Hello from southern Russia! Things are good here in Russia. We left Moscow this morning and have traveled via plane and bus to the beautiful Caucasus Mountains. Our flight took us to southern Russia not too far from the Black Sea. This part of the country is predominately rural and is responsible for much of the agriculture that the larger cities depend on. We were meet by our trustworthy guide Yuri, whom I've climbed with many times. Then hopped in our van for the three-hour drive up the Baksan Valley to the base Elbrus. The small town we are in is called Cheget, and it doubles as a ski town in winter and converts to climbing in the summer. We didn't do a ton of exploring this afternoon due to the adjustment of the time that we are all still feeling. However, tomorrow we will do our first acclimatizing hike and do a little exploring. All is well here and the team is excited to stretch our legs a bit! RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map