Well, like all adventures, nothing is set in stone until it happens.
I got a call yesterday from my guide company saying that the other people in my group had cancelled and that I had the option of either going alone to do the South Side or joining a group of climbers and guides scaling the (much harder) North Side. I wasn't sure what to do. I flew to Moscow to Mineralyne Vody and still hadn't decided. When I landed, however, I met up with a bunch of guy (and girls) who were in the North Side expedition. I hit it off with a bunch of them and decided to hop onto their trip.
So it's now 10:30pm and we're about a 5 hr drive to Elbrus' North Side base camp. It's 90km but all off-road...should be an interesting time. I'm lucky that I'll have good company in the jeep though. There are 6 guys from the Basque country, 3 Canadians, 2 Indians, 1 Belgian, 1 Russian, and me, an American. It's quite the diverse group--men, women of different nationalities, backgrounds, and ethnicities, and I'm excited to be spending the next week and a half with them.
Anyway, I'll try to post one more update before I head onto the mountain, but no promises. If I don't post one in the next 24 hours then remember, no news is good news!
See you in a bit.
I got a call yesterday from my guide company saying that the other people in my group had cancelled and that I had the option of either going alone to do the South Side or joining a group of climbers and guides scaling the (much harder) North Side. I wasn't sure what to do. I flew to Moscow to Mineralyne Vody and still hadn't decided. When I landed, however, I met up with a bunch of guy (and girls) who were in the North Side expedition. I hit it off with a bunch of them and decided to hop onto their trip.
So it's now 10:30pm and we're about a 5 hr drive to Elbrus' North Side base camp. It's 90km but all off-road...should be an interesting time. I'm lucky that I'll have good company in the jeep though. There are 6 guys from the Basque country, 3 Canadians, 2 Indians, 1 Belgian, 1 Russian, and me, an American. It's quite the diverse group--men, women of different nationalities, backgrounds, and ethnicities, and I'm excited to be spending the next week and a half with them.
Anyway, I'll try to post one more update before I head onto the mountain, but no promises. If I don't post one in the next 24 hours then remember, no news is good news!
See you in a bit.
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| Waiting at the Mineralnye Vody Airport with the Basque boys |
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