Entries from Elbrus Southside
Our final day in St. Petersburg!
The team had a great last day here in Russia. We visited the very famous Hermitage museum, known for its enormous collection of paintings and sculptures by many well known artist including Rembrandt, Michelangelo and even Da Vinci. It's one of Russia's great treasures and houses several thousand pieces of art collected over the last few hundred years. It consists of five buildings, each with three floors, and has hundreds of rooms. The team did their best to take in the highlights in just a few hours.
We also swung by the Cathedral of Kazan and Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, that's decorated almost entirely with Mosaics.
The day was wrapped up with a wonderful evening boat cruise to see this amazing city by water via its numerous canals.
It's been a wonderful adventure here in Russia, but it's time to say our goodbyes and return to family and loved ones.
Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
We traveled all day and have finally arrived in one of the most beautiful cities in all of Europe, St.Petersburg.
After a short ride from the airport, we got checked into our hotel and took a short break before dinner. We had dinner at a local brew pub, as the team was hungry for some burgers and beer. We then took a short but scenic stroll, which included a climb up St. Isaac’s Cathedral to take in the beautiful evening view.
Everyone is very excited to explore and see this city tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey and team.
July 21, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 7,500'
Hello Everyone -
Our team spent the contingency weather day hanging out in Cheget. We spent the day walking around town, enjoying the new coffee shop in town, and picking up a few souvenirs.
Right now we're all relaxing before heading out to a celebratory dinner with the team. Hopefully we'll survive the vodka associated with tonights traditional Russian celebration, hosted by our gracious local tour operator.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to heading to beautiful St. Petersburg early tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team.
July 20, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 18,510'
100% on top!
Everyone reached the highest point of Europe.
The team did a wonderful job of taking care of themselves and climbed strong all day. We summitted just after 7am in pretty good weather with views of the Caucasus Mountains.
After everyone returned to camp, we had a quick lunch and then packed up to head down valley to our hotel at the base of the mountain.
Everyone is in high spirits and feeling great after some much needed hot showers.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summit team!
On The Map
July 19, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 12,600'
The team is excited for tonight! Summit time.
We had an early morning training session to prep us for tomorrow by reviewing a few climbing techniques with our crampons and ice axe.
Dasha has done a great job of keep us healthy and satisfied with plenty of good old home cooked Russian food, which includes borsch and plenty of soups and salads. This afternoon the team had a through discussion about tonight's upcoming climb and everyone is packed up and ready. The game plan is to be up at 1am and after a quick breakfast hop on the snowcat to give us a bump a little further up the mountain. This will shorten our climb a little and increase our chance of reaching the highest point in Europe.
The weather continues to be erratic, the forecast looks good for tomorrow.
Keep your fingers crossed for us!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
On The Map
July 18, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 15,000'
Hello again everyone!
Today the team started the day a little earlier with a nice breakfast prepared by Dasha, then set out on our last acclimatizing hike just after 8:00 to make use of the better (firmer) snow conditions and beat the forecasted afternoon storms.
The team did a great job hiking as we made our way up to about 15,000ft in just over three hours, setting a new record for some. We stopped along the way to take a few breaks and enjoy the intermittent views as the weather flipped between sun breaks and small snow squalls.
After reaching our high point we made our way back to camp just in time for another enjoyable lunch.
The afternoon was spent around camp just relaxing in our little huts after our big day.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
July 17, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 12,600'
The team is doing well after a good nights rest and waking up to nice weather this morning. Then we had a nice big breakfast in the hotel, and loaded up all our climbing gear and drove to the base of Mt. Elbrus. Once there we took advantage of the 3 gondolas, and a short snowcat ride to reach our new home for the next few days.
It's rather comfortable up here, as our outfitter has taken a few shipping containers and converted them into simple bunk rooms some for sleeping and some set up as dinning rooms.
Once we got settled into our new home we headed uphill on another acclimatizing hike and reached just over 14'000 before returning to camp where our wonderful cook Dasha had a nice hot lunch waiting for us.
We spent the remaining of the afternoon relaxing around camp and enjoying the views of the Caucasus mountain range which are pretty amazing since we are camped out at just over 12'500ft.
Dasha has cooked up a delicious Russian meal with plenty of borscht and potatoes that filled us up. Everyone is doing well and ready for a little sleep.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
On The Map
July 16, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 7,500'
We had a nice relaxing start to the day with a traditional Russian breakfast of porridge, eggs and bread. We then made our way to the local ski lifts to help give us a jump start on our acclimatization hike. I didn't hear a single complaint about riding up 1,500' before we started our hike to nearly the top of a local peak called Cheget.
It was a bit cloudy today so we didn’t have the amazing views that we had hoped for, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Normally we get to hike to the top of the peak but, being so close to the border with Georgia, the Russian military had the upper part closed to climbers. Regardless, we enjoyed the views and stretching our legs and lungs a bit.
After our hike we made back to town relatively quickly thanks to the ski lifts, where we had a hot lunch waiting on us. After lunch we dropped off our gear and made a quick stop to pick up a few extra items and did a little exploring on our own. We wrapped up the evening with another nice home cooked meal here provided by our ever so gracious local outfitter.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
After our hike we made back to town relatively quickly thanks to the ski lifts, where we had a hot lunch waiting on us. After lunch we dropped off our gear and made a quick stop to pick up a few extra items and did a little exploring on our own. We wrapped up the evening with another nice home cooked meal here provided by our ever so gracious local outfitter.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
On The Map
Hey Guys! Looks like you are off to a great start. Great to see your smiling faces, can’t wait see more pictures. Stay Safe!
Posted by: Danika and Taylor on 7/17/2019 at 10:21 am
July 15, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 7,500'
The team left Moscow very early this morning and traveled via plane and bus to the beautiful Caucasus Mountains.
Our two-hour flight took us to southern Russia not too far from the Black Sea to a place called Mineralnye Vody, which is known for its abundant Mineral Waters. Southern Russia is predominately rural and is responsible for much of the agriculture that the larger cities depend on.
We were met at the airport by my friend and local guide Yuri, whom I've climbed with many times. Then hopped in our van for the beautiful three-hour drive up the Baksan Valley to the base Elbrus.
Things went pretty smooth minus a few little traffic jams with cars, motorcycles and cows all humorously trying to use the road at the same time.
The small town we are in is called Cheget, and it doubles as a ski town in winter and converts to a climbing town in the summer. We didn't do a ton of exploring this afternoon due to the adjustment of the time that we are all still feeling and having started so early. However, tomorrow we will do our first acclimatizing hike and do a little exploring too.
All is well here as we are looking forward to a little exercise tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
On The Map
July 14, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 512'
Hello Everyone!
Things are well here in Russia! Most of the team arrived in Moscow yesterday evening after some very long flights and are still adjusting to the massive time change, so we kept things simple with a little round of introductions before stepping out for a short walk and a nice dinner not too far from the hotel.
Today we started with a visit to Lenin’s Tomb, which takes a bit of time as there are thousands of other tourists visiting. We then met up with our kind, local tour guide Victoria, who gave us a wonderful tour of the nearby Red Square, the Kremlin, and several churches including the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral. The team also visited the famous Moscow metro, which moves millions of Moscovites daily. It’s incredibly efficient, with 228 stops, many of which are elaborately decorated.
After our tour we took a short break and then headed out once again for an amazing dinner and a nice walk. Everyone is doing great and looking forward to heading to the mountains tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
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95degrees here in Ohio! Stay safe! Love the pictures
Posted by: Barbara beckner on 7/21/2019 at 10:54 am
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