Israfil Ashurly (; born January 16, 1969, in Baku, Azerbaijani SSR, USSR) is an Azerbaijani mountaineer. He is a co-founder of Azerbaijan Alpine Club (Azərbaycan Alpine Klubu). He was executive secretary of the Ice-Climbing Commission (2010–2017) under the UIAA (International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation), president of the youth committee (Youth Commission 2012–2016) UIAA, president of the Azerbaijan Mountaineering Federation (2010–2016), Member of the Presidium of the Euro-Asian Association of Mountaineering and Climbing (EAMA since 2011), and a judge of the international category in ice climbing, master of sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
He is the first Azerbaijani to successfully summit all Himalayan eight-thousanders: Chomolungma (2007), Kangchenjunga (2011), Lhotse (2019), Manaslu (2019) Broad Peak (2022), Makalu (2023), Nanga Parbat (2024) and Gasherbrum II (2024). As Azerbaijan's first member of the Seven Summits club (2007), also the first Snow Leopard in the history of Azerbaijani mountaineering (2009) and the first conqueror of the North Pole (2009). The first of the Azerbaijanis landed in Antarctica in December 2005 and climbed the highest peak of the white continent — the Vinson Massif.
On March 4, 2009, by Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ashurly was awarded the Taraggi (Progress) medal. Cavalier of the mountaineering Order "Edelweiss" I and II degrees.
Biography He was born on January 16, 1969, in the city of Baku. He graduated school number 6 in Baku, and from Azerbaijan State Oil Academy's energy faculty.
In 1991, Israfil Ashurly organized the Insol company, which in 1998 began installing and launching telecommunication equipment for mobile and wireline operators. The company has offices in Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan. He is a member of the Board of Managing Directors of the Insol Group of Companies, and CEO of the management company "Insol Consulting". He has also been vice-president of the Swiss company iCsquared GmbH in Russia, the Baltic countries and the CIS. www.icsquared.ch
Ashurly became interested in mountaineering after Insol was created. This happened, as he said, by accident. In 1999, he made an exotic tourist trekking to the foot of Kanchenjunga (8586m) in the Himalayas. He stated “I didn’t understand how people go to the mountains, live in tents. My habits were quite sybaritic.” In the Indian state of Sikkim, he got to the five thousandth pass of Gocha La. Here is how Israfil describes his impressions: “When people go to the mountains, they have two choices: either they don’t like them and never return, or they love them so much that they can’t wait to go back. I fall into the second category.”
Expeditions In 2000, while on a holiday visit to near Kangchenjunga's foot, Ashurly became interested in mountaineering. In next seven years, he became ninth person to complete Seven Summits challenge.
Seven Summits Ashurly's Completion of the Seven Summits Date Place Elevation Description 1. January 16, 2001 Mount Kilimanjaro 5895 m Highest Mountain in Africa 2. May 26, 2002 Mount Kosciuszko 2228 m Highest Mountain in Australia 3. July 7, 2003 Mount Elbrus 5642 m Highest Mountain in Europe 4. January 28, 2004 Aconcagua 6961 m Highest Mountain in South America 5. June 5, 2005 Mount McKinley 6194 m Highest Mountain in North America 6. December 23, 2006 Vinson Massif 4897 m Highest Mountain in Antarctica 7. May 19, 2007 Mount Everest 8848 m Highest Mountain in Asia and the World
Snow Leopard Summits Ashurly's Completion of the Snow Leopard Summits Date Place Elevation 1. August 7, 2004 Lenin Peak 7134 m 2. August 17, 2005 Peak Korzhenevskaya 7105 m 3. August 15, 2006 Ismoil Somoni Peak 7495 m 4. August 8, 2009 Khan Tengri 7010 m 5. August 20, 2009 Jengish Chokusu 7439 m
Volcanic Seven Summits Ashurly's Completion of the Volcanic Seven Summits Date Place Elevation 1. January 16, 2001 Mount Kilimanjaro 5895 m 2. March 10, 2002 Mount Fuji 3776 m 3. July 7, 2003 Mount Elbrus 5642 m 4. August 22, 2003 Mount Aghri 5137 m
14x8000 meters Himalayas and Karakoram expeditions Ashurly's Completion of the 8000ers Date Place Elevation 1. May 19, 2007 Mount Everest 8848 m 2. May 21, 2011 Mt. Kangchenjunga 8586 m 3. May 22, 2019 Mt. Lhotse 8516 m 4. September 26, 2019 Mt. Manaslu 8163 m 5. July 23, 2022 Mt. Broad Peak 8051 m 6. May 18, 2023 Mt. Makalu 8485 m 7. July 10, 2024 Mt. Nanga Parbat 8126 m 8. July 23, 2024 Mt. Gasherbrum II 8035 m
List of all Himalayas and Karakoram expeditions
In 2003, he reached Lapchi mountain (6,017) with Russian alpinist Vladimir Shatayev. In 2007, Ashurly reached Everest with Sergey Kofanov. In 2011, he reached Kangchenjunga with Russian alpinists Aleksey Bolotov and Nikolay Totmyanin.
2013 Nanga Parbat expedition. Expedition was interrupted by terrorist attack on base camp.
2014 Shishabangma expedition. Climbed till 6800m and moved down due to pulmonary edema.
2019 climbed Island Peak.
2019 climbed Lhotse.
2019 climbed Manaslu.
2019 climbed Island Peak.
2019 climbed Ama Dablam.
2021 Annapurna expedition. Climbed till 6800m and moved down due to avalanches risks.
2021 Broad Peak expedition. Climbed till 7900m and moved down due to avalanches risks.
2022 climbed Broad Peak
2023 climbed Makalu
2023 Nanga Parbat expedition. Expedition was interrupted at C4 (7400 m) due to a rescue operation by Pakistani climber Asif Bhatti.
2024 climbed Nanga Parbat
2024 climbed Gasherbrum II
Rescue of Mountaineers In July 2022, Israfil Ashurly rescued Romanian mountaineer Geo Badea, who was ascending Broad Peak (8,051 m).
In early July 2023, during an ascent of Nanga Parbat (8,125 m) in the Himalayas, Ashurly, according to Russian mountaineer Sergey Kofanov, abandoned his own climb in order to rescue two stranded climbers. One of them, Pavel Kopec from Poland, was found by Ashurly in a hopeless condition and died in Israfil's arms. The other climber, Pakistani Asif Bhatti, was dragged by Ashurly to Camp III, where both were trapped due to severe weather conditions. After descending to Camp II, with the assistance of two Pakistani climbers, they managed to reach the base camp.
See also Murad Ashurly
References
External links Azerbaijan Mountaineering Federation Ashurly's Profile on 7 Summits Club