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(Mo–Fr: 9:00–15:00)
5 minutes of reading
Day 1 and 2:
We left Prague to Istanbul at around 5 P.M. and then we continued to Mineralnye Vody in Russia. The journey from Prague was a peaceful one. They had too little beer on board as we were flying with a low-cost airline. The day before the departure, there was a lot of hustle and bustle, as there was the last weekend training of rock-climbing instructors which took place in Austria. I arrived at home at 6 P.M., packed up my stuff and had a few hours of sleep. I just threw all the things into my backpack and I had to repack in the morning before leaving for the airport. I managed everything just in time. I only forgot to take my headlamp, vacuum flask and gloves... all essential items. Finally, I solved it by borrowing the things from my friends. At 11 A.M. we were already sitting in a car and rushing to Prague Airport. We met the rest of the team there. There were 5 of us altogether. Then we had a traditional draught Pilsen beer before getting on the plane and we took off. In Istanbul, we had to wait 5 hours for the flight to Mineralnye Vody. At 3 A.M., we finally got off the plane in Russia. We had to undergo a 3-hour-long clearance, a customs inspection and then we travelled further 3 hours to Elbrus village.
We arrived to Saklija camp in the morning. We had breakfast and went for a short nap. At 12 o'clock we set out for the first small acclimatization climb on Cheget (3,461 m above sea level). Two girls who we had met in the camp joined us. They were planning to climb Elbrus the classical (normal) way. On the way to Cheget village, we had fresh trout in a local pub. I had to catch them first. They really tasted great. The route continued past the Narzan mineral spring, which is sacred and is worshipped by locals. There is a fair and some festivities every week. We took 2 cable cars and then we walked for about an hour to the summit. I felt something rupture in my left calf after a few steps. There was sharp pain, I thought I was done and I would go home or sit in the pub for the rest of the expedition. Immediately, I changed from hiking boots to running shoes and tried to move my leg. It started moving slowly but it hurt like hell. It was better with the poles. I tuned up my movements. The rest of the group had left me in the meantime, so I had to climb Cheget on my own. However, we must have missed each other on the way up. I arrived at the summit alone. I just met a Russian couple from Moscow. We took a few photos. They were carrying a mole as a talisman. They had brought it from Prague.
The rest of my group had returned back. The leg felt much better. I ran down the hill, enjoying the silence and the magnificent views of Nakra and Jantugan. I even managed to catch the last cable car down. However, we did not get a border permit for Nakra, so it was off limits. So, we concentrated on climbing Elbrus from the East. I had black tea from the pot at the foot of the mountain and we went back to the camp. For dinner we had a shashlik, we flushed it with a beer and then followed a well-deserved rest. The next day was acclimatization on the normal route to Elbrus. Back to the rest and dinner\u2026 Osman (our landlord) wanted to get together and played national Caucasian songs and dances to us. He made a giant pan of eggs and poured vodka into us as if it was the last evening before the meteorite strike. We played the guitar, breaking the strings and then we finally went to sleep.
Day 3
Acclimatization at Elbrus. In the morning, we packed our items for a hike in the snow. It had been raining all day. I was quite curious about what it would be like at the summit. My calf felt a bit better. I had a rope burn on my leg from a long fall in Austria. The burn mark was right at the edge of my boot. I suffered like hell. The breakfast was very substantial again - eggs and vegetables - and then we finally set off. We took 3 cable cars to Elbrus in order to get to 3,800 metres above sea level as quickly as possible. We had a baklava and something to drink at the terminal station. It was raining again. Soft slushy firn, disgusting. Thank God we would take a different way to the summit. However, it was pretty good for acclimatization. We started ascending to 4,500 metres. First, we rested 20 seconds after 70 steps and then after 50 steps. The clouds cleared for a moment and I could see Mount Ushba. It is a witches' gathering place according to the local legend. Magical mountain. We are planning to visit them next year (i.e. 2020). All was well. Finally, we reached Pastukhov Rocks, or better a place 50 metres above them. We had a 20-minute relax and then rushed down. That went really quick.
At the station, we had a beer, tee and shashlik. The meat resembled a shoe sole and it was just as "tender". Nothing to write home about. To add insult to injury, they shortchanged us by 1,500 Rubles. It was a bit unsuccessful end of the trip. We caught a taxibus and went down to the camp. The driver was nice, so we took his number for next time. The next thing was to get changed into dry clothes as soon as possible. I was lucky that the hiking boots fitted well. I had had no time to walk in them before the departure. We discussed what to do the following day. It would take us 3 days to get under the wall and 1 day of climbing. We decided to carry a heavy load, i.e. 25-30 kg on our backs. The acclimatization would be quite good and everything should work well. It would then depend on the weather. And on Osman. He came... and we went to bed at 5 A.M. My God.
