Elbrus Expedition Dispatch

July 5, 2012 – Top of Cheget

It is 12:30 in the afternoon on the 5th of July and I am calling you from the top of Cheget. A high point we love to use to acclimatize, prepare for Elbrus and because of the fantastic views. We are having a great second acclimatization day, the team left early this morning, short drive to the Cheget ski area, really fascinating place with all its markets, lodges and restaurants.

Early morning not much was going on so we got on the chair lifts, got out at 10,000 ft., we could feel the thin air, and then we climbed higher, upon along a beautiful ridge, alpine tundra, wild flowers and rocks that were easy to walk on in the trail and then we reached this beautiful summit.

Now we are going to go down and we are going to hang out in Cheget a little bit; Lennie saw some of those big Russian hats that people of the Caucasus love so much. He is definitely thinking about buying one, I am not sure he is going to be able to wear back home in Guam but I think he might look pretty good on it.

After we hang out in Cheget a little while enjoying the local colors we will stop at our favorite mountaineering shop for a while, see if we have any last minute items that we need to pick up - that’s because tomorrow we are going to make our first trip up on Elbrus, we are not spending the night at the barrels tomorrow night but we are going to move up some of our climbing equipment, take a look at the glacier, check out some of our gear and look at Elbrus up close and personal before we ride down for one last night in the hotel before we go up for our summit attempt. You can tell things are going great, we are all happy, acclimatizing well; we will keep you posted with photos as we can