Entries By billy nugent

Greetings! Our whole team has officially arrived in Russia without a hitch... even all of our bags made it! Most of the the crew was pretty travel weary so we grabbed a quick dinner here in Moscow and headed back to the hotel to crash early. Jet lag is always a bit of a hurdle at the beginning of these trips but we'll hit our stride soon enough. Excited for a city your tomorrow of Red Square and the Kremlin! Talk tomorrow, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

Well we had a really nice last day in Russia yesterday. We began the day meeting with our tour guide, Galina, and headed out on a quick tour of St. Petersburg. We stopped off at St. Nicholas Church, stopped by the grand St. Isaac's Cathedral and made our way to the famous Heritage Museum. Not having a ton of time to see the thousands of exhibits so we did and express trip to see the highlights, which included a few paintings and sculptures by Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and other great artist. It was pretty amazing to see so much art in one place and everyone enjoyed the brief visit. We took a short break before meeting back up with our tour guide for a evening canal tour via boat of this historical city, which was a great way to wrap up a wonderful trip. That's all for this trip! The team heads home tomorrow. Thanks for following us. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Saint Petersburg!!! We traveled all day and have finally arrived in one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. Things went relatively smooth considering we had two van rides and two flights. We checked into the hotel here and then ran out for a quick dinner. Everyone is very excited to explore and see this city tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom and team

After lucking out with weather our team spent the contingency weather day hanging out in Cheget. Rumors from the mountain were that most teams were turned around before the summit this morning due to bad weather finally coming in. The drizzle hardly dampened our spirits after our perfect conditions yesterday and we spent the day walking around town, luncheoning, ATV renting, nearly getting run over by a horse on the loose, drinking coffee, telling lies, and eventually drinking beer. Right now we're all hanging in the hotel lobby before heading out to a celebratory dinner with the entire team including our Russian staff. Hopefully we'll survive the vodka associated with a traditional Russian celebration well enough to make tomorrow's early departure for the airport bearable. All for now! RMI Guide Billy Nugent

Pree-vēt! Things are good here at Garabashi Hut and the team is excited for tonight! We did a little prep for tomorrow by reviewing a few climb techniques and then rested the remainder of the day. Our cook, Dasha, has done a great job of filling our bellies with plenty of good ol' home cooked Russian food. Everything is set and if the weather continues to hold we'll be up at 2:00 a.m. After a quick breakfast, we'll hop on the snowcat to give us a bump a little further up the mountain. It will shorten our climb a little and increase our chance of reaching the highest point in Europe. That's all for now. Keep your fingers crossed for us! RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

It was a beautiful day here on Elbrus. We had a normal start to our day with breakfast in the hotel and then loaded up all our climbing gear and drove to the base of the ski lift where we rode not one, not two, but three gondolas to reach our new home for the next few days and happens to sit at just over 12,000ft. It's rather comfortable up here, as our outfitter has taken a few shipping containers and converted them into simple bunk rooms that sit atop some makeshift skis so they can be moved. Creative to say the least! Once we got settled into our new home we headed uphill on another acclimatizing hike and reached about 13,500ft before returning to camp where our wonderful cook Dasha had a nice hot lunch waiting for us. We spent the remaining of the afternoon relaxing, walking around and just enjoying the views of the Caucasus Mountain Range. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Hello again everyone! It was a beautiful day here in Russia. We had a nice relaxing start to the day with a traditional Russian breakfast of porridge, eggs and bread. Afterwards we made our way to the local ski lifts to help give us a jump start on our hike. I didn't hear a single complaint about riding up 1,500' on a chair lift before we started our two-hour hike to the top of Peak Cheget. Yes, it is also the name of the town in which we are staying. The hike went well with mostly clear skies and we even caught a few glimpses of Elbrus between the clouds. After our hike we made it back to town relatively quickly thanks to the ski lifts, where we had a hot lunch waiting for us. After lunch, we dropped off our gear and made a quick stop to pick up a few extra items and even managed to try on a few local hats. We wrapped up the evening with another nice, home cooked meal here provided by our ever so gracious local outfitter. Things are good here. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

An early rise gave way to a groggy ride to the airport this morning that was fortunately on the quicker side because the majority of Moscow had yet to wake. After navigating Aeroflot's slightly confusing baggage system our team was relieved to settle into an airport restaurant and enjoy a decent breakfast and more importantly a decent cup (or two) of coffee. A slight delay, a quick flight to Mineralnye Vody, and a longer bus ride to Cheget completed our traveling for the day. On our drive we watched the rolling hills of farmland become more pronounced, eventually turning into mountains, and finally turning quite impressive with huge relief as we drove up a craggy canyon. Cheget is a little outpost of sorts but our hotel is pretty cool, complete with beautiful views of glaciers above from the forest below and even a medieval motif to the dining room. A bit weary from travel, we're all excited to get out and stretch our legs on our first acclimatization hike tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes. Over and out, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Hello everyone. All is well here in Moscow. Most of the team arrived yesterday evening after some very long flights. As most of us are still adjusting to the massive time change we keep things simple with a little round of introductions and stepped out for a short walk and a nice dinner. Today we meet with our local tour guide and had an outstanding tour of the nearby Red Square, Kremlin as well as visiting several churches including the iconic St. Basil's. We took a short break and then headed out once again for dinner and a nice walk. Everyone is doing great and looking forward to heading to the mountains tomorrow. That's all for now. RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

The Mt. Rainier Expedition Skills Seminar has spent the last six days training along the Paradise Glacier and moved to Camp Muir yesterday. The team, led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent, went to bed hoping for a break in the precipitation. The guides checked the weather through the early morning hours with no such luck of weather cooperation. Although a summit did not come to fruition, the team walked up to Ingraham Flats and will descend from the mountain later this afternoon.