⚡️ Commercial Everest expeditions will never be the same

For every entrepreneur watching me and planning to go into the mountains: long acclimatization and living in base camp for 40+ days is no longer compulsory!

You can go from sea level to the summit in 3 days, 23 hours and 7 minutes!

Andrey Ushakov @ushakov343 is my client.

He is an ordinary person — NOT a professional athlete, but an entrepreneur, a husband and a father.

His story with the mountains only began in 2020

Two years ago he asked me:

— Spending more than a month on Everest, dropping out of work, family and the rest of my life, is too long and too expensive for me. How can this be done faster?

And I got to work!

We started this project 2 years ago, and the whole time it has been painstaking work:

✔️ 400+ hours in a hypoxic tent,

✔️ active and passive hypoxic training,

✔️ sleeping at altitude,

✔️ pharmacology,

✔️ nutrition science,

✔️ full check-ups,

✔️ psychological preparation

— all of it following my patented methodology.

🚫 No rotations,

🚫 no gradual ascent,

🚫 with no acclimatization in the mountains whatsoever.

Everyone who heard about the preparation thought we were mad!

Nothing like it had been done before in the history of mountaineering, science or medicine

All the theory I knew as a doctor and a scientist now had to be put into practice for the first time, in conditions and on a timeline this extreme

Andrey @ushakov343 and I agreed on one value: however hard it got, this climb would be 🚫 free of doping

❗️ No xenon.

Only oxygen, physiological preparation and hypoxic technology

This mattered to me. Xenon is banned by the anti-doping agencies (WADA)

With over 18 years working with Olympic champions and top international sports teams, I stand for clean science and human potential

❗️ And the claims other climbers make around xenon are marketing and promises of a «magic pill» that does not work. Do not fall for it

The climb was made without acclimatization!

📍 Andrey flew straight from New York to Kathmandu,

That same day we ran a medical and physiological check-up, set up the equipment and went over the route

🚀 At 21:00 Andrey set off on the summit push

For me the highest value is safety. Records are good, but the life and health of my clients come first

❌ So I do not simply prepare people for a successful climb.

✅ I prepare clients for the unforeseen difficulties they are certain to meet along the way

No gym trainer or general practitioner can prepare you for that

As part of the preparation I use advanced scientific, technical and medical developments that are not widely available

My clients gain an enormous margin of safety in health, physical condition and mental readiness.

It is the reserves built up during our preparation, rather than luck or chance, that make the difference in a critical situation on the mountain

Following my patented methodology, I can judge with a high degree of confidence whether a person is ready for a climb.

And if there is a risk, my client does not go for the summit.

Andrey was ready

I supervised the entire climb personally: from the first tests to the summit, and to the last minutes of the descent

✔️ I was with Andrey at base camp,

✔️ in real-time contact through trackers,

✔️ monitored his body's condition minute by minute over the radio and through physiological sensors,

✔️ guided him and suggested the non-obvious solutions that work

We planned every step with the best team of guides and Sherpas, @eliteexped and @nimsdai

Two days later, at 9:22 in the morning on 19 May, Andrey was standing on the summit 🚀

Total time from sea level to the summit: 3 days, 23 hours, 7 minutes.

Then the descent, and on the same day — back to sea level, to Dubai

And yes, we had competition

We got ahead of the British team @furtenbachadventures and @lukasfurtenbach
They had announced sea-to-summit-to-sea in 7 days.

We set the record in 5 days
🚫 No xenon, no doping.
🚀 Only my own hypoxic preparation and strategy. We did it cleanly, with solid scientific grounding

«Despite the large training volume, her guidance meant I could combine the preparation with work, my personal life and my mental health. And once I was on the mountain I had no problems at all — not with fitness, not with breathing, not with my heart, not with mental clarity. I had expected it to be far harder than it turned out to be».

«Irina is a top professional. She even anticipated problems with my eyes and prescribed the drops I needed to take with me».

«Irina is not the most affordable specialist. But in terms of quality it is 20 out of 10. I strongly recommend her — especially if your goals are complex and ambitious».

For every entrepreneur watching me and planning to go into the mountains: long acclimatization and living in base camp for 40+ days is no longer compulsory!

Our climbers set off on the summit push at 20:00. Everyone else went at 17:00.

And in doing so they:

✅ overtook everyone on the route,

✅ reached the summit,

✅ went straight back down to base camp,

✅ and flew out to Kathmandu to recover.

🚀 The only ones on the whole mountain! While everyone else was still stuck in camps 3 and 4.

Why do we emphasise this?

It sounds paradoxical, but in the mountains speed = safety. Especially on Annapurna, where avalanches come down constantly.

The OWNTOP team members chose a wise tactic and passed the dangerous sections at night, while it was cold and dark, which makes the risk of being caught in an avalanche far lower.

And the descent conditions were difficult:

🥵 strong sun during the day,

🥵 a lot of soft, half-melted snow you keep sinking into.

Add to that the fatigue after a summit push and heavy packs…

The fact that they were able to reach the summit and return to base camp in 25 hours while everyone else was still up on the mountain was neither luck nor chance. It was:

✅ the right preparatory acclimatization and a large reserve of strength,

✅ a precise strategy for the summit push,

✅ an understanding of the terrain and the weather,

✅ sound distribution of effort across every section of the route (tracked in the OWNTOP app),

✅ physical and mental readiness for conditions that are anything but standard.

These are exactly the skills for successful climbs that the OWNTOP preparation program builds:

🗻 how do you train for the loads that actually await you in the mountains, rather than simply doing gym fitness?

🗻 how do you acclimatize without falling ill and derailing the expedition?

🗻 how do you make the call: keep pushing for the summit or turn back?

🗻 how do you work with the risks (avalanches, weather, terrain)?

🗻 how do you move at a fast pace and do it safely?

Two eight-thousanders in seven days: the summit of Makalu (8,485 m) on 21 May 2026, followed by Lhotse (8,516 m) on 26 May 2026. And then straight down to base camp on Lhotse summit day — something only a handful of climbers do.

Andrey Fedorov is a high-altitude climber working towards the «14 eight-thousanders» program. He climbed as part of a «7 Summits» Club expedition, with personal preparation under the OWNTOP methodology.

To prepare the body for a double summit push on two eight-thousanders within a single spring season — with minimal recovery between them and working capacity preserved in the death zone.

Personal work under the OWNTOP methodology: building hypoxic tolerance, metabolic and nutraceutical support, and a supplement and recovery protocol designed specifically for two consecutive eight-thousanders.

The Makalu → Lhotse double in one week places an extreme demand on recovery. According to the «7 Summits» Club guides, on Lhotse summit day Andrey descended straight to base camp — climbers normally go down only as far as Camp 2 (6,400 m). That is direct confirmation of substantial reserves of working capacity.

Everest preparation built personally — taking age-related factors and female physiology into account. Not a universal plan but a program for one specific body. Age at the time of preparation: 55.

To climb Everest with systematic, safe preparation and full support at every stage — from the first training sessions to the ascent itself.

An individual program taking age-related factors and female physiology into account; physical training — building endurance and a strength base; hypoxic training — adaptation to altitude and oxygen deficit; nutritional support; a nutrition protocol for the climb; and remote guidance with adjustments to the program from the comfort of home.

The program was personalised for female physiology and for age — something most off-the-shelf plans ignore. It is precisely this individualisation that underpins safety and results at extreme altitude.

After Everest and preparation under the OWNTOP methodology, Irina Zisman climbed three eight-thousanders in a single year. She holds a Russian national record: 3 eight-thousanders in 1 year, and she is the 4th Russian woman to complete the «7 Summits».

«Until then my preparation for climbs had been limited to cardio and strength training; at high altitude physical conditioning turned out to be nowhere near enough. The problem of easy acclimatization and altitude sickness remained. On the basis of hypoxic tolerance testing the question of hypoxic preparation came up — I was given the opportunity to train on equipment that could be rented, and I received an individual schedule for vitamins and the supplements I needed. As for altitude preparation — I do not merely recommend it, I consider it essential for successful climbs and for preserving both psychological and physical health».

Irina Zelenkova does not simply put together an individual program — she teaches clients the OWNTOP methodology as part of the personal work. Afterwards the client is left with a foundation of knowledge and skills to keep going on their own, towards the next climbs.

The highest peak in Europe — Elbrus (5,642 m) — in just 2 days. Without exhausting multi-day acclimatization: a fast approach and a confident ascent with guide Vyacheslav Tkachenko.

Kirill Bulgakov is a climber who set out to reach the summit of Elbrus on a tight schedule. He climbed roped up with guide Vyacheslav Tkachenko.

The task was stated plainly: climb Elbrus in 2 days — prepare the body for altitude without lengthy acclimatization while preserving working capacity and safety on the summit push.

At the start of the preparation Kirill's hypoxic index was low. A month of work on an individual program under the OWNTOP methodology raised it substantially. Ergogenic support and controlled recovery kept his tolerance of the training high. Everything was built around a fast ascent without days of acclimatization on the mountain. The climb was made with guide Vyacheslav Tkachenko, who had also prepared under the OWNTOP methodology.

Elbrus in 2 days is a compressed format that normally calls for several days of acclimatization. A fast approach and a summit push without loss of working capacity is direct confirmation that the body was ready for altitude.

Timeline (2 days):

• Day 1: arrival, night in Azau. Up to Gara-Bashi, snowcat to 4,900 m, descent on foot — acclimatization.
• Day 2: summit push at 2:00, around 5 hours to the top, descent to Azau. Flight out.

Personal guidance under the OWNTOP methodology: altitude physiology, hypoxic tolerance and recovery — so that a confident ascent was possible within a short timeframe.

Kirill's case is further evidence that sound OWNTOP preparation makes it possible to move fast and safely in the mountains, without days of acclimatization in camp.

«Irina, we made it up Elbrus, all good, I had no problems at all — thank you for your help!» — Kirill, 30 August 2025.

A Hero of Russia and cosmonaut who has flown to the ISS twice became the first cosmonaut in the world to stand on the summit of Earth. At 9:30 on 24 May 2025 Sergey Ryazansky was on the summit of Everest — and he got there on what was quite literally the oxygen left over from the whole team.

Sergey Ryazansky is a Hero of Russia, a cosmonaut, a biochemist and an ISS crew commander. A man who knows the limits of the human body from the inside — and who decided to test them on the highest point on the planet with a «7 Summits» Club expedition.

To prepare the body for work in the death zone in a way that preserves working capacity and clarity at extreme altitude — knowing that every extra day above 8,000 m works against you.

Entirely under the OWNTOP methodology, in a personal-coaching format. Sergey was already in good shape, so the emphasis fell on specific qualities: core and stabiliser muscles, hypoxic tolerance at rest and under load, an individual nutrition and supplement protocol, and innovative sports-nutrition products to support working capacity at altitude.

Preparing someone with a unique background — a cosmonaut used to extreme environments — for a fundamentally different extreme environment. The emphasis was not on overall volume but on fine-tuning specific qualities and hypoxic tolerance for this particular climb.

Alla successfully reached the summit of Everest and joined the climbers who have stood on the highest point of every continent. She described her preparation with Irina in a book and talks about it in podcasts.

A climber with the «7 Summits» Club team and the author of a book about Everest. Proof that being 50+ in the mountains is not a limitation but an «upgrade to a newer version of the climber».

Full Everest preparation with personal guidance: an individual methodology, hypoxic preparation, physical and medical readiness — built around the client's specific metrics and characteristics.

«And I did it thanks to Irina Zelenkova. Being 5–20 years older than every man in our group, and not wanting to be a burden to them during the training or the climbs, I gave myself a 40-day head start on acclimatization. In the end I ran into base camp at 5,300, and I did not fall ill once during the entire expedition, while every single person around me was coughing themselves in half and the doctor was the first to go down. Without any doubt, implanting the “altitude gene” under Irina Zelenkova's guidance is the best preparation there is for a high-altitude climb. Thank you!»

A message to Irina from the summit: «Hi Irina! With enormous gratitude! Without you there would have been no result». And separately: «I stood on the summit with no altitude sickness. A full 45 seconds :)» — that is, with no signs of altitude illness on the summit itself.

«8 Thousand Metres Above Brain Level. Life in the Death Zone» — an illustrated account of the Everest climb in which Alla describes her preparation with Irina in detail. There is also the podcast «Altitude Sickness» with Alla Mishina and Sergey Kovalev about mountaineering at 50+.

A first Everest ascent (23.05.2024, 02:13) — the outcome not of one-off preparation but of years of systematic work under the OWNTOP methodology.

At the start of his path to altitude Alexander lost 38 kg (the 2016 transformation that became the foundation for years of preparation that followed).

Comprehensive multi-year preparation: systematic work over several years rather than a run-up to a single expedition. The full scope of the OWNTOP methodology — physical preparation, active hypoxic training and altitude adaptation, nutritional support and protocols — built into one long-term program aimed at Everest.

The summit came on the second attempt: during the first, above 8,000 m in the death zone, the group was caught by strengthening winds that later built to around 100 km/h — and decided to descend. After turning back they made a second attempt — and had enough left to reach the summit. That is precisely what preparation under the OWNTOP methodology means: the margin that lets you come back and finish.

It was this difficult ascent that became the basis for the documentary «The Limit of Altitude». Irina Zelenkova appears in the film as the specialist who prepared Alexander for altitude.

The case shows the power of a long-term approach: Everest is not taken by storm but arrives as the logical outcome of a system built over years. Years of work brought Alexander to a new level of condition and raised his working capacity under hypoxia at 6,000 m into the optimal range.

To reach the summit not on willpower alone but on a properly prepared body — with deficiencies closed and a precise supplement protocol for each stage of the climb. Everest summit — 23 May 2024, 03:10, with the flag of Kazakhstan.

To complete a pre-climb check-up and receive supplement guidance for before, during and after the mountains; to finish the tests needed to rule out pathological processes, build a supplement program around the objectives of the climb, and make training more effective.

Laboratory results identified deficiencies in protein, iron and zinc, with a possible hypothyroid picture against that background. An individual protocol was built on those findings.

Before the climb — metabolic support and nutraceuticals: iron (with the dose built up towards the expedition), omega-3 (DHA+EPA 1,500 mg), vitamin C, magnesium, zinc, and egg protein at 1.2 g/kg.

During the expedition — riboxin (blood flow in the muscles), iron (oxygen transport), cytoflavin (hypoxic tolerance), CoQ10, BCAA, beetroot (efficiency), and isotonic drinks and gels for working capacity. After the expedition — a recovery course: astaxanthin, resveratrol, vitamin C, CoQ10.

A complete physiological «climb-ready» protocol based on lab work: not generic advice but targeted correction of the deficiencies found, plus evidence-based approaches to preventing acute mountain sickness (rate of ascent, the Lake Louise score) and precise nutrition and hydration schemes matched to the type and duration of the load.

On the top of the world Zhamilya left a piece of «kurt» — as a symbol of life and in memory of the victims of the famine and of political repression. In her words, kurt — «sun-dried salted curd» — was what Kazakh women secretly passed to prisoners in the camps during the hungry 1930s, saving lives.

Annapurna I (8,091 m) is statistically one of the deadliest peaks on the planet, a mountain that does not forgive mistakes. Israfil Ashurly climbed it in classic style — without supplemental oxygen, relying solely on his own preparation, endurance and sound acclimatization.

Israfil Ashurly (b. 1969, Baku) is a legend of world mountaineering and the first Azerbaijani to climb Everest (2007). He has 8 of the 14 eight-thousanders to his name: Everest (2007), Kangchenjunga (2011), Lhotse (2019), Manaslu (2019), Broad Peak (2022), Makalu and others, as well as the «Seven Summits» program. A proponent of the purest and most demanding style — climbing without oxygen. A member of the OWNTOP team.

The task: to climb Annapurna, one of the most dangerous eight-thousanders, without supplemental oxygen, while preserving working capacity, sound decision-making and reserves across every section of a difficult route.

Personal guidance under the OWNTOP methodology: hypoxic preparation and adaptation to extreme altitude, work on endurance and load tolerance, ergogenic support and controlled recovery. A separate focus on the oxygen-free format, where the body has no room for a failure of adaptation.

An ascent to 8,091 m without supplemental oxygen commands unreserved respect in world mountaineering. Annapurna demands perfect pacing, calculation, a cool head and complete readiness for hard conditions. Equipment does not do the work for you here — character, experience and the ability to make precise decisions in an extreme environment decide the outcome.

Personal guidance under the OWNTOP methodology: altitude physiology, hypoxic tolerance, ergogenic support and controlled recovery — the foundation that made the hardest, oxygen-free route possible.

Israfil's case sits at the top of the OWNTOP range: preparing a world-class climber for an oxygen-free ascent of one of the most dangerous mountains on the planet. An example of how, even at the edge of human capability, systematic preparation remains the foundation of strength, discipline and principle.

From the OWNTOP team announcement: «Last night the OWNTOP team was given another powerful reason to be proud. Israfil Ashurly climbed Annapurna — one of the hardest and most dangerous eight-thousanders in the world. And he did it in classic style, without using supplemental oxygen. It is a great honour for the OWNTOP team to walk alongside people of this calibre.»

A story that looked impossible not so long ago.

🏆 My clients successfully climbed Aconcagua (6,960.8 m) — without prior acclimatization!

This was not chance. It is the result of systematic preparation.

When we started, the objective sounded ambitious: prepare the body for rapid altitude gain in a way that keeps the climb safe even without classic acclimatization.

We built the preparation in several stages.

1️⃣ The foundation — working with the body

We started not with training but with health: we mapped the limitations, deficiencies and weak points, and strengthened the body's baseline capacity to adapt.

That is where the OWNTOP program begins — not with «how to get up faster», but with understanding whether the body is ready for altitude at all.

If you are planning a climb and want to understand where your body stands right now, this is the stage the whole OWNTOP program is built on. It includes:

💰 up to 20% off lab tests at 6 laboratories,

✅ the lab test list in both Russian and English for those living anywhere in the world,

✅ supplement recommendations for every stage of preparation.

2️⃣ Testing the strategy — a speed ascent of Elbrus

The next step — testing the approach in real conditions.

Preparation used hypoxic equipment and individually calculated altitude loads.

📊 For the first time the entire altitude selection was run through a mathematical model built into the OWNTOP app. The algorithms analyse the body's data and help build safe adaptation.

The result: a successful speed ascent and a precise adjustment of the strategy before the main objective. Clients in personal coaching get access to these algorithms and equipment.

3️⃣ The main result — Aconcagua without acclimatization

The team went straight up to 4,400 m, with no long trekking and no gradual altitude gain.

An additional risk factor was unstable weather. The team had to wait for the summit window already at altitude. And that is exactly where it becomes clear whether the preparation really works.

The body has to hold up at altitude without symptoms of altitude sickness, without a drop in saturation, without the risk of oedema. — And they managed it! Not a single sign of altitude illness!

What made it possible?

✅ individual saturation ranges for each participant

✅ training the body to work in oxygen deficit

✅ analysis of physiological data

✅ the OWNTOP app expedition module with a «red flag» system and guidance on movement tactics

🚀 The ascent took 18 hours 43 minutes!

And this is the important part: the goal is not a speed record but controlled safety. Mountaineering is changing. We are moving from «endure altitude sickness and suffer on the way up» to «understand and manage adaptation».

If you want to:

✅ reduce the risk of altitude sickness

✅ prepare for a climb systematically

✅ understand what is happening in your body at altitude

✅ make the climb easier and safer

the OWNTOP program delivers this result. It is not just training. It is a complete, effective preparation strategy for your summit.

We are incredibly proud of our clients and thank them for their trust!

Who he is. Artem Gurshtein is a Russian climber and a member of the «7 Summits» Club. Before working with OWNTOP he completed the “7 volcanoes in 66 days” program with Alexander Abramov. Everest became his next goal.

The objective. To prepare for Everest (8,849 m) not with general fitness, but with focused work on the main limiting factor at altitude — hypoxia tolerance.

What we did. Personal guidance under the OWNTOP methodology:

The result. Artem summited Everest, arriving at the expedition already adapted before leaving for the mountains. The emphasis on active hypoxic preparation and overnight exposure plus a targeted supplement protocol is work on the key limiting factor, not general physical conditioning.

The sequel: Manaslu in 2 days. Everest is not Artem’s only mountain. Building on the foundation of the OWNTOP methodology, he climbed Manaslu (8,163 m) in a record time — just 2 days.

The main takeaway. Artem did not simply complete a program — he learned the OWNTOP methodology. After working with Irina, the client is left with a foundation of knowledge and skills for future climbs of their own. Manaslu in 2 days is direct proof: he made that record ascent on his own foundation.

Both summits of Elbrus in one day — the so-called «cross». West (5,642 m) and East (5,621 m) in a single push, and this the day after every group had been sitting it out in camp because of 80–85 km/h winds. Dmitry climbed at a comfortable pace and overtook every group: they set off from the Traverse at 9:30 and the team was on the saddle 1 hour 15 minutes later.

To prepare for the Elbrus «cross» — both summits in one outing — in a way that preserves pace and working capacity above 5,600 m and does not depend on catching a perfect weather window.

Full preparation under the OWNTOP methodology: endurance and a strength base, hypoxic tolerance, and an individual nutrition and supplement protocol built around a double ascent. The climbing plan: 4 days of acclimatization (the Terskol waterfall, Cheget, the Ice Base via the observatory, the snowcat frozen in above the Pastukhov Rocks), and then a perfect weather window with 5–10 km/h winds after a day of 80–85 km/h.

The «cross» in a single day is a rare format that calls not for record training volume but for precise tuning of pace and recovery between the two summits. A comfortable pace while overtaking every group is the direct result of sound physiological preparation rather than of forcing the effort.

«Everyone asks the same question: so that's it, you've done 2 summits, the program is closed, you won't go again? The answer: I definitely will. What matters most in this: 1. A genuine love of the mountain. 2. The necessary preparation (thank you, Irina Zelenkova). 3. The guide / rescuer / leader — a great deal depends on them: safety, support, motivation».

After preparation under the OWNTOP methodology, Dmitry pulled off a genuine double: Aconcagua (6,961 m, the highest point in South America), and the day after the descent the expedition to Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) — the highest volcano on the planet — began. «Our Ojos expedition started the day after we came down from Aconcagua. That is very convenient and logical — we were already acclimatized to altitude». Being able to take summit after summit without re-acclimatizing is the direct result of sound hypoxic preparation.

«It was planned for almost a year. From April 2024 the preparation ran throughout that whole period under Irina Zelenkova's careful guidance. By the end of it there was not a shred of doubt about my physical condition or about a successful ascent».

«In less than a month I reached the summits of 4 mountains, 3 of them above 6,000 metres». The climax of the series was Aconcagua (6,962 m), the «stone sentinel», the highest point on the planet outside Asia. Flag on the summit at 8:38 in the morning on 22 January.

To complete a series of four summits in a compressed timeframe — under a month, with three consecutive climbs above 6,000 metres — without losing working capacity and with fast recovery between mountains.

Preparation under the OWNTOP methodology with Irina Zelenkova's personal guidance: systematic work on altitude adaptation, the aerobic base, recovery between climbs and nutritional support. That is what made it possible to string the summits together with minimal pauses and arrive at the finale in optimal shape.

The series opened on 13 January: at 12:43 Stanislav reached the summit of Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) — the highest volcano in the world — and dedicated the ascent to his home town of Borovichi. It was from this summit that a series began which, in under a month, took in four mountains.

Not a single ascent but a rapid series: 4 mountains in under a month, 3 of them above 6,000 m, finishing on the highest point in the Americas. A format like this is a direct test of whether a preparation system can sustain working capacity on a dense schedule of altitudes.

On 21 May 2025 Stanislav reached the summit of Everest (8,848 m), becoming the first person from Veliky Novgorod to stand on the highest point on the planet. The same systematic OWNTOP approach, scaled to the highest mountain in the world.

«Huge thanks to @dr.irinazelenkova for the preparation — you are the best, together we can do anything!»

You can be successful at 60. Build a world-class business. Complete all Seven Summits and both poles. And still move too slowly in the mountains. And on Everest, slow means dangerous: the summit window is limited by weather and oxygen, and there is almost no margin.

Approaching his 60th birthday, Vasily Shakhnovsky set himself the goal of Everest. But he came with a genuine problem: «I train myself into the ground, but it does not get any easier in the mountains, and my speed lets me down». No metabolic support, no nutritional support, no proper hypoxic training — only volume and fatigue.

We built a year-long preparation program with parallel ascents of Kazbek, Manaslu and Ojos del Salado — structured separately for each summit, under the OWNTOP methodology. We removed the overload and added what was missing.

What was achieved in a year: VO₂max raised to 45 ml/min/kg; improved muscular efficiency; higher movement speed under hypoxia and better altitude adaptation; and an individual nutrition and hydration strategy.

Vasily successfully climbed Everest — feeling well, confident and at a safe pace. Irina Zelenkova accompanied Vasily and the whole expedition as its doctor. And on the summit of the highest mountain on the planet he took out a club and played a golf shot at 8,848 m.

The story became the basis for Valdis Pelsh's four-part documentary «The Man Who Always Wanted More» (RD Studio / «7 Summits» Club): Kazbek, Manaslu, Ojos del Salado, Everest.

A client under Irina Zelenkova's personal guidance on the record-setting «7 Summits» Club expedition to Everest (2018) led by Alexander Abramov — the largest by number of participants not only for Russia but for the whole of Europe: 24 permit holders, 10 professional guides, and Valdis Pelsh's film crew (the authors of «The Altitude Gene»).

An Everest ascent and unique footage shot at 7,900 m. During the expedition Alexey Safonov filmed «Camp 7900» — in a zone a camera almost never reaches.

First, personal guidance and hypoxic training: individual preparation of Alexey for altitude under the OWNTOP methodology. Second, expedition doctor: Irina accompanied both Alexey Safonov and Vasily Shakhnovsky as their doctor throughout the ascent (the official expedition roster lists «Zelenkova Irina — doctor»).

A rare combination: methodologist-coach and doctor in one person, guiding the client both before the mountain (preparation, hypoxia) and on the mountain itself (medical support). Plus the historical context — one of the most discussed and most technology-driven Everest expeditions, which entered public memory through the film «The Altitude Gene».

Adam Sylvester is a climber from the USA who, before Everest, wanted to fully understand what he was in for, and turned to Irina Zelenkova for expert guidance on everything related to altitude.

To prepare for Everest while training at home at sea level: to improve the body's response to hypoxia, build nutrition and sleep at extreme altitude, and learn to monitor and adjust the body's condition on the mountain while working at the limit.

A personal hypoxic training program was built on the basis of Adam's individual hypoxic tolerance. Added to it were individual nutrition, supplement and recovery protocols. During the expedition itself — online guidance and consultations on how he was feeling, right there on the climb: monitoring the body's response and adjusting nutrition, sleep and load at the different camps.

A full «home → mountain» cycle: building hypoxic tolerance at sea level plus live online guidance on Everest itself. The result was not just a summit but a summit reached with real reserves and genuine enjoyment of the process, while many of those around him were working at their limit.

«When I started my Everest prep, I wanted to fully understand what I was in for, so I reached out to Irina for help. Her expertise on all things related to altitude — how to improve my response to hypoxia while training at home at sea level, how to eat and sleep at extreme altitude, how to monitor and adjust my body's response when pushing its limits when I was on the mountain — allowed me to go into the expedition with a high level of confidence that I was prepared. Summit day was still work, but I felt well within my physical limits as I was climbing (and saw a lot of other climbers that didn't appear to be). That was huge because it meant that I enjoyed the day; I'll never forget the feeling of looking up from the summit at the moment that first light hit all the surrounding peaks. Thanks again Irina for all your help in setting me up for success.»

A climber with limited high-altitude experience who nonetheless reached the top of the world with confidence on 21 May 2025. The result of full personal guidance under the OWNTOP methodology.

Mikhail Arslanov was a climber with limited high-altitude experience when his Everest preparation began. That is exactly what makes his case so telling: a sound system of preparation matters more than a long climbing résumé.

To climb Everest (8,848 m) confidently and safely despite limited high-altitude experience — with the body maximally ready for extreme hypoxia and with strong psychological resilience.

Full personal guidance under the OWNTOP methodology: work on hypoxic tolerance, physical condition, nutrition and recovery. A separate strand was focused work on psychological resilience, which matters enormously with limited altitude experience and in the death zone.

Limited high-altitude experience combined with an Everest-level objective is a scenario where everything depends on the quality of preparation. The methodology covers both the physiology (adaptation to hypoxia) and the mental side.

The highest volcano on the planet, 6,893 m — and an artificial heart valve. A constant race against an incoming storm and a summit push at the edge of his breathing capacity. What many would treat as a contraindication, Sergey turned into a summit.

Sergey Vasilyev is a climber with an artificial heart valve. For him that health factor is not a reason to give up the big mountains but a reason to prepare as carefully as possible and under physiological supervision.

The task: to prepare safely for extreme altitude with cardiac specifics in mind, working directly on hypoxic tolerance with precise control of training load.

Personal work under the OWNTOP methodology: hypoxic preparation and adaptation to altitude with his cardiac status taken into account. Sound acclimatization during the expedition — an outing to 5,400 m (Piedras Negras / Paradas), a push to 5,950 m (1,000 m of gain, descent in 7 hours), an acclimatization outing to 6,400 m with a night at Tejos, and then the ascent of Ojos.

An ascent to 6,893 m with an artificial heart valve — in a constant race against an incoming storm. The summit push took 11 hours 25 minutes: two hours of movement at a time with only 5–7 minutes of rest, a minute on the summit for a photo and straight back down; the descent took under two hours, with the clouds closing over the summit right behind them. The guides praised the pace: «we didn't think we'd get up before the storm».

Personal guidance under the OWNTOP methodology: an individual program built around cardiac specifics, hypoxic preparation and monitoring — the base on which Sergey physically handled the race at altitude. In his words: «Hi Ira, Ojos is done too!!! Thank you for your help!»

Sergey's case shows that even with a serious cardiac condition, systematic preparation opens a path to summits that look out of reach. His words after the descent: «The mountain has to be done now!» With this ascent Sergey completed the prestigious «Seven Volcanoes» program — the highest volcanoes of every continent; Ojos del Salado, the highest volcano in South America, was his final, seventh summit.

For every entrepreneur watching me and planning to go into the mountains: long acclimatization and living in base camp for 40+ days is no longer compulsory!

💪🏼 You can spend 8 years in the mountains. Climb 6,000ers. Run 40 km a week. Train 7 days a week.

🥵 And still feel unstable at altitude, unsure of the outcome, seriously fatigued and worried that the climb will have to be abandoned early…

Sound familiar?

That is what happened with OWNTOP team member Arseniy Kukanov. He had climbed Manaslu and McKinley — and came to me saying: «I know a lot and I train on my own… but I am not in control of the outcome, it does not get any easier for me in the mountains»

🚀 After 5 months of preparation under the OWNTOP methodology, Arseniy made a fast-track ascent of Ojos del Salado (6,893 m)

✅ He took no doping agents,

✅ overtook the guides at 6,100 m,

✅ was not worn out,

✅ ran up to the summit with no pain in his legs,

✅ and felt like a real champion!

Those who watched his climb from the outside called his condition «a medical miracle». How is that possible?

Following the OWNTOP methodology, we did not increase Arseniy's training load — we changed the architecture of the preparation itself:

1. We shifted the focus: not «more training» but «more precise»

2. Variability and neuromuscular adaptation

3. Integrating hypoxia and recovery

4. Managing your state

The result: the body adapted to the load and to the altitude. Arseniy felt like a champion. «It was a completely different level»

In total:

⚡️ from the airport to the summit and back: ~50 hours

⚡️ from Camp 5800 to the summit: ~10 hours

⚡️ descent: ~2 hours over 1,000+ m of drop

❗️In mountaineering the descent is the main indicator of how well prepared you are. If you can get down easily and quickly, you really are in great shape.

And as a welcome bonus Arseniy noted how he felt after the climb:

🥵 Where previously he had needed weeks to recover,

✅ this time after the climb he slept beautifully, felt no hunger, felt energetic and returned to his usual life and business with no crash.

The OWNTOP methodology is not about «training more and harder».

It is about the shift:

🥵 from surviving in the mountains,

🏆 to managing his own state at altitude and feeling like a champion.

«I did it! First ever speedy climb in my life».

A fast-track ascent of the highest point in Africa: from 1,879 m to 5,895 m in 8 hours 37 minutes, with no acclimatization in the mountains and just one stop. In under 39 hours Alexey was already back at his hotel. And all of it with one kidney.

Alexey Panferov is an entrepreneur and investment banker, managing partner at New Russia Growth and a former board member of Sovcombank. An extreme triathlete: 11 Ironman finishes (best time 9:33) and the first person from Russia to complete the Ultraman distance (25:45). He also has one kidney — which makes any maximal endurance load even more demanding of sound physiological preparation.

To prepare the body for a rapid gain of more than 4,000 m in a single push — without acclimatization on the route, keeping working capacity and safety intact at 5,895 m, and accounting for individual health factors.

An individual preparation plan for the «run» under the OWNTOP methodology, developed by Irina Zelenkova together with the team at the Russian Olympic Committee's Innovation Centre in Moscow. The main emphasis was on hypoxic tolerance and working capacity, which make it possible to ascend without prior acclimatization in the mountains.

A speed ascent to 5,895 m without acclimatization is a format where everything depends on the body's physiological readiness for hypoxia rather than on time to adapt. Combined with one kidney and an extreme sporting background, this is one of the most telling cases for the methodology.

Alexey was one of the very first clients to prepare under the OWNTOP methodology. His case was early confirmation that a scientific approach to hypoxic preparation works even in the most extreme scenarios.

«Thank you to Irina Zelenkova Narycheva and everyone at the Russian Olympic Committee Innovation Centre who prepared me in Moscow and built my individual plan for the climb».

7 October 2025 — the summit of Dhaulagiri (8,167 m). Just 4 days earlier — the summit of Manaslu (8,163 m). Two eight-thousanders in fast-track format, within a single season window.

«After a successful ascent of Manaslu we returned to Kathmandu, rested for four days and, spotting a small, closing, but still real window in the forecast, decided to go».

«We flew into base camp at 4,750, had breakfast, changed and went straight up — to the first camp at 5,700. A hard, draining but beautiful crossing through the maze of the glacier. Insufficient recovery after Manaslu told on us — four days is not much. But, gritting our teeth, the next day we moved up to the second camp (6,400), spent the night and continued to the third — the summit camp: two tents on a steep slope at 7,300».

The original plan was different — go up to Camp 4, rest and set off for the summit at night. But the group realised that a bottleneck would form on the summit by morning and decided to move faster: they rested a couple of hours after the Camp 3 → Camp 4 crossing and set off at 14:45. Three hours and five minutes later they were on the summit (17:50). The risk of walking into sunset paid off: «the summit met us with silence and beauty, no queues and no crowds». After the photos they started down immediately and were in base camp by 00:30.

Dhaulagiri has only three camps and the summit push starts from Camp 3 — having reached C3, they rested for 4 hours and set off. The route was not easy, especially the section without fixed ropes. After 8.5 hours they were on the summit, took photos and started down immediately; they descended through the night and were in base camp at 9:15 in the morning. The whole cycle, from landing at base camp to returning, took under 70 hours.

An extreme challenge of recovery and adaptation: climbing a second eight-thousander just 4 days after the first, with recovery that was knowingly insufficient, in a closing weather window. It was the foundation of the OWNTOP methodology — deep hypoxic adaptation, a physical base and recovery protocols — that allowed the body to take the double load.

This is a continuation of Alexander's comprehensive, multi-year preparation under the OWNTOP methodology — from his first Everest (2024) to a fast-track double of eight-thousanders. Years of systematic work brought Alexander to a new level of condition — twice what it had been at the time of his Everest ascent — and raised his working capacity under hypoxia at 6,000 m into the optimal range.

Manaslu and Dhaulagiri are part of Alexander's larger goal: all 14 eight-thousanders on the planet. In spring 2026 he added three more in a single season — Annapurna, Makalu and Lhotse.

The sacred kora around Kailash — roughly 52 km at over 5,000 m — normally takes 2.5–3 days. Alexey Milevsky completed it in 1 day.

Alexey Milevsky (@alex_mlv — Founder / investor / dealmaker, Forbes 30 Under 30, nominee for «RBC Investor of the Year») is an entrepreneur and investor who set out to complete the full kora around Kailash in a single day, at a pace only well-prepared walkers can hold.

The task: to prepare the body for a long high-altitude traverse above 5,000 m in a single day, keeping working capacity intact and avoiding altitude sickness across the whole distance.

Preparation under the OWNTOP methodology: hypoxic tolerance, endurance for sustained load at altitude, nutraceutical and ergogenic support, and controlled recovery.

The full kora — roughly 52 km at over 5,000 m — in 1 day instead of the usual 2.5–3. Alexey covered the first 20 km in 4.5 hours; on the climbs to the passes his saturation never fell below 77 — the body held its oxygen steadily at altitude. That kind of pace is direct evidence of high aerobic and hypoxic readiness.

Personal guidance under the OWNTOP methodology: altitude physiology, hypoxic tolerance, nutrition and recovery, all built around a long single-day traverse.

Alexey's case extends the OWNTOP range beyond classic ascents to long high-altitude traverses: the same methodology sustains working capacity over distance, not only on a summit push.

«Great :) Although it was very hard for me — the first 20 km went quickly, 4.5 hours, and then came the climbs to the passes, where it was already hard to move fast and my breathing kept breaking up. But saturation seems not to have dropped below 77 :) Because I was breathing almost like Wim Hof) All the guidance and the preparation came in useful, thank you!»

A rare ascent: a husband and wife who reached the summit of Everest together. One of the very few joint family ascents of the highest point on the planet.

Behind the beautiful picture was serious physiological work based on the OWNTOP methodology.

Ayrat. Seven months before the climb his anaerobic threshold was 35.1 ml/min/kg, and under hypoxia his working capacity was lower still: saturation under load fell below 70%. At altitude that is critical — the body has to learn to work with an acute oxygen deficit.

Zemfira. Anaerobic threshold 29.3 ml/min/kg, with better hypoxic tolerance — saturation under load stayed higher and did not drop below 70%. But she had a predisposition to thrombophilia, and that is what the preparation focused on.

Preparation under the OWNTOP methodology was comprehensive, with different types of hypoxic training. The program was built individually around each person's physiology: what worked for Ayrat did not suit Zemfira, and vice versa.

I worked with Ayrat and Zemfira the whole way: Elbrus, Vinson Massif (Antarctica), Mont Blanc and, finally, Everest.

On 19 May 2018 Ayrat and Zemfira stood on the summit of Everest. Together. Each of them having worked through their own physiology, with preparation built around their specific weak points.

On 21 May 2024 at 02:44 Kaspar, together with Sherpa Dawa, reached the summit of Everest and became the 8th Estonian in history to stand on the highest point on the planet.

A speaker, Estonia's deepest freediver (national record — 101 m) and a climber from Helsinki. Not a professional mountain athlete but an entrepreneur who had been working towards the summit since 2020 (his first mountain was Mont Blanc).

To climb Everest as part of an international team (12 climbers, the southern route via the South Col from Nepal, 55–60 days) — systematically and safely.

Structure of the preparation (from 18 September 2023): building the base — a foundation of endurance, a 22-week plan with serious volumes of running and physical work; active hypoxic training added once the base was in place; several blocks of sleeping in a tent according to individual metrics; nutraceutical support; and an individually developed nutrition protocol for altitude.

A record-holding freediver already has exceptional hypoxic tolerance and breath control — the preparation was built to convert that rare foundation into readiness for extreme altitude.

The entire preparation was tracked in TrainingPeaks — Performance Management from September 2023 through spring 2024: managing load (TSS), form and readiness across the whole cycle.

«My preparation and training are handled by a true professional in her field — Dr Irina Zelenkova. Enormous respect and gratitude for joining my team!»

One of Irina Zelenkova's largest projects: years of preparing Valdis Pelsh and his entire film crew to work and film at extreme altitude — for the documentaries «The Altitude Gene», «The Altitude Gene 2» and «The Man Who Wanted More».

It was not only climbers who had to be prepared for altitude, but an entire film crew — people who at over 7,000 metres do not merely survive but work: holding the camera, setting the lights, composing the shot, thinking about the script.

Valdis Pelsh leads the film crew and is the author of documentaries about altitude broadcast on Channel One. Alongside him — the entire film unit (directors, camera operators, high-altitude operators) working on the Everest route and other peaks.

Years of collaboration — not one-off preparation but systematic work with the team across several projects and several years. Hypoxic preparation of the whole group under the OWNTOP methodology, aimed at working capacity at altitude.

At altitude you have to hold concentration and fine motor control for camera work, stay creative, and keep the endurance to last a full shooting day.

During the filming of «The Man Who Wanted More» Irina accompanied the crew as a doctor directly at altitude. She also served as scientific editor on the film scripts, ensuring that altitude physiology, adaptation and medical detail were accurate on screen.

Films that made altitude, physiology and the «altitude gene» understandable to millions — and behind the camera, systematic preparation of the crew under the OWNTOP methodology.

«Listen to your body» — the strategy that carried Yuri through Everest's critical point, the North Col at 7,000 m, where the mountain turns back those who should go no further. For him it went well.

Yuri Gurgov is a Russian entrepreneur. In 2018 he climbed Everest with a «7 Summits» Club expedition.

For him business and mountaineering are about the same thing: «The “I have money, I want to pay and go to Everest” approach does not work». Every expedition calls for long and thoughtful preparation: a climb is a shared responsibility, and if you cannot keep going, the whole group turns back to base.

Personal work under the OWNTOP methodology. The key areas: building hypoxic tolerance, sustaining working capacity at altitude, an individual nutrition and supplement protocol, and ergogenic support for the body under load.

Systematic preparation of the body for work at the limit above 8,000 m: not only to get there, but to keep clarity and working capacity on the key sections of the route, including the North Col.

Everest 2018 was a record season — 715 people reached the summit. Yuri's case shows how sound physiological preparation turns an ascent of the highest point on the planet into managed, deliberate work by the body.

To climb Everest at 21 — and to approach it not as an impulse but with adult-level rigour. In Katya's own words, Irina «is going to spend a whole month running experiments on my little body» — with her trademark self-irony: «Because I decided to climb the tree… and not get scratched».

Katya Lipka is a young climber who set out to reach the summit of Everest (8,848 m) at 21. Here her age is not bravado but a reason to make the preparation as sound and as safe as possible.

To develop an Everest preparation strategy: to build a system of altitude adaptation and physical readiness so that a young body would come to extreme hypoxia prepared.

Irina Zelenkova developed Katya's preparation strategy under the OWNTOP methodology. Part of the work was done online — Zoom consultations within a month of focused preparation for altitude.

Strategic guidance for a young athlete: the emphasis on building the right system of adaptation from the very start, without relying on years of altitude experience — quality of preparation in place of time served.