Marko Aasa
I'll be honest, when I was young, I wasn't interested in mountaineering at all. Well, absolutely zero. I knew nothing about mountaineering, and even the idea of climbing a mountain was definitely outside my universe.
Then at one point I found myself reading a book to pass the time. It was Jon Krakauer's book "Into Thin Air". A terrible story - it tells of the terrible disaster on Everest in 1997, where there were many dead climbers and amputated arms and legs. I read this book in one evening and then something clicked in my brain and it was immediately clear that I had to start mountaineering. And so it went.
After that, I started attending Jaan Künnap's mountaineering school and have now been spending my summers in the mountains for over 20 years.
Read also about Marko From Wikipedia.
Main travel interests: Alpinism and mountain hiking, beautiful natural places.
Language skills: Estonian, English.
Training/courses: I started at Jaan Künnap's mountaineering school and mountaineering club. There I received a lot of theoretical preparation in the classroom and climbing on the rocks of Astangu and the icy seashores of Rannamõisa. At that time, I spent two summers in the Caucasus Mountains - training at the Ullutau alpine camp in the mountains under the guidance of Russian mountain instructors. Then there was constant practice in the mountains and training in Estonia. Among other things, I have participated in at least a dozen climbing competitions organized in Estonia, both on ice and rock - speed climbing, heavy climbing, pair climbing, clamp climbing, rescue work, hiking equipment competitions. With our team, we have even won the Estonian championship in hiking equipment.
Since 2017, I have organized mountain trips for beginner mountaineering enthusiasts. And I have trained those interested in Estonia before to cope better in the mountains. Including, I have gone rock climbing on the limestone wall of Astangu dozens of times with beginners, tried ice climbing in Rannamõisa and Türisalu, organized a bunch of lectures about mountains and security and safety and medicine and equipment and more.
Some of the peaks I reached:
Lenin (7134 m) - a mountain in the Pamirs, probably one of the easiest of the 7000+ mountains. But it wasn't easy!
Aconcagua (6962 m) - the highest peak in South America, and since there wasn't much snow during my time, it looked a bit like a tall pile of rocks.
Tartu University 350 (6258 m) - difficult to access and all those river crossings too.. And the last time I went there was 30 years ago.
Lobuche (6119 m) - Nepal is great, I recommend it! And the Everest Base Camp hike is perfect for acclimatization.
Lazio (6045 m) and Uku (5202 m) - we climbed in the long-closed Kun-Lun Mountains in China, including first ascents and routes.
Some peaks that were not reached: Khan Tengri (7010 m), Ojos del Salado (6885 m), Denali (6194 m). Why didn't you make it? Ask some Elamus+ on a trip straight from the adventure train!
Among the most famous mountains: for example, Elbrus (5642 m, 2x summit, 1x not), Kazbek (5054 m, 4x summit, 1x not; via two different routes) and Mont Blanc (4810 m, 4x summit, via two different routes).
7000+ m: 1 time
6000+ m: 6 times
5000+ m: 10+ times
3000+ and 4000+ m: many times
Some interesting places:
First ascent of Mount Uku (5202 m) in the Kunlun Mountains in Asia
expedition to the 30-year-old untouched Tartu University peak (6258 m) in the Pamirs
6194 days trapped in a storm at the last 5200 m altitude camp on Denali Peak (5 m) in Alaska
In Russia, on the Kola Peninsula, in the Khibiny Mountains, the rocky peak of Bolshoi-Vudjavri (1068 m; 5A) and the main peak of Ullu-Tau (4207 m; 4A) in the Caucasus Mountains, neither of which I dared to look down from.
mountain hike in the Karakoram Mountains in Pakistan to the foothills of the eight-thousanders K2, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum (4600 m)
Want to know, read, and see more about mountains?:
Khan Tengri (7010 m) - Estonian Khan Tengri Expedition 2014 (expedition participant video, YouTube, 55 min)
University of Tartu (6258 m) - Conquering the University of Tartu mountain peak. 30 years later. (err.ee video, 29 min) and expedition materials
Denali (6194 m) - How we didn't go to Denali (brief overview of the state of affairs)
Khibiny (1167m, 5A) - route description
Contact: marko@elamuspluss.ee
