Elbrus Expedition Dispatch

July 18, 2011 – The Trip Begins with a Reunion in St. Petersburg

Chet Sutherlin and Dick Morse have been good friends since 1975, when Dick woke Chet from a satisfied, drunken stupor to go climb Mt. Adams in Washington State. Years of adventure and travel later Chet and Dick are still at it and that is why our paths crossed this week in St. Petersburg, Russia.

I received a text message on Saturday from Chet telling me that he had made his tight 45-minute connection in Amsterdam; I remember thinking at the time that I hoped his bags also made it onto the plane. Of course the bags did not arrive in St. Petersburg with Chet, but he had more important things to do than worry about his luggage – spend time with his good friends.

Earlier that day, Dick and the Alaskan contingent of the Berg Adventures Mount Elbrus climb, Donna, Bill and Paul, flew back to St Petersburg excited to see Chet after their Elbrus expedition, and planning to give him a good send off for his own trip to the Caucasus Mountains. Dick, Paul, Bill and Donna were at a ballet performance at Marinsky Theater when Chet arrived, but they were able to meet after the show. It was a perfect evening for good friends to reunite and enjoy one of the world’s most beautiful cities in the midst of the long hours of daylight here at 60 degrees north at the edge of the Baltic Sea. A fine time was has by all. The Alaskans made it onto their early morning flights back to the US on the morning of the 17th, and Dick remained to spend one more day with Chet and I in St. Petersburg.

Our guide, Juliana, met us at the hotel in the morning with a ticket for Chet to enter the Hermitage. Three hours in the Hermitage is only dipping your toes into the world’s largest museum, and Chet described the experience as truly amazing. Chet and Dick enjoyed a long lunch together and later I met them for a private boat ride through the canals of St Petersburg.

By 7:00 PM we were off the boat and it was time to go see if we had a chance of getting Chet’s climbing gear as well as his toothbrush back before our midnight train to Moscow departed at 11:41pm. We returned to the hotel where Andre, one of the drivers who has worked there for many years, was waiting to accompany Chet to the airport where his bags had arrived on the KLM flight one day late. Andre is a large man with a walrus mustache and a formal, authoritative air. His English is quite good, but he is a man of few words in any language. With a stern, reassuring look his only words were: “We will get the bags.” Sure enough in less time than it normally takes to drive to the airport, Chet was texting me that the bags were retrieved and that he and Andre were on the way back.

At precisely 11:41 the Grand Express rolled out for Moscow. Vage from the hotel accompanied us to the train to see us off. We slept well through the night and by 9:00am we were receiving a warm, efficient welcome by the staff at the Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel by Red Square. Larissa, BAI’s Moscow guide was ready to go at 10:00am. After a stop at the bank, Chet and Larissa were off to Red Square and the Kremlin. It is fascinating standing at the very spot that for all our lives has represented Soviet and now Russian power and culture. Chet did see the precision of the changing of the guard at the Kremlin, but he missed seeing Lenin’s embalmed body in the mausoleum – closed on Mondays.

We will leave soon to go have a good Russian meal. Tomorrow is our flight south to see an entirely different side of Russia, the Caucasus.