August 9, 2017

No glitches getting to St. Petersburg from Mineralnye Vody and a good time was had there by all.  Visiting both Moscow and St. Petersburg really is the only way to do this trip.  I doubt most of our climbers plan on returning to Russia any time soon so why not make the absolute most out of your time, money and efforts?  In addition to the other ‘stuff’, they squeezed in a visit to the Grand Palace in Peterhof.  Fairly impressive.

Last dinner is complete and the team is ready to go their separate ways.  July and August are the best months to be on Elbrus.  Remember, visas take a bit of lead time so don’t miss out as you begin planning for your own trip to Russia soon.  Thanks to the IMG guides, Igor and Sasha, our Russian guide friends and the biggest thanks to all the climbers who joined us this season on one of three hugely successful expeditions.  Thanks, all, for climbing with IMG.

Phil Ershler

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