Elbrus Expedition Dispatch
July 16, 2012 – Some Photos From our Epic Summit Day – Part I
We had a long and a very successful Elbrus summit day on July 11th. Beginning with our wake-up call at 1:00 am, through our snowcat departure at 3:00 and our first steps upward in our crampons at 3:45, it was epic. The weather was bad in the beginning but the mountain gods were smiling on us as the day went on and we had sunny skies overhead and very little wind as we reached the higher elevations.
These photos will convey some of the beauty, uncertainty, challenge and teamwork of a day that we are all proud of and one that we will never forget. At the end we have also included some photos of our celebrations down in the valley on July 12th.
Early in the morning, our team climbing slowly over 16,000 feet on Mount Elbrus.
As we climbed higher the weather was variable. Often the clouds moved down on us and we were engulfed for a while.
Barbara moving higher through the clouds
Hugo climbing to 16,000 feet
Wally was moving throughout our line, keeping an eye on everyone.
Left: Karina, Karen and Wally moving up; Right: Lennie climbing higher
Left: Karina was there with a smile for all of us through the long morning.
Right: Karen over 16,000 feet
Left: Mac climbing higher; Right: Karina and Lennie taking it one step at a time
Jason climbing
Vladimir, Hugo and Lennie climbing higher
Vladimir had the rope handy. We did not use it until we descended.