Source: CNA
Cypriot citizen Evgenios Staroselskiy is set to begin his attempt next June to conquer the most demanding peak in the world, mountain K2 in Pakistan and raise the Cyprus flag on it.
With the support of the Cyprus Olympic Committee (COC) and the Cyprus Mountaineering Climbing and Orienteering Federation, Staroselskiy is preparing to achieve something that only 500 climbers in the world have achieved, as the conquest of K2 at a height of 8611 meters in the Karakorum Mountains (Pakistan) is the second highest in the planet, but the hardest and most dangerous peak in the world.
As he said at a press conference in Nicosia, Staroselskiy will take part in the ascent of K2 as part of an international expedition and his goal is to raise the flag of the Republic of Cyprus at the top and shout out to the world “the power of the small island and its amazing people, who know how to dream and can win”.
As pointed out at the press conference Staroselskiy is a member of the Mountaineering Federation and head of the National programme “Flag of the Republic of Cyprus on the highest peaks of the world”, while he also holds the title “Snow Leopard”. The programme is under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Cyprus and supported by the COC and the Mountaineering Federation.
He has already raised the flag of the Republic of Cyprus on hundreds of the most difficult peaks on the planet, including 6 of the 7 most famous.
In particular, he has conquered Everest (8848 m.). Only two representatives from Cyprus managed to reach this peak, in 2012 Giorgos Andreou from the South side, and in 2019 Staroselskiy, with a more difficult route from the North side of Tibet.
He has also placed the Cypriot flag on Aconcagua in Argentina (6962m), on Denali (6194m), Kilimanjaro (5895 m), and on Elbrus (5642m).
On January 3, 2023, Cypriot team members Staroselskiy and Viktoria Polevaya raised the flag of the Republic of Cyprus on the summit of Mount Vinson (4892 m) in Antarctica, becoming the first Cypriot citizens to climb the most remote and coldest peak of the “7 Summits” programme.
To complete the “7 Summits” and “Flag of the Republic of Cyprus on the highest peaks of the world” programmes, only one peak remains, that of the Carstensz Pyramid (4884 m). It is the highest mountain in Oceania, located in Papua. Eugene plans to conquer it in 2023 and become the first Cypriot, who will raise the flag of the Republic of Cyprus on the mountain tops of all continents.
At the conference, Staroselskiy thanked the COC and the Federation for their support, while, asked about his feelings at the time of placing the Cypriot flag on a peak, he said that Cyprus has given him a lot since 2011 when he moved to the island, and that this was his own way of returning the love and all that the country has offered him and continues to offer to him.
