And, of course, media representatives were interested in how close to reality what moviegoers would see on the screen. Sergey Bershov said: “I saw the movie in IMAX 3D for the first time and Everest really scared me!”. Sports climbing, however, differs significantly from commercial climbing, which is discussed in the film by Balthasar Kormacur. Told about it Mstislav Gorbenko. “There is an iron climbing rule - after 14.00 you must return back, regardless of whether you climbed to the top or there are 100 meters left to it. By evening, the weather usually deteriorates and you may not have time to return”. In addition, as Sergei Bershov emphasized, “The authors embellished reality quite a bit. Upstairs, people don’t look very nice - they have snot to the knee ... "
Regarding commercial ascents, Ukrainian climbers expressed a somewhat skeptical opinion. True, when the business was just starting, this difference was not so conspicuous. Nowadays, the paths to the top through the icefall (stairs, railings) are maintained by the Nepalese and now instead of $ 100 they take as much as $ 500 from each climber. Sad statistics say that one in four of those who try to storm the top of the world die. Recently, the Japanese paid for the work of 36 Sherpas who cleaned the slopes from the Tibetan side of the corpses. In 2005, the relatives of a deceased Korean paid $360,000 to remove his body from the summit.
The whole problem is that, starting from a height of 7500 meters, the so-called "death zone" begins. At the altitude of flights of supersonic aircraft, a person is not able to stay without oxygen for a long time. Sergey Bershov said that the ascent to Lhotse lasted 8 days (of which 4 were without oxygen) and the not lean short climber lost 15 kg (!). After climbing without oxygen to a height of more than 7500, he had to recover for about a year.
In our time, commercialization, especially from the Chinese side of Everest, has reached the limit - dozens of groups go out on one route, a queue, a crowd is created. And before there was a rule: one route - one group.
Many heroes of the movie "Everest" Mstislav Gorbenko and Sergei Bershov knew personally. According to Bershov, Anatoly Bukreev, who saved people from Rob Hall's group, was a real Russian hero, but, contrary to what was shown in the film, he did not play the harmonica and did not drink whiskey.
Scott Fisher, played by Jake Gyllenhaal in the film, organized the first commercial tours in 1992, four years before the events of the film. “Scott Fisher in the picture is shown not from a very good side. In fact, he was a very strong leader. Even in the mountains, he did not let go of his satellite phone, conducted live reports, searched and found sponsors!"- said Mstislav Gorbenko, who personally knew and was friends with Fischer's families.
Ukrainian climbers agreed that the leader of the group, Rob Hall, died because, contrary to circumstances (a sharp deterioration in the weather), he decided to help his friend Doug Hansen reach the summit ...
Sergei Bershov remarked on this occasion: “Mountains have stood and will stand. Life is one, and you can always return to the mountains!”
Especially for the site Nikolai Lezhnev
In memory of the untimely victims of June 23, 2013 in Pakistan at the hands of terrorists .
Memoirs of the famous Kharkov climber, Honored Master of Sports Sergey Bershov about the Kharkov climbers who died in Pakistan.
We waited for messages from Nanga Parbat every day, but the connection did not work so well, and there was no time for the guys - there was a routine expeditionary work: processing the route, setting up camps. Nanga Parbat is a serious mountain, albeit “low” - 8.125 m. But the third among the eight-thousanders in terms of the number of accidents. From it, if you remember, in 1895 the assault on the eight-thousander peaks began, it began tragically - the Englishman Mammory and his Sherpa companions did not return from the ascent. The tragedies continued, and when the German, Austrian climbers set a goal to climb Nanga Parbat. 1934 - 9 people died, 1938 - 16. "Bloody Nanga Parbat", "mountain of horrors" - that's what it was called. But those horrors, tragedies, victims were the result of the machinations of the elements: avalanches, rockfalls, and, perhaps, insufficient high-altitude experience. Nanga Parbat became a truly bloody, truly a mountain of horrors on the night of June 23rd.
But what about the mountain? She is not to blame for anything. It, like all mountains, offers climbers only a fair fight. Here are my glaciers, walls, takeoffs, couloirs. Here are thunderstorms, avalanches, hurricane winds. Overcome everything, prove that you are worthy of me!
Mountains have always been a territory of freedom, pure and kind relations. They fled there “from insults and longing” of the vain plain: to recharge with positive emotions, to put their soul and thoughts in order. I do not want to say that the world has turned upside down, but the symptoms are becoming more and more obvious.
The tragedy near Nanga Parbat is one of such wake-up calls: world, come to your senses! Our guys were shot in the mountains. And when people are blown up or shot in cities, isn't that just as low and vile? Who is being avenged?
A couple of days before the tragedy, Igor wrote: “Everyone is in excellent mood and well-being. It's up to the weather." He was looking forward to: "There is another month of work ahead ...". And the clock was already counting, and the weather did not matter ... He thought about the railing to the second camp, and twelve (or how many of them there were) dirty scumbags were already preparing their machine guns for execution. They made their way to the camp at night, pulled sleepy, unarmed, uncomprehending people out of sleeping bags ... Probably, all this horror seemed like a terrible dream to the guys. But the nightmare was real. Shots rang out. Ten people: Ukrainians, Slovaks, Chinese, Lithuanian, American, Pakistani, Nepalese - fell asleep forever.
This is not the first time terrorists have used athletes as a convenient target. Sports are popular in the world, the achievements of athletes are admired, they are always in the spotlight. The militants only need this - to make the world shudder. So it was in Munich in September 1972. The doors of the headquarters of the Israeli Olympic team were not locked when Palestinian militants burst in at half past four in the morning. The terrorists then killed 11 people.
So it was in April of this year in American Boston, when explosions thundered at the finish line of the marathon race. Three dead, 250 wounded - this is the result.
So it was on June 23 in Pakistan. When the first messages came, very vague, non-specific, we were alarmed. The following information, indicating the location: the Nanga Parbata area, excited me even more: if only it wasn’t this! Especially since the number was 10 killed. And we have just ten people on the expedition. It could also be so - some have come from the route, others have not yet left, all together discussing further actions. And everyone spends the night in the camp. Ten of us could get into that wild slaughter. Even though it didn't happen! But when the message came with the names, it's beyond words.
WITH Igor Svergun for 23 years (!) we were a bunch. Climbers do not need to explain how people grow together in souls, constantly trusting each other own life on ascents. I knew him as a student, a promising climber. Svergun then already began to participate in the championships of the USSR. Together with Viktor Goloshchapov, they showed themselves very well in the snow and ice class. Well, then, when I invited him to be selected for the national team of trade unions - before climbing the eight-thousander Lhotse, we already got to know each other better. He took part as a candidate, I as a coach. In the Crimea, we also trained in Kharkov - general physical training, special technical training. They came to the Caucasus before the start of the general training camp, acclimatized, ran races on the slopes of Elbrus. Having experience in selections for two Soviet Himalayan expeditions to Everest and Kanchenjunga, I trained the guys according to the same system. Igor Svergun, Gena Kopeyka, Vitya Pastukh, Lesha Makarov successfully passed all the severe qualifying tests. No one played along with them - I just shared the training system. It was there that Igor and I got to know each other for real. What made him stand out? Well, firstly, he was the youngest - 24 years old. Like me once, I was also engaged in mountaineering and rock climbing, and this always gives a head start on climbing. He stood out for his purposefulness. He also played the guitar, knew many beautiful songs - climbers, bards, folk. And the guitarist is always the soul of the company.
Igor came to mountaineering from tourism, which he became interested in as a schoolboy. He had an excellent mentor - physical education teacher Georgy Kupriyanovich Kardash, about whom he always spoke with great warmth and gratitude. The first trips, love for travel, for the mountains - all this is from Georgy Kupriyanovich. The guy had no character, he wanted to be the first, to achieve more. When we had already become a bunch (and on a bivouac, in a tent, whatever the partners talked about), we found that our motivation for mountaineering was exactly the same: “I like it, I want to climb the highest and most beautiful mountains”!
I talk a lot about Igor and with pleasure in my book “The South Face of Lhotse”. By the way, Igor was very proud of climbing this wall of the 21st century (and we climbed it in 1991), he always started the list of his climbing achievements with it. I recall an episode that, in my opinion, exhaustively characterizes my friend as a Climber and a Man with a capital letter. In 1992, Igor participated (without me) in the Ukrainian expedition to Everest organized by Mikhail Turkevich. The team is strong, but not in the best shape. Due to financial problems, they could not even hold an acclimatization camp on Elbrus. Of all the participants, only Svergun was prepared to climb the South-Western Face. On the eve of the expedition, we walked a lot in the Caucasus, then climbed the Pobeda peak in the Tien Shan, Mont Blanc in the Alps. “You not only can, you are obliged to ascend!”, I admonished my friend, seeing him off to the Himalayas. But at the decisive moment there was no partner with whom he could climb the Mountain.
Together with Vitya Pastukh from Kharkov and Volodya Gonchar from Donetsk, they made an attempt to climb to the top from the mark of 8.400m. Alas, insufficient acclimatization affected. Victor froze his legs, Volodya developed pneumonia. The guys went down. And Igor decided to spend the night in the tent they found (there was a cylinder with oxygen) in order to try to climb the next day. Here is how he himself recalled it: “I wrapped myself in a sleeping bag, discovered oxygen without a mask, just like that, by gravity. And fell asleep under the light hiss of oxygen. As it turned out later, he slept for almost 20 hours. The sun was at its zenith, it was necessary to decide where to go. Of course, up. After all, the expedition was about to end, and I most likely would not have had another opportunity to visit Everest. Reached the South Summit. Under it, I ran into a snow cornice with a drift of up to two meters. I knew that it was forty minutes to the Main Street. In addition, ropes left by someone hung from it. But I missed some ten meters. I had to traverse the slope towards the Main Peak, and already in the dark I ran into a place from which I could not move up, down, or to the sides. At some point, it just became scary: I was alone, in the dark, without insurance. Coordination was broken, I could not determine the steepness of the slope. But nevertheless, he somehow trampled down the platform and began to wait for dawn ... ”But even before sunrise, he found his tracks, walked along them to the tent, and turned down in the morning. And in the base camp they decided that he climbed the Glavnaya. From the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada, it was solemnly announced to the whole of Ukraine that Svergun from Kharkov had ascended Everest. Igor came to the camp and said: "No, I have not been to the Main Peak." Gentleman! They say to him: “Well, who pulled you by the tongue? I would say that I was! Igor answered: “But I wasn’t there!”.
We climbed Everest together in 2005. We could have visited earlier, in 1999. But then a tragedy happened, Vasya Kopytko died, and Volodya Gorbach survived only thanks to the dedication of Igor Svergun, Kolya Goryunov, Sergey Kovalev, all our guys, Sherpas and climbers from different countries who fought on the mountain for his life.
They said: "Svergun is lucky." Indeed, he was chosen from such alterations! Everest in 1992. On Hidden Peak in 2007, when we were waiting for the weather for a long time, we finally got it, and then, 150 meters from the top, a Czech climber fell off and miraculously did not break Igor. I, coming out from behind the bend, see how the Czech rolls a kilometer down the slope and flies away along the couloir. People - and there were enough people on the mountain, there were several expeditions from different countries, they saw him off with their eyes, and went their own way to the top. Two Czechs, his friends, say: we are down. Svergun and I looked at each other and also turned. What is there to ponder here? If the guy is alive, we need our help. The Czechs will not do anything together ... When they went down, he was already lifeless. They did not say that Igor could be next to him. We thought about whether to go up the mountain again or not. We are acclimatized, the form is the best. Tents, equipment - everything is on the mountain. But we decided not to tempt fate. For such cases, we have derived a formula: "Mountains have stood and will stand, and we will return to them again." The ability to turn in time is real professionalism.
Igor set a goal for himself: to become a high-class, successful, sought-after mountain guide - and he did. He learned English, graduated from the Kharkov Academy of Physical Education with a degree in Olympic and professional sports. I could not live without mountains, without traveling. Loved it. He, like me, did not work, but did what he loved. Very professional, thoughtful, with an emphasis on safety. How many times on the same Elbrus we turned clients down without saying a word, understanding each other from a half-glance. Nothing surprising. When you walk in a bundle for 23 years, decisions are made the same without any words. Just as we did without words for a long time, insuring each other. You're just sure - it can't be more reliable.
Below, in Kharkov, everyone was taken prisoner by family, friends, business. Maybe in Lately we didn’t communicate as often as before, but if we don’t see each other for a week, we don’t hear each other, something is already wrong. Igor laughed: “Fir-trees, sticks, in the mountains we eat from one bowl for months, sleep in the same tent, and returned home - and as if in different cities.” No wonder, we belonged to different generations, each with his own social circle, interests, concerns. But in the mountains, the age limit disappeared.
In general, it is so important and significant when there is a person with whom you go and will go to the mountains. On whom you can always rely. If this person leaves, there is such a gap, such an emptiness...
Dima Konyaev and Badavi Kashaeva I knew less, of course. I met Badavi a few years ago. He came to train - just for himself, to be in shape - on the basis of our department at the Academy of Physical Education. He ran, “swinged”, then went to the bathhouse. Once I asked one of the employees of the department to introduce Bershov. We met and Badawi said: “I want to do mountaineering.” He was then forty-nine years old, but he very purposefully began to study. For the first time I could not go to the Caucasus with me, I went with Igor. Not too successfully, Elbrus did not manage to climb. But this did not repel Badawi, he continued to engage in mountaineering very seriously. As I understand it, he treated everything in life thoroughly. This approach always brings results. In mountaineering, successes also appeared very quickly. He studied with experienced instructors, traveled with them to the Crimea. Physical training pulled up, technical. I traveled with Igor to the Himalayas, to America, to the Pamirs, Tien Shan. It was understood as seven-thousanders: Communism Peak, Korzhenevskaya Peak, Khan-Tengri ... His friend, whose health does not allow him to go to the mountains, says that Badavi "fell in love" with the mountains too. He just lived with them. Badavi and I climbed Elbrus, walked around Kailash in Tibet. A month ago we returned from Nepal, where we were at Island Peak, Amadablam. He was preparing very seriously for the ascent of Nanga Parbat. Although I was on Elbrus in winter, I went to the Himalayas in order to properly acclimatize before the eight-thousander. He consulted on many issues with Igor, with me. He approached everything very correctly and seriously - he was a real climber.
Dima Konyaev also came to mountaineering as an accomplished person. Before that, there were trips to various interesting points on our planet - to the Alps, to America. And then my godson Seryozha Antipov introduced us. Dima climbed Elbrus with us, traveled with Igor to the Himalayas, to South America ... A very interesting, deep, versatile person.
I can’t believe that when I saw the guys off to Pakistan in early June, I said goodbye to them forever. Although Igor and I are partners, we did not always travel together. That something did not let him, then me. For example, I did not go to Nanga Parbat, because the expedition is expensive. I was on this mountain 16 years ago, I didn’t want to beat the thresholds of sponsors for the sake of the peak, which I had already climbed. We said goodbye very casually. Like hundreds of times before. I wished for the mountains, said the traditional: "Be careful." Here after all speak, do not speak. But I was confident in Igor. I have a head on my shoulders, the ability to leave in time in case of serious danger has been tested by years of climbing. This skill was passed on to us by our senior comrades; it always works in the mountains. Rather, it worked. Until June 23rd.
Igor's son, Yegor Svergun, turned thirteen on June 26. The son of Dima Konyaev is two years old, his daughter is seven. Badawi's son Arthur is twenty-six. Who is responsible for the fact that they were left without fathers? Mothers lost sons? Wives become widows?
I try again and again to imagine that terrible night. What did they feel, standing, unarmed, under the guns of the insane Taliban? And I can't!
There is no and cannot be justification for terrorism. No "high" goals can justify meanness, cruelty, fanaticism!
Alexandra PARAKHONYA, especially for the Jewish Observer | Number: January 2012Our today's guest Sergey BERSHOV is an extraordinary person. An outstanding athlete, he occupies a high place in the ranking table of world mountaineering - as a climber, in conjunction with the Russian Vladimir Karataev, overcame in 1990 the South Face of the Lhotse eight-thousander, which was considered impassable, as a member of the first Soviet Himalayan expedition in 1982, in which, together with a partner in a bunch Mikhail Turkevich, helping his comrades, made a night ascent to the high-altitude pole of the planet Everest (we add that Sergey Bershov climbed the mark twice more - in 2000 and 2005).
Our interlocutor has made many successful ascents to other highest mountains of the planet. Honored Master of Sports, Honored Coach of Ukraine, repeated champion and prize-winner of the USSR and Ukraine championships in mountaineering and rock climbing. In his not so small almost 65 years, he does not think to rest on his laurels. He trains and trains others, goes to the mountains both as an active athlete and as a guide, teaches. Sergei Igorevich lives and works in Kharkov. He is an associate professor at Kharkov State Academy physical education. For sports achievements he was awarded four orders. Honorary citizen of Kharkov. Wife Tatyana Arkadyevna is a chemical engineer, master of sports in mountaineering and a candidate master in rock climbing. Son Oleg and daughters Marina and Anastasia already have families of their own.
- Sergey, you have been going to the mountains for more than forty years, are you tired?
- You know, there is such a joke: if you want not to work all your life, but to have fun, do what you love. Mountaineering has been my main profession for many years, my favorite thing, which I do with pleasure and which never gets bored, gives wonderful emotions and incredible impressions. For example, Igor Svergun and my regular partner in a bunch have been taking those who wish to Elbrus for seven years now. When people far from mountaineering come to us, they do not believe that they will be able to climb. Standing at the top, they also do not believe that this is not a dream. I did not count how many times I was at the highest point in Europe. In some years - four or five times. And every time I go with pleasure. Not only because Elbrus is a springboard for preparing for high-altitude ascents. These are fantastic colors, indescribable sensations. I have already observed the astronomical miracle at the top several times. On the one hand, the sun rises, on the other, the full moon hangs in the sky of the departing night. The sunrise is blazing, two luminous disks in the sky, and between them you and the mountain. On Elbrus, when the weather and visibility are good, it's a holiday. The most beautiful mountains that attract climbers: Ushba, Shkhelda, Chatyn - right in front of you, it seems that you can reach out with your hand. You know them all, remember the routes that you walked. You recognize fireplaces, corridors, bastions. The mountains of Pyatigorye, the Bezengi wall are visible. When there is no haze, even Kazbek is visible - exactly the same as on a cigarette box from my childhood. When I first stumbled upon him, I didn't even believe it. What I have never seen from the tops of Elbrus is the seas, although they say that even two can be seen from there - the Caspian and the Black. I don't know, maybe just bad luck. Maybe I'll see it again.
– This May marks the 30th anniversary of your sensational night ascent to the highest pole of the planet, Everest, with Mikhail Turkevich. In total, you rose to the highest mark three times, and the last time - at 58 years old. Which of the ascents to the main peak of the Earth was the most memorable for you?
- Each in its own way is interesting and unforgettable. Because, just as it is impossible to enter the same river twice, each ascent, even to the same mountain, is not like the previous ones. The weather, the state of mind, the group with which you climb - everything is different ... But, of course, the ascent of 1982 left a special mark on the soul. This was the first Soviet Himalayan expedition. We did not know what awaits us at altitudes over 8 thousand meters, in the so-called death zone, where there is no longer anything alive, where the body is not able to recover ...
Climbing through the eye of the most difficult selections and ending up in the Himalayas, realizing the dream of several generations of Soviet climbers about a high-altitude pole was a great happiness. Since the beginning of the fifties of the last century, the main events of world mountaineering have been taking place in the Himalayas, the Karakoram. But for domestic climbers, the highest mountains have long remained a closed book. We knew that we were in no way inferior to our foreign colleagues, we went with them both in our mountains and abroad. But not on the eight-thousanders! The authors of the main world achievements in mountaineering were others. We could only dream of getting there. In the late fifties, a Soviet-Chinese expedition to Everest was being prepared from the Tibetan side. A team was created, ours went to China for reconnaissance, but ... That expedition was not destined to take place. When it was our turn in 1982, everyone understood that it was necessary to declare oneself in the Himalayas clearly and convincingly. An ordinary route to Everest (the so-called classic), any already worn or even new, but not amazing, was not suitable here. It was necessary to choose a path that would lead the Soviet team to the top of not only the highest mountain in the world, but also world mountaineering. This was chosen - unique, complex. By the way, the path we traveled along the buttress of the South-Western wall with access to the Western ridge has not been repeated by anyone. But 30 years have passed!
Later, Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary would say: "Your climbers are a discovery for the Himalayas." And the Himalayas have become a discovery for us. Surely the magic of these grandiose mountains is felt by everyone who is lucky enough to approach their foot. I was simply stunned, although by that time I had visited not only the Caucasus, the Pamirs, the Tien Shan, but also the Alps and the Cordillera. Previously, I saw this cosmos of mountains shining with incredible colors only on the canvases of Nicholas Roerich. In nature, the Himalayas are even more beautiful. The most amazing thing is that the resources of the soul are opened there, which you did not suspect about. Maybe because we are closer to God there? Or is it all about higher levels of solar radiation, cosmic radiation? scientific fact: in the highlands there is a strong restructuring of the body. The level of hemoglobin in the blood rises sharply, all vital forces are mobilized. Perhaps the sensations associated with this set up a special perception of the world. They create a joyful emotional background.
- Which of your ascents are you most proud of? 
“Proud” is perhaps too strong a word. I am glad that I was lucky to participate - it would be more correct that way. If we take the Himalayan ascents, then this is, first of all, the ascent of Lhotse along the South Face. This three-kilometer wall was back in the late eighties by the legendary Reinhold Messner, who was the first to climb all 14 highest mountains world, called the wall of the XXI century. And we climbed it in 1990 - Kharkiv, Muscovites, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Siberians, Rostov residents ... It was a unique ascent - in terms of a set of difficulties, the prohibitive complexity of the route. Even against the background of the two previous Soviet Himalayan expeditions - to Everest and Kanchenjunga, also record-breaking in terms of difficulty, sensational. All three of these ascents are history. But also modernity - after all, no one has yet passed our routes.
Mountaineering is not only mountains, but also people. human relations are not simple, problem-free. Moreover, any ascent is a difficult job associated with risk, huge, sometimes prohibitive loads in conditions of oxygen starvation, low temperatures, hurricane winds. How do you manage to keep a human face? Are there such concepts in mountaineering as, for example, nationalism or xenophobia?
- Never! In any case, in my 48 years spent in the mountains, I have not come across anything like this in my environment. In general, I think, such phenomena sprout against the background of some kind of uterine inferiority, mental insufficiency. This does not happen in the mountains. On the ascent, when your life (and this is not a metaphor, but an everyday reality) is in the hands of a comrade who insures you, his human and climbing reliability is important, and not nationality, skin color or nose shape. Climbing, like any work at the limit of the possible, cleanses the soul and relationships. In war, didn't people take risks to save others? How many examples of high dedication history knows! And the righteous of the world? They risked themselves, their children, saving Jewish children...
Another important point. Kharkiv, which has long become my home, is an international, intelligent city that works hard and hard. In its atmosphere, germs of nationalism, xenophobia and other shameful phenomena for civilized people do not survive. So, not only in our very large mountaineering and tourist company, but also in other formal and informal communities, Kharkiv residents of any nationality feel like their own, not strangers.
– How did a boy from the quiet plains of Merefa end up in mountaineering, from whom did he receive such a serious moral charge of inner intelligence?
- At the start of life, when you want everything at once, it is very important whose opinion becomes decisive for you, according to whom you compare thoughts and actions. For me, at sixteen, the main authority was my first teacher in mountaineering, Volodya Poberezovsky, a Jew who lives today in distant Australia. Lucky case? Fate? In general, I was lucky to meet a person who was not only 100% reliable, decent, intelligent, but also wanted to make us factory boys like that. At the Kharkov “box” (“mailboxes” in Soviet times were called enterprises of the military-industrial complex) - a branch of the Moscow Experimental Design Bureau of Automation, the future coach and I came almost at the same time. Only I - after the seventh grade, a student of an electrician, and Vladimir Poberezovsky - a young specialist after graduating from a polytechnic institute. If not for this meeting, the Himalayas and the Karakorum, the Caucasus and the Tien Shan, the Pamirs and the Cordillera would have remained just brown spots on the map for me. Who knows what spots in the biography could turn out to be the lack of guidelines that Poberezovsky gave. Fortunately, our paths crossed. At the suggestion of Wil, as the climbers called our coach, many of the guys with whom they started together fell in love with the mountains for life.
I still feel the most powerful charge received from Poberezovsky. Veil very well introduced us, factory first years, into the world of mountaineering and rock climbing. To the world in general. Because besides mountains, rocks, ascents, competitions and training, Poberezovsky had a lot of interesting things in his life - work, friends, books. “How, you didn’t read Hemingway (Jack London, Strugatsky)?” – a phrase thrown in passing made them rush to the library, lean on textbooks at night school. It was embarrassing to get bad grades, because mountaineering is a sport of intellectuals. From Vila, we adopted an attitude towards life and towards people. Learned not to hide behind other people's backs. They comprehended the laws of partnership, where there is no place for rudeness, national hatred. Even today, Wil and I communicate via Skype, discuss Kharkov, family and world news, mountaineering problems.
– In your books and interviews, you claim that mountaineering is not even a wonderful sport, but the whole world, the inhabitants of which have to endure a lot, overcome, take risks for the sake of incomparable impressions and emotions. But does he have a future? For almost 60 years that have passed since the ascent to the main height of the Earth, climbers have visited all the highest mountains.
- And how many peaks on the planet, even if not eight-thousanders, on which no human foot has set foot? How many magnificent walls that amaze the imagination with their complexity and beauty? How many new opportunities open up for climbers modern technologies– we, who went on our first ascents in tarpaulin windbreakers and pood, iron-studded boots, could not even dream of today's level of equipment. Today's mountaineering is developing very interestingly. New species are budding from it - this is rock climbing, which in the coming years will become olympic view, and high-mountain races, and ascents, the final stage of which is paragliding or descending from the top on alpine skis or a board ... The list of “branches” can be continued for a long time. But “pure” mountaineering will not end as long as mountains stand on the ground, new generations come to their feet. After all, the same Everest did not become lower, and climbing it is easier because many can already say: “I was there!”
- Excuse the tactlessness, isn't it hard to climb peaks at the age of 65, which not every young person can overcome? What are you doing for this?
- Firstly, I don’t think about age, I don’t notice it. Being a happy grandfather of five grandchildren, I don’t feel like a grandfather (in the sense of an old man). I'm leading healthy lifestyle life, I regularly train so that climbing is not a burden, but a joy. Because if it becomes hard, unhappy, then it's time to leave. And I'm not going to say goodbye to the mountains yet. I take an example from my teacher, Honored Master of Sports, Honored Trainer, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Vladimir Dmitrievich Monogarov, who at 85 remains an active athlete and celebrates every birthday by climbing Elbrus. Trains three times a week. I have more loads - daily workouts for 2-3-4 hours. These are cross-country skis, football, a pool, a bicycle, snow will fall - I will get up on skis ...
Just don't think, please, that mountain climbing is the only light in my window. You know, when you stand at the top, especially if it is the top of an eight-thousander, mountains stretch in all directions, as far as the eye can see. It seems that the whole world is ridges covered with eternal snow and nothing else. But we know that this is not so. There, further - the seas and oceans, forests and gardens, beautiful cities ... That's how it is in my life. Mountaineering is a favorite thing, a profession, but besides it, there is family and friends, songs and books, theaters and exhibitions. All this is also very interesting and valuable to me. All this is my life.
The photographs from the archive of the expedition "Kuban - Everest 2000", provided by Sergey Bershov, were used in the preparation of the material. The photograph of Lhotse was presented to Sergei Bershov by Mikhail Turkevich.
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Sergei Igorevich Bershov. ZMS, MSMK, Kharkov. |
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Sergey Bershov (S.B.)- I think that the route we laid in 82 is the most difficult of the routes to Everest. It has not yet been repeated, although one attempt, as far as I know, was made. It has long sections of five-climbing at altitudes above 8000 m. Not every team can do this. Then, in 1982, we had a task: to pass a route that would become a milestone in the history of the development of Everest. Now, almost twenty years later, we can confidently say: we succeeded!
As for this year's climb... You know, we climbed one of the two "classic" marches.
ruts, which, apparently, now, after inflating prices for permits by Nepal, will become the most visited. Technically, this route is undoubtedly easier, but climbing any route on Everest is a serious test.
V.B.- Simultaneously with the Kuban expedition, in which you took part, the Moscow expedition worked on the same route. Twelve people climbed the summit among Kubans, only one among Muscovites. Although the Moscow expedition included strong and fairly eminent climbers. What do you think is the reason for such a significant difference in results?
S.B.- I do not undertake to comment on the results of the expedition, in which I did not take part. And can it be considered an "unsuccessful" expedition, where one participant ascended to the top, where all the climbers returned home safely? In the work of the "Kuban" expedition, the experience accumulated in the process of organization and work of the "Soviet" Himalayan expeditions was applied. I. Aristov managed to create a real team, where each climber was ready to participate in collective (!) work to achieve a common goal. I hope my Himalayan experience was also useful. During the ascent, we worked on the Mountain in fours, together, without dispersing along the route, without replacing the work of the team with the parallel work of climbers - individuals. Well, the qualifications of all team members, their level of physical fitness were sufficient to work on such a route. The schedule of preparatory activities was correctly drawn up. Preparations for the expedition lasted more than a year. During this time, four training camps in the mountains of the Caucasus, undoubtedly, contributed to the successful ascent. In short, the achievement of the summit of Everest by all the participants of the Krasnodar expedition is the result of a responsible attitude towards the work of qualified climbers.
V.B.- What do you think, did the "oxygen" ascents on the "eight-thousanders" pass into the category, relatively speaking, "training", at the appropriate level, of course?
S.B.- No I do not think so. The difficulties that the climber overcomes on the way to the top of the big Mountain are not limited to the rarefied atmosphere. Moreover, any climber on such a route should be prepared for the fact that oxygen will simply run out. Yes, oxygen-free climbs are more valued from a sporting point of view. But this does not mean at all that all climbers should set themselves such a goal. Of course, there are climbers who, due to the physiological characteristics of their body (reinforced by training!), are able to work productively for quite a long time at altitudes of more than 8000m without an oxygen mask. They can set themselves such a goal - oxygen-free ascent, because the risk of "health failure" is minimized. For others, this is contraindicated - the risk is great, since the body's resources are limited. I do not call for artificially slowing down the sports growth of climbers by forcibly giving everyone a mask. I just think that a climber should know exactly how much nature has given him, how close is the line beyond which - loss of control over the situation. I personally know that for long-term work at extreme altitudes above 8200m, I should insure myself with oxygen. I'm not afraid of losing my "nipples" on the Mountain (in 1990, on Lhotse, in the immediate vicinity of the summit, I managed without oxygen for 4 days), but I won't go without oxygen without special need. And I'm not planning on it. I am not a kamikaze. If I were asked how, ideally, one should prepare for an oxygen-free ascent of a "big", above 8500m, "eight-thousander", I would answer: the experience of climbing the "seven-thousanders", the experience of climbing the "small eight-thousander", the experience of climbing to the top above 8500m with oxygen, oxygen-free ascent.
V.B.- In 82, you became the 116th person to climb Everest. It was the twenty-ninth year of the "era of man" on Everest. Over the next eighteen years, by 2000, the number of people who climbed to the highest point on the planet exceeded five hundred. What is this - an indicator of the growth of the level of climbers? Or the consequences of the commercialization of climbing "eight-thousanders"?
S.B.- As far as I know, the number of people who have climbed Everest has already exceeded a thousand. I won't talk about attraction. The third pole - the climbing audience is already clear. By the way, the number of people who have visited any other "eight-thousander" is significantly less. As for the increase in the number of climbers rushing to the top of Everest ... I think, first of all, the point is that some psychological barriers have been broken. The climbing community is accustomed to the idea that the summit of Everest is achievable. Well, the level of ascending, of course, has grown. The equipment has changed a lot. In 1982, we didn't know what "gortex" was, plastic boots were a novelty... And commercialization... The emergence of an infrastructure for organizing ascents to the highest peaks is only a consequence of the demand for such services.
V.B.- What is your attitude to the activities of firms that undertake to lead poorly trained, but money-making clients to the "eight-thousander"? There is an opinion that any, more or less healthy person can be taken to the "eight-thousander", the only question is the number of Sherpas and oxygen cylinders. What do you think about this?
S.B.- Hanging the railing, the master can "drag" the beginner along the "six" rocks. But for this, a beginner needs to master the technique of overcoming vertical railings with a pair of clamps. And have sufficient physical fitness to move on clamps for a long time. But then he's not exactly a rookie. At the top it's about the same. An experienced guide can "cover" an inexperienced client, planning for him the strategy and tactics of the ascent. Sherpas will bring cargo and oxygen, making the client feel as light as possible. But they can't carry it. He himself needs to reach the top. Legs. And this, even with oxygen, believe me, is not easy. You know you have to be patient. On the "eight-thousanders" - endure for a long time. Every person has the right to try to reach the top of the big Mountain. But whether he should make this attempt is already a question of his responsibility to himself and to the people who will be with him on the Mountain. And on the other hand: I consider it completely normal when an experienced climber "sells" his skills to a less experienced one, helping him reach the coveted peak. But the normal work of a guide should not turn into a pursuit of money, his first duty is to soberly assess the capabilities of a particular client in the context of the planned route. And do not drag a notorious teapot to the Mountain, relying on yourself - Superman. We all know how the mountains punish for excessive arrogance.
V.B.- I would venture to touch upon such a problem as "the code of honor on the "eight-thousanders". Many copies were broken about this on the pages of mountaineering publications, on Internet sites ... I recall the episode described in your second book, when during the winter ascent to Peak. Communism, Nikolai Cherny was forced to order his participants Pershin and Antipin to leave the dying Ankudinov on the mountain ... The number of climbers rushing to the tops of large mountains is growing. Accordingly, the number of emergency situations is increasing. And more and more often the question arises: does the climber have the right to refuse to help the victim if he understands that it is at the limit of his abilities?Is it possible to pass by the victim to the top?
S.B.- Each emergency in the mountains is the result of a huge number of factors. Their adequate assessment is absolutely necessary both for those who participate in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident and for those who "analyze" it. In the situation that you recalled, Kolya Cherny made the only possible decision, courageously taking on a huge moral responsibility. Then Ankudinov, falling off the snow-ice slope, lost most of his clothes and shoes while sliding, and lay like that, half-dressed, unconscious, for almost an hour in a forty-degree frost. The pair Pershin - Antipin, descending after the winter ascent to the peak of Communism, approached him with great difficulty already at dusk. Ankudinov was in agony, this was confirmed by the doctor, who was described the symptoms on the radio. The guys did not have the strength to transport. All that Pershin and Antipin could do for the victim was to be present at his death. Not being able to alleviate even his moral agony: he no longer regained consciousness. But this would certainly have killed them - climbers, exhausted from climbing, simply could not stand a cold night in those conditions. And Black made the only correct decision, ordering them to descend.
Further. About whether it is possible to pass by the victim ... If a climber, full of strength, passes by the victim to the top, pretends not to notice anything - this is beyond human morality. The trouble is elsewhere. Unfortunately, there is a chance to save a person in distress at high altitudes only if, after providing him with assistance (drinking, oxygen, medicines), he is able to move on his own. And if we take into account that, as a rule, help is provided by climbers, who themselves are at the limit of exhaustion of strength ... Who at any moment themselves can become "injured", exhausted. Height with people is cruel and inexorable. Therefore, I am against hasty conclusions about the causes of high-altitude accidents. Against public amateurish showdowns. Note that climbers with great altitude experience rarely take part in such events.
V.B.- Thanks to an article in the GEO magazine, the circumstances of the mass death of participants in two commercial expeditions to Everest in 1996 became public knowledge. A lot has been written and said about the role played in this tragedy by an outstanding Russian climber, a student of the Kazakh school of mountaineering Anatoly Bukreev. You were familiar with Bukreev, you are undoubtedly an expert in organizing Himalayan ascents. So I'm interested in your opinion on this.
S.B.- Anatoly is one of our brightest climbers, active at the end of the twentieth century. Even during the "selections" for the expedition to Kanchenjunga, he demonstrated incredible physical fitness. Doctors said then that his functional performance was at the level of a champion. Olympic Games in cyclical endurance sports. Anatoly was given a lot by nature, he worked hard on himself and became a world-class climber. When it comes to oxygen-free ascents, I, first of all, remember him and Valera Khrishchaty. Here they are from those climbers who, relying on their natural abilities, have achieved a sports form that allows them to work safely at height for a long time, solving the most difficult tasks. On the expedition you are asking about, in 1996, Boukreev was undoubtedly the most prepared climber. And he did the almost impossible: after an oxygen-free ascent, he carried out an unprecedented rescue action alone. I consider the reproaches leveled against him as unfair. It is a pity that Anatoly's book about these events was not published in Russian.
V.B.- This year, two Russian expeditions traveled to the Himalayas at once, naming the ascent to Lhotse Middle as their main goal. One of them was led, by the way, by your partner in many ascents, Mikhail Turkevich. Do you think Lhotse Middle is a summit in its own right?
S.B.- Why are you asking this question? The answer, in my opinion, is obvious.
V.B.- I came across on the Internet the opinion that the "problem of Lhotse Middle" was invented by the Russians. Like, the Russians do not have "their" first ascent to the "eight-thousander", they invent ...
S.B.- Strange opinion. Absolutely after all the concept "array" was settled. The Shkhelda massif, the Kanchenjunga massif ... Well, the Lhotse massif. It is clear that when they talk about fourteen eight-thousanders, they mean the main peaks of the arrays. Perhaps, characterizing Lhotse Middle, it is more correct to say "the last unconquered secondary peak, higher than 8000 meters". For the "press" it sounds too bureaucratic. But whatever you call it, it's a completely logical peak.
V.B.- In some reports regarding the preparation of expeditions to Lhotse Middle, the opinion was expressed that the only possible way to its summit was by ridge, by traverse through the main peak or through LhotseShar. It has been argued that certain features of the terrain make wall routes to the middle peak impossible. Is it so?
S.B.- Apparently it was a very avalanche-prone North Face. Climbing the wall from the south seems to me quite possible. It was there that M. Turkevich was going to pass with a team of the Russian Emergencies Ministry. In 1990, along the same South Wall, the team that Misha and I assembled laid new route on Lhotse Main. (Then only two reached the summit - S. Bershov and V. Karataev - V. B.). Messner called it "the route of the 21st century". Without false modesty, I will say that so far this is the most technically difficult route laid on the "eight-thousanders". But if I were going to Lhotse Middle, I would choose the path along the southeast ridge.
V.B.- What do you think about the plans of climbing Lhotse Srednyaya by Shamalo-Korabelnikov team from St. Petersburg?
S.B.- To be honest, I only heard about these climbers from you, when you gave me printouts from the Web telling about their ascents. Alas, the collapse of the Union significantly divided the climbers. To my shame, I am not very aware of the current state of affairs in Russian mountaineering, I do not "live" on the Internet, and there are not enough other sources of information. We cook in our own juice, this is bad. What can I say about the plans of Petersburgers? Judging by their climbs, the guys are strong, with good potential. V. Shamalo, apparently, is a climber who loves risky climbs ("Bottle" on Shkhara, from my point of view, is an objectively dangerous route). But he is still successfully proving his right to walk in his chosen style. The ascent plan presented by V. Shamalo and K. Korabelnikov is quite bold. Autonomous work by a deuce at such heights is a very difficult task. And, I repeat, northern wall where they are going to go is very avalanche prone. I am also alarmed by the fact that the guys have no Himalayan experience, although I remember Valery's words about the lack of funds for such an experience. An understandable argument. Well, if it comes to climbing, let them be lucky.
V.B.- When Turkevich's expedition began work in the Himalayas, the "Foreigner" newspaper published an article about the plans of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations to create a mobile rescue service in Nepal to provide assistance to victims at altitudes above 7500m. It was assumed that Russian rescuers would work there on a rotational basis. Do you think it is possible to create such a service in the Himalayas? And in general, is it possible to talk about the effective organization of rescue work at such heights, where equipment fails, and the capabilities of even the most trained person are limited? After all effective work rescuers, say, in the Alps is provided, among other things, and the work of pilots - helicopter pilots?
S.B.- It is possible to create a service, the only question is who will finance its work? After all, all this is very expensive. It is necessary to constantly keep in the mountains a group of "warmed up", acclimatized high-class climbers - high-altitude climbers and high-altitude Sherpas, it is necessary to maintain helicopters, whose flights over Tibet, by the way, are prohibited by the Chinese authorities. What about food and equipment? I think if all this is "overlooked", an incredible amount will turn out. However, I will not undertake to predict the effectiveness of such a service.
V.B.- "Ecological" question. Many people remember the photograph of the South Col of Everest, littered with empty oxygen tanks and other expedition debris. Are the issues of clearing the routes of garbage, its removal from the places of work of the expeditions somehow solved now in the Himalayas?
S.B.- In the spring of 2000. on Everest, from the North, a Japanese ecological expedition worked. 20 high-altitude Sherpas took part in the expedition. At altitudes from 7000m to 8200m they collected a large number of oxygen cylinders. This was facilitated by the weather: there was almost no snow. During the period of heavy snowfalls, debris is practically invisible. from ABC and base camp garbage is taken out. In Nepal, they charge a hefty deposit for oxygen tanks. I did not show the proper number of empty cylinders to the communications officer at the end of the expedition - I lost money.
V.B.- In conclusion, the "Himalayan" topic - the question of the Sherpas. Representatives of this mountain people set records in the races to Everest, for ritual purposes they spend the night on its top. It is clear that they are acclimatized better than any new climber, they are well prepared physically. Have any truly technically trained climbers appeared among them?
S.B.- I have not met such people.
V.B. Let's change the subject a little. You were rather skeptical about mountaineering championships back in Soviet times. Although you participated in them and continue, by the way, to participate so far. A lot has already been discussed about the expediency of holding "competitions of reports". Life has given answers to many questions - there are quite "logical" competitions in rock climbing and ice climbing, in fact, "school" mountaineering disciplines. And how do you feel about such an event as the "Golden Ice Ax"?
S.B.- On the whole, positively. I think that the method of expert assessments can be more objective than the currently used methods of refereeing. Although I'm not ready to propose a project to reform the judging of the Championships of Russia or Ukraine in mountaineering.
V.B.- Tell me, please, who, in your opinion, is in the top five of the best climbers in the world today?
S.B.- You know, I will not rank the climbers. Neither on a global scale, nor on the scale of the CIS. Not even because I myself belong to the number of active climbers, and this would not be entirely correct. From my point of view, this is simply impossible. The world has enough big number climbers the highest level. How to choose among them? It would be possible to gather those wishing to the "festival", to measure their strength in the "school" ... No, it's not interesting. The climber's business is climbing. His authority is not formed in one season, his strength is judged, after all, not by the results of the championships, but by his ascents. And if he walks a lot, makes interesting ascents, he gains authority. His name becomes a title: Messner, Bonatti, Heckmeier, Erzog, Khergiani, Abalakov… I think you can continue this list.
V.B.- Bershov, Turkevich...
S.B.- This remark is on your conscience! Here is a young Russian climber Valery Babanov... Undoubtedly, an authoritative climber with a worldwide reputation. By the way, the "type" of the climber that I like the most: a station wagon, who feels equally at ease on any terrain, at any heights.
V.B.- Another question of the same plan. What are the names of five Western and five domestic climbers who, from your point of view, most influenced the development of mountaineering.
S.B.- How to select exactly five? Look, on July 24, 1760, the Swiss naturalist Saussure offered 60 dollars to a daredevil who would climb Mont Blanc. After 26 years, Pakkar and Balma earned this award. For the first time mountain climbing as a goal was defined and accomplished. By the way, notice that the first ascent was already commercial! Speaking of foreign mountaineering, I will confine myself to these names. As for our mountaineering, here you are: Semenovsky V.L., Krylenko N.V., Pogrebetsky M.T., Antonovich I.I., Erokhin I.A.
Semenovsky did a lot for the formation of the Soviet climbing systems to organize the training of instructors.
Krylenko, using his party authority, organized expeditions to explore the Pamirs, was the first head of the Society for Proletarian Tourism and Excursions (OPTE), within the "framework" of which climbers and mountain tourists happily coexisted at that time.
Antonovich is the father of rock climbing. Thanks to his efforts, a significant qualitative leap was made in the technical training of Soviet climbers.
Erokhin was the first, as far as I know, to look at mountaineering as a sport from the point of view of training methods. Being an excellent skier, he adapted the methods of training skiers known to him for training mountain climbers.
V.B.- At the end of 1999, beginning of 2000, several publications prepared by authoritative climbers appeared on the site Risk.Ru, in which they ranked the best ascents of the outgoing century. Compiling a long list is hard work. Let's try to play blitz - name, offhand, the ten most significant ascents in the history of mountaineering.
S.B.- Actually, I'm not a mountaineering historian, I'm a practitioner. Let's reason: mountaineering developed "from simple to complex". At first we passed all the ridge routes, - there was a "problem" of the walls. The walls began to walk, - it's time to "deal" with the height, and so on ... Winter, wall winter, wall high-altitude routes. And every time when mountaineering climbed the next quality step, fixed on it, the ascents that you ask about were made. If we talk about our mountaineering, I immediately recall the ascents of Snesarev, Myshlyaev, Erokhin. The passage of the southern wall of the village of Communism by the team of Myslovsky, Alma-Ata. Undoubtedly, staged ascents.
V.B.- Ten years ago "trade-union" mountaineering ceased to exist. Alpine camps practically ceased to exist. There was a significant "breaking" in the grassroots sections. People have not stopped going to the mountains. Someone found sponsors, commercial and semi-commercial clubs arose somewhere. In the "climbing" countries of the CIS, there are still a large number of high-class climbers. But these are, for the most part, people who managed to take place or, at least, start during the existence of "Soviet" mountaineering. And the influx of young people into mountaineering, whatever one may say, has decreased. Although this summer in such areas as Bezengi and Dombai, there was a certain "full house". In connection with this, everyone has the following question: how, from your point of view, should mountaineering "on the ground" be organized today? Considering all the realities of the surrounding life. In order not to lose the "school" and give people the opportunity to go in for mountaineering in the new conditions?
S.B.- Club climbing, supported by government subsidies to provide basic training.
V.B.- Do you really believe in the resumption of funding for mountaineering by the state?
S.B.- I dream about it. Why is it possible in France, but not here? I envy - they have rock climbing in the school curriculum.
V.B.- How, ideally, do you see the organization of mountain climbing services in the climbing areas familiar to us: in the Caucasus, Tien Shan, Pamir in the current conditions?
S.B.- Enough hotels have been built in the Caucasus. I hope that, in the end, their work will be normalized, and those who wish will be able to use them. I would like the alpine camps to continue to operate as specialized enterprises focused primarily on working with climbers and tourists. Well, you understand: inexpensive housing and food, equipment rental, communications, services of instructors (guides). In some form, this already exists: Bezengi, Alibek, Ullu-Tau, Elbrus are working. I wish their leaders (owners) to find forms of work that are attractive to potential consumers of their services. I would very much like the socio-political situation in the Caucasus to normalize, so that other alpine camps, "Tsey", for example, will be revived.
V.B.- Sergei, you probably remember the second page of the permit to the alpine camp, where it was listed what things a person who comes there should have. A sweater, a spoon, two pairs of socks... Please make such a list for a member of the Himalayan expedition. Let's put it this way: an ideal set of clothes for a Himalayan "according to Bershov".
S.B.- I recently, at the request of colleagues planning an ascent in the Himalayas, made a list like this. Here he is: set of equipment for the Himalayan "according to Bershov" .
V.B.- The name Marmot is often found. Is it personal preference or something else?
S.B.- Unfortunately, I don't have a contract with Marmot. I just used their equipment a lot lately, I liked it. The list I proposed was prepared for a specific situation. You can use equipment from other manufacturers, as long as it is of high quality.
V.B.-Then this question: during the time of mountaineering you have tried a lot of all kinds of equipment. Name, if possible, specific items of equipment from specific manufacturers that have made the best impression on you lately with their convenience, reliability, and functionality?
S.B.- THE NORTH FACE tents, One sport high-altitude boots, Asolo, windstopper, polartec and gore-tex clothing from Trety Pole, BASK, Marmot, Petzl jumars.
V.B.- You can talk about mountaineering endlessly, but any conversation should have reasonable limits. Tell me, maybe you expected some question from me, but I never asked it?
S.B.- You didn't ask why people go to the mountains!
V.B.- Mountain climbers know it. Others still don't understand.
S.B.- Apparently you're right. If you don't try, you won't understand.
V.B.- Last question. On the plans of the climber Bershov for the near future.
S.B.- The famous Ukrainian climber, Honored Master of Sports Vladimir Dmitrievich Monogarov dreams of becoming the oldest climber to climb Everest. If he manages to find funding, I will go to Everest with my Master. There have been invitations to take part in other Himalayan expeditions, but it is too early to talk about them. In addition, most likely, I will take part in the championships of Ukraine, playing for the Kharkov team. In any case, all my plans are related to the mountains.
Sergey Bershov - the legend of Ukrainian and world mountaineering - turned 70 !!!
Honored Master of Sports in mountaineering, Master of Sports in rock climbing, Honored Coach of Ukraine, "Snow Leopard", holder of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1982), Friendship of Peoples (1989), "For Merit" III Art. (1996), "For Courage" II Art. (1999), Honorary citizen of the city of Kharkov ...
Sergey Igorevich - the first Ukrainian who climbed Everest (together with Mikhail Turkevich), made 13 ascents of 7 peaks above 8000m, a multiple champion of the USSR and Ukraine, an active climber (in February 2017 he once again climbed the highest point of America - v. Aconcagua) .
A professional lecturer and an excellent storyteller, has written three books, a merry fellow and the soul of a company, modest and devoted in friendship... A PERSON with a capital letter, with whom many dream of "walking in one bundle"!
Our dear Sergey Igorevich, congratulations on your Anniversary!
Health, happiness, success in work and new heights!!!
Curriculum vitae:
Bershov Sergey Igorevich
MS in rock climbing (1971), MS in mountaineering (1973), ZMS and MSMK (1982), "Snow Leopard" (1988), ST of Ukraine (1990), instructor-methodologist of the 2nd category. Champion of the USSR and Ukraine.
Locksmith, electrician, high-rise painter. After graduating from the Kyiv Institute of Physical Education, he worked as an instructor at the Regional Sports Committee. Associate Professor of the Kharkov Institute of Physical Education. He made his first ascent in 1965 on c. Via-tau (3820 m). The first instructor is Zh.Ya. Katrich.
In 1969 he graduated from the Kharkov city school of mountaineering instructors. For many years he worked as an instructor in mountaineering camps in the Caucasus, as a coach on expeditions and in preparing teams for the championships of the Union, Ukraine, the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions.
As Art. coach prepared five Himalayan expeditions. More than 10 times climbed the seven-thousanders Soviet Union. As part of national teams, he made outstanding ascents in the mountains of Switzerland, Italy, the USA, France, Germany, Nepal, and Japan. Champion of the Union: 1973 - class of technically difficult ascents; 1984 - technical class; 1986 - technical class. 4-time medalist of the Union championships, 5-time champion and 6-time winner of the championship of Ukraine.
By 2000, S. Bershov had about 100 routes of 5B and 6B c.s., on account of S. Bershov, of which 22 were half-way and half-way. 1982 - on the night of May 4, in conjunction with M. Turkevich, he climbed Everest. 1989 - South. Kangchenjunga on a new path; then hands. tr. from Zap. to South. Kanchenjunga. This traverse was completed in one day (!). 1990 - in conjunction with V. Karataev, in the most difficult weather conditions, they pass the south face of Lhotse. R. Messner called this ascent "the ascent of the 21st century." 1996 - Annapurna (ministry of Bonington); 1997 - Nanga-Parbat (Kingstofer mint); 1998 - Shisha-Pangma from the North; 2000 - repeats the ascent of Everest with an expedition of Krasnodar climbers. The Himalayan experience contributed to the fact that the entire sports team of the expedition - 12 people - reached the summit. 2003 - McKinley; 2004 - Cho Oyu (8201 m); Everest (up to a height of 8600 m); 2005 - Everest (8848 m), along the N.-E. crest; 2007 - Hidden Peak (up to a height of 7800 m). Repeatedly participated in rescue work: on Ushba, Elbrus (5642 m), Free Spain (4200 m), Mizhirgi (5025 m), Chatyn-tau (4368 m), Clara Zetkin (6641 m), Communism (7495 m), Khan Tengri (6995 m), Nanga Parbat (8125 m) and Everest (8848 m).
S. Bershov made a worthy contribution to sports climbing: 1969 - the third medalist of the Union Championship in all-around; 1971 - champion of the Union in conjunction with A. Moskaltsov and champion of the Caucasus in individual climbing; 1974 - champion of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions in the ind. climbing (80-meter route), on the 100-meter route - the third, "Dombai ligaments" - the champion (with V. Antipov); 1976 - champion of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions in bundles (with V. Pilipenko); 1977 - 2nd place at the Union Championship in the pair race. International competitions in Poland: 1st place in the ind. climbing and in conjunction with G. Vasilenko; 1979 - at the Union Championship: 2nd place in conjunction with M. Turkevich, and in the all-around - 3rd. 1980 - championship of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions - 1st place in conjunction with M. Turkevich; 1981 - Union Championship - 2nd place in conjunction with M. Turkevich; 1982 - International competitions: 2nd place in the bundle and 3rd in the all-around; 1984 - International competitions in Japan: 1st place in speed climbing and 1st place in difficulty. During the period of active sports climbing, he became the champion of Ukraine 28 times (8 times a prize-winner) and 26 times the champion of the Avangard CS (9 times a prize-winner).
For achievements in mountaineering, he was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1982), Friendship of Peoples (1989), "For Merit" III degree, "For Courage" II degree (1999). In 1989 he was awarded the Badge of Honor of the Komsomol Central Committee "Sports Valor". For 12 years he participated in complex high-altitude work on repeaters (promalp).
In 2004 he was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Kharkov".
Currently Associate Professor winter views sports, cycling and tourism of the Kharkiv State Academy of Physical Culture, Vice-President of the Federation of Mountaineering and Rock Climbing of the Kharkiv Region.
