Finally we left for the Caucasus at the end of August. We took the Airport Express to SVO and 3 hours later we arrived at Min Vodi airport where the local police hunted for everyone looking foreign without registration. We helped a poor British guy who didnt have the right papers. They finally let him off... 3 hours later we arrived at the Balkaria Hotel at 2350m above sea level. We did our first hike and in the evening we met our guide Lisa from www.go-elbrus.com.
| Acclimatization hike to Mt. Cheget (Saturday) | On Saturday we made a our first acclimatization climb towards the obseratory at 3000m. The weather was excellent with temperatures close to 25 degrees. We also went to the local rental station to get missing equipment from crampons to 2 layer mountain boots. | |||||||
| Hike to Prijut Hut (Diesel Hut) (Sunday) | After breakfast we left th e hotel and took the cable car (the old one as the new one was broken again and not fixed) to the top station «Gara-Bashi» at 3700 m, where we stayed overnight in a simple mountaineering camp for the next days. After a light lunch we hiked up to Prijut Hut (4050 m, 350 vm, 2 h).Overnight at the camp at 3700 m. | |||||||
| Acclimatization hike to Pastukhov Rocks (Monday) | After breakfast, we hiked up to the Pastukhov Rocks (4700 m, 1000 vm, 4 hours). Overnight at the camp at 3700 m again. The weather was again excellent with very high temperatures. | |||||||
| Rest day (Tuesday) | On Tuesday we went to see Michal Michalitsh at his war museum at the Mir Station and to discuss the bullets we had found the day before in the glacier. In the afternoon we climbed back to the camp and Lisa prepared a nice dinner for us.Overnight at the camp at 3700 m. | |||||||
| Summit day (Wednesday) | On Wednesday we got up at 3:30 and had breakfast. The weather had changed and the peak was covered in clouds. We still decided to start the ascent. The first 3 hours went smoothly however the weather didnt improve and the wind was further picking up. In the end we arrived the so called avalance valley and our condition was quite poor due to lack of oxygene. We were very lucky to make it to a mountain emergency hut at 5300m. The hut was opened for such situations on that same day. After 2 hours of regaining power and consiousness we stopped our attempt and went back to our camp. | |||||||
| Reserve day and descent to the valley (Thursday) | By Thursday morning our group was down to 3 people and we made another attempt. The weather hadnt improved so we were hoping to compensate with our good condition. Again the wind was blowing so strong and visibility was so bad that we only made it to the emergency hut at 5300m where we stayed overnight and assisted in a rescue operation for a small team of mountaineers who had lost their way. | |||||||
| Friday/Saturday | Friday morning the wind was still blowing at gale force however we made another summit attempt. We reached 5550m which is less than 100m below the peak, when our guide stopped the attempt due to rising winds which had blown one of our team members of track. We decided to descent and went back to the valley as our flight was leaving the next day. This means we will have to come back next year to make up the less than 100m meters missing. Unfortunately, we broke the success ratio of our guide who had made 25 successful climbs in 2010 so far...:) |
Equipment list:
In principal everything can be rented on the ground, so apart from your personal belongings like a sleeping back and mountain weater proof clothing and shoes nothing special should be taken with you. Below a reminder of the things needed:
Clothing:
- Technical outerware layer: waterproof / breathable jacket (with hood) and pants (Goretex or similar wind and water proof material)
- Insulation layer: sweater and/ or jacket and pants (fleece, soft-shell or wind-stopper) (1-2 sets)
- 1 set of base layer: long tights and longsleeved shirt
- T-Shirt
- Trekking pants
- Down jacket (a must as life saving equipment, Elbrus can be a very cold mountain)
- Warm hat (fleece or wool)
- Balaklava/ face mask (fleece or wool)
- Woolen mountaineering socks (minimum 2 pairs)
- Fleece or woolen gloves
- Mittens with down or holofiber insulation or mittens made of 3-layer Goretex with warm fleece liner
- Glacier sunglasses with side flaps
- Ski goggles
- Sun hat, cap or bandana
Alpine equipment:
- Plastic or leather double boots (best) or heavy insulated leather boots, suitable for crampons (not recommended for people who’s feet are getting cold quickly, for example women, people with frost bites or problems with blood circulation and for the cold time of the climbing season – April/ May, September/ October)
- Back pack (appr. 50 – 60 l) for transportation of all your equipment to the camp and for the hiking days or a bigger back pack or expedition back pack (60 – 100 l) for transportation of your equipment to the camp and a smaller back pack (30 – 40 l) for the hiking days
- Sleeping bag (down or holofiber), comfort temperature 0 degrees or less
- temperature (the huts in the mountain camp are normally heated, but it can get cold in case of electricity breakdown)
- Headlamp with spare batteries
- Ice axe
- Crampons
- Climbing harness, 2 regular carabiners, 2 locking carabiners, 2 prussik cords (length 360 cm and 180 cm, 6 mm diameter), 1 sling 120 cm
- Sunscreen for face and lips (high protection)
- Unbreakable metal thermos (1 l)
- Metal or plastic bottle (Nalgene, Sigg or other) with insulator (1 l)
Below some of our first pictures. More will be added soon:
