Our journey began in Mineralnye Vody, where we gathered for the climb to the summit of Elbrus. The members had come from every corner of Russia. We loaded our things and ourselves into the coach we had booked in advance and set off. The whole of the organising rested on Vika, who had arranged the transfer from Mineralnye Vody to the village of Khurzuk. Our group reached the village at about one in the afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the mobile network works well there, and we rang the rescue service straight away to register. The local people took an interest in us and helped us find a vehicle. The whole group piled into a small UAZ and at about three in the afternoon we arrived at the well-known Dzhily-Su mineral springs. We walked about a kilometre up the path and pitched our camp.<\/p>\n
On the second day we were dreaming of the summit of Elbrus and doing everything we could to get there. In the morning we noticed that the grassy slope we had seen the day before was completely covered in snow. Visibility left much to be desired: the fog was thick. After a good breakfast we decided to go and reconnoitre, walking up the path towards the pass with the intriguing name of Balk-Bashi. A little way along we satisfied ourselves that the path could still be made out through the snow. Then we went back to camp, ate well and set off for the pass, at three thousand seven hundred metres. The climb took us about five hours. From the river the path runs to the left spur, crosses a small stream and gains height sharply. Before long it brings you out onto the middle of the ridge and leads to the pass itself, which lies to the left of the ridge. The descent simply goes down, quite steeply at first and then more gently. From the slope you can see a large pool, a stream that has spread out, and campsites at three thousand six hundred metres. There was not much snow on the way up, and the pass itself was clear because the snow is blown off it, but on the way down it was knee-deep and more. There were already other groups at the campsites, and we got to know them. Then we pitched our second camp. It snowed in the night, and one of our tents kept trying to sag and lean because of the way it is built. Every couple of hours we had to climb out and shake the snow off.<\/p>\n
On the morning of the third day some of the group felt the first signs of altitude sickness and even turned down breakfast. We left camp at about nine in the morning, or a little earlier, and headed down. The path was almost invisible and we had to walk knee-deep in snow. Luckily we had a GPS, and without it we would have struggled. The lower we went the less snow there was, and before long we could see the path, which brought us out onto the tundra plateau. Soon the snow disappeared altogether. We had to cross a fast-flowing river, and once we were over we stopped for a bite to eat. Then we came out onto the road that runs across the steppe plateaux to the Dzhily-Su valley and the springs. From the reports of people who had climbed to the summit of Elbrus we knew that somewhere there should be a turning to the German airfield. One of the locals, though, told us that we had turned off a little too early and were going the wrong way. The field first became a slope, and then a steep gradient. We began to wonder whether we ought to turn back. But then we came upon a path that gradually lost height and led to a small stream. Once across it, the path took us up between the rocks of a lava flow and brought us out onto a large plateau with astonishing vegetation. And this turned out to be the German airfield itself. We crossed it and saw an excellent path leading to the northern campsites and huts, where the climb of Elbrus from the north begins. At two thousand eight hundred and eighty metres we pitched our camp. In the morning the whole plateau was under snow. At eleven in the morning groups began walking up the path from the Emmanuel meadow to the northern huts, and we set off at about twelve. From the plateau the path climbed sharply. At the very top of the slope it forked: to the left it led to the mushroom rocks, and to the right to Elbrus. The right-hand path was a sharp climb that brought us out onto the spur known as the Grey Ridge. The way along the ridge gained height gently and led to a snowfield, where the path forked again. The right-hand path led to the hut and the left-hand one to the northern campsites. Once across the field you could climb onto the rocks of the lava flow, and behind them were the northern campsites. We were lucky enough to see a great many stone nests, the places built for tents. We took two of them, looked around and realised that the path really is easy to see. We were also glad that the mobile network works well at the northern campsites, and we took the chance to ring our families. Everyone felt more or less normal and we began preparing for the climb.<\/p>\n
Our plan for that day was an acclimatisation walk to the Lenz Rocks, at four thousand seven hundred metres. A strong wind was blowing in the morning, but at ten we set off anyway. According to the descriptions, the start of the climb to the summit of Elbrus crosses covered crevasses, so we decided to walk roped up. As soon as we reached the first rock we paused for a rest and then carried on to the lower rock. The height and the strong wind made moving hard work. The slope was not too steep and was not technically difficult. Once we had got to the rock we caught our breath again and turned back down. I can tell you that we were far more tired then than after the whole of the previous day carrying rucksacks. It is hard to believe, but we had already been in the mountains for six days. That day we decided to rest a little. There was no wind in camp, but we could see clearly how the snow was being blown off the mountain. Those who wanted to reach the summit were unable to do what they had planned because of the strong wind. We rested, read books now and then, and talked. We decided to set off for the mountain at two in the morning. And so to the seventh day of our time in the mountains. We got up at about one in the morning and left at half past two. The head torches were easy to see on the slope. This time we reached the Lenz Rocks in about two and a half hours and, to our surprise, we were not tired at all. That is what proper acclimatisation does. Having gone round the lower rock, we headed on between the standing rocks. The slope became steeper, and we passed the old truck body that is thought of as a landmark and has saved the lives of many climbers. At five thousand metres we began to feel the weight of the altitude: our arms and legs grew heavy. The Lenz Rocks themselves were left somewhere below, and ahead of us was an endless snow slope running up into the sky. In time huge rocks appeared against the blue sky, and I fixed on them as my goal. As we came closer we saw that we were at five thousand six hundred and twenty metres. It felt like the summit, but in fact it was the edge of the crater. From there we had a fine view of the path and the people on it, and of the whole Caucasus range and the mountains around Elbrus. What remained was to go round the edge of the crater to the right and reach the cairn itself, but I had no strength left. My companions reached the cairn at about eleven and had their photographs taken at five thousand six hundred and twenty-one metres, while I stayed and waited for them by the rocks. The descent was far easier. From the slope itself there was a superb view of Elbrus in all its grandeur. Climbing this mountain began as far back as the nineteenth century. When everyone on the climb had made it down to the lower rock we rested a little, made contact with camp and turned for home. The last metres felt especially hard.<\/p>\n
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Related:<\/strong> all Elbrus routes and programmes<\/a> – the classic programme from the south<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our journey began in Mineralnye Vody, where we gathered for the climb to the summit of Elbrus. The members had come from every corner of Russia. We loaded our things and ourselves into the coach we had booked in advance and set off. The whole of the organising rested on Vika, who had arranged the […]<\/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-37358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n