A Family Business...

Day 9, June 11^th, 2012: Base Camp to Kislovodsk

Ugh. Logistical issues can be such a pain. Especially when people don’t speak English at all. In Russia, this is a common problem. We arrived back in Kislovodsk from Base Camp without incident but, instead of being greeted by Anastasia, the tour organizer, we were met by her mother. Apparently, Anastasia had gone on vacation to Poland. We had also been moved to a different hotel, and half of us were missing bags. After a lot of haggling in broken English, we managed to secure our stuff and settle into the new hotel. The new hotel was “nicer” which I guess in Russian means gaudier…but all in all it was a much more comfortable place to stay than base camp. I called my parents and checked in with them for the first time all expedition. They were very excited to hear from me, and had thought I hadn’t summited! This is especially ironic considering my brother David had retweeted by summit tweet two days prior…I guess Anastasia’s family isn’t the only one with communication issues!

We went out for some celebratory beers in town with our guide Yura. The Basque boys are heavy drinkers and I think they consumed approximately 15-20 liters all night. I headed back early to get some sleep ahead of my big day in Moscow tomorrow.

Alfredo sticking his head out of his tent. "Is it time to pack up yet?"