Cypriot mountaineers pushing the limits of endurance

‘I would look down and I would only see hundreds of metres of nothingness’

Cyprus mountaineering is having a moment; while one team successfully reached the dangerous Belukha peak in July, another readies to climb one of the world’s highest peaks, both pushing themselves to the limits of endurance.

Cyprus-based Andrei Novikov and Alex Larin, led by the latter, reached the summit of mount Belukha in Kazakhstan on July 26, placing a stone they had carried there all the way from Curium on the highest peak of both Siberia and the Altai region.

“I have this tradition, which my daughter started when she took a stone from a beach in Cyprus and placed it in my hands to keep. This time we went to Curium, where she found this beautiful stone and I thought I should take it with me on the expedition. I placed it on the Belukha peak, to symbolise the connection between the two countries,” says Larin.

The two mountaineers also hoisted the Cyprus flag on the summit, a height of 4,509 metres. “This was an incredibly special moment for us and signals the start of a friendship between Cyprus and Kazakhstan,” he adds.

Kazakhstan ambassador Nikolay Zhumankov even deemed the expedition an important step in strengthening the relationship between the two countries.

Mountaineering experts consider mount Belukha to be a challenging climb, requiring excellent physical condition and extensive training. In the past, there have been multiple unsuccessful attempts to summit Belukha by accomplished mountaineers, and multiple deaths. The mountain is known for its harsh icy terrain, unpredictable weather conditions and isolation, making it a risky climb.

“This is by far the most challenging expedition we have ever attempted,” says Larin, “only about 30 to 40 people per year manage to climb all the way to the top of Belukha, especially since even reaching the mountain is a journey in itself.”

The two mountaineers began their ascent late at night, when the risk of rockfall is lower. “Everything melts away in daylight, two people died due to a stonefall in 2022, sometimes I would look down and I would only see hundreds of metres of nothingness,” says Larin.

Building on the value of taking a stone on his arduous journey, Larin says next time he will take his children with him. “I want them to appreciate the beauty of this world; they have never experience anything similar and I’d love to be there when that happens.”

Meanwhile, a different Cyprus team has more immediate plans, a team from Peak World Adventures leaving on August 10 on an expedition to reach the Lenin peak in Kyrgyzstan. They have set a Guiness World Record in 2024 for the highest altitude fitness session ever conducted, on Mera peak, Nepal.

For this expedition, the five-person team of Alexis Economides, Evgenia Konstantinou, Inna Theodorou, Andreas Lazou and Trevor Jones, will attempt to summit the Lenin Peak in Kyrgyzstan, and break their first 7,000 metre climb.

“With dedication and the appropriate training everyone can successfully complete a climb of this difficulty,” group leader Economides said.

Lenin peak is the second highest point of both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and the tallest mountain of the Trans-Alay range, and several hundred people take on the challenge of summiting it each year.

In spite of the 7,134-metre altitude, Lenin is considered one of the most approachable climbs of this height thanks to the accessibility of its location between the border of the two countries and the relatively non-technical climbing route to the top.

Nevertheless, Economides expressed worry over a point near the camp called the ‘frying pan’. “It gets really hot due to the sun’s reflection with huge chunks of hanging ice over the camp, for this reason we’ll try to cut down the itinerary time as much as possible in the specific camp.”

The ‘frying pan’ caused the death of 43 climbers in 1990 due to a sudden avalanche, making it the riskiest part of the climb.

“Being so high up in the mountains makes you feel so small, when you stand on the edge of the world surrounded by nothing but the untouched snow-covered mountain tops, it makes you feel tiny, it’s truly an incredible feeling,” Economides says.

Training for this climb was harsh despite their extensive mountaineering experience. By consistently lifting heavy weights and walking up flights of stairs, they plan to not be stumped by the low success rate of the climb.

Peak World adventures hope to break their first 8,000-metre peak by 2026, and to achieve even more Guiness World records as, Economides concludes, “altitude is addictive”.