On October 13, Evgeny Staroselsky stood atop the razor-edged limestone summit of Carstensz Pyramid in Papua, completing the last of the famed Seven Summits: Everest, Vinson, Elbrus, Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and now, Oceania’s 4,884-metre peak.
With it, he became the first Cypriot citizen to finish the challenge, carrying the island’s flag to every one of the world’s highest points.
Cyprus is not a place that produces mountaineers, at least not on paper. Its mountains are steepish but walkable, its winters mild, its rhythm comfortable; not exactly the landscape one associates with ice axes or oxygen tanks.
Needless to say, when 64-year-old Evgeny first moved to Cyprus he wasn’t inheriting a tradition; he was building one from scratch.
The Ukrainian-born professional mountaineer, guide, and rescuer made the island his home 15 years ago and slowly began coaxing a nation of beachgoers toward altitude.
“In Cyprus, most people did sport climbing, not really mountaineering,” Evgeny recalls. “I started promoting the idea of going to big mountains and climbing big mountains, from the easier ones to the more difficult.”
He began organising expeditions tailored to all experience levels, from beginner-friendly climbs of Kilimanjaro to slightly more challenging ascents of Elbrus and Ararat and even extended trekking adventures across the trails of Nepal.
Evgeny also founded the Survival Academy Cyprus, a programme for both children and adults where he teaches how to save yourself in wild nature, in forests, in mountains and even in urban environments during a crisis.
Evgeny’s journey began in a university mountaineering club during Soviet-era Ukraine. What started as a casual hobby soon became a lifelong passion. After earning a degree in sports, climbing became central to both his professional and personal life.
“It’s my life,” he says simply.
Such devotion demands immense time and energy, and, as Evgeny notes, unwavering support from loved ones.
“There’s a saying among mountaineers: if your wife doesn’t support your mountains, leave her.”
Fortunately for him, his wife has done just that, nurturing a happy marriage that has lasted over 25 years.
Evgeny reached his first summit in 1979. Since then, he has earned the prestigious Snow Leopard title for conquering all five 7,000-metre peaks of the former Soviet Union, alongside many other remarkable achievements.
His mountaineering résumé spans over 120 mountains of varying difficulty across multiple regions, including the legendary Everest and K2.
He is among the rare few climbers to have summited both. Everest, the world’s tallest peak, has seen roughly 11,000 successful ascents, while K2, at 8,611 metres and known as the “Killer Mountain” due to its extreme difficulty and high fatality rate, has fewer than 400 successful climbers.
Never one to rest, Evgeny moved on to the next challenge: the Seven Summits, a challenge that involves climbing the highest peak on each continent. It gained fame in the 1980s when American Richard Bass completed the original list, which included Mount Kosciuszko in Australia.
In 1986, Italian climber Reinhold Messner proposed a tougher version by replacing Kosciuszko with the more technically demanding Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) in Papua, Indonesia, a version now favoured by most climbers.
While there’s no official certification, the mountaineering community widely acknowledges the accomplishment. Around 500 people have completed the Seven Summits, with roughly 231 having tackled the more demanding Messner version.
Amid this challenge, having already climbed Elbrus and Kilimanjaro multiple times, Evgeny gained Cypriot citizenship and launched his personal project, “Flag of Cyprus on the highest top of the world,” ensuring that each peak he conquered was shared symbolically with Cyprus.
He began the remaining climbs in 2019 with Everest and continued across the continents. His final summit was Carstensz Pyramid, closed to foreigners since 2019 but reopened in 2025. On October 13 at 6am local time, Evgeny reached the top, completing the Seven Summits and fulfilling his ambitious programme.
“For me, this journey represents not only personal determination but also a tribute to the spirit and inspiration of Cyprus,” he explains.
“It’s very important for me and for Cyprus, because until 1st of January 2025, only 231 mountaineers finished Seven Summit programme in the whole world, for the whole history!”
Cyprus, he adds, is the country of his citizenship, where he lives, and where his children grew up, which is why he wants to represent it. “It has become my second motherland.”
While he also carries the flag of his homeland, Ukraine, this is something more private, kept off social media. He shares photos of the flags atop mountains with friends back home to offer moral support, especially during the ongoing conflict.
Ultimately, he says, “Ukraine is my heart. But now I am Cypriot.”
Thanks to Evgeny, Cyprus became part of a world-renowned mountaineering challenge, sharing in his journey and touching the heights of human ambition. While not known for producing climbers, this small Mediterranean island has, in a sense, adopted one.
