Elbrus Expedition Dispatch

July 3, 2011 – St. Petersburg, Russia

Called Leningrad from 1924 until 1991 and for the past 20 years known once again as St. Petersburg, this fascinating, cultured city at nearly 60 degrees north never disappoints.

We are still less than two weeks past the longest day of the year, summer solstice, and in St. Petersburg this is not particularly conducive to sleep. If you step out of our hotel on Petersburg’s famous Nvesky Prospect at say, 11:00 PM, you will find bright light and a street full of locals out enjoying their city.

12 members of Berg Adventures 1st Mount Elbrus climbing expedition of the 2011 season have been arriving here over the past week.

Our team is composed of members from Quebec, Ontario, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Utah, Alberta, Florida, Texas and Geneva, Switzerland.

The Alaskan members of our team may not be especially surprised the endless daylight hours of Northern Russia’s “White Nights”, but the rest of us find it quite unusual, and everyone finds it enjoyable.

Paul arrived first and he ran the St. Petersburg White Nights Marathon, which began at the Hermitage on June 26th. Armando and Jeff came in late last night on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt, Germany.

This morning we were finally together for the first time. Thirteen members of the BAI Elbrus climbing team paused outside the hotel with our St. Petersburg city guide, Juliana, before strolling down Nvesky Prospect to take in the sights. Today we visited the Church on Spilled Blood, the Hermitage and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Juliana is an excellent guide for this city. Her family has roots here that go far back into the Tsarist times.

Steve Davis had caviar for breakfast at the hotel buffet this morning and Ljerka and Jeremy took in a ballet performance at Marinsky Theater last night. We are wasting no time in getting to all things Russian.

Our goal, Mount Elbrus, 18, 510, (5642 meters) is far to the south of us, near the Black Sea on he border of Russia and Georgia. It is the highest peak in continental Europe and is therefore one of the “Seven Summits”, the continental highpoints of the world. That seems a world away to us right now. Tonight we will get on the midnight train to Moscow. The cities of 21st century Russia are in themselves worth the trip here to Russia and we plan to make the most of our time here.