Mt. Elbrus: Northside Team Carries to Camp 1
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 8,300'
First, and most importantly, we'd like to wish Kathey Uchal a very happy birthday. We hope it is a great one!
We fell asleep listening to the bass tones of the nearby river last night and woke to sun early. The sun rises at 4:30 or 5:00 up here, and once out there's not much sense trying to sleep, so we crawled out, fired up coffee and breakfast, and got set for the day.
With packs full of food, fuel, a spare tent and some other odds and ends, as well as our personal gear and food, we headed uphill towards camp one, in a moraine at the base of the glacier around 12,000'. Early on, the sun made its presence felt, instantly heating everyone to a rolling boil. As we climbed higher though, we made it into a nice breeze that kept things pleasant. After many hours of laboring under our loads, we arrived at Camp 1 and stashed all of our stuff. With the bulk of the work done, we turned back downhill. Mt. Elbrus wasn't done with us yet though. Half an hour into our descent, the first piece of hail fell in the rocks somewhere, probably not that near us. But then the skies opened up and it was like being brutally outmatched in a paintball game. We threw our hard shells on and beat foot downhill, running at times to escape the pelting. The hail finally let up, yielding a rainbow a few hundred yards in front of us, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn't find the pot of gold.
Back in camp, folks ducked into tents, eager to snack and recover, but then one of the Russian cooks of our outfitter came looking for Josh, wanting someone to play volleyball with. Mike and Pete couldn't resist, and joined the match too, and soon we had a decent game going. Now dinner is done, and we're back in tents eager for the deep sleep that follows a hard day of work. We'll do it again tomorrow, moving our camp to Camp 1 and continuing forward progress. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
On The Map
×
Sign Up For Elbrus Northside 2017 Emails
{/exp:mailinglist:form}More to Explore
Mt. Rainier: August 6th Summit!
August 6, 2017
Comments (3)
Hey Lisa and Robin - The whole gym is routing for you!
Lifting 250 or pushing 300 seems like nothing compared to what you guys are doing - best to you and all your comrades (no pun intended) - enjoy!
Cheers - Liz
Posted by: Liz on
Hi Sonam
Hope you’re having the time of your life!
Everyone from Seattle says Hi!
Have a great climb!!
Mayank
Posted by: Mayank on
“Hey Josh, I hope you see a lot of arctic animals. I hope you have a lot of camping which is cool and fun.” - Evan 4yrs. old (currently a polar bear)
We will miss you tomorrow at Sunday lunch!
Hi Kelly!
The Hickmott’s
Posted by: Evan Hickmott on