Entries from Elbrus Southside
July 14, 2019
Posted by: JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 18,510'
We made it to the top of Europe this morning! The weather forecast turned out to be horribly wrong, but in our favor. What was supposed to be a pretty marginal day turned into one of the best weather days we’ve seen this whole trip. After we hit the top of
Mt. Elbrus, we boogied back down to camp, packed up our things, and moved back down into town. We’ll have our celebration dinner down here tonight, after some well earned showers. Everyone sends their best!
RMI Guide
JM Gorum
On The Map
Well, we had our fill of pizza, thick air, and dance remixes of American top 40 pop songs. We’re back on the mountain now, preparing for our summit attempt tonight. We just enjoyed dinner and a movie, chicken and couscous while watching a Russian overdubbed version of Twilight. The weather is better than it was last time we were here, but I wouldn’t say it’s remarkable. We can’t control what the weather does, but we can give it our best and see what happens.
Wish us luck tonight, and we’ll check in tomorrow!
RMI Guide JM Gorum & Team
July 12, 2019
Posted by: JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 7,500'
Last night a large electrical storm passed over
Mt. Elbrus. It brought hail, strong winds, and shaking thunder. We woke up this morning to find a few inches of fresh snow at our doorstep and a lack of electricity flowing through our local power grid. After our standard 8:00 AM breakfast, the winds and snow picked up considerably until it became unpleasant to venture beyond the impenetrable comfort of our repurposed shipping container homes. The forecast for tomorrow showed no improvement in weather.
We decided that instead of sitting in the wind and snow doing nothing for two days, we would ride the lift back down to town, eat pizza, and sleep in real beds. That’s precisely what we did, and it has been nothing but enjoyable. We’ll spend the tonight in Cheget, and tomorrow afternoon we’ll ride the lift back up to camp in preparation for our summit attempt on Sunday.
RMI Guide
JM Gorum
On The Map
July 11, 2019
Posted by: JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 12,600'
This morning we had our standard breakfast of oatmeal and eggs at our standard time of 8 am. We then suited up for our walk up to
15,000 feet on Mt. Elbrus. The weather was pretty marginal, but it was a great opportunity to test out our various layering systems.
We spent about five hours out in the wind and snow today, made it up to 15,000 feet, and only got blown over once or twice. The views were minimal, but we had fun. That’s all for now.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
On The Map
July 10, 2019
Posted by: JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 12,600'
The team is officially on the mountain! We’re living our best lives, as they say, up here at
12,600 feet. We took advantage of a series of gondolas to get us here, but we did have to haul our duffels the last 100 feet to our doorsteps. Working smarter, not harder.
We took a short break after moving in, and then went for an exploratory jaunt above camp. After we walked as far as we felt like walking, we turned around. We did spend some time practicing our footwork and balance on steeper snow. Some team members took to boot skiing like they were born for it. Others...not. Ultimately we all found our style, and descended with class and grace back to the huts in time for lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, mingling with other climbers, people watching, and story telling.
Now the sun has set, and there’s no reason to be outside anymore, so we’re going to bed. We’ll check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
On The Map
July 9, 2019
Posted by: JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 7,500'
Moscow is cool and all, but it’s nice to wake up in the mountains.
Cheget is a quiet little place, and there isn’t much going on in the morning hours. We had a casual start to our day, with an 8 am breakfast being the first item on the agenda. Breakfast was pretty normal fare. Eggs, toast, oatmeal. I usually can’t stand oatmeal, but here it’s basically soaked in cream and butter, so I can’t really complain about that. The team did a great job fueling up for our late-morning chairlift ride. I believe that everyone left breakfast on the edge of being uncomfortably full, which is really the sweet spot.
From the hotel it’s about a five minute walk to the bottom of our chairlift. We hopped on, and skimmed the tops of the trees for about fifteen minutes. It really was quite a stylish ascent. We had butterflies, wildflowers, and chirping birds below us, and nothing but blue skies above us. We unloaded at the midway station, and walked to the top of the next lift. At around 10,000 feet we hung out, took some photos, discussed the climb, and soaked up some sun. I think about 1/3 of the team have earned nicknames at this point. Some not suitable for print.
After we were satisfied with our day’s exercise, we rode the chairlift back down, more or less onto the deck of our lunch cafe, ate again, and then spent the rest of the day exploring town or relaxing. Tomorrow we’ll head up onto the mountain and stay there through the weekend. I think we’re all looking forward to it.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Our last day in
St. Petersburg! The team had a great final day here in Russia. We visited the very famous Hermitage Museum, where we saw paintings and sculptures by many well known artists 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. The Hermitage consists of 5 buildings, each with 3 floors, and has hundreds of rooms. The team did their best to take in the highlights in a little over 2 hours. We took a quick lunch before stopping by the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, that's decorated almost entirely with Mosaics/ We then wrapped up the day with a wonderful evening boat cruise to see this amazing city by water. It's been a wonderful adventure here in Russia, but it's time to say our goodbyes and return to our family and loved ones. Thanks for following.
Casey and comrades
July 8, 2019
Posted by: JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 7,500'
An early start, a few van rides, and a quick flight have landed us in Cheget, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. It ends up being a pretty full
travel day getting here, but we had enough time to walk around town, sample some local beverages, and gawk at our high elevation surroundings. The pace here is much slower than in Moscow.
Tomorrow we’ll hop on a chairlift in town and do some walking around at altitude...should be pretty nice.
RMI Guide
JM Gorum
On The Map
July 8, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 44'
Saint Petersburg!!!
We
traveled all day and have finally arrived in one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. Things went relatively smooth considering we had two van rides and one flight. We got checked into the hotel and then ran out for a quick dinner followed by a short but scenic stroll.
Everyone is very excited to explore and see this city tomorrow.
RMI Guide
Casey Grom and team
Greetings 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 of course horseback riding Russian style! Right now we're all relaxing before heading out to a celebratory dinner with the team. Hopefully we'll survive the vodka associated with tonight's 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.
Casey and Comrades
so proud of you mom!!! I love you!
Posted by: Prudy on 7/19/2019 at 2:26 pm
Wow!! Well done everybody! Wendy, we are proud of you :)
Posted by: Carlos Alcaide on 7/15/2019 at 4:48 am
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