Entries from Elbrus Southside
July 20, 2016
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 12,500'
We have officially made camp up at 12,500 feet on Mount Elbrus. Today the team woke early and grabbed all our gear and headed up the mountain. Arriving early we decided to continue up to 13,500 to acclimatize. The team is now back at camp resting and enjoying our first day on the mountain.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Well we had a really nice final day in Russia. We began the day meeting with our tour guide, Illana, and headed out on a quick tour of the city. We stopped off at St. Nicholas Church, stopped by the grand St. Isaac's Cathedral and made our way to the famous Heritage Museum. Not having a ton of time to see the thousands of exhibits so we did and express trip to see the highlights, which included a few paintings and sculptures by Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and other great artists. It was pretty amazing to see so much art in one place and everyone enjoyed the brief visit.
We took a short break before meeting back up with our tour guide for an evening canal tour via boat of this historical city, which was a great way to wrap up a wonderful trip.
That's all for this trip! The team heads home tomorrow. Thanks for following us.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
July 19, 2016
Posted by: JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 7,500'
It was a soggy day for the team in Cheget. We still made the best of the rain by hiking above 11,000 feet and acclimatizing. However, at the sound of thunder we hightailed it back down. The team had a great lunch and we are now finalizing our gear for tomorrow. Hopefully the skies will be a little sunnier!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Planes trains and automobiles, well almost anyway. We traveled all day and have finally arrived in one of the most beautiful cities of Europe--St. Petersburg, Russia. Things went relatively smooth except for the one bag that wasn't able to join us here in St. Petersburg. Hopefully it'll find its way to us tomorrow.
We got checked into the hotel here and then ran out for dinner at this little eccentric place that serves up the most delicious meals. The service was a little slow, but very much worth the wait. After dinner we took a quick stroll around and then made our way home.
Everyone is very excited to explore and see this city in the daylight.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The July 15th Elbrus team has rolled into Cheget. It has been a long day of driving, flying and more driving. It is nice to be in the mountains. The team unpacked and quickly set out exploring the cool little ski village of Cheget. Think Aspen...California...Beautiful!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Hello everyone:
Not much to report today, other than everybody slept very soundly last night after some much needed sleep. It was a pretty relaxing day here in Cheget and we ventured out to have lunch at a local restaurant that has a small trout pond, but we opted to leave the fishing up to the locals. After lunch the team wandered through this very small town and did a little shopping too.
We have just finished dinner and a little ceremony where we handed out certificates, congratulated everyone and said a big thanks to our local outfitter for all of their help.
Tomorrow it's off to beautiful St. Petersburg!
RMI Guide Casey Grom
The July 15th Russia team has officially begun with a great day touring the great city of Moscow. The team is great and we certainly are looking forward to heading to Cheget to get the climb underway tomorrow. However, today we had a relaxing day seeing some of the highlights of this great city. Check out the video below and we will check back in from the little ski town of Cheget soon.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
July 16, 2016
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 18,510'
We did it! We stood on the highest point of Europe.
I have to admit we were pretty lucky with the weather, as it was near perfect. The team did a fantastic job of taking care of themselves and climbed strong. We reached the summit around 7:15 am in clear skies with a wonderful view of the entire Caucus mountain range.
But it didn't end there, after descending a short ways off of the summit we were at the saddle between the two summits that Elbrus has and a few of us decided to climb both summits while the rest of the team descended safely back to camp. It only added an additional 1.5 hrs, so not too bad, especially since we had such amazing weather.
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 high spirits and smelling great!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy crew
On The Map
Great news! Congratulations to the whole team on reaching the summit. Many thanks to Casey Grom for a safe and successful climb…
Thad’s dad . . . Sam’s granddad
Posted by: Burton Golden on 7/16/2016 at 12:15 pm
July 15, 2016
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 12,000'
Pree-vēt!
Things are good here on Mt. Elbrus and the team is excited for tonight! We did a little prep for tomorrow by reviewing a few climb techniques and then rested the remainder of the day. Our cook Dasha has done a great job of filling our bellies with plenty of good home cooked Russian food.
Everything is set and if the weather continues to hold we'll be up at 2am and after a quick breakfast hop on the snowcat to give us a bump a little further up the mountain. It will shorten our climb a little and increase our chance at reaching the highest point in Europe.
That's all for now. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
CONGRATS!! You made it! Got your message. Glad it was a nice day. Looking forward to some pictures from the summit! Hope you have a safe trip back to camp.
Posted by: Barb McAllister on 7/15/2016 at 9:32 pm
Good Luck on the summit today Michael. I am glad to hear you are climbing with an amazing group of people. Enjoy the day. I miss you at home.
Love,
Jancy
Posted by: Jancy Darling on 7/15/2016 at 4:17 pm
July 14, 2016
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Elevation: 15,000'
Hello again everyone.
The weather continues to be beautiful here on Mt. Elbrus for us. We started the day with a nice breakfast and then set out on our last acclimatizing hike just before 9:00 a.m. The team did a great job as we made our way up to about 15,000', and it took us only about three hours. We stopped along the way to take a few breaks and enjoy the view.
After reaching our high point we made our way back to camp just in time for another enjoyable lunch.
Since then it's been nap time for most of us as we continue to adjust the time change and seek refuge from the sun.
Everyone is doing well and in good spirits.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
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Hey Bill & Kevin! Looks a little chilly up there. Nothing like the 90+ weather in Minnesota. Stay safe everyone!
Posted by: Kris Westberg on 7/20/2016 at 4:05 pm
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