Entries By casey grom
We had a nice relaxing start to the day with a traditional Russian breakfast of porridge, eggs and bread. We then made our way to the local ski lifts to help give us a jump start on our acclimatization hike. I didn't hear a single complaint about riding up 1,500' before we started our hike to nearly the top of a local peak called Cheget.
It was a bit cloudy today so we didn’t have the amazing views that we had hoped for, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Normally we get to hike to the top of the peak but, being so close to the border with Georgia, the Russian military had the upper part closed to climbers. Regardless, we enjoyed the views and stretching our legs and lungs a bit.
After our hike we made back to town relatively quickly thanks to the ski lifts, where we had a hot lunch waiting on us. After lunch we dropped off our gear and made a quick stop to pick up a few extra items and did a little exploring on our own. We wrapped up the evening with another nice home cooked meal here provided by our ever so gracious local outfitter.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
After our hike we made back to town relatively quickly thanks to the ski lifts, where we had a hot lunch waiting on us. After lunch we dropped off our gear and made a quick stop to pick up a few extra items and did a little exploring on our own. We wrapped up the evening with another nice home cooked meal here provided by our ever so gracious local outfitter.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
On The Map
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
Hello Everyone!
Things are well here in Russia! Most of the team arrived in Moscow yesterday evening after some very long flights and are still adjusting to the massive time change, so we kept things simple with a little round of introductions before stepping out for a short walk and a nice dinner not too far from the hotel.
Today we started with a visit to Lenin’s Tomb, which takes a bit of time as there are thousands of other tourists visiting. We then met up with our kind, local tour guide Victoria, who gave us a wonderful tour of the nearby Red Square, the Kremlin, and several churches including the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral. The team also visited the famous Moscow metro, which moves millions of Moscovites daily. It’s incredibly efficient, with 228 stops, many of which are elaborately decorated.
After our tour we took a short break and then headed out once again for an amazing dinner and a nice walk. Everyone is doing great and looking forward to heading to the mountains tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Our last day in St. Petersburg! The team had a great final day here in Russia. We visited the very famous Hermitage Museum, where we saw paintings and sculptures by many well known artists including Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and even Da Vinci. It's one of Russia's great treasures and houses several thousand pieces of art collected over the last few hundred years. The Hermitage consists of 5 buildings, each with 3 floors, and has hundreds of rooms. The team did their best to take in the highlights in a little over 2 hours. We took a quick lunch before stopping by the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, that's decorated almost entirely with Mosaics/ We then wrapped up the day with a wonderful evening boat cruise to see this amazing city by water. It's been a wonderful adventure here in Russia, but it's time to say our goodbyes and return to our family and loved ones. Thanks for following.
Casey and comrades
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 one flight. We got checked into the hotel and then ran out for a quick dinner followed by a short but scenic stroll.
Everyone is very excited to explore and see this city tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Greetings everyone,
Our team spent the contingency weather day hanging out in Cheget. We spent the day walking around town, enjoying the new coffee shop in town and of course horseback riding Russian style! Right now we're all relaxing before heading out to a celebratory dinner with the team. Hopefully we'll survive the vodka associated with tonight's traditional Russian celebration, hosted by our gracious local tour operator. Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to heading to beautiful St. Petersburg early tomorrow.
Casey and Comrades
100% on top!
We did it! We stood on Mt. Elbrus, the highest point of Europe.
I have to admit we were pretty lucky with the weather, as it was near perfect. The team did a fantastic job of taking care of themselves and climbed strong. We reached the summit at 7:30 AM in clear skies with a wonderful view of the entire Caucus mountain range with very little wind, which is rare here.
But it didn't end there, after descending back to the saddle between the 2 summits that Elbrus has, a few of us decided to climb both summits while the rest of the team descended safely back to camp. It only added an additional 1.5hrs, so not too bad, especially since we had such amazing weather.
After everyone returned to camp, we had a quick lunch and then packed up to head down valley to our hotel at the base of the mountain.
Everyone is in high spirits and feeling great after some much needed hot showers.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and comrades
Hello again from Russia!
Things are good here and the team is excited for tonight! We did a little prep for tomorrow by reviewing a few climbing techniques with our crampons and ice axe and then relaxed the remainder of the day. Ok, there might have been a little more volleyball and some snowmobiling.
Our cook, Dasha, has done a great job of filling our bellies with plenty of good old home cooked Russian food, which includes borsch and plenty of soups and salads. We had a thorough discussion about tonight's upcoming climb and everyone is packed up and ready. Hopefully the weather continues to hold and we'll be up shortly after midnight and after a quick breakfast hop on the snowcat to give us a bump a little further up the mountain. This will shorten our climb a little and increase our chance of reaching the highest point in Europe.
Keep your fingers crossed for us!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and comrades
On The Map
Good luck for entire team to the highest point in Europe! huge hugs to Tibor!
Posted by: Katie Kelemen on 7/5/2019 at 10:08 pm
Good luck Riley and the rest of the team - looking forward to hearing all about it!
Posted by: Sally on 7/5/2019 at 12:38 pm
Hello again everyone
The weather continues to be beautiful here on Mt. Elbrus for us. We started the day with a nice breakfast prepared by our amazing cook Dasha, then set out on our last acclimatizing hike just after 8 AM to make use of the slightly cooler weather and better snow conditions.
The team did a great job hiking as we made our way up to about 15,000ft in three hours, setting a new elevation record for some. We stopped along the way to take a few breaks and enjoy the view as well as chat with the other climbers that are here from all over the world, including some friends who recently reached the summit of both Everest and Denali in the last 2 months!
After reaching our high point we made our way back to camp just in time for another enjoyable lunch.
We spent the afternoon hitting a volleyball around camp and just relaxing in our little huts after our big day. Everyone is doing well and in good spirits.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and comrades
On The Map
Hugs and big wet kisses to our APA and hunny! We love you! Wish you all good luck on the summit tomorrow!
Mea and the little Kelly’s.
Posted by: Tam Doan on 7/4/2019 at 11:36 am
We woke to clear skies and beautiful weather again today, then had breakfast in the hotel and loaded up all our climbing gear and drove to the base of the Elbrus ski resort. Once there we took advantage of the three gondolas, and a short snowcat ride to reach our new home for the next few days.
It's rather comfortable up here, as our outfitter has taken a few shipping containers and converted them into simple bunk rooms some for sleeping and some set up as dinning rooms.
Once we got settled into our new home we headed uphill on another acclimatizing hike and reached just over 14,000' 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 around camp and enjoying the views of the Caucasus mountain range which are pretty amazing since we are camped out at just over 12,000'.
Dasha has once again had filled our bellies full of delicious Russian food and so the team is off to bed now.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and comrades
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Hey Guys! Looks like you are off to a great start. Great to see your smiling faces, can’t wait see more pictures. Stay Safe!
Posted by: Danika and Taylor on 7/17/2019 at 10:21 am
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