Everyone has returned safely back from Russia and we’re resting in London for a few days before meeting up with Dee, Kaylee, Jenn and Angelo on June 11th to fly south to Tanzania to begin the Kilimanjaro climb. It is very good to be in the UK.
At 11:41 am (Russian time), Matt, Mike, Gareth, John and Justin summited Mt. Elbrus! The climb took almost exactly 12 hours and there were no complications. Mike reported that the weather was outstanding – not a cloud in the sky – probably the best window since they arrived earlier in the week. It was cold, but tolerable with strong winds by plains standards but pretty light for Elbrus. Both the climb and the descent required liberal use of the crampons due to ice from the recent storms.
The ascent itself was remarkable only in that it went smoothly and without trouble. The descent, to quote Mike, was “profoundly dangerous.” Becuase of the ice, they were unable to ski from the summit and had to start from a lower point. There was no room for error coming down – one wrong turn could spell disaster. Each man carried his own weight and individual expertise carried the day. That includes Matt who, at 10, has experience to match the rest of the team. This young man was probably skiing even before he could walk.
Pictures will be posted when the team arrives in London and can send a media download.
UPDATE: Pictures posted on the Expeditions page.
I’m terribly sorry for the lack of an update yesterday – since Mike’s phone is out of commission, we’ve been communicating via sat phone and the connection leaves much to be desired. Couple that with a network outage yesterday and all my juicy notes kept sitting and sitting…so on to the update!
On Tuesday, the team hiked up to Pastukhova Rocks at about 15,000 feet. This is the last stage of acclimatisation before a summit attempt. Tuesday night was spent in the Barrel Huts. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like – the team was literally sleeping in barrels. According to my research, each hut has two rooms – a big room with four mattresses and a small room with two mattresses. There is a heater, a light and an electric socket. That’s it. All lavatory and cooking facilities are outside. Drinking and cooking water comes from melted ice and snow.
The Alaskan and Russian teams were attempting to summit today (Wednesday, Russian time). They were successful which has been good for team morale.
Mike reports that the team is healthy aside from a massive blister problem with John. They have medicine to hopefully make the climb at tolerable. The ongoing challenge remaining is gathering enough gear. There aren’t any stores and most of what Matt and Mike have has been borrowed, traded or bought from local contacts and the returning teams. The plan was to hit up the returning Alaska and Russian team for gear as they made their descent. Gloves are of particular importance. For those of you who know Mike, the fact that he is negotiating gear trades on Mt. Elbrus will not come as any particular surprise.
I last spoke with Mike at 10:00 a.m. MT this morning. The summit attempt was going to begin in 8 hours – or approximately 6:00 p.m. MT (4:00 a.m. in Russia). Mike anticipates the entire climb will be a solid 14 hours. Due to the ice conditions, they will only be able to start skiing about halfway down.
This is the big one, everyone!
Updates tomorrow!
Monday 6/2 at 9:30 AM
Arrive at high camp. Heavy snow.
Monday 6/2 at 11:00 AM
Just never stops (Editor’s note: the snow or the grin?)
Today we tested gear on Cheget peak a stunning peak near Elbrus on the wedsite about 2K vertical. We still have all fingers and toes. Today we’ll start early at 6 am for 7 hour climb across a glacier to another peak on the boarder of Georgia – about 3K vertical. At least Aeroflot couldn’t lose our fittness training. We’re all feeling very strong.
Keep your fingers crossed and send us warm thoughts!
Matt, Mike and the team have safely arrived in Moscow. Next stop: Mineralnyyevody. Try saying that three times fast!