Curiously, only one person among us had a truly enormous trekking rucksack. He did not manage to travel all the way to Terskol and got out somewhere near a lift in the picturesque Adyl-Su Gorge. The rest of us reached Terskol at around nine in the morning. We had no specific plan for the day. We happened to strike up a conversation with a fellow passenger who knew the area well, and he suggested beginning with the well-known Devichyi Kosy waterfall. The path to the waterfall started near the bus stop. We thanked our chance acquaintance and headed uphill.
This was the first time I had seen real snow-covered mountain slopes. They looked so inaccessible and rocky that I could hardly contain my emotions. On the way we were fortunate enough to meet a small group of foreign visitors. An important aside is needed here: many people who have never been in the mountains imagine that reaching a summit is easy and open to anyone. Yet the higher you climb, the less oxygen reaches your bloodstream, and the body inevitably feels the effects. Above roughly two and a half to three thousand metres, it is entirely possible to experience symptoms of altitude illness, including nausea, headache and even swelling of the brain or lungs. You can, however, help your body adapt to altitude by following the principle “climb high, sleep low”. During the day that means gaining height on an acclimatisation walk, spending some time there and then returning lower to sleep. This is intended to make the next ascent easier for the body.
We climbed towards the waterfall at an unhurried pace, taking about two hours. Photography consumed much of that time because we wanted to capture all the beauty around us. We stayed at the waterfall for roughly an hour before heading back. We could have continued higher that day, to the weather station at 2900 metres, but decided we had done enough. During the descent we met an acquaintance, a solo climber who, like us, was ascending to acclimatise. He recommended an excellent place to pitch our tent on the grounds of a hotel complex. We set up there and were able to charge our phones and cameras and use the kitchen, albeit for a fee. It was the last electrical socket I managed to use anywhere in the Elbrus region. Our neighbours were a small group of teenagers who were, of course, accompanied by adult leaders. Later, we would reach the summit on the same day as them. We also met a guide who proved both an engaging conversationalist and a true professional, giving us a great deal of valuable advice about mountain travel.
Our day ended at nine in the evening, and we decided to keep to that routine. The following day we planned to climb Mount Cheget, three thousand metres high, so we intended to rise as early as possible, at six in the morning. We packed calmly, ate breakfast and set off. Since we had camped almost at the foot of the mountain, we began climbing the slope as soon as we left. We kept the tent and most of our equipment below, carrying only the essentials. The weather was genuinely changeable: clouds repeatedly gathered overhead, although the sun occasionally broke through. Mountain weather often deteriorates after lunch, so we believed we had enough time to climb and descend while conditions remained relatively reasonable.
We chose to walk. For one thing, we were reluctant to spend money on the cable car; for another, climbing on foot was far more useful for acclimatisation. We had also set off so early that the cable car was not yet running and opened only after we had reached the top. The entire ascent took about two hours. We decided not to go all the way to the summit, stopping a little beyond the final cable-car station. From there we had one of the most picturesque views of the slopes of Elbrus. The summits were heavily shrouded in cloud that day, however, so we saw their full beauty only the following day. Once back below, we decided that there was little point spending another night at the same height. Instead, we would continue to the foot of Elbrus itself and then walk up to the Stary Krugozor cable-car station, at three thousand metres, to spend the night there.
As we prepared to climb, dense fog descended. Visibility was so poor that by the time we reached Azau, we could see only about fifteen metres.