Trip Report - Elbrus 24th June 2017

Mount Elbrus (Southern approach)

Leader: Matt Brook

24^th June – 4^th July 2017

25/06/2017 – Meeting everyone for the first time is always exciting. We met in Mineralnye Vody (Mineral Waters) and for most of us the travelling to get there had taken its toll. After some initial chatter the drive across to Cheget quietened down, filled with many nodding heads and open mouths catching flies (mainly mine!). On arrival at our hotel we met with Vladimir our local guide and ran through the itinerary over dinner before everyone headed for an early night.

26/06/2017 – We were straight into the mountains without wasting any time. Our plans were to head off for a three day acclimatisation expedition. After breakfast we met with Vladimir and then loaded up an old-school looking 4×4 with all our kit. We’d been warned about the road leading up to the drop off point, and after an exhilarating ride we were left to it and began hiking into the Syltrankval valley. We arrived by mid-afternoon at the base of several peaks and made camp by a glacial lake at around 3000m.

27/06/2017 – We woke early today as our objective for the day was to summit Mykal peak at 3888m. We headed out slowly, across moraine initially before tackling snow and ice up a hanging valley before making our way up rocks to the summit. We spent another night at the lake camp to acclimatise further.

28/06/2017 – After a more casual start to the day we packed up and trekked back to where we had been dropped off two nights previously. We met our trusty steed yet again and another white knuckle ride down saw us back at the hotel for a hot shower and lunch. This then left us with a good opportunity to turn around kit before re-packing for the following day when we’d be heading up to the barrels.

29/06/2017 – We left at 09:00am and caught a series of cable cars and ski lifts up to the barrels. We unpacked and made ourselves at home before heading out on a bit of an exploratory walk. We didn’t go far and headed back for soup and a restful afternoon.

30/06/2017 – Our objective for today was to walk to the top of the Pashtakov rocks at 4700m. We woke at a reasonable time and then after breakfast headed out at a steady pace. We made good time taking around four hours from the barrels to the top of the rocks. We had a brief break soaking in the views and taking on water and eating sweets before we dropped back down to the barrels for a late lunch.

01/07/2017 – Today we had a rest day. For myself, John, Louise and Joanna this gave us an opportunity to run through some snow skills. It was after all their first expedition on snow and ice! We made the best of the poor snow conditions and ran through arrests, cramponing and even dug some bucket seats, which made for a fun morning. For Lloyd and Tom it was a more restful morning packing and checking kit. We all met back for lunch and final preparations in the afternoon. Looking ahead to the next day Tom was going to being making his summit push from the barrels, requiring an earlier start, whereas the rest of the team would enjoy an extra hour or two in bed before getting a lift in the snowcat to the top of the rocks.

02/07/2017 – Summit day. Tom had set off earlier with Vladimir at around 22:30, keen to make his summit attempt all the way from the barrels so requiring extra time. Myself and the others caught a 02:00 snow cat up to the rocks. Meeting with both Tom and Vladimir we then continued on together. At a steady pace set by Vladimir we chipped away, making good progress towards the summit. Initially steeply up, then across on the traverse path towards the saddle, where we had a brief rest before roping up and continuing again up steep snowy terrain. We moved together roped up and clipped into the fixed lines. The gradient of the ground eased for a bit before the summit came into view and the last few hundred metres of effort required was visible. We topped out on the summit at 09:20. Enjoying the feeling of success having conquered Europe’s highest peak, everyone took plenty of photos before we headed off back down the way we had come. By the time we had reached the saddle on our return it had reached a toasty 34 degrees! Heading back down in the midday heat was really draining but everyone dug deep and we made it back to the barrels in good shape. With enough left over energy to pack up our things, we headed down into the valley. A shower at the hotel was calling everyone after a huge day out! We enjoyed celebratory beers later on that evening.

03/07/2017 – A semi-restful day included a more casual start with a late breakfast. This was then followed with a walk to the local mineral springs. Later on in the evening we enjoyed a great final meal together with plenty of beer and vodka. We had a presentation and awarded everyone with their summit certificates before heading off to bed for an early start the following morning.

04/07/2017 – We had one last team photo in our cheap Elbrus souvenir t-shirts, a few holding back tears (mainly Lloyd! Big softy) then everyone parted ways and began travelling back home or onward to more adventures.