The team left Moscow very early this morning and traveled via plane and bus to the beautiful Caucasus Mountains. Our two-hour flight took us to southern Russia not too far from the Black Sea to a place called Mineralnye Vody, which is known for its abundant Mineral Waters. Southern Russia is predominately rural and is responsible for much of the agriculture that the larger cities depend on. We were met at the airport by my friend and local guide Yuri, whom I've climbed with many times. Then hopped in our van for the beautiful three-hour drive up the Baksan Valley to the base Elbrus. Things went pretty smooth minus a few little traffic jams with cars, motorcycles and cows all humorously trying to use the road at the same time. The small town we are in is called Cheget, and it doubles as a ski town in winter and converts to a climbing town 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 and having started so early. However, tomorrow we will do our first acclimatizing hike and do a little exploring too. All is well here as we are looking forward to a little exercise tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom

On The Map