What a day, what a day!
We started the day off with a nice walking tour of this majestic city with our kind Russian guide Natasha. She led us around
St. Petersburg stopping by the major highlights this city is know for and educated us to its deep history. We visited the Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood, St. Peter's Square, and St. Isaac's Cathedral along with many other beautiful sites. We took a brief break for lunch and explored a little on our own. Most of the team visited the Hermitage know for its incredible art collection, while others sought out their own adventure.
We reconvened around 8 and Natasha took us on a spectacular boat tour on the many canals that intertwine this city. The day was very rewarding for everyone and I'm pretty sure everyone would love to stay longer.
It has been a wonderful adventure the last two weeks with a great team! In a way it's sad that we've reached the end of this trip. Good times were had and good friends were made!
Missing all of our families and most of our friends.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
It was another long day here in
Russia, but the team has finally arrived in beautiful St. Petersburg. We spent most of the day traveling and have just finished the day with a wonderful Indian meal and a nice stroll to stretch the legs.
Everyone is doing great and we are looking forward to taking in the sights tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Success feels good, and we soaked it up by relaxing around our hotel today. The team spent most of the day close to the hotel on our iPhones and visiting the local market for a few trinkets.
We wrapped up the day with our post climb celebration dinner at a nearby cafe. We had a Russian BBQ with wonderful soup and a potato salad. The team received summit certificates from our outfitter and from
RMI, and made a few toast with a little vodka too.
Everyone is doing great and are looking forward to seeing
St. Petersburg in the upcoming days.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
We did it!
The whole team managed to stand on the highest point in Europe this morning. Everyone did a fantastic job of taking care of themselves and pushed hard in the thin air. It was a beautiful day for sure, in fact it was the nicest summit on
Elbrus I've had. Not too cold and just the slightest breeze.
We spent about a half hour on top then quickly descended all the way back to the Barrels. After a quick lunch, we packed up and made our way back down to Cheget to our hotel where everyone ran for the first shower in days.
The team is doing great and are looking forward to some much earned sleep.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summiteers
On The Map
Today was our rest day, and that's exactly what we did!
We started the day off with a brief review of how to use our ice axes and crampons just a few feet from our camp at 12,000' on
Mt. Elbrus (there's plenty of snow very near). And quickly transitioned into another delicious breakfast with plenty of coffee. Once our bellies were full everyone returned to our bunk space and relaxed till lunch. It is vacation after all! We had lunch and then discussed tomorrows climbing plan so that we could do a little prep work before settling in tonight. If all goes well our plan is to have breakfast at 1am then catch a snow cat ride up to about 15,000ft and begin our climb from where we left off yesterday. I'm expecting the climb to take about 6-8 hours up and about 3-4 ours back down. So, if all goes according to plan we should be on top around 9 a.m. our time!
Everyone is excited for tomorrow.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Hello again from Russia!
We woke to clear skies and cool temps which made for nearly perfect hiking conditions on
Mt. Elbrus. After a wonderful breakfast of porridge and mini pancakes prepared by our friendly Russian cook, we set out on another acclimatization hike. The team did great and reached an altitude of just over 15,000' in a little under 4 hours. On our descent the clouds came in and almost like clockwork began sprinkling on us right as we pulled back into camp. Lucky us!
We had another delicious lunch and some of us played a little cribbage, while others retired for a nice siesta.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to having a rest day before our upcoming climb.
RMI Guide Casey and crew
On The Map
The team had a leisurely start to the day with breakfast at 8 as everyone is still getting their internal clocks set. After getting packed up last night and checking out of the hotel today we made our way over to the big gondola. We rode two gondolas and one small chairlift up the mountain to our new home here at 12,000', where there are several huts including one for dining. The Garabashi Hut is also call the "barrels" because of the round shape of the huts. They are a little worn, but warm and dry nonetheless.
It was a pretty easy transition for the team and once everyone was settled we headed out the door on another
acclimatization hike. We hiked for about 2 hours which took us up to about 13,500'. We then descended back to camp and had a great lunch of Bortch, a variety of fruits, salami, and cheese.
Everyone is doing great and are enjoying the beautiful weather and amazing views of the Caucasus mountain range.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
It was a beautiful day in Cheget today and we made the most of it. We started the day with a nice breakfast of porridge, eggs and fresh juice, then headed out to stretch our legs a bit. Being that this is a ski town in the winter, we took advantage of the chairlifts and rode them up to about 10,000ft to start our hike. The team hiked for a little over an hour to reach a sub-summit of
Cheget Peak. The team did great on our first acclimatization hike and spent about 20 minutes on top to enjoy the view (our first of Mt. Elbrus). Again the team did great descending down the mountain side all the way back to town where we stopped in at a local cafe for lunch. Shortly after lunch we headed over to the gear shop for a few last minute items and have settled in back in our cosy hotel.
Things look good on the mountain and we're even heard that climbing conditions are great too. Two of RMI's great guides Mark Tucker and Jeff Justman aka JJ are also in town after two successful climbs. It was a pleasure to see them and hear about their climbs too.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Today the team left Moscow and caught a flight to Mineralnye Vody, which is a medium size city here in southern Russian known for its abundant mineral springs. The flight over Russia's inland reminded me of the rural Midwest back home. We quickly hopped on our waiting bus and headed further south into the Baksan Valley where
Elbrus sits on the border between Russia and Georgia. The area is mostly farmland with a few small towns that are predominately Islamic via its Turkish roots. We arrived in Cheget which sits at the base of
Elbrus and is our launching point for our climb. We are currently getting ready for bed in our hotel after a wonderful authentic Russian meal.
It was another long day of travel and the team is doing great. Everyone is looking forward to stretching their legs tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
After a good night of sleep and a belly full of fresh fruit, bread and an assortment of meats and cheeses we headed out to
explore the city a bit. Our hotel is perfectly located in central Moscow with the Kremlin and Red Square just a short walk away, so that's where we headed first. We payed a brief visit to the Red Square then watched the changing of the guard at Russia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before spending a little more than 2 hours inside the beautiful Kremlin. Once back outside we opted for a tour of the famous Moscow subway which sits hundreds of feet underground and is incredibly efficient and meticulously decorated. Apparently it was built so deep it could double as a bomb shelter during the Cold War years. It was amazing and a little overwhelming too.
The team then took a break for lunch and so members took naps and others explored a bit on their own. We have wrapped up the evening with a great meal and a nice little walk. Everyone is still feeling the jet-lag, but doing great otherwise.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Larry:
Congratulations on successfully summitting Elbrus. Your persistent hard work is paying off beautifully. You have a lot to celebrate!!!
Fred
Posted by: Fred Klingbeil on 7/15/2013 at 7:41 am
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