I should say at the outset that I am certainly no lover of mountains. So why did I decide to go on a climb? To tell the truth, it was not my idea. A friend pushed me into the adventure. She loves the mountains very much and had once even tried to climb one. The mountain we chose was Elbrus. And the choice fell on that mountain for a reason. The point is that it is technically accessible even to beginners — and that although Elbrus is more than five thousand metres high. I read a great deal at the time. Elbrus genuinely interested me and I wanted to test myself. To be frank, I am not a sporting person, so I needed to prepare. In fairness, it is not only beginners who need to prepare: everyone who wants to try Elbrus does. The first thing I started doing was easy morning runs. I ran slowly but a long way, as my friend advised. In the mountains, she said, you will not be running but walking, so you should be walking now, and as much as possible. I did not neglect the gym either. Climbing a mountain takes strength, which means the muscles have to be in condition. I understood perfectly well by then that physical preparation alone would certainly not be enough. You have to prepare mentally as well, and get yourself ready for it to be hard. Even if you are in excellent physical shape, if your spirit fails, there is not much use in the climb. Fear and uncertainty sometimes play a cruel trick on climbers and they turn back without reaching their goal. So how do you prepare mentally for a climb? How can you tell whether you are ready or not? Again my friend advised me to watch as many video reports as possible and to picture myself in the place of those climbers. That is exactly what I did. First I watched a great many reports and read a great deal, and then I closed my eyes and imagined that I was there too. It matters to picture more than the rosy scenes — plenty of snow, the sun shining and you walking up. You have to picture something bleak as well. And then ask yourself whether you would be ready for it. Could you get through all of it, or might you not have the strength to keep going? I pictured all of that and decided it was worth testing myself in the mountains after all. You only have one life, and if I did not do it now I would simply regret it later. Nothing ventured, as they say, nothing gained.
The next step in preparing was finding the equipment I needed. I admit that on this subject I am a complete amateur. What I do not know, I do not know. So I decided to go to one of the largest shops selling that sort of specialist equipment and clothing. I really was lucky, because there was an excellent, professional assistant working there. We got talking and it became clear that he had been in the mountains himself at some point. He was glad to help me choose everything I needed for the climb, and he was very attentive to every detail. He asked whether my feet and hands get cold. Taking account of things like that, which really do matter, he was able to advise me on what would be important on the way up. And since I was not sure I would be going into the mountains again, he advised me not to buy a lot of expensive items but to hire them instead. That is exactly what I decided to do. As for the organiser of the climb, my friend and I decided not to worry too much about it and to use a tried and tested company she had already been into the mountains with. Those people turned out to be genuinely experienced. Most importantly, they had experience of climbing Elbrus, which for me personally was one of the main arguments. You can be an excellent guide and still never have been up this particular mountain — and every mountain, as everyone knows, is different.
So, after the preparation and the packing, there we were in the mountains. First came the meeting with the group and the guide. My first impression of that meeting was a good one. Everyone struck me as cheerful and full of life. There was a certain confidence that you could go through anything with them. Soon the climb itself began. It was a little nerve-racking and a little joyful that I was here after all, and that I had got the better of myself.
Around the middle of the next day our journey ended in a village with the remarkable name of Terskol. We started redistributing the equipment. Some decided to leave after all, and the bravest went on. Later the whole team went to a local café, where we met another group of climbers. As it turned out, they were going up Elbrus on the same dates as us. Then we set off towards Azau, where we stopped for the night.
The next morning we had a good meal in a local café. One of our companions decided to stay in camp. Then we packed unhurriedly and set off towards the lift. It is worth saying that our ride up came in three stages. In the end we reached the Barrels at three thousand five hundred metres. And the views that open up here are simply staggering. You see this sort of thing only in the mountains, and no photograph and no video can carry all that force and beauty. You have to see it with your own eyes. My most vivid memory is the moment when I slid off the plastic chairlift seat, because I was wearing fleece long johns and there was essentially nothing to hold on to. On top of that my rucksack was riding on my stomach.