When Karen Hovasapyan’s friends and relatives were waiting for him at the Los Angeles airport, people who didn’t know who he was were approaching and asking, “Who is Karen Hovasapyan? Is he a political or state figure, a national hero, or a well-known composer?” However, when they found out that he’s an alpinist and has been in the North and South poles, McKinley and Akonkagua summits and has returned victorious from Everest, they got more interested in him.
K. Hovasapyan was born on August 9, 1959 in Tehran, Iran. He immigrated to Armenia in 1969 and settled down in the city of Charentsavan. In 1978, he served in the Soviet army in the cities of Irkutsk and Novo Siberia. He moved to Sochi in 1982 and has been living in the U.S. since 1989. Karen has wrestled since the age of 12, has gotten acquainted with well-known alpinists through literature. His parents have called him the “Lalvar hunter” from the book with the character that hunts crocodiles. In fact, Karen has a crocodile hanging from the wall of his apartment, which he hunted himself. In 1997, a leader of the Indian tribe living in north Canada Frank Levelet invited Karen over to his home.
“I lived with them for a month and tried my best to learn about their customs and how they live in extreme conditions. Those days were unforgettable. They are surrounded by nature and if I was satisfied after living there for only a couple of days, I can imagine how they feel living there everyday,” says Karen.
There’s a story as to why Karen loves altitudes that much. In Iran, his grandfather wrote on a paving-stone: “The garden belongs to Almast Hovasapyan.” While immigrating to Armenia, the Hovasapyans brought that paving-stone with them. Karen’s uncle wished to raise the paving-stone all the way up to the Mount Aragats. He wasn’t successful the first time-he had 80 meters to go. However, a year later, Karen and his family managed to get the stone all the way up to the peak of Mount Aragats.
Karen reached greater heights starting from 1996, when he met well-known polar-explorer Lori Thexter from Canada but English by nationality in a plane by chance. Karen told Lori that he would like to go to the poles, but Thexter rejects.
“It turned out that I had to be physically ready for that because you might go and never come back. I had to train. At the time I was wrestling and involved in sports. I took the “test” and was ready to go hiking. But the training wasn’t enough for me. I used to secretly go to the mountains dragging wheels with me without Lori knowing it. When the group gathered to go, they thought that there was one more load. But Lori and I knew that I was ready,” said Karen Hovasapyan during an interview one time.
He really was ready. In November 2000, the 10-member group consisting of alpinists from different countries took off on the hiking trip, which ended on January 10, 2001. Eight out of the ten made it to the South Pole. Karen had taken the Armenian flag with him, which he had received as a present from the Armenian Consul of Los Angeles. The alpinist had promised to raise the flag at the seven highest peaks of the world. He reached success. Karen is the first Armenian who has made it to the North and South Poles and has raised the Armenian flag from the highest peaks. But Karen faced many difficulties in order to make it to the top of Mount Everest. Since May-June are the months when the weather on top of Mount Everest is good, the alpinists decided to go during those months. The 21 hikers from eight countries planned beforehand to start the trip to Everest through the Tibet mountains. However, the group was attacked in Nepal by a Maoist organization and as a result, one of the alpinist got injured and couldn’t continue the trip. For nearly two months, alpinists trained, created bases and got used to the local climate. The group created its first base at an altitude of 5,200 meters, and the rest-6,500, 7,100, 7,700, 8,300 meters. They called the distance from the 8,300 meter spot to the peak of Everest as the danger zone. Despite the difficulties, five alpinists climbed 8841 meters all the way to the top of the world’s highest mountain and got there on May 30, 2005 and the first person was Karen Hovasapyan. But he didn’t go up the second time. “I didn’t want to feel what I felt the first time. We were close to death during the trip and one of my friends died from lack of oxygen, the other lost eyesight and the Russian doctor by the name of Igor froze his leg,” says Karen. According to him, reaching the top of the two poles cost a total of 70,000 dollars. Karen and his brother own a woodworking factory and take orders for preparing furniture. Karen got part of the money from the business, while the rest was given by his friends across the world. Karen is well-known among alpinists-“He is a generous and energetic Armenian”, “He helps his friends out through thick and thin”, “We love him”, say his friends, however it seems as though his mother is the only person who doesn’t accept the profession that he has chosen. “He’ll get his punishment when he comes home. He always keeps me in a state of panic. I have been awake at night for years now,” says the kind and modest Mrs. Siran, Karen Hovasapyan’s mother.
Karen is not satisfied with his achievements. In September, he plans to make his childhood dream a reality-to reach the top of Mount Ararat. In November, he will climb the 7th highest peak of the world-The Winson mountain of Antarctica and will then wave the Armenian flag. In fact, Karen always recites poems written by Yeghishe Charents each time he reaches the top of any mountain.
P.S. According to our sources, Karen Hovasapyan will pay a visit to Armenia in September.