August 5, 2017

Thunderstorm Rolling in

Always nice to report a successful summit, even nicer to report a successful summit AND return to the hut.  Mike, Sasha and our final Elbrus team for 2017 had a great day this morning and a great summit.  They got the job done and are already back at the hut.  Some of the members even skied from the top.  All in all, a good day.

They’ll descend tomorrow to the village of Terskol and start making their way to St. Petersburg shortly thereafter, some on the 7^th and some members on the 8^th.  Time to get a bit more sightseeing in and then get home.  Report from the mountain is that they timed things pretty well (or just got lucky) but thunderstorms have already returned to the area this afternoon.

All as it should be on Elbrus!

Phil Ershler

August 4, 2017

Weather Clearing Over the Caucasus

It’s show time.  Gang had a good walk to the Pastohov Rocks, a couple of hours above the hut.  Good warm up and great acclimatization.  The weather has cleared and they’re in bed now, ready to take a shot in the morning.  Keep in mind, Elbrus time is 10 hours later than Seattle.  A thunderstorm went through this afternoon but they’re anticipating reasonable weather for the summit bid.  Everyone’s looking healthy and ready to roll.  Time now to climb to the top of Europe and snag another of the Seven Summits.

Phil Ershler

August 2, 2017

Elbrus Team with Caucaus Range behind them. (Mike Hamill)

The good stuff continues over on Elbrus.  Mike, Sasha and crew enjoyed a training day (today) in pretty much great weather.  You take one look at the photo Mike sent and you can certainly tell.  When you look out at the Caucasus in the photo, you realize just how much of an alpine area Elbrus is actually in.  Tons of peaks with lots of good climbing.

Team is back in the Baksan Valley this evening (now) and will head up to the hut on the mountain in the morning.  Keep in mind, Elbrus region is 10 hours LATER than here at Mt. Rainier.  Team has a couple of acclimatization days under their belts now but that’s not quite enough.  We want another 2 nights at a higher altitude prior to taking that first summit shot.

We would LOVE to see their current weather continue.  Absolutely nothing wrong with being a little lucky!

Phil Ershler

July 31, 2017

Let’s check in with our third and final group for the 2017 Elbrus season.

Mike Hamill met this team of 6 in Moscow and they got in a couple of days of seeing the sights before heading down to the Caucasus.  As this was a private, custom team, they had a bit of extra time and even took in a performance at the Bolshoi.

Then it was off to Mineralnye Vody and Caucasus.  They were met at the airport by Sasha Sak, one of our Russian friends and guides, and they all traveled together to the mountain.  The team is settled into their hotel near the village of Terskol and looking forward to the upcoming adventure.

First order of business is a day of acclimatization.  There’s an observatory just above Terskol which works perfectly.

We’ll keep you posted.

Phil Ershler

July 28, 2017

Time to call it a wrap.  The team finished up with their touring in Moscow, including the Kremlin and Red Square and is now on their way home.  Hugely successful trip and, we trust, a very enjoyable one, to boot.

Thanks to Mike, Sasha, Igor and our entire team of climbers.  Everyone did their part and the result was a safe, successful and enjoyable two weeks seeing St. Petersburg, the Baksan Valley, Moscow and, oh yeah, summiting Elbrus and knocking off one of the Seven Summits.

We’re not quite done with the Elbrus season.  Mike will be meeting a custom team of IMG climbers tonight for one more trip back to Elbrus.  They’ll use our same itinerary, only reversing the Moscow and St. Pete visits.  This time Moscow first and they’ll wrap up their trip in St. Petersburg.  Igor will get them organized in Moscow and Mike will escort the team down to Terskol where Sasha will be waiting to climb with them.  Sounds like a plan!

Phil Ershler