Adventure with a Purpose: Mt Elbrus expedition - Day 1 getting to base camp #trek4choc #trek4kidzwithcancer

There was great excitement in the air this morning. We spent a couple of hours packing and repacking all our equipment last night. Heinrich had checked what each person was bringing along. All equipment, harnesses and crampons double checked to make sure they fitted properly, that all bits were there. Rain jackets, snow pants and jackets checked. Snow boots checked. This was the last time we could go through all our stuff and make sure we had all the correct equipment. Once on Elbrus it is too late.

First thing in the morning Suzanne had to go through to the local equipment hire store to hire some essential equipment. Things like ice axes, crampons, plastic boots, top quality rain jackets and down jackets are available for hire at a really low price for the week. So if climbing is not really your thing and you don't want to buy the entire kit especially living in our South African climate this is really a cost effect option. Luckily I had all the right equipment and clothing but can do with a better quality rain jacket which is on my list for the next item to save up for!!

Breakfast was done, we are able to leave our extra bag containing our "hotel and normal clothing" at the hotel. We were staying in the Hotel Povorot and it was really comfortable and clean. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. The grounds are beautiful and you are nestled in a large pine forest within the Baksan Valley. After everyone carried their extra luggage down into the hotel storage room. we now concentrated on getting to Elbrus.

We loaded our luggage into the bus and made our way to the Elbrus Ski station. Thankfully it was not a long trip and before we knew it we had arrived. While waiting we found a little kitten that looked a little sick, so out came the biltong and some water. The little thing lapped it up. Then it was time to carry our bags to the gates.

We are told that the easiest approach is to take the cable car system from Azau to Mir Station from where in the past you would either take one a 1 hour walk, or a 1 person chairlift taking you up to Garabashi - "The Barrels". It is apparently about a 50 meter walk from the top of the chairlift. After hearing this I was rather glad the new cable car systems were in place and looking at the weather as we were making our way up it looked a little ominous. I was also glad this was an organised tour and all the tickets and red-tape had been taken care off. This is Russia after all!!

There is no queuing rules here and it very quickly becomes a free for all. You need to push your way through and stand your ground.

Each one of us had 2 bags - 1 duffel bag with all our mountain gear and 1 backpack with the overflow and odds packed inside.

Then there was a mad dash for the gates once we had got our tickets. Please remember to put this plastic ticket card in a safe place. You will need to use this card to get back down and then hand it to your guide to hand it back to the ticket officials. It is really messy if you lose your cards.

And so started another journey and challenge. We hopped onto the new cable cars. Another thing that I am not overly fond of. They are fantastic and the views breathtaking. I nearly pooped myself though when ever your reach the towers along the way the wheels feel and sound as though they "jump" over the rails, but once I got over the first one and I was expecting the "jump" along the way I was less stressed.

Okay so trying that "I am brave look" more like "I am still alive"

Like us most of the climbers will use the hotel down in the Baksan Valley as a base of acclimatization, and then go up via cables (2 transitions at Old Krugozor station, and Mir Station). The 3rd step used to be this small chair lift that as already mentioned that in bad weather the chairlift section may be closed. Also the chairlift ride could become very cold,

Yvonne and Me so rocking it!!

Okay this has been fun!!

Andre and I expressing the vibe - almost there and all in one piece!!

It was really awesome watching how as the higher we got the more the vegetation and rock faces changed. The deep grey "scars" you see as mentioned before, are what was left of previous avalanches.

Andre having a moment with Roman which produces uncontrolled nervous giggles

Suzanne, Roma and Andre with that epic naughty smile

We then arrived at the next cable car station. This was all new and we no longer had to jump with bags onto the ski chairs. This saved hours of time. In the past you would secure your duffel bag to a chair and hope it makes it to the top, in good and bad weather. You would then hope onto the next chair carrying your backpack and meet up with your luggage. Now we went up in style and dry as it was slightly wet when we got to the top and into Elbrus base camp.

Making our way up the stairs to the next platform and to catch the next cable car.

As we got off the first lot of Cable cars we grabbed our bags ran along the platform up and down stairs, through the turn-dials and onto the platform to catch the next cable car. It was a great gym workout and everyone needs to pull their own bags so don't over pack with unnecessary items.

These cable cars continue to turn so don't waste time just grab your stuff and jump in.

Yvonne, myself and Sherrie arrive safely to jump onto our next cable car - the final stretch

one last haul as the ground below changes and confirms the base came is very close!!

If Garabashi huts are full you have to use the Diesel Hut or camp in the vicinity of the former Priut 11 refuge. Both are located above "The Barrels". Luckily for us ADI works with Pilgrim tours here on Elbrus and the new containers are clearly marked "Pilgrim tours" so we knew we would have our beds secured!!

Some interesting figures!!
Bottom station in Azau - 2350 meters
Krugozor cable station - 2900 meters
Mir cable station - 3700 meters
Garabashi top chair lift station = Barrels Huts - 3800 meters. The chair lifts replaced by the new cable cars!!

I found out that the Russian name for Barrels is Bochki. Some of the purists will walk up a dust rail below the cable car chairlift line all the way from Azau to Garabashi.

The view as we pull into the last ski station and base came Elbrus

And it continues - the off loading and carrying all our bags from the platform to our metal container huts situated behind the wooden rondavel to the left of the photograph We were told later that a coffee shop/restaurant was going to open here with a proper loo and hot solar showers. Something to look forward to in the future. Currently there is a place where some of the guys bought cool-drinks. I never went as I had ample supplies and munchies and I don't drink fizzy drinks normally.

Everything was looking really well maintained and I hope it remains this way for further climbers. This certainly makes this place more accessible for the day climbers and skiers we saw frequenting the mountain over the next couple of days. Great for the climbing economy.

The last of the team loading off and getting ready to move up to the top containers - our home for the next few days.

Heinrich checking the weather - it does not look promising eish!!!

This old silver caravan and the blue container next to it housed some of the guides and rescue teams

Heinrich and Roma organizing our bunks and containers. Some sleep 8 others 6 or 4. Our containers the 3rd from the left already had 2 climbers who were out training so they go a surprise when they came back to find 5 new team mates! The funny thing with seasoned climbers we always adapt easily to our new surroundings and make do. Sleeping inside warm huts like this that were insulated and dry was a real treat. Normally you are inside a tent and it gets wet and cold.

The spectacular view from my bunk - I could have wished for a better view.

This window started to leak as it rained so the fire fighter/rescue tech in me kicked in and a combination of soggy loo paper to plug the holes and sealing it creatively with duck tape the leak did the job and stopped it. We never had another problem.

My bunk on the far back lower right side.- supplied is a mattress, duvet and a few blankets and pillows. The bed is a bit hard even with the duvet and mattress underneath so we still used our hiking mattress for both better comfort. We were as dry and warm as toast. We were really blessed with electricity as well as a plug point to charge cameras and cell phones. Real 5 star luxury rarely seen on mountain expeditions!!

It was time to get all our gear on and do some altitude training and learn to walk in deep snow and slippery ice. I had been so looking forward to this and it would be a highlight and a bucket-list dream. This would be my first time I would be wearing proper snow boots and crampons and was really excited about the new challenge that lay ahead.

By the second day I was starting to become a lot more comfortable donning my boots and crampons. The harness was the easy bit for me as I use one as a Rescue Tech and in my line of work.

Sherrie and I acing our mountain chick look!!

The sign close to our long drop - the only loo for some 40 odd people on the mountain.

Apparently our "Mountain hotel “Garabashi” is Europe's original alpine hotel and is located here on the high slopes at an altitude of 3850 m. I am not sure if I would go so far as to call it a hotel but it was great accommodation non the less and beats having to live in a tent. It is also considered an Intermediate camp for our purpose of climbing Elbrus. The famous Barrels (Bochki) consist of 14 cylinders. Each barrel can accommodate 5-6 people and can house around 80 people. It has 2 dinning-rooms that hold 15 climbers each. We were also told that the barrels have electric heating. More about the barrels when we pay them a visit.

Today we would trek up through the main route to get some acclimatization time and walk up to Priyut hut (the Original Hotle on Elbrus) sitting at 4000m. This was to take us around 3 hours to complete.

The going was tough for most of us as this is not what we normally do on a regular basis back home in South Africa or in Australia for that matter. I have trekked through fairly deep snow and snow storms but they passed and we had some relief when in some of the areas the depth of snow was very minimal. This was different, it was relentless and deep. In some places we had pools of water to navigate around. Add to this big over-sized snow boots (2 sizes bigger than what I normal use) and I felt a bit like Bigfoot!! You are breathless as you make your way up and the suns glare warrants good quality Polaroid sunglasses to protect your eyes. You need to drink frequently and I carried my bottle on the outside which was fine for today, but certainly not advisable for summit night with extreme cold. The water would freeze solid. The other really important thing is sunscreen and lots of it with a high factor. I never got burnt once from the cold or from the sun I had learnt from my first Kilimanjaro climb what cold can do. I loved the sound of the crunching snow as your broke it with your boots and kicked deeper steps for the climber behind you to follow. If everyone follows this rule and you preserve the climber in-fronts steps, it makes climbing in the snow so much easier. It becomes a snow staircase and all the Westcliff stairs training comes in handy!! It was a fairly clear up here but it did start to snow a bit and was cold but I had the right amount of layers on so did not get cold and I had borrowed a good rain Jacket the was wind and fully water proof.

Photo Google -Diesel Hut/Priut Hut;

image Google

Image Google

In August of 1998 a group of climbers were cooking their food inside the Pruit 11 fondly known as the highest hotel in the world!! It could accommodate an astounding 120 climbers, however it had a tiny kitchen with only one gas cooker. Because of this the climbers would use their own cookers. In this case the cooker started to burn. So what do you do. You throw water onto it. The only problem was that the container carrying water was actually fuel. So you can imagine what happened next. Boom!!!. Several people had slight injuries and apparently 1 person was seriously cut while he abseiled from an upper window when the glass broke during his dramatic escape. Maybe this is why First for Women does not ensure men.

Image google

This is what is now left of it and we are able to see the remains of the hut as we pass it along the main route. Priut 11 was constructed in 1929, originally as a small hut, at an altitude of 4160 meters (the refuge of 11 - named after 11 scientists who had earlier used that site as their base). In 1932, a larger Priut was constructed on the same site. The hut as already mentioned, accommodated 120 visitors, had electricity, and was totally weather proof. I guess just not fire proof!!

Image Google

1991: The outhouse at the Pruitt Hut before it burned down a few years later was named the world’s worst outhouse by Outside Magazine. While it gets a lot of use from climbers who drink a lot of water as well as consuming altitude medication (causes lots of peeing), it doesn’t smell because it is completely frozen. Such a pity our loo lower down was also not completely frozen. Eeck!!

This map gives quiet a nice idea of the distance and altitude. Terskol in green at the bottom is the village our hotel was in as well as the awesome little village in the valley. (Image Google)

I found out that back in 1942, the Germans were desperate for fuel, and tried to reach the oil in the Caspian Sea. A unit of the German Alpine division "Edelweiss" arrived unexpectedly at Priut 11, and flew their swastika flag from the hut..

Since the Priut 11 burnt down most of the rubble and charred remains have been mainly cleared up and a new hut - Diesel Hut - has been built on the same site. Most people stay at the Barrels and the Diesel Hut is more like an alternative - less privacy, no heating, no electricity. We did see a lot of tents in the snow around the Diesel Hut.

Yvonne trying out our new Breathing techniques that our guide Heinrich had been coaching us on. This technique really helps and gives you that extra O2 you so desperately need up there!!

After some fun in the snow and cold we made our way back down to have lunch. This became a real feast. Breakfast, lunch and dinner was always an incredible spread and several courses. Laid out in front of you on the table was several plates of prepared fruit, cold meats and cheese, bowls of chocolate and sweets, and bread. There were also fritters and donut type of treats. A choice of green salads, coleslaw, carrot salad. Then would come the cereal and porridge , beacon and egg at breakfast, then lunch time and dinner time Russian soup, then the main course meat with a vegetable. Hot tea and coffee with condense milk and biscuits followed. In most cases you needed to drag yourself out of the dinning area. We only had one dinning area so this meant meals were done in relays to accommodate the teams. The lady who did the cooking loved her music and we all would sing and dance with her from time to time. At times she would get angry with one of the guides and things would need to be smoothed over. It was really impressive that this young lady could produce this feast all from her tiny little kitchen.

WE had a full range of jams and sauces, honey!!

all laid out onto the table before the meal!!

Water was collected further up and brought to the kitchen and then boiled for drinking. As an added precaution we would add our water purifying drops. At meal times we filled all our bottles to take back to our bunks. We could also fill up our flasks with boiling water to take back and make hot chocolate or our own coffee mixes for later.

The Team Zodwa Project ™

Member: FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa)
Member: Vincent de Paul Victory Park (St Charles Catholic Church)

Photo Credits: Kim Williams Copyright

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