount Sidley |
| 13. | Daniel Bull (Australia) (36) | 27th April 2017 | Ojos del Salado |
| 14. | Katie Sarah (Australia) (49) | 14th January 2018 | Mount Sidley |
| 15. | David Hamilton (UK) (56) | 10th February 2018 | Ojos del Salado |
| 16. | Theodore (Ted) Fairhurst (Canada) (71) | 9th December 2018 | Ojos del Salado |
| 17. | Vladislav Lachkaryev (Russia) (42) | 15th January 2019 | Mount Sidley |
| Satyarup Siddhanta (India) (35) | 15th January 2019 | Mount Sidley | |
| Sándor (Sanya) Tóth (Hungary) (41) | 15th January 2019 | Mount Sidley | |
| 20. | Vaughan de la Harpe (South Africa) (63) | 18th January 2020 | Mount Sidley |
| Arthur Marsden (South Africa) (58) | 18th January 2020 | Mount Sidley | |
| Oleg Mezentsev (Russia) (39) | 18th January 2020 | Mount Sidley | |
| David Roskelley (USA) (51) | 18th January 2020 | Mount Sidley | |
| 24. | Yousef Al Refaie (Kuwait) (24) | 22nd December 2021 | Mount Sidley |
| 25. | Jarryd Commerford (USA/UK/IRE) (35) | 9th January 2022 | Ojos del Salado |
| Robbi Malandreniotis (UK) (44) | 9th January 2022 | Ojos del Salado | |
| 27 | Delia Zanoschi (Romania) (33) | 29th May 2022 | Damavand |
| Iulia Zanoschi (Romania) (33) | 29th May 2022 | Damavand | |
| 29 | Fahd Abu Aisha (Egypt, of Palestinian heritage) (32) | 13th September 2022 | Mount Giluwe |
| 30 | James Allen (Australia/NZ/UK) (49) | 21st September 2022 | Mount Giluwe |
My main Volcanic Seven Summits page is here.
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