James Stone (Clach Liath)

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Two more Volcanic Seven Summits hopefuls

30th December 2018 by James Stone Leave a Comment

Mount Sidley from the air

It’s that time of the year again when various people will be preparing for their expedition to Mount Sidley.  Mount Sidley, by way of reminder, is the highest volcano in Antarctica and therefore one of the Volcanic Seven Summits.

Mount Sidley from the air
Mount Sidley from the air

As I have previously blogged, the Volcanic Seven Summits challenge is becoming more popular and this year’s expedition is likely to see at least two more people complete the challenge.  Up to now Russians and those from predominantly English speaking nations have dominated.

We may now be starting to see a change in this.

The first of the two to whom I refer is Satyarup Siddhanta.  He is a 35 year old Indian who currently lives in Bangalore but is originally from West Bengal.  He is a software engineer.  Satya has been focused on the Volcanic Seven Summits since completing the continental Seven Summits on Mount Vinson in December 2017.  So he has made quick work of the remaining volcanic summits, even climbing Kilimanjaro for a second time in June 2018.

Assuming he summits Sidley he will become the first Indian to complete the Volcanic Seven Summits.  He will also be the youngest person to do the Volcanic Seven Summits/Seven Summits combination, beating Australian Dan Bull.  He will also be only the eighth person to have done the Volcanic Seven Summits together with the Carstenz version of the Seven Summits.

Satyarup Siddhanta on Pico de Orizaba - December 2018
Satyarup Siddhanta on Pico de Orizaba – December 2018 (copyright Satyarup Siddhanta – used with permission)

So much for the stats.  From a UK perspective it is interesting to see how much interest the press in India are taking in Satya’s endeavours.  There is a large degree of national pride which is rarely seen in the UK – or perhaps Satya just has a good PR machine behind him.  But a Google search reveals numerous articles in both national and local press on each climb he undertakes.

His sixth volcano was Pico de Orizaba in Mexico, which he summited earlier this month.  That climb was quite an epic.  Snow conditions on the Jamapa glacier, which covers much of the upper northern reaches of the mountain, were a bit lean.  On the descent rockfall struck him and his guide and his guide broke his pelvis.  Satya escaped with fairly superficial injuries.  A third member of the group was unhurt.

Another interesting fact about Satya is that he was, unwittingly, the centre of a controversy regarding an Everest ascent.  He had shared his Everest summit photos.  During the same 2016 season, a husband and wife (who were also Indian as it happens), claimed an ascent of Everest.  They photoshopped an image of the wife on to Satya’s photo as “evidence” of their ascent.  The husband did the same on someone else’s photo.  The couple were soon rumbled.  Nepal imposed a 10 year ban on climbing on the couple.

The true photo of Satyarup Siddhanta on Everest
The true photo of Satyarup Siddhanta on Everest
The falsified image on Everest
The falsified image on Everest

The second person is Sándor (Sanya) Tóth, a 41 year old Hungarian.  Sanya started out by climbing Kilimanjaro in January 2016 with his sixth volcano being Mount Giluwe in August 2017.  So Sanya is hoping to be the first Hungarian to complete the challenge.

Sanya Tóth on Elbrus - August 2016
Sanya Tóth on Elbrus – August 2016 (copyright Sanya Tóth – used with permission)

Even the Hungarian press is taking some interest in what Sanya is looking to achieve.  Like me he has not attempted the Seven Summits.  He is also not a professional mountaineer.  He is a stonemason by trade and married with kids.

Best of luck to the two of them and the others on the Sidley trip.  The weather in Antarctica has been a little abnormal during the early part of the season.  ALE only managed one flight to and from Union Glacier during two weeks in the middle of this month.  Whilst delays of two or three days are common, this is unusual.  Anyone contemplating journeys into the depths of the continent needs to have flexible arrangements!

High altitude kayaking in the Andes

9th July 2018 by James Stone Leave a Comment

Dan kayaking on Ojos del Salado

Dan kayaking on Ojos del Salado

Ojos del Salado is the highest point on this planet that I have ever reached.  And it will probably remain that way.

It also has the distinction of holding other “high” type records.  For example:

  • It is the highest volcano in the world (and therefore it is the highest of the volcanic seven summits).
  • It is (arguably) the highest active volcano in the world. The most recent known eruption was about 1,300 years ago, with a large margin of uncertainty.  However, there is also some evidence for a minor ash emission in 1993 and there are fumaroles high on the mountain.
  • It stands in the highest desert in the world – the Atacama – probably. Its average elevation in the Altiplano is higher than the Tibetan desert.
  • It is the highest mountain in Chile.
  • It holds the world’s highest lake.  In fact is holds a number of the world’s highest lakes.
  • It has suffered the ignominy of having been the subject of attempts to attain the highest altitude record for a land vehicle. Ojos del Salado is 6893m high.  A Suzuki Samurai 4WD has been to 6688m, a Mercedes truck has been to 6675m and a motorbike has been ridden to 6472m

Oh and it lies in the longest (above water) mountain chain in the world.

In March 2018 another “highest” record was set.  This time it was the highest kayak ever at 5707m.  This achievement was by Australian, Dan Bull, who was on my Sidley expedition.

The previous highest kayak is thought to have been one down parts of the Dudh Kosi river in 1976.  This river is fed by the Khumbu icefall at the foot of Mount Everest in Nepal.  The team there started at around 5500m with ten to 15 fibreglass boats.  Only two of the boats made it to the end.

Dan’s record was achieved over a 2.5km route on one of the lakes nestled on the flanks of the volcano.  It was not even the highest lake.  The ice was too thick on that one.

Even so Dan had to break ice as he paddled to clear a way.  Once done he was able to paddle the whole 2.5 km.  Here are some pics and a video.

Mad! And I understand that he has other plans for a different record on this mountain.

Dan kayaking on Ojos del Salado

Dan kayaking on Ojos del Salado

Dan kayaking on Ojos del Salado

All photos copyright Dan Bull, used with permission

Updated List of Volcanic Seven Summiters

28th June 2017 by James Stone 2 Comments

[Note that the current list can now be found here and for February 2020 can be found here.]

Dan Bull’s recent successful ascent of Ojos del Salado has prompted me to update the list of Volcanic Seven Summiters.

Mount Sidley - volcanic seven summiters

This is an update from the list contained in my blog of 9th November 2016 (see here).  The list is now as follows:

Climber, nationality and age               Date of final summit     Final summit     Date of first summit
at completion

Mario Trimeri (Italy) (58)                            24th January 2011         Mount Sidley       23rd August 2005
Crina Popescu (Romania) (16)                 24th January 2011         Mount Sidley       23rd July 2008
Vyechaslav Adrov (Russia) (50)              18th January 2013          Mount Sidley       8th January 2010
Aleks Abramov (Russia) (47)                    13th September 2013   Mount Giluwe     3rd May 1991
Olga Rumyantseva (Russia) (36)             9th December 2013      Ojos del Salado    14th August 1994
Vitaliy Simonovic (Russia) (42)               19th December 2013   Ojos del Salado   26th February 2012
Sophie Cairns (UK) (32)                            10th June 2014                Elbrus                28th December 2013
Paul Nicholson (Canada) (50)                  5th December 2014     Ojos del Salado   7th August 2005
Liana Chabdarova (Russia) (28)              12th January 2015       Ojos del Salado     29th August 2013
Andrey Filkov (Russia) (49)                      16th September 2015   Damavand             2nd May 2007
James Stone (UK) (59)                              14th January 2017        Mount Sidley       23rd February 2014
Daniel Bull (Australia) (36)                       27thApril 2017             Ojos del Salado       6th March 2006

Mario Trimeri has also completed the seven continental summits (Carstenz version).

Andrey Filkov has completed the seven continental summits (Kosciuszko version).

Aleks Abramov, Vitaliy Simonovic and Dan Bull have completed the seven continental summits (both Carstenz and Kosciuszko versions).

This challenge is clearly becoming more popular.  I have a note of a number of climbers who have ascended six of the seven.  If anyone reading this blog has any further information on those attempting the Volcanic Seven Summits or if corrections to the list of the Volcanic Seven Summiters above are required, please get in touch with me.

A further Volcanic Seven Summiter

30th April 2017 by James Stone Leave a Comment

Congratulations to Dan Bull who has now completed the Volcanic Seven Summits with an ascent of Ojos del Salado on 27th April 2017.  As I understand it, the trip was a bit of an epic.  Dan ended up climbing the mountain solo.  Here is a photo of him at the top!

Dan Bull

Dan, of course, was with me on our Mount Sidley trip. He becomes the 12th person to complete the Volcanic Seven Summits.  He completed the continental seven summits with Mount Vinson shortly before Mount Sidley.  In doing so, he has become the first Australian and the youngest person to achieve both sets of summits.

This is a link to the current list of those who have climbed all of the volcanic seven summits.

Here is a link to Dan’s website:

https://www.unstoppabull.com/

#volcanicsevensummits

Welcome

Thank you for taking the trouble to read this blog.  You can find out more about me by clicking on the “About Me” tab above.

The blog started out just as a mix of mountain climbing and other travel reports interspersed with a few random musings prompted by a trip that I made to Mexico and South America in November and December 2014.  You can find details of that trip using the Tags and the Archive below.

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