Being Awarded the “Golden Ice Axe”

Towards the end of January 2013, a press conference was held at the Russian Ministry of Sport in honor of the successful completion of the “Alpari: On Top of the World” project. This challenging and risky venture was launched under my initiative a year prior.

In the project, a team of Russian climbers working under the Alpari banner took down the tallest mountain on each of the planet’s seven continents in under 300 days. The project brought Russia a new world record as well as a number of national records and earned its place in mountain climbing history.

I was pleased to receive the prestigious “Golden Ice Axe” commemorative award from the Russian Mountaineering Federation for aiding in the development and popularization of the sport of mountain climbing. I was the third person to receive the award in Russia. The two previous recipients of the “Golden Ice Axe” were the head of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Russian Minister of Defense.