Elbrus Expedition Dispatch

July 11, 2011 – Last Minute Preparations for the Summit Attempt

This morning, the eight members of the team who did not climb higher yesterday left for a climb with Karina and I as guides. Our goal was to ascend higher, check our acclimatization, especially check our equipment – make sure our crampons were functioning well – and we were soon into the rhythms of glacier climbing. I can report that it went extremely well. Donna, who is on this trip to enjoy travel in Russia and life in the Caucasus has said from the beginning that she doesn’t want to be on the summit team. Her crampons weren’t working very well, so she and I turned around and descended a bit earlier than others. We worked on descending techniques on some of the icier spots of the slope and we really had a great time. I think Donna really learned a lot as we came back down. The rest of the team climbed higher and returned around 2:00pm.

The climbers from yesterday, Dick, Steve, Paul and Bill, rested today.

Our excellent cook this year is a local woman named Leila. Leila’s kitchen is quite a place. She is working pretty much around the clock to create real home-cooked meals for our hungry climbers. She sat us down at 4:00pm and served a really nice homemade soup with big chunks of potatoes, lots of fresh vegetables and meatballs. Then she served a fresh salad filled with several kinds of greens, cucumbers and tomatoes. Finally, we had a delicious pasta with chicken dish. I could go on and on.

Now dinner’s over, an early dinner at 4pm, and we are settling down. Two additional guides just showed up today including Alec who I’ve known and have guided with on Elbrus for more than 15 years. Also, we are excited to have a new guide for Berg Adventures from the Bezingi region of Russia, Alibek.

Very early tomorrow morning we will leave for the summit. Dick, Paul, Bill and Alibek will leave first. The rest of us will follow behind and with any luck, we will be on the summit the next time you hear from us.