Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Today we awoke to mostly clear skies and got our first views of Cotopaxi (which means the neck of the moon). We had a leisurely start this morning with another fantastic breakfast. Next up was to get things in order and packed for our short (50min) hike to the hut on Cotopaxi.
The hut (Refugio in Spanish) on Cotopaxi is a far cry from anything that I have ever seen in the United States. It sits proudly on the flanks of the mountain at an astounding 15,700'. It's approximately 6000 sq. ft. and can accommodate around 70 people. There are two kitchens with propane stoves, two dinning rooms, and two fireplaces. Needless to say we are not really roughing it!
Our hike to the Refugio was a snowy one, and everyone did great. We had a huge spread for lunch with smoked salmon, cheese, crackers, olives and popcorn.
We are just getting ready for dinner and then it will be off to bed.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
We had another great day here in Ecuador. Our day started early with a wonderful breakfast full of local fresh fruit, juices and breads. We left Quito and headed into the highlands of the Andes. First on our list was a hike on the Illinizas to further our acclimatization. We hiked for several hours to just over 15,000 (a new record for some). Though the weather did not allow for any amazing views it did provide us relief from the intense equatorial sun. After a quick lunch of soup and tea we headed back down to our van. An 1.5 hour drive through the beautiful rural countryside brought us to Chilcabamba. Chilcabamba is a beautiful hacienda located just outside of Cotopaxi, our first climbing objective. See Chilcabamba for yourself.
We had a wonderful dinner and good conversations to finish off the night. The entire team is doing great and we are anxious for tomorrow's adventure.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
It's Casey and Billy checking in from down south! We've been hanging out in Quito for the last couple of days and the whole crew is already having a blast, and being situated at over 9,000 ft, we've already begun our acclimatization for our climbs. The first day around town was excellent. After a great breakfast at "Spicy" aka the hotel restaurant, we hit the town on a city tour to get a dose of history and colonial architecture. We had the chance to visit the Basilica, Presidential Palace, among other incredible buildings dating back from Spanish colonial times. This place is OLD, compared to American cities. Quito was founded in 1532! After the city tour, the group split. Half of the team headed to the Plaza de Toros and the other half went to a cool museum along the equator. The crew at the plaza had the fortune to witness a series of bullfights. Definitely barbaric but also a unique cultural experience unique to countries with Spanish influence. The other team enjoyed the interesting exhibits and experiments at the equatorial museum. The evening brought a lively night out for the team. After reuniting back at the hotel everyone went out for an amazing dinner. Local music and dancing was a great addition to the dining experience. Filet Mignon, Malbec? Who knew that you could acclimatize in such style!
Day 2 has thus far been a blast as well. The entire team headed up to the volcano Pichincha for a little exercise to help with the acclimation process. After a 40 minute gondola ride we were deposited high on the slopes of the volcano and were greeted by sweeping views of Cayambe and the city below. The high point for our hike brought us to approximately 14,300 ft.; nearly the summit of Mt. Rainier! The whole team is climbing and acclimating well thus far. Tonight, being Sunday, will hopefully turn out to be a bit quieter than the previous but we still plan to have another nice meal out on the town! Tomorrow we will to leave the city following an early wake-up and head out to the Illinizas for some more training.
We hope all is well back home and will check back in as the trip progresses.
Viva Quito!
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Hi from St. Petersburg,
We finished our adventures in Russia by exploring the wonderful city of St. Petersburg. We began the morning by walking along the Mokya Canal, one of the city's many canals, to St. Isaac's Cathedral. Then we climbed the 211 steps to the rotunda where we were afforded fantastic views of the city's skyline, from the spires of the Admiralty and the original churches of the city to the cranes of the busy port city. Afterwards, we ventured across the historic center to the Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood, whose magnificent mosaic frescos are built around the very cobblestones upon which Tsar Alexander II was murdered. We wrapped up our city tour at the Hermitage Museum. Containing over three million pieces of artwork, the museum's size is daunting. But the building's incredible beauty, with its ornately decorated rooms, is enough motivation to explore all of its halls.
After a delicious dinner at a traditional Russian restaurant we ended our day by boarding a canal boat and navigating the city's waterways as the setting sun lit up the sky in a fiery red. It has been a memorable two weeks of adventures in Russia, from the cobblestones of Red Square to the snowy reaches of Elbrus, Europe's highest point, to the canals of St. Petersburg, we have had a trip to remember. Tomorrow we board our flights bound for home and look forward to sharing our stories with you in person.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Hello from St. Petersburg,
What a whirlwind of a day, going from Elbrus and the northern Caucasus to the edge of the North Sea! We slept soundly last night, enjoying the luxury of a simple bed after so many nights on our inflatable pads. In the morning we gathered for breakfast, eager to see what our efforts at placing an order the night before produced. Our drawings and hand gesturing of a couple of fried eggs and toast missed their mark because we ended up with hard boiled eggs, french fries, and 19 chicken breasts. It was not exactly what we expected but delicious nonetheless.
The rest of the morning was spent packing up and exploring the maze of aisles and stalls of the Kislovodsk central market where honey, pickled tomatoes, and electronics are all sold alongside each other. Afterwards we loaded up our gear and headed back to the airport where we caught an afternoon flight north across Russia to St. Petersburg. The change in landscape was striking, leaving from a small airport in an overlooked corner of Russia and arriving in St. Petersburg where Russian and European influences have merged, creating a beautiful city on the banks of the Neva River. We reached the hotel well into the evening and immediately walked down the canal running just in front to a small cafe where we sat down to another fantastic meal.
Tomorrow is the last day of our adventures in Russia. We will explore some of St. Petersburg's famous sites before our celebration dinner and evening boat ride through the city's many canals. We will check-in with our last dispatch tomorrow.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
A big hello from Kislovodsk -
Wow! What an amazing 36 hours it has been. After leaving Camp 2 yesterday at 8:00 am, we reached the summit of Elbrus at 2:00 pm. Despite a slight wind delay in the morning, the weather cooperated with us all day, and we had clear views from the highest point in Europe. The team did an amazing job climbing the nearly 3000' from camp, and all the hard work really paid off.
After celebrating our success, we began the descent down the mountain. We first made our way back to Camp 2, packed up all of our gear, and then make the final descent to Camp 1. We established camp once again at the toe of the glacier and got a good night's rest at this lower elevation. We got up early for the last day of climbing and retraced our steps to Basecamp, where our ride was waiting for us. It was slow going back to Kislovodsk, but made it in time for a big meal and some much needed hot showers. After nine days on the mountain, we are back to sleeping in a real bed. Life is good!
5:52 a.m. PST voicemail
Hey guys, it's Jeff. It's 5:00 (p.m.) our time. Calling to let you know that about 2:00 today we all went to the top of Mt. Elbrus. A beautiful day- No clouds, warm temperatures, no wind, total bluebird day on the summit. All are safe and well. We'll be in touch later today
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Hello from high camp!
The clear skies that formed yesterday held throughout the night and we woke to a perfectly bluebird day. Eager to take advantage of the weather, we wolfed down breakfast, broke down camp, packed our backpacks and headed out onto the glacier. Despite spending yesterday off of our feet in camp waiting out the winds we quickly found our climbing rhythm again and made great time as we ascended. By noon we reached our previous high point where we cached on Friday. There we found our gear, covered in a thin layer of ice from yesterday's winds, still lashed down amongst the rocks. A falcon, doubtlessly lured by our treats saved for summit day, was curiously snooping about when we arrived but took off after catching site of our band of Gore-Tex clad climbers. Thankfully the duffel bag that held everything kept the raptor at bay and we loaded the last of our gear into our packs for the final hour's climb into high camp.
As we reached camp the low valley clouds, fueled by the midday heat, swirled up about us, at times blanketing us in a calm fog, other times parting to reveal the rest of the mountain looming above us. High camp sits at 15,200' perched amongst a band of black volcanic rocks running down from the east summit known as Lenz Rocks. Camp is quite exposed to Elbrus' infamous winds so we devoted a good amount of energy to establishing camp. As the clouds danced around us we went to work, chopping the ice out of the tent platforms, bolstering rock walls, and securely anchoring the tents. By mid-afternoon we were comfortably settled in our tents, sipping on water and doing our best to enjoy the rarified air of 15,200' and we had a couple of hours to rest and recover before dinner. As the evening shadows grew long off of the rock pinnacles standing guard above our tents we shared a hearty meal of vegetable lasagna before retiring to the sleeping bags for the night.
Tomorrow we are planning to make our summit bid for Elbrus, leaving camp around first light. We will traverse below the east summit to the saddle at over 17,500' and then climb to the west summit. We are hoping to be standing on the highest point in Russia and all of Europe by around noon local time, about 1 am (Pacific) Monday morning. The team is feeling strong and excited about tomorrow's endeavor. Keep your fingers crossed that our perfect weather holds!
Prvyet from Camp 1 -
The team is doing great. It was our third night here at Camp 1 and our bodies are adjusting well to the altitude. The winds that started blowing last evening remained constant throughout the night, with gusts up to 25 mph. Our hope was that the winds would die down by morning, but there was no noticeable change when the alarm went off at 7:00. We decided to postpone our wake up call for an hour to see if it might improve, but no such luck. Just as the winds would let up 15 minutes later they would return to full force. Since establishing Camp 2 in these conditions would be very difficult we chose to take a weather day instead. Although it can be difficult to wait out a rest day knowing our summit push is approaching, the down time will certainly benefit us as we move higher. The plan is now to move up to Camp 2 tomorrow and then make our attempt for Elbrus' summit on Monday, weather permitting. The forecast is calling for improving conditions, and all we need is a 24 hour window of good weather.
We had an early dinner and as we crawled into the tents the cloud cap on the upper mountain began to break apart. Within minutes the twin summits were in full view and the West Summit was showing all the colors of a beautiful sunset. A very good sign.
Hello from Elbrus -
The almost full moon shone brightly last night, transforming the rock morraine in which we are camped into a vague silvery landscape of shapes and shadows. By the time we awoke they were all gone, replaced by long morning shadows and the warmth of the early light. After breakfast, we packed up our packs, donned our crampons and harnesses and headed out onto the glacier.
The climbing out of Camp 1 is a long, gradually steepening ascent straight towards Elbrus' East Summit. We climbed well, the team falling immediately into the rhythm of climbing as a rope team. By midday we had navigated our way through a small series of crevasses, switchbacked up the broad northeastern shoulder of the mountain, and reached a small outcropping of rocks at an elevation of about 14,200'. From there we were witness to impressive views of the eastern Caucasus, catching glimpses of jagged snowcapped peaks that straddle the border with Georgia. Above us, the clouds and winds that scoured the upper reaches of the mountain all day held their distance and we were treated to a calm break. Amongst the rocks we cached the food and fuel we will need for our upcoming summit bid before heading back down the mountain, chased by the clouds and wind from above that just nipped at our heels, never fully engulfing us.
Back at camp, we relaxed in the warm sun for the rest of the afternoon, watching the fascinating cloud cap on Elbrus appear over the mountain's twin summits. With the weather coming straight out of the south today the wind was splitting when it hit Elbrus, pushing clouds down both the east and west sides of the mountain. From our perspective on the north side the clouds appeared to literally boil out of Elbrus' top before flowing down the sides of the mountain and dissolving. It was an incredible sight.
The winds picked up a bit in the evening as we wrapped up dinner and headed for the tents. As we turn in for the evening the tent walls rattle and shake, making the warmth of a down sleeping bag that much more inviting. Tomorrow we are planning to move to high camp in preparation for a hopeful summit bid the following day. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!
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