“Man-mountain”: a memorial plaque was installed on the peak “Akademik Fortov” in the Caucasus

His colleagues, friends and relatives took part in the expedition in memory of the academician

An expedition to Mount Akademik Fortov, 3814 meters high, took place in Kabardino-Balkaria. Members of the expedition installed a memorial plaque perpetuating the memory of the outstanding scientist and physicist Vladimir Evgenievich Fortov.

The event was timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which we will all celebrate in 2024. Vladimir Fortov was one of the prominent representatives of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Help “MK”. Vladimir Fortov headed the Joint Institute of High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the late 1990s, he combined the positions of Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation with the positions of Minister of Science and Technology, as well as Chairman of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Science and Technology and Chairman of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.

In 2013, he was elected president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a position he held until March 2017. In this difficult position, Vladimir Fortov held his position until the last moment, as long as his strength allowed, saving the academy, which was hit by a destructive reform.

He is considered one of the most successful Russian scientists. He has more than 500 scientific papers and 30 monographs on the topics of pulsed and industrial energy, space physics, and controlled thermonuclear fusion. One of the most important achievements of the scientist is the creation of a new direction in physical science related to the study of the dynamic physics of nonideal plasma. Work in this area predetermined the emergence of a project for a future nuclear rocket engine and thermonuclear reactor.

By the way, the expedition took place within the framework of the XVI Russian Conference on Thermophysical Properties of Substances, which was held in the village of Neutrino in the valley of the Baksan River. At the end of the conference, an ascent to the mountain “Akademik Fortov” took place, in which among the 20 participants were the daughter of the scientist Svetlana Fortova, the mayor of the city of Chernogolovka Oleg Egorov (Vladimir Evgenievich devoted more than 50 years to work in the institutes of Chernogolovka), two academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Igor Kalyaev and Mikhail Guzev, employees of the unique Neutrino Observatory, which is located in the Baksan Gorge, not far from Mount Fortova. Safety on the route was ensured by four professional climbers.

The ascent began on September 27 at 6.27. A separate machine moved the memorial structure weighing 100 kg and the memorial plaque weighing 15 kg. Their ascent to the Balyk pass, to Mount Akademik Fortov, took two hours, and the same amount of time was needed to mount it and secure it at the foot of the peak. At the very top of Fortova, the expedition members secured a traditional mound for climbers, which contains a list of the ascent group and a small message to future climbers who will climb the mountain.

In the future, it is planned to build a special “National Trail” to the mountain memorial, which will become a neighbor of the “Path of Poets” already existing in the Caucasus in Chegem. By the way, Mount Akademik Fortov has already been marked on all maps of the world.