Hello from Moscow! It's about seven o'clock in the evening here and we are all about to meet up for dinner. We have had a great day seeing the sights in the city. We met our city tour guide, Svetlana, this morning and she took us out to the Kremlin and Red Square. She indulged all of our questions about life and politics in Russia now versus back in the Communist period. It was all fascinating stuff. After the tour we had lunch in an authentic Georgian restaurant.
Tomorrow we are shifting gears with an early morning flight. We'll fly about 900 miles south to the Caucasus Mountains. We will have Mt. Elbrus in sight and begin our acclimatization process. I'll check in again when we reach our destination.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Hey, Slackers:
Looking good in Red Square!
Just want to urge you guys to keep your eyes on the prize, and not to worry about the post-Brexit market swoon. I saw Jill and Jennifer at Pinhan last night. They had managed to get Alison and Danielle on a conference Skype, and after their third round of G&Ts; the four of them opened a margin account on E-trade, and in honor of your Russian expedition they were buying random puts and calls on the MICEX and RTS exchanges. When I left the cafe after dark, they we’re making spirited plays on some investment app called “Catch a Falling Knife.”
So relax, and enjoy your ascent! We’ll keep the home fires burning till your return.
Salud!
Josh
Posted by: Josh Horwitz on 6/25/2016 at 7:18 am
Dear Team, as a life long friend and admirer of Gordy’s, I wanted to prepare you for the pronounced behavioral tendencies that would manifest themselves as the air thinned, thighs burned, packs grew heavier, and menu choices shrank. You see, there are quite a few elements to Gordy that are not easily communicated on an outward bound application. I am also assuming the files from his extended stay at Sunnyside Mental Wellness have not been provided following the leather party he had with the 7 nurses (mostly female). This may be a long note so I hope you are not charged for roaming data while in Russia. Gordy’s issues principally arise from his love of and respect for all mankind. Firstly, this may not be easily evident to you until that repelling safety rope is tied on as I suspect Gordy will then insist on showing off his extensive knowledge of ropes and knots. He may claim this is rooted in his time as a small stock boy out in Omaha department store warehouse. However, at Sunnyside it was diagnosed that this passion arose from his time as a stock boy and salesman at the Carlton Shops in Philadelphia. Secondly, his respect for mankind will surely be “presented” in the hotel tonight and tents thereafter as he goes NRA topless in order to show off his “guns and pecs”. Gordy is a complicated fellow so I beg of you to be caring and supportive and to bring him home safe as he is a gem that none of his friends would want any other way. Sincerely, Ron (also on behalf of Nadav, Scot, Schless, Dave and Will)
Greetings,
Our whole team is here in Moscow and we just finished up a nice first dinner together. Everyone did great overcoming our first challenge - walking back to the hotel in a severely down-pouring lightning storm. With jet lag. Everyone passed the test with flying colors. And flashes of light.
We're looking forward to a great trip!
Cheers,
RMI Guide Tyler Reid and Team
I'm actually going to be very honest and open myself up a little here... but I'm actually sad that my adventures in Russia are coming to an end. It was another incredible season on Elbrus and as usual it is the best way to finish the adventure here in St. Petersburg!! Our team spent the day touring this incredible city and yes...We were all on a boat this evening touring the Venice of The North!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Well..., I know...I know...you've heard enough from me! So for today's blog from Russia, I'd like to hand it over to one of my favorite...(sorry guys!) team members from Team 2!... RMI Guide JJ Justman
Greetings from St. Petersburg! Our team left the mountains of Cheget this morning after one last feast of porridge and eggs, and drove up to the airport in Mineralnye Vody early this morning. The changing scenery was quite breathtaking, especially some of the great rock formations just outside of Cheget. After arriving to our new destination in due time, we were greeted by the welcome sight of a Starbucks cafe, where several of us enthusiastically loaded up on caffeine. The streets and architecture we passed on the way to the hotel gave us a great preview of what to expect tomorrow, where we will be touring this 'Venice of the North,' including the Hermitage, the canals, and the Church of the Savior on Spillled Blood.
Until then, the team will be enjoying some well-deserved downtime, and possibly attempting to see Finland from our hotel. Cheers!
Lindsay
Update: July 30, 2015 11:31 pm PST
Family and friends we are back at camp safe and sound. Again, every one made the summit. Stay tuned for the summit video!!
July 30, 2015 8:50 pm PST
Hey, everyone. This is JJ Justman with the Elbrus team. I will give you one guess, just one guess as to where not one, not two, not five, but every single team member is right now. That is right! We are on top of Europe! We are on the summit of Mount Elbrus! The team did just a fantastic job today. We are a day early than expected. We have some weather coming in tomorrow and the next day. It is supposed to snow pretty darn good. As a guide I kind of hemmed and hawed and made the decision that the best day to go was today. And I'll tell you what, the team today is just strong as can be. We are on the summit of Elbrus. We are taking some more photos, and then we are going to head downhill. It is a beautiful day right now so we just made a terrific call as a team and I'm really proud of everyone. [Team cheers!] That's right, a big holler. Everyone says hi to family and friends. I will touch base with you guys when we get back down, but boy, we are just doing great. Thanks for following along. We'll talk to you again soon.
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls from the Mount Elbrus summit.
Nice! Looks gorgeous!! Congrats to all and a special shout out to my honey, Brian. Love you baby!!
Posted by: Victoria on 7/31/2015 at 8:01 am
hi Brian and team-
Wow! Sounds like some great decisions as to when to summit! Congrats to all!! Be safe and have fun coming down.
Love you-
Molly and Mike and family
Hello from Mt. Elbrus -
Our team is back from a great acclimatization day. We reached 15,300 feet and every team member did a great job! We are back now at camp with full bellies after lunch. This afternoon we are going to relax in the sunshine!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hello from the Garabashi Hut at 12,000 feet!
Elbrus Team 2 is officially on the mountain and we are doing great. After getting settled in we went for a nice hike up to 13,200 feet. Elbrus was out in all its glory and we enjoyed the incredible alp'esque views.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
The Mt. Elbrus team had an amazing day hiking on Peak Cheget. It was sunny all day...don't take our word for it...check out the video!!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Our team left the hustle and bustle of Moscow early this morning and made our way to the mountains. We had a long day of flying and driving to get here and we are excited to be in the Baksan Valley at the base of Mt. Elbrus. Everyone is in great spirits so we are going to just relax thus evening and listen to the thunderstorms roll on through. Tomorrow is another day and sun or no sun...it's great to be in the mountains!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hey, Slackers:
Looking good in Red Square!
Just want to urge you guys to keep your eyes on the prize, and not to worry about the post-Brexit market swoon. I saw Jill and Jennifer at Pinhan last night. They had managed to get Alison and Danielle on a conference Skype, and after their third round of G&Ts; the four of them opened a margin account on E-trade, and in honor of your Russian expedition they were buying random puts and calls on the MICEX and RTS exchanges. When I left the cafe after dark, they we’re making spirited plays on some investment app called “Catch a Falling Knife.”
So relax, and enjoy your ascent! We’ll keep the home fires burning till your return.
Salud!
Josh
Posted by: Josh Horwitz on 6/25/2016 at 7:18 am
Dear Team, as a life long friend and admirer of Gordy’s, I wanted to prepare you for the pronounced behavioral tendencies that would manifest themselves as the air thinned, thighs burned, packs grew heavier, and menu choices shrank. You see, there are quite a few elements to Gordy that are not easily communicated on an outward bound application. I am also assuming the files from his extended stay at Sunnyside Mental Wellness have not been provided following the leather party he had with the 7 nurses (mostly female). This may be a long note so I hope you are not charged for roaming data while in Russia. Gordy’s issues principally arise from his love of and respect for all mankind. Firstly, this may not be easily evident to you until that repelling safety rope is tied on as I suspect Gordy will then insist on showing off his extensive knowledge of ropes and knots. He may claim this is rooted in his time as a small stock boy out in Omaha department store warehouse. However, at Sunnyside it was diagnosed that this passion arose from his time as a stock boy and salesman at the Carlton Shops in Philadelphia. Secondly, his respect for mankind will surely be “presented” in the hotel tonight and tents thereafter as he goes NRA topless in order to show off his “guns and pecs”. Gordy is a complicated fellow so I beg of you to be caring and supportive and to bring him home safe as he is a gem that none of his friends would want any other way. Sincerely, Ron (also on behalf of Nadav, Scot, Schless, Dave and Will)
Posted by: Ron Bobman on 6/25/2016 at 4:06 am
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