Ryan had just led a successful 8 person team up Elbrus and was on the way to Moscow to fly back home when the hijack attempt took place.
Image by Eric Larsen, courtesy Ryan Waters, www.ryanwaters.netScreen shot of hijacked plane video by euro news.
Image by Video image, courtesy Explorersweb Inc.
Ryan's team on top of Elbrus a few days ago.
Image by Ryan Waters, courtesy Ryan Waters
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Boulder climber Ryan Waters after Caucasus plane hijack attempt: "All is OK"
Posted: Jul 29, 2010 04:29 pm EDT
American mountaineer and recent Antarctica record skier (complete, unsupported crossing with K2 climber Cecilie Skog) Ryan Waters of Boulder, Colorado is safe after an attempted hijacking of a domestic plane from Caucasus to Moscow.
Ryan had just led a successful eight-person international team of members from the US and Brazil up Elbrus for Mountain Professionals and was on the way to Moscow to fly back home when the hijack attempt took place.
A hijacker held the crew and passengers for two hours after landing, demanding a meeting with Vladimir Putin. According to Aljazeera.net, Russian special forces boarded the aircraft at the airport disguised as doctors freeing all 105 passengers unhurt.
Ryan e-mailed ExplorersWeb from the airport stating that he and his team are all safe following a ten-hour ordeal and are just being interviewed by security. Check Ryan's website for updates (link is under picture on the left).
Following an unsupported ski crossing of Greenland, this past winter American Ryan Waters and Norwegian Cecilie Skog skied unassisted and unsupported across Antarctica from Berkner Island to the Axel Heiberg Glacier.
Ryan Waters was born in 1973 and lives in Boulder, Colorado. He did extensive climbing and guiding work in the Himalayas of Nepal and Tibet as well as the Karakoram Range in Pakistan. Ryan’s hobbies are photography, climbing, coffee and travel. Top movie is Casino Royale; favorite foods are Thai and Mexican.
Ryan is a veteran of nine 8,000 meter-peak expeditions, including three expeditions to Mt. Everest, reaching the summit of both the Tibet and Nepal sides of the mountain. He has guided three expeditions to Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world and lead trips to K2, Broad Peak, and Gasherbrum II.
He developed a passion for the Andes Range of South America and was based in Argentina for several years during which he led over 30 expeditions in the mountains of Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. Ryan spent extensive time in the back country of South America working as a mountaineering instructor for Patagonia Outward Bound.
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