I am sure a great many people dream of standing on the summit of the highest mountain in Europe. I was no exception, and somewhere at the back of my mind I dreamed about Elbrus. I pictured my climb as hard but successful. I did not even want to think about failing, because I am one of those people who set goals and go after them whatever happens. I do not like giving in, and a first setback does not make me drop my hands; it makes me stronger.<\/p>\n\n
I admit that I made more than one attempt to get up Elbrus. There were three. The failures hardened me, all the more so because I love the process of climbing itself, the whole atmosphere of being alone with nature. The feeling of warmth, of energy and of happiness is impossible to convey. So every time somebody asks me about another climb, I tell the story at length and in detail, as though living through it again and again.<\/p>\n\n
I want to share my memories of one of the holidays I spent in the mountains.<\/p>\n\n
Elbrus is an extremely old volcano covered in ice. Even in our own time it can show some signs of activity. There are many active thermal springs nearby. From time to time there are releases of hydrogen sulphide. That happens most often in summer.<\/p>\n\n
Elbrus is a place all kinds of people come to. Some of them cannot imagine life without mountains and sport, while others simply like the mountain air and the beauty of the country. You will often see mountaineers, skiers, snowboarders and hill walkers here.<\/p>\n\n
The mountain is rightly called the highest point in Europe, and so climbing it is part of the \u201cSeven Summits\u201d programme. Without exaggeration, that draws climbers from every corner of the world. While we were there, no fewer than six foreign groups went up.<\/p>\n\n
I remember packing and setting off as though it were yesterday. It was the end of spring. The time was somewhere after two or three in the afternoon. We arrived in Terskol. We stayed in a hotel there, and afterwards took the cable car up to the Mir station, at 3500 metres. From there we had to walk towards Garabashi. That is the name of the hut where we stayed. The high-altitude hut stands on the slope of Elbrus. As a rule, acclimatisation takes place here before the climb. It is also the hut where you can rest once you have come down from the summit. A comfortable place to stay and be alone with the natural world.<\/p>\n\n
Climbing Elbrus: tours, prices, reviews<\/a><\/p>\n\n So we settled in comfortably, ate and rested. We also found interesting people to talk to. Many of them genuinely have something to remember and something to tell. Our next objective was Priyut-11. It is an unusual place, said to be the highest-altitude refuge in the world. It stands on the south-eastern slope of the mountain. The altitude is impressive: 4200 metres. The hut itself burned down in 1998 because fire-safety rules were not observed. Now the place looks like a comfortable hotel in a big city. Acclimatisation matters enormously on a climb. For us it meant walking up the slope of the mountain to the height we needed. That way we could train the body to cope with altitude better still. Anyone who has been to Elbrus will understand. Country of an unbelievable beauty draws you in, and there is nobody it does not move. You look at the sheer force of the mountains and understand how petty every problem is. Come here even once in your life and you find yourself wanting to return again and again, to feel that surge of energy, that surge of life itself, of which there seems to be more here than anywhere. In places like this you feel you are being born again, and that you are experiencing life differently.<\/p>\n\n Climbs and walking trips are always interesting, always good, always fun. They also bring new acquaintances, new meetings and new impressions. We got to know all sorts of people along the way. There were plenty of foreigners among them. Once, for instance, we met some English climbers and even offered to share our home-made supplies with them.<\/p>\n\n Unfortunately, altitude sickness did not pass us by. In the evening and in the morning a good many of us felt unwell. Medication and another acclimatisation walk did help us cope with the oxygen starvation. That state is not unusual when you are high in the mountains. Altitude sickness sometimes comes on as a result of exhaustion, of getting too cold, or of sharp changes in temperature. The main factor, all the same, is hypoxia. To head that state off it is important to acclimatise. So even though the weather worsened the next day, we set off on the acclimatisation walk we all needed. Our objective was the Pastukhov Rocks, at 4600 metres. As I had expected, not everybody managed it. Some of the group turned back because they were feeling unwell.<\/p>\n\n The following day it was decided to devote entirely to rest. Luck did not smile on us, though, because the weather deteriorated. It grew cold, it snowed and a strong wind blew. In spite of those unfavourable conditions we managed to rest and to enjoy ourselves enormously.<\/p>\n\n For me Elbrus is not simply a beautiful mountain. It is also a meeting place, because it is often here that I run into old acquaintances I rarely cross paths with in town. It turned out exactly that way this time. There were pleasant meetings, memories and long conversations. The night departure for the mountain was waiting. I woke at about 1 in the morning and looked straight out of the window. The weather promised nothing good; it was snowing and the wind was blowing. It was becoming clear that the people who had already set out would turn back. About two hours later, as I had thought, they did. The decision was taken to have breakfast and to go down in the morning.<\/p>\n\n At the Mir station we waited at least thirty minutes for the cable car to start running. We then found out that it was snowing lower down as well. Our group got into a vehicle and set off for Terskol. After that came the road home.<\/p>\n\n On the whole I am happy with my trip. Even though I did not manage to reach the summit, I came away with a great deal of good feeling. The mountains are always a story you want to go back into.<\/p>\n\n All our Elbrus tours<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n See the programme:<\/strong> Climbing Elbrus from the south, 9 days<\/a><\/p>\n I am sure a great many people dream of standing on the summit of the highest mountain in Europe. I was no exception, and somewhere at the back of my mind I dreamed about Elbrus. I pictured my climb as hard but successful. I did not even want to think about failing, because I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14084,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat to look at next<\/h2>\n