Elbrus

OK, this journey has finished a few days ago, so I better describe it in a few words.

Left Sofia on August 23rd and got to Istanbul, Turkey the next day. We had some free time, so me and a few folks took a walk around the city. Our flight got re-scheduled for 20:00 so we had plenty of time for sightseeing. Istanbul is a great city – I should return for more….

Anyways – we took off from Istanbul at around 20:00 (with some delay due to the crowded airport). About 2 hours and 20 minutes later we landed at Nal’chik airport in Russia. With lots of waiting and writting at the Russian customs we were allowed to enter the country and headed to Terskol, where our base was. At about 3 AM in the morning everyone was at their beds.

The first day started late with a few introduction words at the kitchen, a walk around Cheget bazaar and lunch in one of the local restaurants.

During the afternoon me and few of the guys decided to go for a walk to Itkolbashi peak (3511 m). This was my first big mistake there – we headed up a steep slope and reached probably 2500 m. altitude. Then it started raining. On my way down I slipped and stretched my right knee. I can almost compare it to my stretched ankle – pain, unable to move, etc… After we got back to our camp I was instructed to have a rest the following day (the first aclimatizing one).

But I didn’t follow them exactly. Instead I decided I should be OK, got early with 3 other and successfuly got to Cheget peak (3461m) for aclimatization. The knee was a problem only during the first 10 walking minutes and at every longer stop.

The third day again I went with the group for aclimatization to Space Observatory (around 3000m) and peak Piket 105 (around 3400m). Had no problems and felt good anyways.

The fourth day was a rest one. We got the ski lift to the middle Cheget station (2700m) and had lunch there, enjoyed the view, took some shots. During the afternoon we had to sleep, to prepare ourselves for the big day.

So it came and we left for our high base. Took two ski lifts to 3500 m. and walked the distance to 4200 m. by foot. This included walking on ice after 3800m. altitude. After a couple of hours (probably 2) we got to Priut Maria (just above the famous Priut of Eleven). I felt OK, but this turned out to be a false feeling – about 2 hours later I felt a strong headache after trying to get 3 tubes of water to the hut. The headache got even stronger after a walk around to try out our crampons. Our leaded  Slava Skripko gave me some pills (Aspartam, Caffeine, something like that) which did a great job – I didn’t get any headache at 4200m. after that.

The second day at our high camp started with a fierce wind and some snow. We had to climb to Pastukhov rocks for training and aclimatization, so we headed there. Got to their upper end (around 4700m. altitude) but the wind was so strong, we could barely sit around without freezing. At the end of the 10th minute most of us were standing next to each other as penguins, protecting from chill. About 10-15 minutes later Slava (Skripko) decided we could go down. In the afternoon the storm got even stronger. It was sure that the weather was deteriorating.

The next day the storm didn’t calm down, so we stayed at our hut and ate and slept all day (I think we couldn’t sleep alot, so we probably ate more).

The fourth day of our stay at 4200 m. we got some good news that the weather might get better and our guides picked the following night (our last possible night) for summit night. The first group (including me) had to leave with the snowcat at 1:30 AM.

We got up at about midnight and started preparing – tea, pills, equipment, toilet, etc. We got some extra clothes on, because the wind was still fierce (though not the same as the second day), packed out backpacks and left at 01:30. The snowcat left us at the beginning of Pastukhov rocks (4500m). The following slope till 5000m altitude was extremely icy (it was like glass) from the previous 2-3 days storm. Anyways our group was approaching “Kosaya polka” (the traverse of the East Elbrus summit) at a good pace. This was the first place where I felt the headache. It wasn’t so strong, so I decided to keep up. About 5100 m. the headache got so strong, and I felt dizzy. I thought it was time to get down, but I was stopped from our leader at first, and from one of the guys in the group at second. The guy helped me by counting to 10 (for steps) with me, and announcing rest time after every 10. This however I think didn’t help enough as my condition got worse, and I decided I should get down immediately. I had enough strength to make it to the top – it was the way down that bothered me. So I headed down – and to keep it short, got down a couple of hours later barely walking, with the help of one of our guides who stayed at the hut. Then I followed a quick trip to 2200 m (base hut) to prevent any harm from altitude sickness. I got better and better as I was going to lower altitudes.

From our group of 15 people – 10 reached the summit, and 1 made the whole traverse of Elbrus.

That’s about it. I will skip the last 2 days. The important conclusion:

Elbrus goal is not done. I’m leaving it for next year, when I’ll try to organize it by myself, together with a few friends.

A short photo diary can be found at my Picasa Gallery

Thanks to all the guys at this trip: Slava Skripko (our Russian guide), Jak and Ivan (our Bulgarian guides), Mitko, Nixon, Rusan, George, Milena, Dancho, Kari, Sasho, Ivan, Uti, Bogdan and Mila – not necessarily in that order.