Today we went higher, to about 12,300 feet, courtesy of a gnarly network of trams and chairlifts. The goal: Practice our roped travel skills. Grey skies, slashing rain, corn snow. It was fun! Hail gave way to nasty rain, and we headed down on schedule at 2 PM. In summary, all went well. We … Continue reading Elbrus: Training Day
The plan for today was for an acclimatization hike to 10,000 feet. And so we did. https://youtu.be/LW7pAUztZ58 Gear check is done. Massive thunderclaps and rainstorm are cooling everything off. We are comfortable and happy. Tomorrow, we will ride the trams and head higher still. It will be a good day.
Lovely morning in the city, seeing a few more sights before flying to Mineral Vody and then driving up to Terskol at the foot of the mountain. Now safely in Terskol, a beautiful village in the mountain forests… more tomorrow, for now I sleep!
The top of Europe is in Russia, in the Caucasus, between the Caspian and Black Seas. I’m climbing it with IMG, guided by Mike Hamill. I hope to complete my goal of climbing the Seven Summits before my 50th birthday. Let’s see how this goes. First, we have to get there. Starting in St. Petersburg … Continue reading Elbrus: St Petersburg
My fingers were becoming painful in the cold. Getting the photos I wanted meant wearing just the merino liners, and they could only stave off the wind for so long. I’m not sure what the temperature was on the summit, but would guess circa -10F before the wind chill. Actually, the wind was not too … Continue reading Down
