Geared with the layers of clothing,
Keeping each step firmly on the snow,
With the crampons laced snow boots,
Moving steadily against the blinding snow squalls,
I was mentally prepared to face,
The much talked harsh weather at Mt.Elbrus,
Europe’s highest peak…!!!
‘Seven summits’ is a well-known terminology in the community of mountaineering. It is a collective term for the highest peak in each of the seven continents of the Earth. So here was I preparing to attempt my first of those Seven summits- Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak of Europe, standing high at 5642m in the Caucasus range at the border of Russia and Georgia.
Although the altitude of 5642m doesn’t sound to be challenging as compared to the high altitude peaks in the Himalayan region, what makes Mt. Elbrus expedition an arduous one is its geographical location between the Black sea and the Caspian sea. Owing to this positioning, the weather here is quite volatile, with occasional strong winds leading to whiteouts. To deal with this situation during a trek, one needs to be mentally prepared, apart from the regular high altitude climbing preparations. Being a non-technical climb, it is occasionally referred as a trek rather than an expedition. Our initial plan was to head for this trek in August 2020, for which we got the Russian visa by February 2020 but, unfortunately we had to postpone our expedition due to the pandemic. After a long wait of almost an year, we scheduled our plan for Mt.Elbrus expedition for August 2021 (as soon as the international borders opened for the Indians).
The visa process was a bit different with additional pre-requisites after the pandemic. Unlike our first Russian visa in 2020, where we received our visa by applying directly to the Russian embassy, getting visa during the pandemic mandated direct return flight tickets (Bubble arrangement) along with the other documents. Only the visa center was issuing the visa due to temporary closure of the Embassy. Not to mention, the costlier visa fees (Rs.2000 vs. Rs.10000) and the flight fares. Owing to the frequent modifications in the protocol, it was tough to get accurate information on the international travel at that point of time.
Determined to take our first among the Seven Summits, we found out ways to come out of all the hurdles and left for Moscow, Russia on 8th August 2021. Immigration process was quite simple at Moscow airport. We purchased local sim card from Moscow airport, which was issued quite easily on producing the passport. I was able to withdraw Ruble currency from the ATM using my HDFC debit card. It is advisable to check with your bank for your card’s eligibility to withdraw international currency from the international ATM as this might come handy when in need of cash as you don’t have to hunt for the currency exchange center.
Moscow is a beautiful city, although we weren’t able to see much of it as we had our next flight (from a different airport) for Mineralnye Vody. The local transportation is the most convenient way to travel locally in Russia, be it local buses or metro trains. We took a local bus and metro station from Sheremetyrvo international airport (SVO) to Domodedovo international airport (DME) which took us approximately 3 hours ( SVO airport to Recknoy Vokzal metro station via bus, Recknoy Vokzal metro station to DME metro station via metro train and DME metro station to DME airport via bus). Not all buses here have conductors like the Indian buses. You pay on the automated machines attached inside the buses either by a travel card or an international debit card.
When traveling to Russia, get accustomed to recognize the names of the places in Russian Cyrillic script/alphabets as you are most likely to find yourself surrounded with the information written only in Russian script. You will never regret learning a bit of Russian alphabets on any of your trips to Russia. Alternatively you can take a refuge in ‘Google lens’ for translating the Russian script to English.
A point worth mentioning to the mountaineers landing in Moscow in an international flight and advancing towards Mineralnye Vody via domestic flight is to weigh your baggage carefully as only 10kg checkin baggage + 10kg cabin baggage is allowed in most of the domestic flights in Russia as compared to 30kg checkin baggage + 7kg cabin baggage in the international flights (only if the ticket is booked as the one with the baggage). There is an arrangement of carrying excess baggage after paying additional charge at the designated counter in the airport.
Mineralnye Vody is the closest airport for the enthusiasts heading for Mt.Elbrus. We hired a cab from Mineralnye Vody airport for Terskol on 9th August 2021. The drive was indeed a scenic one along the massive stretches of crop laden fields and the mountain cliffs. Terskol is a small hamlet with mesmerizing mountain views, extensive fields, mystic woods, and rumbling river. We spent 2 days acclimatizing in Terskol, renting a few essential gears like snow boots, crampons, exploring the town’s market place, walking in the woods, purchasing the souvenirs, trying out the Russian cuisine. It is worth mentioning to the trekkers planning for Mt.Elbrus to pre-book the hostels which are quite reasonable and friendly on the peak season unless you want to rent a hotel room by paying through yours nose.
We made a few friends in Terskol, especially Elvira who stayed in the same hostel as us and a Russian family (Fatima and her adorable daughters) who generously hosted us for the evening tea and snacks at their riverside house. Not to forget, a young couple from St.Petersberg with whom we shared the taxi from Mineralnye Vody to Terskol. Maxim was of a great help, translating, when we struggled to communicate with the hotel authority on reaching Terskol late at night hours. Valeria and her collogues in the local shop for mountaineering gears went an extra mile to help us find a hostel and later to book a return bus from Terskol to Mineralnye Vody.
Mt.Cheget is very popular in Terskol where most climbers go for acclimatization hike for a day. We missed hiking up Mt.Cheget as we ran out of time. However we couldn’t miss having the view of the twin peaks of Mt.Elbrus from the top of Mt.Cheget, hence we made a quick visit to Mt.Cheget top via the ropeway. It was a mesmerizing view of the twin peaks of Mt.Elbrus apart from the bird eye view of Cheget town, lush green hills and the rugged slopes of the other mountains in the Caucasus range.
We reached Garabashi station (3770m), the basecamp of Mt.Elbrus on 12th August 2021 via cable-car. Both cable-car and chair lift are available from Azau Glade station (2220m) to Mir station and then to Garabashi station. These locations on Elbrus region hold a historical significance dating as old as World War II. Garabashi hosts the famous Barrel shelter at 3750m composing of collection of barrel shaped huge oil containers converted into rooms for the mountaineers to stay. It is interesting to know that these oil tankers were renovated to accommodate trekkers by insulating them and installing iron bedsteads from the nearby mental asylum. The living condition was not acceptable in terms of hygiene and basic facilities. Then came the National park huts at 3900m, just above the Barrel huts comprising of several cabins which are cleaner and more hygienic option. These huts didn’t have any connection with the National park but is known with this name just because the man to start these huts worked for the National park. Ironically the National park doesn’t exist anymore but these huts have retained the nomenclature.
We unloaded our baggage on reaching our huts in the National park huts at Garabashi and headed for the acclimatization trek to the next campsite- Shelter-11 or Priut-11. Garabashi cable car station is hovered by a numerous snow-mobiles and snowcats. The load of petroleum run automobiles makes the snow dirty and greasy in this region, which is quite noticeable. After an easy trek in the initial part there comes a steep slope just before one reaches the huts at the location of Shelter-11. The route is shared by numerous snow-mobiles and snowcats which not only caters the mountaineers attempting Mt.Elbrus summit but also the tourists exploring Elbrus-Kabadino-Balkaria region on a day visit. Due to the easy accessibility till Shelter-11, this region is crowded with a mixture of mountaineers and tourists. A few backpackers arrive till this region just to camp with a mesmerizing view of rest of the Caucasus range on one side and the twin peaks of Mt.Elbrus on the other.
We returned to our hut in National Park hut from the acclimatization trek and made our way to the kitchen area to make an arrangement for our meal. We carried our ration and cooked for ourselves throughout the trip in Russia. We had to carry a significant amount of edibles straight from India because certain integral edibles are not available in Russia. We learnt a lot about the dietary diversity between the Russian and the Indian food habits. We planned to keep our diet as close to our Indian dietary habit even during the trek in the foreign land for which we carried certain food items like turmeric powder, pulses, tea bags, ‘ready to cook’ food packets from India. A special preparation is need to be done if a person in a group is pure vegetarian (one who doesn’t even consume egg), because the concept of vegetarian is not heard by many in Russia, specially in the off-skirts like Terskol, Mt.Elbrus region. One might get hold of vegetarian food in the cities like Moscow but it is a pain to get vegetarian food as one travels away from the cities. We noticed that among the favorite food items carried by the Russians uphill were pasta along with ‘dried and canned’ fishes.
After a sumptuous ‘Indian style’ dinner we retired to our beds arranged in bunk style and furnished with blankets. The cabins were cozy and guarded off most of the chilly winds. There were the plug points where we charged our mobile phones and power banks in turns. It is advisable to confirm the local authority about the timing of the electric supply as the same is not available for 24 hours. (Tip: carry an appropriate adapter for the chargers as the Russian plug points are different from the Indian ones). We shared the cabin with the other mountaineers, a few of whom were on their way back after their successful summit. It was inspiring as these mountaineers shared their experiences of the summit climb. Although we weren’t able to interact with everyone around us as not all Russians knew English and we had a very weak command on the Russian language except a few words used for greeting and those necessary to extract information.
Thanks to the technology, we were able to communicate in Moscow and Terskol via ‘Google translate’, when we ran out of the Russian words we had already learnt before the trip. Once out of internet coverage, we managed with our broken Russian.
The next day we all climbed up to the Shelter-11, our next halt before the summit push. We got a room in Diesel hut (4100m) which is constructed adjacent to the ruins of the historical ‘Priut-11 hut’ or ‘Shelter-11’ which was built in 1939 and flashed in the media in 1998 due to its burning down in a fire mishap. Shelter-11 which had seen a glorious era of the Soviet mountaineering and had survived World War II perished with an accidental fire on 16th August 1998 apparently due to a mountaineer’s negligence. Shelter-11 was named after a group of 11 climbers who took shelter at the rocks at this site as their campsite during their ascend in 1909.
They playfully inscribed “The Shelter 11” on the stones near the camp. Later a famous Russian climber, V.A.Rokovsky constructed a wooden hut reinforced with iron on these rocks in 1929, with “The Shelter 11” written on it. The construction work of the hotel was initiated in 1938 under the guidance of mountaineer Nikolay Popov as the project manager. Nikolay Popov was the engineer who built the first Soviet airship. 3-storeyed hotel was a huge one whose exterior looked like an airship. The interior was furnished well with running water, sewage and central heating. The architecture was weather-proof. It was nothing less than a first class hotel and was large enough to accommodate 100 people at a time. It was the highest mountain hotel of USSR which was also a center of military activity during World War II when it was captured and defended several times by the Germans and the Soviets. It suffered significant damage during the World War II and remained abandoned till 1957 when the climbers from various parts of the world started using it as a campsite for Mt.Elbrus summit after the repair.
Diesel hut came up in 2002 in the previous Diesel station of Shelter 11. Not built with the luxurious amenities like the Shelter 11, diesel hut has the basic accommodation with plank beds, mattresses and pillows. It has a kitchen area with the basic cooking wares, stove with LPG which is included in the accommodation charge. There is no running water supply or stable electric connection. Climbers are expected to carry jars of drinking water from the campsites at the lower altitude. No wonder the cost of the water shoots as you ascend. There is no fresh water stream and melting the fresh snow is not always recommended as the route is often contaminated with petroleum from the snow-mobiles and snowcats. So, one need to carry their share of drinking water along with the ration. There is no arrangement for taking shower in the vicinity. Every hut has a common toilet which is just a hole in a wooden plank confined within a tiny cabin just enough to accommodate one person. The toilet is kept under lock with the access given only to the inmates of the hut. Theses toilets are not well maintained with the stink traveling a long way. Diesel hut has a strict policy for every inmate to take back one’s plastic thrash down hill for disposal.
We prepared a quick meal and left for the acclimatization hike till Pastukhov rocks after the meal. Pastukhov rocks are known after the famous Russian army topographer and mountaineer, Andrei Pastukhov who studied the Caucasus Mountains. He camped at these rocks during one of his several summit attempts in 1896.
Mountaineering wise Pastukhov cliff/rocks (4800m) is the most suitable altitude to camp for a night just before the final summit push to Mt.Elbrus but due to the unfavorable weather condition of the strong winds and the risk of rock falls combined with extremely cold temperature at the nights, the climbers halt at Shelter 11 after the acclimatization hike to Pastukhov rocks. Then on the night of the summit push, many climbers take a snowcat (truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to move on snow) to Pastukhov rocks to start the summit push from Pastukhov rocks. By doing this, the climbers mimic as if they are beginning the summit push from Pastukhov rocks itself. This becomes crucial for the successful summit for many climbers as it reduces the duration of the summit push (with descend) from approximately 15-17hr to approximately 12-13hr. it is worth noting that this duration is of non-stop ascend and descend which is one of the factors that makes Mt.Elbrus trek challenging despite it being a non-technical one.
So we laced the crampons on our snow-boots (this was the first day during this expedition that we were using them) and started our trek to Pastukhov rocks. I was taught the technique of fastening them and walking with them as it was the first time I ever walked on the crampons. This trail has a several steep sections, some of which are at 35 degree. This acclimatization hike is not a cake walk, despite a short distance, as climbing these steep slopes is not easy in the blinding whiteouts.
We returned from Pastukhov rocks, cooked our supper, ate and slipped inside our respective sleeping bags in our designated beds in Diesel hut.
The next day was a rest day when we had to go on our summit push at that midnight. We spent that day cooking, taking stroll in the nearby areas, clicking beautiful photographs and playing indoor games. We had to descend to Garabashi station to replenish our stock of drinking water. The last spot to purchase drinking water on this route is a restaurant at Garabashi station, which of course is much costlier than that available in Azau glade.
Snowfall began on the afternoon of 14th which made us skeptical for our summit push, as the whiteout was dense and didn’t seem to clear out any faster. Snowfall slowed down at the night and we decided to start our summit push at around 3am on 15th August 2021. Unfortunately, as we approached Pastukhov rocks, the snow storm became strong and it made every step harder. The visibility dropped drastically to just a few meter, making it impossible for us to even visualize the trail. What was clearly visible was the spot for placing our next step. We continued to move further in the baby steps but soon realized the seriousness of the situation when we met several climbers returning from half way due to even more ravaging weather condition uphill. At this moment we discussed and decided to abandon the summit push for that day and return to Diesel hut. We were a bit disheartened by our unsuccessful attempt but this is what Mt.Elbrus taught not only us but many other climbers whom we met during this period- ‘Be patient and not a valiant when the nature turns devastating’.
I found the Russian climbers very patient in this matter. There was one climber who had descended back to Terskol after a failed attempt. He stayed there for a few days before making another attempt on which he was successful. ‘An appropriate weather’ is one of the key factor to successfully reach the summit of Mt.Elbrus.
The next day we got up and went back to Garabashi station after our breakfast. The internet signal is better in Garabashi station, which helped us check the weather forecast for the next few days. The weather forecast showed the next favorable window period (on the Western summit of Mt.Elbrus) of 2 hours on 17th August 2021 till 9am. We discussed with our local friends too and decided take our next summit attempt for 17th morning. That day we had extremely delicious non-vegetarian Russian cuisine in a restaurant near the ‘Barrel huts’ (Garabashi). The food was lip-smacking and the best one from our entire trip in Russia. The owner of the restaurant proved to be a great host. There were a few hand knit woolen caps, mittens, socks, sweaters kept for sale in a section at the window of the restaurant. These were knit by a sweet lady who was the artist behind the mouth-watering cuisine served in this restaurant.
On 16th August 2021 we had an early dinner and slept for a few hours before starting our summit push after midnight on 17th August 2021. The weather was clear and we started our climb. The route was familiar till Pastukhov rocks but the bone chilling cold weather made it tough. After Pastukhov rocks was the steepest section (40-45 degree) of the route, starting from Pastukhov rocks to the beginning of the Transverse (5100m) leading to the Saddle (5350m). It takes around 2.5hr to reach this Transverse and then another 3.5hr to cross the Transverse. The trek on the Transverse made my breaths heavy. I realized that the actual challenge has started as, I heard myself heavily breathing with each step. There was no scope of catching up with my breath by taking a quick halt as the trail was narrow and stopping even for a second meant blocking the way for all the climbers behind me. Plus, the time was crucial for all the climbers due to extremely narrow window period of the favorable weather to reach the summit. Wasting even a few minutes to take a break might have costed the successful summit on Mt.Elbrus. Beyond the Transverse is the Saddle (5350m) between the Eastern and the Western peaks of Mt.Elbrus. We welcomed the dawn as we crossed the Transverse and witnessed a breathtaking (literally too) sunrise right at the end of the Saddle. Here we took a quick break which was much needed to nourish my hypoglycemic brain with candies and stretch my muscles.
Then came the second section of the steep slope lying between the Saddle and the Western summit plateau (5600m) where there are the fixed ropes on the tilt of 45-47 degree. It is around 2.5hr of slow climb, one behind another. It was terrifying to see the valley on the right, partially covered with the clouds. The dense clouds floating beneath me left me guessing the depth of the valley but what I was sure of was that one wrong step can leave your body untraceable.
Reaching the Western summit plateau gave me an intense pleasure as the goal, the Western summit was at a stone throw distance. It takes approximately an hour to reach the Western summit (5642m) from the beginning of the Western summit plateau. This distance was the most emotionally charged trek in my life till date. I held my tears from rolling down with every step that I took towards the summit. More than the physical challenge the entire journey was the game of the mental strength. There were many instances where I felt like giving up or the sight of the struggling fellow climbers rocked my confidence. The constant wish and determination to unfurl our National flag on the summit of the highest peak of Europe kept me motivated. Apart from self-determination the persistent push by Krish, our team leader and my friend played a major role in making this accomplishment. He persistantly motivated me to keep moving.
The voice of the climbers from the peak was getting more intense as I approached the summit. There were the climbers from the summit encouraging me to reach the peak, as I was just a few steps away from the summit. We reached the summit of Europe’s highest peak at 8:23am (MSK) on 17th August 2021. The moment was hysterical as we unfurled our National flag while singing our National anthem. The view was absolutely clear with all the peaks below us crisply visible. Everything, every single peak around us was sitting below us. Even most of the clouds were floating at the altitude below us. The only things above us were the clear blue sky, the brightly shining sun and the God’s grace.
We started our descent after spending approximately 20min on the summit. Even the descend was not an easy one as our bodies were draining out and our minds had started to slow down. The weather started to take a 360 degree turn and the clear sky started to become cloudy. The trail which was visible during our ascend started to fade in the whiteout, gradually engulfing the entire Elbrus region. The weather forecast was accurate and the window period for clear weather was closing. My steps felt robotic but I couldn’t have stopped to take rest because that meant losing the momentum. At a moment I felt like my mind was fogging when, instead of the deep valley I was seeing a river flowing just adjacent to me. Krish had to literally lead me down till some distance by holding me by the trekking pole. He always went an extra mile to make sure that none of his team mates gave up, be it by medical help to a team member with the symptoms of AMS, supportive care by sharing his heating pads to another team member with freezing extremities or providing me with the technical assistance by roping up. These are the times when you feel the need of a compassionate team where everyone support each other physically as well as morally.
We reached Garabashi by evening. We decided to take a halt directly in Terskol. Hence we took the cable car from Garabashi station for Azau glade. We were just on time to board the last cable car for that day. With a content mind and soul we reached Azau glade, hired a vehicle for Terskol and checked in a hostel. Half of our exhaustion drained out as we took a hot shower. We had to plan for our travel from Terskol to Mineralnye Vody and then further to Moscow as we had our confirmed return flight for India the day after. We decided to take a road journey from Mineralnye Vody to Moscow instead of a flight. We booked a taxi from Terskol to Mineralnye Vody and a bus from Mineralnye Vody to Moscow for the next day. We packed our bags for the next day prepared the dinner and slept off after a simple hot dinner.
We got up early in the morning and started our road journey from Terskol to Mineralnye Vody via our pre-booked taxi. The road journey was very picturesque along the valley, between the tall cliffs of mountains, amidst the crop laden field across the Russian villages. On one side we were enchanted by the beauty of the nature but on the other side we felt blue as we left the mountains behind us. We reached Mineralnye Vody and were dropped at the pick up point of the bus for Moscow. The bus was on time and we started our onward journey for Moscow at around 12:15pm on 18th August 2021. The journey was 12 hours long and traveling in a semi-sleeper was not an easy one. Half of the journey went in sleep as all of us were dead tired. Although the view of the road side scenery were worth admiring, we had a restricted view due to the aisle seats. Overall the journey was a different experience.
On reaching Moscow, we took a metro train to the airport. Although we had our return flight from Moscow to India at late night we went straight away to the airport because it takes substantial amount of time to commute in a foreign land where we have to overcome the language barrier and then find our way to the airport via metro train and buses. We also had to get our RT-PCR test done for COV-SARS-2 as per the air travel requisites. There was a center inside the airport for the same but we had to reach there to know the exact process like the cost and time for the delivery of the report. Hence we skipped the sightseeing at Moscow and left for the airport directly. We located the COVID-19 RT-PCR/antigen collection center inside the airport and gave the sample after registering online. The charges were categorized according to the timing for delivering of the report; the fasted delivery costed the most. After giving the samples we went on the hunt for the food. Moscow’s Sheremetyrvo airport had plenty of options for the food. After the stomach full meal, we visited the ‘Duty free’ store (the most visited store in an international airport). I wanted to check out various types of much talked Russian vodka. Time flew as I read the details on every bottle of Russian vodka describing its history. There were other souvenirs as well. We moved ahead towards the designated gate after purchasing a few items. Our return flight in Aeroflot airline was a pleasant experience. After the air travel of 6 hours, we were back to the chaos of the city life, but filled with sweet memories of our first international travel amidst the pandemic.
