Thursday July 29 – Cheget to Moscow
Last night Ryan, Paul, Todd, Humberto and I went out for drinks. Cheget has a very nice atmosphere and there are several restaurants and bars to choose from. My stomach was a little upset (something we have all dealt with at least a couple times on this trip) so I left early and went back to the room. I decided to watch a movie on the computer and was still up when Paul and Todd returned around midnight.

After a good sleep I woke at 7am to finish packing and have breakfast before our 8:30am departure from Cheget to Minerakyne Vody for our flight back to Moscow. The drive was uneventful, but we were glad we had Oksana with us when we got to the airport. I have traveled all around the world and feel pretty confident that I can navigate most countries airports, but Russia is a whole different animal. Nobody speaks any English and it is a very confusing and chaotic system (at least it seems so to me). With Oksana’s help we got through initial security and checked in our bags and got our boarding passes. The Mineralyne Vody airport has a very strict 20 kilo per person policy and they add all bags in a group together plus your carry on. For normal travel this may not be an issue, but with a big duffel bag full of mountaineering equipment we had no hope of meeting the 20 kilo limit. We were 36 kilos over as a group and had to pay1800 Rubles (about $65). Once we paid we moved on to security to get into the boarding lounge.

We were soon called for our flight and boarded the plane. The plane was of a similar vintage to our last one, but this one was slightly newer and not quite as run down. Take off was smooth and the flight went quickly as I dozed off and on. The landing was also smooth and we were soon taxiing towards the gate.

As I looked out the window I saw that our plane was following a car with flashing lights on top. It seemed odd to have an escort, but I just assumed it was normal for the very busy Moscow airport. Our plane was guided to and stopped at an out of the way space away from the other parked planes. I thought we were just in a holding pattern waiting for a gate to open. Then a fuel truck came up to our plane and it appeared that they were fueling the plane which seemed a little odd to me as we were not at a gate and nobody had yet deplaned (I later figured out they were removing all the fuel from the plane for reasons which will become clear as my story continues). After the fuel truck left we seemed to sit on the tarmac forever. It was very hot in the plane as the air conditioning did not work. The thermometer on my watch registered 95f. We sat and sat and nothing was happening and no announcement was made. People were getting over heated and agitated. The flight staff said that we were stuck in traffic and would move soon.

Then I looked out the window and saw that our plane was being surrounded by police in flack jackets. There was also a media crew filming our plane and a reporter was talking to the camera. None of us had any idea what was going on and the flight staff continued to play dumb. It got hotter and hotter in the plane and water was passed out. The lady in front of us was apparently having difficulty breathing, but I think she was just being melodramatic. The steward brought her an oxygen bottle and a mask, but like much of the plane it did not work. People started to yell at the flight staff and the atmosphere was very electric. I felt that it could have erupted into a very ugly scene at any moment.

After three hours on the ground the doors were finally opened up and a blast of cool air (85f) rushed into the plane. After a further wait of about 30 minutes, we were let off the plane. As we walked towards the door of the plane the flight staff stood by the door thanking everyone and saying they hoped they had a good flight. This is standard procedure, but the passengers were having none of it. Many shouted insults back and stormed off the plane. The big issue is that we were never told why we were being held and there was obviously an issue. Not a single announcement had been made by the captain or anyone else in authority.

As I descended the stairs to the tarmac I saw for the first time the seriousness of the situation. There were dozens of police cars and what appeared to be Special Forces military vehicles around as well as half a dozen ambulances. I was left wondering what all the fuss was about. Since we could not speak Russian and nobody else around us seemed to know what was going on we just kept walking towards the waiting shuttle bus. At least it was over and we could get to our hotel in Moscow and go out for dinner.

We drove away from the plane towards the terminal and were soon disembarking and walking through a door being held open for us. As we walked down the stairs we walked into a cafeteria and found all the exit doors locked and guarded by soldiers. We quickly realized that we were not going anywhere fast, but still did not know why.

Slowly through bits and pieces here and there we learned what had happened. Well at least parts of it. Apparently there was an attempted high jacking of our plane. It happened in the front of the plane and since we were at the back we did not see or hear anything. All I know is that a person the police are calling a “terrorist” attempted to high jack the plane at some point as we were flying towards Moscow. I am not sure what happened next, but one story tells that the terrorist was subdued by passengers and a plain clothes security officer. The other goes that the terrorist was overpowered by Special Forces soldiers dressed as medical staff after the plane landed. Regardless of what actually happened the terrorist was captured and handcuffed and led off the plane to an awaiting squad car.

It is amazing that not a word of what was happening up front had filtered to the back of the plane. We were oblivious to a potentially very dangerous and scary situation.

Once in the cafeteria it was waiting time. English speaking staff was assigned to us, but they knew little and were saying even less. After a couple of hours food was served and the military arrived to start to interview everyone. We were told we would be here all night. We filled out an eye witness report and photo copied our passports, Russian Visas, and boarding passes and then waited to be interviewed by an army officer through an interpreter.

At first all seemed to be going well. The process appeared to be moving even though nobody had spoken to us yet. The non-smoking cafeteria quickly became smoke filled as the nicotine starved passengers lit up (it seems that 80% or more of the Russian population smokes). The bathroom in particular became extremely hazardous to the non-smoker. For some reason it was felt that the bathroom was the best place to smoke and the small confined space soon became dense with smoke. Going to the bathroom was akin to sticking your head in a chimney with a roaring leaf fire belching smoke in your face. A deep breath was required before entering and not for the normal bathroom reasons.

Interpreters soon found their way to us and the process began with the two Brazilians (Gilberto and Humberto) as they had the earliest flight home and needed to get going soon if they were to make their plane. It was a difficult process as the questions needed to be translated from Russian, into English and then into Portuguese and then back again. I set the timer on my watch to see how long this interview was going to take as we would need to repeat it for each of the seven of us.

Two more interpreters were produced and the process started with another one of us. I figured that this could not take long as none of us had seen or heard anything. How wrong I would be proven to be.

Not too long after the interview began the military soldiers who were conducting the interviews began to chain smoke to match the 150 other chain smokers around us. It became extremely uncomfortable to breathe.

Every now and then the interpreters would get up and walk away and the soldiers would do the same. We watched on in amused and slightly frustrated silence. Then I noticed that the interpreters had disappeared and had not returned. Nobody could speak English and our repeated questions went unanswered. Eventually an airport media photographer approached us and in halting English said that he would try to help us out. He did not know where our original interpreters had gone.

Although his intentions were great his English was poor and the interview process ground to an unbelievably slow speed. The Russian officer would ask a question and the photographer would try to put it into English at which point a long conversation would ensue in Russian. Eventually he would say “date of birth” or “nationality”. This would then be translated into Portuguese for the Brazilians and then the process would rebound back again. The funny thing was that most of the initial questions could be answered by the passport in the soldier’s hand. The most ridiculous question I heard was “can you tell me what flight you were on and where you were flying from and to”. As far as I could tell we had all been on the same plane from and to the same location and this is why we were being held. Very quickly the process turned into a comedy of epic proportions, but it lacked any real humour.

Members of our team started to get extremely frustrated with the slow process. Nobody seemed to know what was going on and the soldiers stood around discussing the situation and the questions, personnel and process seemed to be in an ever changing state, the only thing that did not change was the rotund soldier interviewing the Brazilians. We nicknamed him “John Candy” due to his striking resemblance to the late Canadian actor and his comedic ability. When asked what they saw the Brazilians responded “nothing”. Mr. Candy would then write for 10-15 minutes, tearing up several sheets of paper and start again. This continued for almost three hours when things seemed to be wrapping up. We thought that at least two of our team had been finished. The soldier stacked his 30 page report and started all over again with the second Brazilian. In all this time he had only questioned one person.

Tempers started to flare and upon questioning we were told that each person would need to be interviewed individually. Our initial interpreters returned and told us that their boss was not happy with their level of interpretation ability and they were no longer allowed to assist us. This once again was quite comical as the photographer who was acting as the official interpreter had a far poorer command of the English language that the two people that were no longer allowed to work with us. This was quickly turning into a gong show of epic proportions.

Ryan had been speaking with the American Embassy to try to get us some help, but when the Embassy called the airport they were told that there was no incident and that no passengers were being held. Instead of sending someone down to investigate the Embassy just said good luck and keep in touch if we required any further assistance. A few hours later when Ryan called again they were closed for the day and the emergency line went unanswered.

With the philosophy that “the squeaky wheel gets the oil” we started to demand from anyone we thought was in some position of authority that something happen to get us moving. The soldiers became frustrated with our demands as they could not understand us and we could not understand them. It appeared to work as the two interpreters who were told they were not good enough were now told to get to work and clear us through the interview process.

To make a very long story slightly shorter, I will say that eventually we were all interviewed and cleared of any suspicion in the terrorist plot. It was an extremely frustratingly slow process and seemed to be flawed at every point. We were each made to write out a statement that we wanted no further involvement in the case, that we had been treated well and that we had freely and happily answered questions all night.

Ultimately I have no idea of what really happened. I was told that it was all a mistake and that it was just a drunk passenger, but that seemed unlikely with the massive police and military presence. I was also told that a man somehow got a gun onto the plane (I think this is unlikely) and had attempted to get into the cockpit. I do think much of this is true, with the exception of the gun, and that a security officer and several passengers quickly and bloodily dealt with the terrorist. But your guess is as good as mine.

After almost 14 hours in detention the frustration level was extremely high and we were still not done. Tempers were starting to flare and the officials started to realize they needed to get this over with before they had an international incident on their hands. We were offered free transportation and accommodation to placate us. It sufficed to quench some of the anger, but the best move was just to let us go. We were almost the last passengers to be released. The one group left after us was the only other non-Russian speaking group.

A group of Chinese climbers who had summited Elbrus the day before us had spent their time sleeping, watching movies on their computer, taking pictures, and playing video games. I felt sorry for them as only one member of their group spoke English and he would need to translate for each and every one of his team; Russian to English, to Chinese and back again for hours on end. I could only hope for them that the soldiers had learned something through their experience with us and that the interview process would now go faster, but I am doubtful.

Eventually our team, minus Gilberto and Umberto who had left to catch their plane to Brazil, met in the airport with Nikolai our Russian logistics provider and flanked by a security guard who had been charged with looking after us. It was good to be out of the chaos, but unfortunately this incident had ended our trip and we no longer had time for souvenir shopping or one last team dinner. We split into the night and started our long journeys home.

Wednesday July 28 – Cheget
For our first morning back in Cheget we had planned a late breakfast to allow for a sleep in. My body was not interested in the sleep however and I was wide awake at 6:30am. I took my netbook computer to the lobby to check email and then went for a walk into town.

Nothing was open in town, but the air was cool and fresh and the sun shining off the mountains was mesmerizing. After a short walk I went back to the hotel to join the rest of the team for breakfast. This day would be filled with wandering and exploring, eating and drinking.

After a late breakfast we walked to a location about 15 minutes away that we were told had a fishing pond and for 1000 Rubles (about $35) you could fish all day and they would cook what you caught for you to eat. This sounded like fun until we arrived. It was quite a beautiful location with the river running through the property and a combination or Swiss and Mongolian architecture. Then we saw the fishing pond. Someone had decided that the natural water colour was not very appealing so they had coloured the water a bright turquoise blue with some form of dye. We could see the fish swimming through the water, but the thought of catching them and eating them faded quickly.

We decided to leave the fishing pond for another time and continued our walk up the valley to the town of Terksol where we found a small café and had coffee, ice cream and beer. Terksol is a charming little town and I’m sure is quite lively in the winter months with the ski season in full swing.

We walked back to Cheget via a beautiful trail through the Pine forest at the side of the raging glacial fed river. Once back in Cheget we spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, resting and talking.

Tuesday July 27 – Descent to Cheget
After a decent sleep I woke just before 7am. I think I should have slept better considering the lack of sleep I was working on and the amount of energy I had expended, but I found it difficult to sleep last night. Todd and I played cards until 9:30 and then I crawled into my sleeping bag. Most of the other people had left the second floor for an open room on the main floor so it was once again quiet for sleeping. I listened to music until around 11:00 and then turned it off feeling that it was time for sleep even though I did not yet feel sleepy. Eventually sleep overtook me and I slept off and on until just before 7am when I woke with no hope of going back to sleep.

I got up and went outside to get some fresh air. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky. The wind was a little stronger than the day before, but it was warm and sunny. It looked like a perfect summit day, but ultimately I think our summit day was better. We did not have the same views the climbers would have today, but we did not need to deal with the heat and sun radiation that the climbers would today.

Breakfast was at 8am. None of us were very hungry. I think we were all waiting to eat until we got back to the town of Cheget. Tatiana had made porridge, but there were no takers. She seemed a little miffed that her efforts to make breakfast were not appreciated, but I’m sure she understood where our thoughts were at.

After packing up all our gear we went outside at 9am to meet the snow cat that would take us and our gear to the chair lift at the barrel huts. A little late we heard the snow cat rumbling up the hill only to pass us by and keep going higher. After about 10 minutes we heard the cat coming down hill towards us and we all picked up our bags in anticipation. The cat pulled up and as we began to walk towards it the driver held up his hand to say no. He was not there for us, only Tatiana. We were confused and did not understand why we could not ride the empty cat down, but it was not for us. Oksana called her boss and he checked on where our cat was. Apparently the driver was late and was still on the chair lift making his way to the barrel hut where he would get his cat to come and get us.

While we were waiting for our ride, Humberto decided to play in the snow. He is from Brazil and had never seen snow before. We all watched wondering what he was going to do. After a few moments it became clear that he was going to build a snowman. He carefully crafted the first snow ball for the body and then a second snow ball to for the head. He placed small rocks for the eyes and mouth and small sticks for the arms. For the final touch he took the baseball cap from his head and placed it on the snowman. He stood back and admired his work and then sat beside the snowman, took out his camera and took a self portrait of himself with his first ever snowman.

At that point we heard the faint sound of a snow cat headed up hill. Hoping it was ours we all watched carefully as it crested the hill in front of the hut and cheered as it made the turn towards us. Slowly the cat rumbled towards us and at the last moment made a swift turn and decapitated and then crushed Humberto’s snowman. It was sad and funny at the same time, but we had little time to mourn the loss of the snowman, it was time for us to go.

We threw our bags onto the cat and climbed board. I sat in the cab with the driver as the others sat in the open air. Oksana had her snowboard and chose to ride it down instead of joining us in the cat. That would have been my choice as well if I were given the option.

As we were descending we passed a local ski team out for their morning training runs. They had a slalom course set up and were all dressed in their skin suits and all had Fischer skis (they were obviously at a high level and sponsored). After each run they would pile into a waiting snow cat and make their way up for their next run. It was fun to watch them and I was envious of their chance to ski on this beautiful mountain and on this beautiful day.

Without event we made it to the Barrel Huts and climbed down from the snow cat. We grabbed our bags and walked over to the chair lift for the ride down. With our bags on our laps we rode the chair down to the next level where we rode two separate gondolas to the valley floor. All in all it took us about one hour to descend to the valley floor once our snow cat arrived. Everything had gone smoothly.

As we waited for our van to arrive to take us back to Cheget Ryan bought beer and pop for everyone. It was wonderful to drink the cold and tasty liquid. Even though it had only been a few days since we left the valley floor, they had been full and tiring days and the cold drinks were our reward. We threw our bags into the back of the van and hopped in for the short ride to our hotel.

After checking in it was shower time. Something that is wonderful about Russian showers is that the water pressure is very high and they have never herd of low flow shower heads. With a little environmental guilt I enjoyed my shower immensely.

Now that we were clean it was time to eat. We wandered into town and had great BBQ chicken shish kabobs and potato pancakes and of course more beer. The climb was over and now all we had to do was to wait a couple of days to take our flight back to Moscow. Even though we had finished the climb early we could not go back to Moscow early. Firstly, it is much cooler and nicer in some ways in Cheget than in Moscow, and secondly it is very difficult to change internal flight dates in Russia. It is best just to bide our time in Cheget for a few days.

At the end of the day we all gathered for a celebration dinner. We had pizza and Champagne and for desert we ordered a birthday cake for Oksana. She was surprised and I think she enjoyed her time with our team.

Elbrus

Monday July 26 – Summit Day
At 11am we stood on the top of Europe. It was a long and tiring climb, but fun and exciting.

It was very busy in the hut which translated into a lot of noise, but I don’t sleep much before a summit climb anyway. I went to bed about 8pm, but did not really fall asleep until 11pm and even then I woke every 30 minutes or so. I was awake before my alarm went off. We woke at 2:30am. I had packed much of the stuff I would need for the summit climb before I went to bed, so all I had to do was get dressed and put on my boots and go down for breakfast.

Breakfast at 3am before a summit climb it kind of pointless. I am not very hungry, and the excitement of the upcoming climb intensifies this. I had some tea and a slice of bread with jam. Most everyone else was similar to me.

Just before 4am we put on harnesses and crampons and met outside the hut. The interesting thing about climbing Elbrus is that it starts with a snow cat ride; nothing like the roar of a diesel engine and fumes in your face to start a climb. It is not really necessary, but cuts off about 3 hours from the start of the climb. You can choose not to take the cat, but it is hard to refuse when it seems to be the norm. There is lots of climb above it anyway.

We piled into the open back of the cat and hung our packs off the snow blade on the front of the cat. It is about a 15-20 minute ride and we get dropped off at the bottom of Pastukhov Rocks at about 4500m. The ride up is quite steep and we immediately all slid to the back of the seats squishing up against one another. The engine belched black fumes out the exhaust pipe as we climbed higher and higher. We could see the headlamps of many other climbers already on the route above us.

Some climbers, mostly Russians, carry a tent above the rocks and start the climb from there. I think that would be a nice way to do it, but it would be a lot more work on a relatively small climb. Some do it for style and some do it because they do not want to pay for the hut or the snow cat ride. Many options.

After jumping out of the cat, we started our actual climb around 4:20am. It was not very cold (maybe -5c), but there was a strong side wind of about 30-40 kmh that gusted to close to 50-60 kmh at times. This did increase the wind chill a bit, but it still did not seem very cold.

I had on my long underwear bottoms and my gore-tex pants on the bottom and a light Sherpa shirt, my Sherpa softshell jacket, a light insulation layer and my gore-tex jacket on top. I was just about right for comfort and maybe a little hot at times and a little cold at times. Overall I think it was the right choice.

A full moon hung in a cloudless sky making our headlamps almost unnecessary. The snow crunched under our boots as we climber slowly higher. As on every mountain there are groups that are faster and groups that are slower and it takes a few hours for everyone to sort out their position. Many of the fast teams power by us only to be found sitting on the side of the trail 30 minutes later, exhausted from their speed. Others can truly handle the speed all the way to the top and summit well before us.

One team pulled out to pass us and walked beside us for almost 30 minutes making no progress to pass. They wanted to overtake us, but soon realized they were moving at the same speed, and ultimately a little slower, than us. After a long time in the realization of their actual speed they fell back in line behind us.

We moved at a slow, buy deliberate pace. At no point was I out of breath, but it was physically demanding. Just like all climbs however, it is the mental part that is tougher than the physical part. It is tedious to spend hour after hour walking up hill in the cold, and it is physically strenuous and your mind needs to cope with the physical demands of the effort.

The route starts fairly steep and continues at a constant angle for a couple of hours. It is tiring on the legs and feet as there is no change in the terrain necessitating a change in foot position every now and then to relieve tired muscles. We alternate between duck walking, and side stepping right and side stepping left to try to break up the monotony of the repetitive movements.

After about 2 hours we began a very long traverse to the left towards the saddle between the two peaks. This traverse is at the constant angle and seemed to go on forever. We have affectionate named it the “40 mile traverse”. It is not that long, but it feels like it.

The views across the mountains were amazing. I like to walk at the back of the pack and I was constantly stopping to look out across the mountains. The sun was close to coming up and the additional light from the full moon provided an amazing light making the jagged peaks pop in colours of white, black and gray. As the sun rose higher in the sky, shades of red, orange and purple were added to the mix. It was all I could do to stop looking and keep walking. It reminded me why I love the mountains so much. It was cold, silent and beautiful. The wonders of the planet we live on.

After 4.5 hours of steady upward progress we leveled out and came to a stop at the saddle between the West and the East peaks of Elbrus. The West peak is slightly higher by 26m and this would be our ultimate target.

As we were climbing close to the saddle the wind picked up slightly and the clouds dropped right on top of us. Visibility was quickly reduced, but the trail is well trodden and has marking flags every 50m so there is little danger of getting lost.

Looking up the trail I cold see about 60 climbers ahead of us making their way to the top. We made a small cache of gear to leave at the saddle and started up. The trail arched right at this point and is a welcome change to the leftward traverse we had just spent the last several hours on.

At this point we were at 5416m (17,700+ feet) and we were all starting to feel the altitude. Others were also experiencing the same reduction in oxygen and the pace slowed. Due to our slow and steady approach we still had energy, whereas others who had sprinted past us were slowing to a crawl. Our upward movement was slowed by the slower climbers ahead of us. Often they are oblivious or just do not care that they have a huge line of climbers strung out behind them itching to pass. Passing is difficult and exhausting, so patience is necessary to wait until the slower climber pulls off to the side of the trail and allows those behind them to pass.

As we climbed higher the wind picked up a bit more and the clouds became thicker. Visibility dropped to less than 50m and we lost any view of the surrounding mountains that we had earlier in the climb. We crested the traverse after about 1 hour and took a break on a flat spot. Many other climbers were also stopped here as it provided a bit of a wind block and therefore was a slightly warmer and more comfortable place to top. Some climbers were totally spent and were sprawled out across the snow. Some of our team members were also starting to run out of gas and were sitting in the snow staring blankly at the white sky.

It was cold, but not bad at all. At no time did I need to put on an extra layer or my down jacket or heavy mitts. After a short break we were back on our feet and moving again. At this point the trail continues to traverse to the right and we slowly plodded our way upward. A climber in front of us would stop after about 20 steps and sprawl out on the ground in a state of complete exhaustion. As we drew near, he would stagger to his feet and speed ahead for another 20 steps before collapsing once again in the snow. He obviously new little about pacing.

Once we crested this smaller traverse we stopped for a short break. Two of our team members were really feeing the effects of exhaustion and altitude by this point and they were very lethargic and losing their dexterity. We split into two groups with the faster climbers going on ahead with Ryan and the slower climbers moving up with Oksana. We were only about 15-20 minutes from the summit by this point.

Once we started moving after this short break the terrain flattened out quite a bit. We were now on the summit plateau of the mountain, but had a bit of a walk to get to the final summit bump. Due to the vast size of the summit plateau it was almost like walking in a park in the winter. The path to the top was wide and flat with only a small incline.

I’m not sure if it was the altitude or just the fact that we were almost at the top, but I started to feel quite tired at this point. I stopped several times to get my breath, but continued to move at a good pace. After about 10-15 minutes of walking a definite peak started to materialize from the clouds. The final few steps to the summit ramp up steeply and then I was on the top. Ryan and four of us made it in the first wave at 11am; 6.5 hours after we had started.

The top of Elbrus is about 20x20 feet and relatively flat. At the absolute highest point there is a rock that almost appears if it were put there on purpose. The rock is covered with flags and other things people have left behind to mark their summit including a 20lb kettle bell. We took a few photos standing by the rock, but there was no view whatsoever. Visibility was 75-feet at best.

Only about 10 minutes after we arrived on the summit the rest of our team came up with Oksana. They had done an amazing job considering their current condition. Reaching the summit provided a jolt of energy and we all took many, many summit photos and high fives and hugs marked our success..

We spent maybe 30 minutes on the summit. It was very windy, but it was not cold. Eventually we decided it was time to start down. Walking across the plateau was easy, but as we turned the corner and started down we began a steep and potentially dangerous downward traverse. Ryan and Oksana short roped our two most tired team members for additional safety, but the snow was quite soft and the going was relatively easy.

The visibility at this point dropped to almost nothing and continued that was for the next couple of hours. If the team got separated by more than 20 feet they disappeared into the white. I was leading the descent and I was glad the trail was heavily used and that there were marking flags every 50m. The descent to the saddle seemed to take forever, but in reality it was only about 30 minutes. Once at the saddle we located out cache and took a break.

The next phase of our descent was the 40 mile traverse and even going down it seemed long. By this point we had taken packs from the two suffering climbers on our team and Ryan had one and I had the other. We were moving really slow, but losing altitude well. Eventually we split with Oksana and the faster climbers heading down, and Ryan staying with the last two members of our team.

As we got close to the Pastukhov Rocks the snow stopped, the wind dropped, and the clouds rose once again providing us with a view of the mountains and where we were going. Looking back up hill the mountain was still socked in with clouds and very low visibility.

We could see the hut and it appeared painfully far away, but the only way to get there was to put one foot in front of the other. As we dropped in altitude the sun took hold of the air and the temperature rose dramatically. I stripped off everything but my base layer top and unzipped the legs on my gore-tex pants as far as I could and I was still hot. I switched from my winter hat to my sun hat and pulled my buff up over my face to prevent a severe sun burn. With the heat the snow became thick and deep and my boots sunk 6-12 inches with every step. It was like walking in mashed potatoes. Other climbers were also around us and we all stumbled towards the hut like zombies in a bad horror movie. As we descended however, the richness of the air began to revive us and the final steps to the hut were long, but enjoyable.

We made it back to the hut around 2:30pm giving us a 10 hour day. Elbrus may not be overly technical in nature, but it is far from a walk in the park. Overall it was a great climb and I have now made it to the top of six of the seven summits.

Once inside the hut I went upstairs and stripped off my summit clothing and then made my way downstairs to the dining area. Several of us sat at the dining table and drank juice to quench a huge thirst and then Tatiana served the most delicious pasta and fried chicken. The chicken was greasy and salty and that was exactly what we were craving.

After some food and drink we went back upstairs for some rest. I was not able to sleep although I felt I should have been able to. I was working on very little sleep over the last 36 hours and had just expended a huge amount of energy and yet sleep would not come. I laid in bed for a while listening to music and then got up and went outside to get some fresh air. Far too soon it was dinner time and I did my best to eat, but I was still full from lunch. Another climbing team had left us a large bottle of water and I drank almost a liter. It felt and tasted so good to drink water that had not been boiled and or tasted of iodine.

Todd and I played cards for a while after dinner as we were still not tired. A Russian boy of about 6 or 7 sat and watched us play. He sat beside me and would smile and laugh every time I picked up a good card. He was rooting for me and we had fun together even though not a word was spoken.

It was then time for bed. It had been a long and successful day. Our team enjoyed 100% success and for some of our team members it was their first real mountain climb. We were a great team and Ryan was a great leader as always.

July 25 – Diesel Hut Rest Day
Today was a rest day in preparation for our summit attempt tomorrow. We slept in and had breakfast at 8:30am. Breakfast was a large pan omelet with sausage as well as the usual assortment of tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, and salami.

Rest days can be long as there is not much to do. No TV, no radio and no power. Books, cards, conversation, iPod, and staring into space are your basic choices. There is also the additional weight of the upcoming summit on your mind.

After breakfast we played Gin Rummy and Euchre until lunch and after lunch Ryan called us together for a knot workshop. On Elbrus there is not much rope work required as most of not all of the route is climbed un-roped, but the rope workshop would be a review of the knots we might need for those who have used them before and new information for those who had not used them before. It was also a way to kill a couple of hours as a team.

At the same time we reviewed clothing needs and logistics for the summit climb. The plan will be to wake at 2:30am, have breakfast at 3:00am and depart for the summit at 4:00am. That should get us to the top around 10:00-11:00am.

The weather today was a little cooler, but seems to be clearing. There was a light wind and the mountain was veiled in cloud most of the day. I am feeling well and acclimatized and everyone else is the same. There are a few small stomach issues in the group, but this is normal at altitude and in the less than sanitary conditions of the hut. Nothing that should stop us however.

Saturday July 24 – Diesel Hut Acclimatization Day
Today was a spectacular day. Breakfast at 7am and then an acclimatization hike at 8am. When we started out it was snowing lightly, but the temperature was warm (right around freezing) and there was little wind. The cloud base was right down to the ground and visibility was down to about 100m. It was very beautiful and quite. After a while I realized why it was so quiet. The snow cats were not running yet.

Elbrus is a huge Russian tourist destination and people come to hike, ski, and sight see. They take the gondola and chair-lift up to the barrel huts just as we did and then they board a snow cat for the ride as high as 4600m. The snow cats rumble up and down the hill all day long and there is the constant roar of diesel engines in the air. We were up before the cats started for the day and were glad of the peace and quiet. As it turned out it would be a pretty quiet day for much of the day. Because the visibility was so low the tourist traffic was slow today.

The eight of us slowly marched up the hill and stopped for a break a little higher than the previous day. The snow and wind intensified so we zipped up our jackets and cinched down our hoods and kept climbing.

Our boots crunched into the frozen ground as we made our way about 20 minutes past Pastukhova Rocks. The snow and wind picked up even more so we decided that this would be out high point for the day. I switched from glacier glasses to goggles and put on my winter hat in preparation for the descent.

We stopped at about 4200m where it was a little warmer and the wind was less intense. We put on our crampons and Ryan gave us a brief crampon workshop. For me it was fun to get back into my crampons and stomp around, but for others it was a totally new experience.

After 20 minutes of playing in our crampons we once again started down. About six inches of heavy wet snow had fallen since we headed out this morning. It would be a fun ski, yet a little heavy.

After walking down for a bit, Ryan stopped us for an ice axe workshop just like we had done with the crampons. Once again, some of us had lots of experience with ice axes, and some had none and were holding an ice axe for the very first time.

While we were playing with our ice axes a snow cat slowly rumbled it’s way up the mountain with a full load of tourists and climbers. They were heading for the snow cat high point of Pastukhova rocks, but they did not make it. The snow was so heavy, wet and deep that the snow cat repeatedly got stuck and could make no progress up hill. After countless tries on different lines the cat eventually gave up and turned around to go back to where it had started. There would be no more snow cat rides this day. This translated into peace and quiet for us.

We arrived back to the hut around 1pm just in time for a lunch of pasta and a beef patty. More people have moved into the hut and we no longer have the second floor all to ourselves. It was nice while it lasted, but it was a luxury. Not much else happened for the rest of the night. We had dinner at 7pm and Todd, Paul, Al and I played Gin Rummy for a while before going to bed around 930. There is no power in the hut, so once it gets dark most people go to bed pretty soon thereafter. Many people are also getting ready for an early morning summit start so they go to bed even earlier.

Friday July 23 – Azau Hut 2970m – Diesel Hut 4257m

After a great night in the Azau Hut we had a huge breakfast of eggs, bread, cheese, and salami. We then packed up and hit the trail at 9:30am. Hitting the trail is walking to the gondola for a 10 minute ride to Mir Station at 3470m.

When we got to the gondola we met Tatiana our cook. She brought with her a number of boxes containing all our expedition food for the time we will spend at the Diesel Hut. We helped her carry the boxes of food from the first gondola that we had ridden up the day before to the next gondola that would take us higher.

There was one group at the gondola when we arrived and they took the first car up. As we stood there waiting I was watching the next car descend to the station to take us up. Suddenly a huge, and not good, noise erupted from the control room. At the same time the cables above my head started to wine and shake violently. The cable had stopped suddenly and when I looked at the gondola it was rocking violently. The cables snapped back and forth and I ran to get out of the way fearing they may snap and cut me in half.

After about 30 seconds everything calmed down and all seemed alright except the fact that the gondola was no longer moving. Oksana’s cell phone rang. It was another guide who was in the car that had left before us. He said that everyone was ok, but that everyone had been thrown down when the car stopped suddenly. I would not have wanted to be in that car. Good for us they were there first.

As the car sat unmoving for 10 minutes we began to fear that we may need to walk up to the next station. We then learned that the stoppage was due to a power failure. After about 30 minutes the power came back on and the car began to slowly move back towards us. The operator ran it up and down a few times and then had one of his staff get in for a trial run to make sure no lines had broken or gotten crossed in the sudden stop. Eventually it was deemed safe and we boarded for the 20 minute ride up to the next station.

Once at Mir we unloaded and walked over and got in line for the single person chair lift. This is a very old and rickety appearing contraption. We loaded food boxes and big bags onto the chairs and then one-by-one we boarded with our back packs in our laps. I pulled a small safety bar across my lap, but it would not go all the way or latch because my back pack was in the way. I felt it was safe enough, but it would never be allowed in North America. It was a fun ride and others were coming down from a summit climb or a night at the huts. They too were laden with their packs as they descended.

This single chair took us to the Barrel Huts at 3800m. We unloaded all our food and carried it over to a waiting snow cat. We loaded our food boxes and big packs onto the cat and hoisted our small packs for the walk up to the Diesel Hut. Oksana and Tatiana would accompany our stuff to the hut as we walked.

In our small packs we carried warm clothing, gore-tex top and bottom, gloves, hat, water and a little food. At the time of departure the weather was beautiful with a bright sunny sky, warm temperatures, and no wind, but we must be prepared for any sudden change in the weather.

The walk to the Diesel Hut today was a little faster than yesterday taking about one hour and fifteen minutes. Upon arrival we entered the hut and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Oksana had secured two private rooms for us and four people will sleep in each. There is a bed platform with a thin and very dirty foam mattress on it. For anyone like me that suffers from mold and dust allergies, this is not the most pleasant pace to sleep.

Once we unpacked, Al, Paul and I sat outside in the sun for a while talking. From our vantage point we could clearly see the two peaks of Elbrus and the tracks of climbers on the route. Peering closer we could see small dots of climbers making their way down from hopefully a successful summit.

It was then lunch time (about 1:30pm). I was still full from the 8 egg breakfast I was served and most everyone else was also pretty full from breakfast. So far there does not seem to be any concern of losing weight on this trip. The food has been excellent and mostly plentiful.

Tatiana had cooked up a small feast of spaghetti, cheese, salami, Russian boiled hot dogs (not very appealing), tomatoes, cucumbers and two big bowels full of cookies and other sweets. It was delicious, but I was soon ready to explode.

During lunch the weather changed into a driving sleet storm. Tatiana needed more water and a group of us volunteered to go get it. She handed us about 20 five liter bottles and we dawned our gore-tex and headed out for water. Ryan and Oksana led the way uphill to a small pool of glacial melt water about ten minutes above our camp. Water was scooped with a cup into the waiting jugs and we made our way back to the hut.

There are several other huts up here besides the Diesel Hut. I am not really sure what they all are, but most were occupied. The hut that we are staying in got its name when the original hut caught fire and burned to the ground about 13 years ago. Our hut was once the generator hut and stored all the diesel fuel to run the generator to power the main hut. Once the main hut burned down the generator and fuel storage containers were removed and it was re-modeled into a climbers hut with sleeping and eating areas for about 50 climbers.

A new hut has been started to replace the destroyed one, but it is only in the initial stages of construction (after 13 years). There is a huge poster that has an artists rendering of what the new hut will look like. The stats indicate it will be quite big and will accommodate up to 250 climbers. At first it seemed odd that it was taking so long to build the new hut, but we were reminded by some locals that many of the officials are corrupt and much of the money slated for the re-build has gone into someone else’s pocked. Therefore, the construction continues in dribs and drabs. The poster indicates a completion date of 2010, but at this rate my guess is it will take at least another five if not more years to complete.

Outside this hut and all around is the accumulated garbage of many years and most likely even decades. Engines, generators, steel cable, wood, huge pieces of metal and endless bags of garbage and empty beer and liquor bottles are everywhere. It is really quite disgusting. Speaking with Oksana we learned that the National Park believes the garbage is the responsibility of the guiding services and the climbers since they use the mountain and the guide services believe it is the responsibility of the National Park since they pay a fee to use the mountain. Nobody will take ownership of the problem and the garbage continues to pile up. To us the solution seems pretty simple. Snow cats run up and down the mountain all day long and could easily haul the garbage away piece by piece. Staff would be necessary to help or even volunteers, but Oksana says there is no movement towards this. Some of the guiding companies are trying to start a clean up, but it has not caught hold as if yet. Hopefully it does one day soon. This is a very beautiful place and it is a shame to have it cluttered and degraded with so much garbage.

After our water trip we headed out to hike up the hill and gain some additional altitude for further acclimatization. The sleet had turned to snow and the clouds had dropped reducing visibility. We put on our gore-tex, cinched on our hoods and headed out into the storm. It was still quite warm and it was fun to walk in the snow. One of our team members from Brazil had never seen snow before and he was loving it. We climbed for about an hour and hit a high point at about 4300m. We sat on the rocks for a short break and watched the snow blow by.

The walk down was fun as we plunged and slid our way back to the hut arriving back about 4:30pm.

Dinner was at 7pm. Tatiana mad us mushroom soup followed with rice and chicken. S always the table also had a big supply of tomatoes, cucumbers, sweets, orange and lemon slices, and tea, coffee and other drinks. Another good meal.

Tomorrow we plan to take another acclimatization climb to Pstukhova Rocks at 4690m. We will also spend some time on our crampons as a refresher for those with experience and for training for the two members of our team who have never had crampons on before.

It is snowing quite heavily right now so it should be a beautiful day with lots of fresh snow. It is now 8pm and there is not much left to do but kill tie before bed. This down-time can sometimes seem long, but it is important for acclimatization and to be well rested for the next days activities.

Breakfast once again at 8am. Today it was a type of fried dough, fried eggs, ham, salami, cheese and cereal. It was all quite good and I ate a lot as I did not know when lunch would be or if it would be any good.

At 9:30am we boarded a van for the 15 minute drive to Ari which is a slightly bigger ski town at the bottom of Elbrus. It is a pretty rough pace with debris (mostly old construction supplies, old car parts and garbage) lying around. I’m sure it is much prettier in the winter when it is all covered with snow. We carried our back packs over to the gondola entrance and got in the already substantial line waiting for the lift to open. Ryan had to pay a fee for us to enter the National Park and a fee for the ride up. Oksana took care of all of this for us so I am not sure how much it all cost.

There are only two gondola cables and two cars and each car travels to the top and then back again (it is not loop). Each round trip is about 20 minutes and each car can hold 20-30 people. It took us close to an hour before we got onto the gondola.

The ride up was smooth and took about 10 minutes to get to the top with an elevation gain of about 1000 vertical feet. The view of the valley as it spread out below us was quite spectacular. Glaciers hang from the mountains and waterfalls of melt water cascaded off the cliffs all around. Once we got the top of the gondola ride we took a 3 minute walk to the mountain hut that would be our home for tonight.

This hut is quite nice and has an on site cook and a fixed menu. Four of us are sharing a large room and we even have an ensuite bathroom with a shower (cold water only). I think this hut will be quite comfortable for our stay.

After we had moved in we went out for an acclimatization hike. From the top of the gondola there is a small single person chair lift that rises an additional 1000ft to what are called the Barrel Huts. For acclimatization purposes we did not ride the chair, but walked instead. The walk to the Barrel Huts is on a very rough gravel and stone road that is almost a path. Really the only vehicle that could negotiate it would be a snow cat and even then it would be a very bumpy ride. It took us a little more than an hour to reach the huts and we stopped there for a lunch of sandwiches, cookies, a banana and juice (not the best meal so far).

After our lunch break we continued our walk up to the Diesel Hut. This walk was on snow the whole way. There are no more chair lifts, but you can get a snow cat ride up if you wish. There were many tourists just out for a day in the mountains and there were also several skiers and snow boarders taking the cat up high for some summer skiing. I was a little envious of them.

The snow was very soft and we were moving slowly as we acclimatized. It took us about 1.5 hours to gain an additional 1000 feet. Our high point for the day was around 4157m (13,600ft) at the Diesel hut. We saw several climbers coming down from the summit climb and many climbers in the hut getting ready to go that night. The weather is pretty warm (hovering just above freezing) with a slight wind and totally overcast with clouds.

We spent about 30 minutes at the hut and ate the remaining food from our lunch and a drink. The Diesel Hut is a pretty dirty place inside and out. I am not a big fan of most mountain huts and the Diesel Hut fits in this category. There is a small outhouse off the side of the hut. The outhouse is suspended above a 75 foot cliff and there is a hole in the floor for the toilet. We were told to be careful when there is a wind as your pee will come right back up and if you are not careful much of it will land on you (I know this may sound pretty gross and a deal breaker for many people, but this is the reality of climbing and mountain huts).

The descent was fun as we plunged and slid our way down the hill. It took us a fraction of the time to go down and we arrived back at the Barrel huts around 4:00pm. Our plan was to take the chair lift down, but it apparently closed at 4:00 and we had missed it by only minutes. Oksana tried to convince the attendant to let us ride, but he refused. We then started our walk down to the gondola which took us about 20 minutes. We arrived right at 4:30pm and just caught the last car down for the day (the gondola closed at 4:30). It would have been a very long walk down if we had missed this ride.

As we were getting on the gondola I saw a group of people getting onto the supposedly closed chair lift and I saw others coming down as well. This is what is affectionately called the Russia factor. Rules are not always rules and they can sometimes be changed by the right person or for the right amount of money. Kind of like the Pirate Code; it is really just a guide line. I guess we did not have what it took to get the ride, but these others obviously did.

All in all we were out from 11:30am until about 4:45pm for our acclimatization climb. Our total elevation gain today was around 4500 feet from Chuget at around 9,000 feet to the Diesel Hut at around 13,500 feet.

Dinner was served at 7:00pm. We started with a beef and potato soup that was a meal in itself. That was followed by pasta, a coleslaw type salad and what can best be described as metloaf. We also had bread and tomatoes and cucumbers on the table. It was a huge meal and we were all completely stuffed by the end of it.

That is then end of our day. It was a good day and we got up high for some good acclimatization. Tomorrow we will move up to the Diesel Hut and that is where we will stay until we have finished with the mountain; hopefully with standing on top.

Today was a pretty simple day. After a good sleep in the clean cool mountain air we had breakfast at 8:00am. Breakfast was a selection of cereal, bread, cheese, salami, hard boiled eggs and crape pancakes (just like the ones I make). There was no good old Canadian maple syrup, but they had sweetened condensed milk and jam which was pretty good.

At 9:00am we went for an acclimatization hike. The plan was to gain about 1000m (3000ft) and top out around 3000m. The trail ascends a ski slope and many tourists (mostly Russian, but a few foreigners) took the single person chair lift while we walked. It was a beautiful and relaxing walk. We walked through a Pine and Birch forest and could see large mountains covered with snow and glaciers all round us.

Besides acclimatization it was also a good team building hike to further get to know one another. About 2/3 of the way up the skies opened up and it started to rain. At first it was just a light drizzle, but it soon picked up to a real down pour. Fortunately I had brought my gore-tex jacket so my upper body was dry, but my pants and hiking shoes quickly became soaked right through.

Just before noon we hit our high point which was the top of the chair lift. The hill continued above us for a while, but the rain was so hard we decided to stop because there was a small restaurant where we could have lunch.

The small building was packed with tourists trying to get out of the rain. As we wedged our way in I heard a familiar voice. I turned to look and there was Sylvie who had shared our base camp on Everest. Sylvie is the 5th or 6th Canadian women to summit Everest. I had not seen her since the end of our climb. What a small world. She is here to climb Elbrus as well and we are on a similar schedule so I expect to see her as we go for the summit.

After lunch we got back into our rain jackets and ventured out once more into the storm. I pulled on and extra layer of my Sherpa Adventure Gear fleece to help me stay warm through the descent. Huge claps of thunder shook the sky, but I saw no lightning. We could just see the lower flanks of Elbrus as the rest of the mountain was shrouded in cloud.

The walk down went well and the rain stopped as we were nearing the bottom. All in all it was a good hike even with the rain. I felt strong and moved well. The altitude seemed to have little to no impact on me. We did not climb too high, but I hope this is an indication of what is to come. I think my time training with the Altitude Tech gear has helped.

Once back to the hotel the main focus was on drying out gear. Everything was soaked and we need it to be dry for tomorrow when we head up onto the mountain proper. Once we get up there we will not come down for 4-5 days, hopefully after a successful summit. I will not be able to send blog entries while I am up there. I will take my little netbook with me and keep my blog going and will update the web site when I get back to the valley floor.

Paul and Todd had the idea to ask the hotel to put their gore-tex jackets in the dryer. The conversation went a little rough with not a lot of understanding taking place. I think it seemed a strange request to the staff. They said it would cost 40 Rubles per jacket (about $1.50). Todd went to check a while later and saw Paul’s jacket line drying and when he asked where his jacket was they pointed to the washing machine. Both jackets were machine washed then hand washed, air dried and ironed. Both jackets look as good as new. It was quite funny, but I think the guys are pleased with the result.

Dinner was an appetizer of egg plant with some kind of soft cheese and tomato, bread, a potato type soup and choice of lamb with vegetables and potatoes or steamed dumplings. It was quite good. We asked our server if we could get some olive oil to dip the bread and she looked at us like we had three heads. They did not have any olive oil so she brought us a small cup of sunflower oil setting it on the table with a confused look on her face. It was not the same as olive oil, but once we added salt and pepper it was still good.

After dinner I went into town for a walk and to get a chocolate bar (about 75 cents). While in town I checked out a couple of the other hotels. Hotel Ozon is of a Swiss style and looks quite comfortable. There is another huge hotel that I do not know the name of. There is a group of high school kids there on a school trip. I went into the lobby and it is cavernously huge. It is all concrete and seems a little cold, but is not too bad. They have an ATM machine outside and a money exchange inside with a better exchange rate than I got in Moscow. The kids were having skit night and I watched for a few moments. Just like back home but in a different language.

Here is the plan for the next few days. Thursday we ride a small gondola up to the lower huts where we will stay for one or two nights to acclimatize at around 11,000 feet. We will then move to the Pruit hut at around 12,000 feet. We will take an acclimatization hike to the Pastukov at 15,416 feet. By this point we will be fully acclimatized for our summit attempt.

I’ll be back in a few days.

After a quick breakfast we made our way to the airport. The driving was quite slow as Moscow traffic can be, and was, quite heavy. Check in and security was no problem with the help of our Moscow logistics guy, Nikoli. There is no English anywhere so without speaking the language you really need someone to help you. In most countries I have traveled to you can almost always find someone who speaks English, but this is not the case in Russia. Their reason for speaking English would be to converse with tourists and tourism is still relatively new in Russia.

Our plane left at 10:00am for a 2.5 hour flight to Mineralyne Vody. Our plane was an ancient Russian jet (I’m guessing early 1970’s or older). I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie. The head liner of the plane was cloth and there were old fluorescent lights along the isle. The overhead luggage storage was just a shelf like on a bus and there was no air conditioning (or perhaps it just did not work). The seats were worn thread bare and the arm rests were chipped and broken. A seam of duct tape sealed the emergency door. The heat in the plane was just like the hotel. The thermometer on my watch read 96 degrees, but it did cool down once we got up into the cooler air at our cruising altitude.

They don’t seem to have the same electronics rules here because the guy behind me talked on his cell phone almost all the way to cruising altitude. However, I did get a lecture in Russian from one of the flight attendants when I took a photo. I still don’t know what she said to me or why I could not take photos on the plane.

After take off I put in my ear plugs and drifted off to sleep. I woke about 10 minutes before we landed. That was a great way to fly and catching up on lost sleep was a bonus.

We got off the plane, grabbed our gear and met our local guide, Oxana, who will be with us for the rest of the trip, and our driver Mario Andretti. At least that is who he was trying to emulate as he drove.

Just like many developing countries a two lane road is used like a three or four lane road. We drove a breakneck speed and only slowed when passing was blocked by a big truck or the radar detector fixed to the window signaled of an upcoming police car. Eventually Ryan asked Oxana to tell the driver to slow down, that we were not in a hurry. I’m sure how he was driving was pretty normal, but it was a little scary and we had and saw several very close calls with other vehicles.

Driving through the Russian country side in this part of the country reminds me of Nepal, Tanzania, Mexico and Peru. Although Russia is not considered a developing country or a third world country, since the fall of communism in some places it is. The area we drove through appeared to be very poor. The housing was quite basic and many people lived in large concrete apartment buildings left over from the communist government housing era. They have not been kept up and are in really rough shape. Hundreds of buildings appear to have been partly built (homes, stores, factories, offices, and apartment buildings) and then just abandoned. Just as many buildings that were once in use are now empty, abandoned and falling apart. I’m not sure if the fall of communism led to this or just if business dried up in this region.
This area is quite mountainous. The lower areas are farms of endless sunflowers. As we got higher in elevation we saw corn and then cabbage and then just livestock. Cows, goats, and chickens were everywhere. It kind of felt like driving through Nepal. We had to stop several times to avoid a head of cattle standing in the middle of the road. I’m not sure how they can tend to their animals or even know where they are this way.

As we got closer to the village of Chugat (village is generous) we entered a beautiful pine forest surrounded by tall snow capped mountains. Our hotel is the Prvorot www.povorot.ru and is I think the nicest in town and is the only one with wireless internet.

Paul and Todd and I share a two floor mini-condo type room. We have a small sitting room with a couple of comfy leather chairs, a couch (also a pull out bed) and a fireplace. We have a fridge, a TV and an armoire by the door. Upstairs there is a double bed and a single bed as well as a balcony and a dresser with TV. I have not turned on the TV so I do not know if we get any channels. The bathroom is on the top floor and is complete with a bidet and a rain shower with body massagers. I’ll let you know how it works after I have tried it.

There is a small spa area here with a small indoor pool and sauna as well as a bar and a pool table. It is really quite a nice place and the owner and main staff speak English quite well.

We walked into the village and looked around the market and the various stores and restaurants. It is pretty rough, but nice at the same time. There is an outdoor gear and clothing shop that is pretty complete and lots of rental gear. There are many climbers around and I have heard the conditions on the mountain are great.

Dinner was tomato and cucumber salad, followed by chicken soup and beef and potatoes for the main course. Whitney Houston serenaded us, a little too loudly, throughout dinner. All in all it was a good day and it is nice to be in the mountains. The temperature here is much nicer and I hope to make up for some lost sleep.

Tomorrow we will take a 5-6 hour acclimatization hike to gain about 1000m. I am anxious to see how my acclimatization training pays off.

That is all I can think about to write about for today. I’m going to call it a night. More tomorrow.

It is 5:00am. I have been awake for an hour and have finally given in to the fact that sleep is done for the night. Even though I went to bed at midnight and I am working on a huge sleep deficit, I can no longer sleep. Perhaps it is due to the fact that my internal clock has not yet adjusted to the new time zone (it is 9pm back home), or perhaps it is due to the stifling heat in my hotel room(35c). Either way I can not sleep.

Here are some more details about last night’s adventures.

We took the subway to Red Square which is about a 10 minute ride through 5 stops. The Moscow subway system is huge and services a large percentage of the cities 10 million inhabitants (7.7 million people per day ride the subway). Nothing is in English so it takes a bit to figure out, but once you know where you are going it is easy.

The Moscow subway system was first opened in 1935 and consists of 185 stations and over 300km of track. Some of the stations and tracks are over 200 feet under ground. It is the second most used subway system in the world next to Tokyo.

It costs 53 Rubles (about 75 cents) to take the train to any location in the city. Each station is huge with elaborately decorated walls and floors of marble, granite and pure white limestone. Hundreds of massive bronze statues, carvings and engravings (at almost every station) make the trip on the tube almost a museum of art. One could easily spend a day exploring the various subway stations.

Specific bronze statues have parts of them that are worn smooth and as shiny as the day they were made. I observed people stopping as they walked by these statues to rub a strategic spot on the statue; a dogs nose, the muzzle of a soldiers gun, an explorers looking glass, a workman’s hammer. Obviously this is seen as a good luck spot to touch or a sign of respect. Regardless, I don’t think you could get Howie Mandel (germaphobe) to touch the same spot as a million people a day for all the tea in China.

The Red Square is a huge public square that was once used for massive military parades during the communist rule and other public gatherings throughout history. In this spot, Stalin would stand atop Lenin’s tomb and salute the thousands of marching troops and passing tanks. The Red Square has been around for hundreds of years and has always been the governmental and cultural hub of Moscow. The massive Kremlin flanks one side and beautiful churches adorn either end. One of these churches was recently re-built after being removed by Stalin to make room for military tanks to enter the square on parade.

Opposite the Kremlin is Moscows ultimate shopping mall. I have never seen anything quite like it. It is absolutely giant and houses every high end store you can imagine from Louis Vinton to Rolex. It could easily rival the highest end mall anywhere in the world. I could not even afford to window shop in there. There is an amazing amount of wealth in Moscow with outrageously expensively dressed people everywhere and the number of Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Bentley’s, and Porsche’s boggles the mind. Apparently there is a huge gap however between the have’s and the have not’s. Not much of a middle class.

This wonder of the shopping world was once the communist government shopping building. This is the spot where workers would take their food and supply coupons to get their food and clothing. Ironically, this outrageously opulent sign of capitalism sits directly across from the Kremlin which was the heart of communism for decades.

The square is always amass with hundreds if not thousands of people and yet it is so huge it almost feels empty. As we wandered through the square last night at 10:30pm you would have thought from the number of people that it was the middle of the day.

Moscow is very European in that people eat late and stay up very late. Families with young children can be seen sitting in the square to have an ice cream or a drink at 10:00 at night.

Dinner was at an amazing Italian restaurant called “Gustos”. The food was amazing. Quite likely come of the best Italian food I have ever eaten; and the people watching in unparalleled.

After dinner we walked slowly back towards the subway. As we walked we came across this area of fountains and small water canals. Almost like a mini version of a Venice street. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people sat around the fountains and dangled their feet in the extremely murky dark green water. Some were swimming in the fountains and even jumping off the canal walls into the dark, and I’m assuming, refreshing water.

The beer flows like the water and groups of young people sit around talking and generally having a fun time. A stark contrast I’m sure to the social interactions this spot saw at the height of communism.

We stopped at one location that presented the best high diving location into the fountain pools. A group of young men, obviously encouraged by vast quantities of alcohol, were jumping from the canal walls into the water below. One jumping location was about 10 feet from the water and the higher location was about 20 feet from the water. As I watched them jump I tried to guess how deep the water was and judging from the heights they were jumping I thought it must be 10-12 feet deep at least.

People were everywhere enjoying their evening and watching the kids and adults alike frolic in the water. As I watched, one man of about 20 shoot out from the wall in a long dive. As he disappeared below the surface of the water I lost sight of him due to the thickness and the dark colour of the water. As he slowly rose to the surface I could see him standing on the bottom, holding his hands to his face. Apparently the water is not nearly as deep as I thought, and this fellow had just learned this the hard way (however, he was already wet so I am assuming he knew how shallow the water was from previous jumps). I wondered what he was doing as he repeatedly splashed water onto his head and then as he lifted his face from the water the crowd of people across from him shrank back in horror. He had deliberately taken a long shallow dive, but apparently it had not been shallow enough. He had struck the bottom and A flap of skin the size of a tea saucer hung from his forehead just above his eye and reached well into his hair line clear down to his gleaming white skull.

Two police offices stood watching and seemed almost annoyed that this guy had peeled his head open on their shift. After watching for what seemed like an extremely long time to me, they dropped their cigarettes to the ground, rubber them out with the boots and made their way slowly to the injured man. One officer was talking into a radio I assume requesting paramedics to the scene. I stood by for about 15 minutes watching to see when the medics would arrive, but by the time I left no help had yet come to the scene. It seems the police and the victim were also bored waiting as they all stood around smoking (yes the man with part of his head in his hand was smoking) and the injured man even drank some beer to make him feel better.

In hind sight, with the amount of people fooling around and with the volume of alcohol that was flowing it was not really a matter of if someone would get hurt, but rather when. Perhaps this is why the police reacted so casually; just another night in the Red Square.

With a queasy stomach I started to make my way back to the hotel with the rest of my team. I am now going to bring this blog posting to an end as I need to do my final packing, have breakfast and start on the next phase of this journey.

Today was a day to explore Moscow. I woke at 6:00am and went for breakfast at 7:00am. Breakfast was a huge buffet of western and Russian options. It was quite good.

At 9:00am we met our tour guide and got on a bus. Moscow is so much more than I thought. It is such an old city that it is hugely rich in culture. The architecture of the three Ivan’s (Ivan I, Ivan the Great, and Ivan the Terrible) is quite remarkable. Ivan the Great seems to have been the best contributor to the architectural culture of Moscow. The Kremlin, and the various churches are quite amazing.

Communism also had a huge impact on the city. Many of the buildings built at this time were simple and utilitarian, but the building for government and buildings that would be used to showcase the city are beautiful. When Stalin was young he was studying to be a Priest, but by the time he was the leader of the country he was a stanch atheist. During his rule he had many of the cities churches destroyed. Many of these churches have now been re-build in their original form.

All in all it was a very interesting day. I would highly recommend a visit to Moscow and Russia in general. Prices for hotels and food are very similar to North America.

We have now just gone through all out mountain gear and are packed and ready to fly to Mineralyne Vody tomorrow morning. Tonight we are taking the subway to the Red Square for dinner. Apparently Stalin spared no expense on the building of the subway and it is supposed to be wonderfully decorate. I was told that he used the marble from the churches he destroyed to decorate the subway platforms.

I spent today chasing the sun. We started west, but quickly realized we would not catch it so we turned north and flew directly over the Artic Circle. We finally caught the sun 10 hours later in Moscow.

Upon boarding my plane I was reminded that Russia is a little different than North America. Although Communism has gone it is difficult to shake the culture left behind. Our plane was functional, but not pretty. It was dirty and a bit tired. The flight attendants were efficient, but serious. No luxuries like movies were to be found, and we were packed in like sardines.

At first thought I would get off ok when the seat in front of me was left empty. I would not need to deal with the seat recliner. However, shortly after take off a couple fancied the seat in front of me more than their own and quickly moved in and set the seats to full recline for the duration of thee 10 hour trip. I had limited space to begin with and once the seats were reclined it was almost unbearable.

First my computer battery died and then my iPod battery died. But fortunately entertainment was not far off. I noticed a man swaying down the isle. He stopped and sat on the arm of the empty seat beside me. I guess he needed a break. Then with a very fluid motion he slid right into the empty seat beside me and right on top of my book and my computer that I had laid o the empty seat. I stared at him waiting for him to realize he had just sat on my stuff and quickly concluded that he was too drunk to notice. I did my best to explain what he was sitting on, but the language barrier was not helping. Eventually I pointed to him bum and the seat and made a lifting motion with my hand. He seemed a bit confused, and then offended, but slowly rose from the seat just enough for me to snake my hand under and grab my stuff. Unfazed he plunked back down and began to speak to me in Russian. Annoyed that I did not understand, he dismissively waived his hand at me and fished out his cell phone.

For some reason the phone would not turn on even after repeatedly striking it furiously on his leg. After some words that I can only assume were profanity he stuffed the phone back in his pocket. I tied to avoid any further catalyst that would gain his attention and immersed myself in my book. Eventually he got bored or just forgot why he was there and drifted off to find another seat.

Welcome to Moscow. Man it is hot here. Record temperatures for over a month. No A/C in the airport and this would turn out to be the norm. Usually it is not necessary. I made my way through customs easily enough, retrieved my bag and found a good spot to watch the world go by. Another member of our team would arrive about 1.5 hours after me and our Russian driver would get us both at the same time.

No airport that I have been in can rival Khatmandu for sheer chaos, but DMV was close. I could not walk 5 feet without being propositioned by a taxi driver and people were everywhere. It was good people watching however and the time went by quickly.
The drive to our hotel was about an hour and uneventful. It gave me a chance to catch up with Al who I have not seen since Everest. Our hotel was built to house the Olympic athletes for the Moscow Olympics and is a huge compound surrounded by 12 foot high fencing. After a quick check in I made my way to the 27th floor to my room.

Upon opening the door I was struck with thee stifling heat. A thermometer on the wall read 38c. The room consists of two small single beds, a table with a TV and a small bathroom. The bathroom is complete with a heated towel bar that was too hot to touch and with no off switch.

I took a cold shower and then met Al for a bit of exploration. Spying a mall (a relatively new addition to Russian life) we headed for the door and the air conditioned air within. Unfortunately there was no air conditioning and the heat was oppressive. We found a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop and had a treat to cool us down.

The whole group is here now and we have just returned from dinner. There are 6 climbers plus Ryan our leader. There are two Americans, three if you count one who has been living in Qatar and Saudi Arabia for 20 years, two Brazilians, and me the Canadian. Although we have just all met I think we should be a good team. The development of the team for Elbrus will not be quite as critical as for Everest. However, it will still be important.

Dinner was our first introduction and the first stage of our formation. Tomorrow we will have our first official team meeting after breakfast and then we are doing a 4 hour tour of Moscow.

Dinner was a buffet with quite a large variety of items that are recognizable and many that are not. All the signage is in Russian so it is a bit of a guessing game. Most of the food is very similar to what we are accustom to in North America, but with a slightly different flavour.

I am now about to go to bed in our sauna room. The temperature has dropped to 34.9c. My roommate and I spoke to the desk to see if we could get moved to a cooler room. One with more of a cross-wind. I was not sure if they understood what we were talking about but they told us to wait in our room and they would take are of it.

We have just be given a 12” fan to replace our 8” fan. No new room, but a new fan. We asked if we could keep both fans and the answer was a very clear “no”, only one fan per room even though the hotel is only half full at best and there must be 1000 unused fans laying around. Old habits die hard. The customer service revolution has not yet made it to Russia. Good night.

Altitude

I am very excited to be off on another mountaineering expedition. I find life in the mountains very refreshing. It is a simple life with a clear objective and few distractions. Time in the mountains helps to re-charge my batteries. I don’t know what I would do without it.

I often say that it is the journey that is most important on these trips and not the destination (the summit). The journey along the way to the summit is usually vastly richer in experience than the barren summit of a cold snow covered mountain. However, this is not to say that the summit is not important. After all that is the ultimate goal.

The main entry ticket to any summit is physical fitness. Mental and emotional elements play a huge role in success, but without the base of physical fitness you won’t even get in the door to try for the top. I have been doing my usual fitness routine, but for this trip I have added a special element.

For the past six weeks I have been using an altitude training system from Altitude Tech www.altitudetech.ca . This system consists of a compressor that regulates the amount of oxygen that flows to a mask, and a sleeping tent.

Every day I workout on the treadmill with the mask. I set the compressor to the altitude I want to train at and the mask delivers oxygen at the same percentage I would experience at that altitude. I also sleep in the tent (I have been relegated to the basement as my wife was not too keen on the sleeping arrangements) at night.

I stated at around 10,000 feet for working out and have slowly gained altitude to 17,0000 feet which is almost the summit of Elbrus. I have been sleeping at around 22,000 feet every night (higher than the summit of Elbrus and equivalent to camp 1 on Everest). The system works because it forces my body to compensate for the low levels of oxygen by building extra red blood cells. These extra cells are then able to carry the necessary oxygen to my heart and muscles. This is the exact same process that happens during real acclimatization on the mountain.

On a short expedition like Elbrus and Kilimanjaro, acclimatization time is limited. Many people get sick, develop severe headaches and fail to summit because their body was not able to acclimatize fast enough. This pre-acclimatization will eliminate many of the acclimatization issues I would normally face and should therefore provide me with a much greater chance of success.

Contact Ka-Yu Law at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in learning more or trying the system for your next challenge.

Wish me luck.

The biggest part of any expedition is the preparation. I have been working on getting everything together for Elbrus for many, many months now. The task was made more difficult for this trip due to the fact that my cottage burned down in March. Nothing was saved and this is where I stored the majority of my expedition gear and clothing. I have therefore, needed to spend a great deal of time replacing missing items. This task was made more difficult because I need winter clothing in the middle of the summer. Fortunately I discovered Sherpa Adventure Gear.

I first learned of Sherpa Adventure Gear when I was climbing Ama Dablam in Nepal in 2007. Several of the local Sherpa were wearing it and I was impressed with the fit, function and look of it. Upon my return back home to Canada I was disappointed to learn that it was not yet available here. But now it is. It is currently only in a select few stores, but coverage is increasing. Check out www.sherpaadventuregear.com to learn more about it.

I am taking several pieces of Sherpa Gear to Russia with me and you can look for photos of me with my Sherpa gear on the summit of Elbrus. Not only do I like the fit, function and look of the clothing, but I also really like the connection to the Sherpa people who have become so dear to me over several Himalayan expeditions. Sherpa Adventure Gear was founded by a Sherpa and a portion of the profits go back to the Sherpa people to help them build schools, medical clinics and other needed items.
Check them out. I love the gear and think you will as well.

As of this Saturday I will be off on another mountaineering expedition. I will be climbing Mt. Elbrus in Russia. Elbrus is the highest peak in Europe and will, if I am successful, be the 6th of the 7 summits that I have climbed. The challenge to climb the seven summits was initiated by a Texas business man named Dick Bass in the mid 1980’s. Always looking for a challenge, Dick thought it would be fitting to attempt to climb to the highest point on each of the seven continents. Once he accomplished his feat he set off a wave of climbing energy unlike anything seen before.

Since Dick climbed all seven many, many people have taken up this challenge and I am one of them. I did not initially set out to climb the 7 summits, but after I had climbed a few in my early climbing days it only seemed natural to set a goal to climb all seven.

As I embark on this journey I will do my best to share this experience with you as I did with Ama Dablam and Everest in the past. I will relate my daily adventures and insights into leadership and team that pop up along the way.

I have spent the last few weeks getting gear together and getting my Russian visa. As of today I am almost ready to go.

I will write briefly here about the importance of goal setting. Most people, myself included, thrive on goals. Goals provide focus, inspiration and energy. I always endeavour to have a few short term goals and a few long term goals in mind. Elbrus began as a long term goal which has moved to the present. When setting goals think big, but be realistic. Write it down and tell others about it and you will have a greater chance of following through on it. I once met a man who wanted to cycle across Canada so he had a map of Canada tattooed on his chest with a start and end point. This is a little extreme perhaps, but it would be difficult not to complete this personal goal with such a commitment. The key to making a goal come to life is making sure it is something you truly want to do and to enlist others to keep you on track and give yourself a deadline. For many bigger projects there is never going to be the right time. Set a date and make it happen.

Map

Summit and Frontier President Scott Kress will be departing for Russia on July 17. He will be attempting to climb Mount Elbrus which is the tallest mountain in Europe. Scott has currently climbed 5 of 7 tallest peaks on each of the 7 continents. Check back here to follow along on Scott's expedition through his daily blog.

Leadership is a verb, not a noun. It is a about action, not just a title. Everyone is a leader in one form or another. Some of us are in leadership positions within our organizations and others are informal leaders in a family, a social unit, or a community. Some of us strive to be leaders and others just are. Regardless of who you lead of within what context, followers are looking for the same four basic things from you. These are TRUST, COMPASSION, STABILITY and HOPE.

TRUST is a no-brainer. Without it you have nothing. Think about each and every one of your interactions and actions. Which ones build trust and which erode it.

COMPASSION is critical for followers to feel you care about them and their future. If people feel you are only in it for your own gain they will not follow you for long.

STABILITY is crucial to the emotional well being of people. As leaders your job often entails the introduction of change. Change is vital and change is good, but followers are also looking for a common thread of stability and stability between changes.

Without HOPE all is lost. Leaders need to create optimism. During good times and bad, followers need to feel that they are working towards something good. Without this positive emotional connection motivation, engagement and performance will quickly slip.