Climbing Elbrus independently report. Climbing Elbrus from the south - report. Climbing Elbrus: from the north to the Eastern peak

Elbrus - the highest Mountain peak Caucasus, Russia and even all of Europe. The legendary giant, a huge block of ice that I always wanted to visit. Every summer, climbing Elbrus was considered as one of the options, but was constantly postponed until later. First there were the native Siberian Sayans, Baikal and Altai. Later - Kamchatka, Tien Shan, a month of hiking in the Himalayas, climbing Mont Blanc. Finally, after moving from Moscow to Sochi, I proclaimed the “Caucasus season” for myself, devoting winter and spring to hiking in the Western Caucasus in the vicinity of Krasnaya Polyana. By the beginning of summer, it became clear that the physical fitness lost during seven years of living in Moscow had been more or less restored and time Big Mountains it's arrived!

UPDATE! IN May holidays In 2017, my friends and I climbed Elbrus from the south along the classic route. Read this story too.

Day 1. Transfer to Emmanuel's clearing

Getting from Sochi to the Elbrus region is not difficult - you take a direct train in the evening and early in the morning you are already in Mineralnye Vody. As agreed, Yuri was waiting for me on the platform. His clothes and characteristic “spectacled tan” immediately revealed him as an experienced tourist. We say hello, load my things into the trunk of the outdoor-style Niva, pick up Artyom at the airport and head out to the mountains!! There is beauty all around - the morning fog covers the tops of the laccoliths, scattered here and there in the steppe.

After a couple of hours' drive the most beautiful road We climb the spur of the mountain, from which a postcard view of Elbrus opens from the north! According to Yura, the road has recently become much better. The mountain from here looks truly majestic: a huge two-headed snow giant, dominating everything around! All the key objects of northern Elbrus are at a glance: Emmanuel's glade, the Djily-Su springs, the "airfield", the Northern shelter, the Lenz rocks, Kalitsky peak.

Artem, Yura and I against the backdrop of the northern slope of Elbrus

We go down to the ford through the Kyzylkol, a tributary of the Malka River. From here it is only a few hundred meters to the Dzhyly-su camp. Yura decides to take care of the car and drops us off in front of the ford. We are not worried - there is still a whole day ahead, and today’s program only includes a walk to mineral springs. We agree on the time when Yura will return for us after the mountain. This must be done in advance, since there is no mobile connection here anymore, it will only appear on south side Elbrus saddle or at the very top. (update 09/09/2012 - Megafon installed a tower in the camp at 3800, so now communication should work throughout the northern Elbrus region!!!)

Yura goes home to Kislovodsk, and we, without even crossing the river, decide to have breakfast right next to the shepherd’s shed. We collect water directly from the river, which flows along a wide valley where huge herds of sheep and cows graze. A little scary, but they boiled the water and thank God there were no consequences :)

After breakfast, helping each other, we hardly climb under our 30-kilogram backpacks and make a short half-hour trek to the camp. The backpacks, of course, are hellishly heavy - a powerful tent, a lot of warm clothes, hardware... It’s good that our entire short journey goes along perfectly flat terrain, so, apart from crossing the river on a hanging bridge, there are no difficulties.

In the camp in Emmanuel's clearing, life is in full swing - some are arriving, others are leaving, some are preparing to go up.

The altitude here is no longer low - 2600 meters, and the oxygen content in the air is already 1/4 lower than at sea level. So there is no need to rush to gain altitude. Our plan for today is to put up a tent, register with the Ministry of Emergency Situations and take a walk to the springs (active acclimatization is most effective). The EMERCOM camp is located right in the clearing. A pleasant woman writes down the dates of our hike, the names of the participants and contact number to contact relatives if the group finishes the route on time. At the end of the hike, so that they don’t come looking for you, you must call back and let them know that everything is OK.

After lunch we go for a walk to the Djily-Su springs. The trail starts from the hanging bridge and goes along the right bank of the river, descending two hundred meters below our camp. It’s a little annoying and lazy to drop the altitude, but it’s okay, extra acclimatization won’t hurt. Along the way we meet dozens of tourists. The people are diverse: foreigners, Cossacks with flags, experienced tourists. What can I say about the sources?? Well, that's cool. Warm mineral water gurgles straight from the ground. A bunch of locals (talked to a cool granny) go to these places every year for health reasons. But it's still early for us! The Sultan Falls, located right above the springs, was a little disappointing. It was kind of nondescript, the water was muddy, I didn’t even take a photo... We spent three hours walking from the camp to the springs and back, a good workout!

By seven o'clock in the evening we return to the camp, and here is the fun! The Cossacks are celebrating the anniversary of the first ascent of Elbrus, made by General Emmanuel in 1829 (then they also climbed from the north). The clearing has been covered, vodka is flowing like a river. They meet a Cossack with a huge backpack and a flag. Descended from the mountain. One for all?? They pour and drink a lot and noisily, but without brawling. Fun camp.

Camp at Emmanuel's Glade

There are several worth noting important points concerning the camp. The most important thing you need to know about the Jily-su camp is that there is no cell phone reception here! So, as I already said, return transport needs to be agreed upon in advance and for a certain time! There is, of course, an emergency option - the guides of some travel agencies that work along the route “Elbrus from the North” have satellite phones and, in principle, probably for a little money, you can call from their phone. In the clearing, enclosed by a small fence, there is the territory of a small commercial project called “Alpine camp Donkey”. There is a real cafe, an outdoor shower and even the Internet. Menu - soup, main course, cola, beer! It's true that it's not cheap.

Northern slopes of Elbrus from Emmanuel's glade

Starry sky of the Elbrus region

Timing of the day:

• 5:30 - departure from Minvod
• 9:30 - 11:45 - breakfast at the river crossing
• 12:30 - camp at Emmanuel's clearing
• 16:00 - 19:30 - walk to the springs

Day 2. Ascent to "Mushrooms"

The classic program for climbing Elbrus from the north, usually designed for 9 - 10 days, assumes that the next day after arriving at the Dzhyly-su camp you make a radial acclimatization trip to the camp at 3700. Therefore, there is no time for people to relax and as soon as it was dawn, the camp began to buzz like beehive - some are hastily packing tents, others are having breakfast, the fastest ones are already heading out to the acclimatization exit to the northern shelter, at 3700. The climbers (you can see them right away - tanned, thin) are waiting for their transport down. We have a lot of days to spare - as many as 12 and we are in no hurry!

Morning at the camp in Emmanuel's clearing

Instead of a radial acclimatization climb to 3700, our plan is to slowly gain this altitude in two days, making an intermediate overnight stay at an altitude of 3000 - 3200 meters, following the “500 rule” (gain no more than 500 meters from overnight stay to overnight stay). This rule is quite conditional and “with a good margin”, but its observance allows any healthy person to undergo acclimatization reliably and painlessly. If this is your first time at such a height, I advise you not to neglect it! For Americans, by the way, this rule is stricter and is called “1000 feet,” that is, only 300 meters.

The morning turned out great - warm, quiet, sunny. Therefore, we prepared for a long time and left the camp, perhaps the last, when it was already eleven o’clock :) The path to Elbrus is not difficult to find, it is the only one here and it is impossible to get lost. Nevertheless, out of long-standing habit, we still turn on the GPS, fill drinking bottles with isotonic water (melted glacial water is “empty” and washes salts out of the body), generously apply sun cream to our nose, ears, cheeks, neck and begin to gain altitude! After the very first meters, it becomes clear that we crashed steeply because we refused to take hats (we decided to save weight!!!). The sun is almost overhead and blazing harshly. It's not easy going! But there is nowhere to go.

The first kilometers of the trail to the northern shelter

Gaining altitude is not easy. Not only do our backpacks weigh up to 30 kilos, but also high-altitude mountaineering boots do not add agility. Still, for such approaches you need to have sneakers, and because of the relief, we took just sandals as a second pair, in which with such a backpack, and even on such a terrain (the trail in some places goes over a cliff, the river roars below, then fresh scree here and there) is not entirely correct. But nothing, the main thing now is not to twitch, get into a rhythm, walk calmly, after all, the altitude is about 3000 meters, it can cover you...

Slowly but confidently we gain the first 200-300 meters and reach iconic place- "airfield". The unique topography made this area suitable for use as a real military airfield during the Great Patriotic War. The Germans had a lot of control here in 1942...

"Airdrome", altitude 2800

The “airfield” is a scorched plateau in the open sun at an altitude of 2800 meters. I remember another golden rule of tourism: “On the first day of the hike, do not overload!” We find a little shade near one of the volcanic boulders and have a midday siesta - we finish a snack (hematogen, dried apricots) and drink the prepared tea from thermoses in the morning (for the first time we took small personal half-liter thermoses, very useful!). After a snack we even manage to take a nap for about fifteen minutes :). I wake up to the sound of Spanish speech - funny foreigners are camping right in the middle of the “airfield”. Tough! Well, okay, the Spaniards can do it, they are used to the heat :))

Immediately after the “airfield” the trail climbs steeply. We make another +200 meters and turn off the main trail, which continues to gain altitude and goes straight to the northern shelter. We turn left, towards the “mushrooms”. The trail first goes through a quiet valley, then winds a little among huge volcanic mounds. I remembered the trip to Kamchatka, deja vu!

I won’t say that by that moment my strength was running out, it was still there. But when, having gained about 500 meters in altitude from our morning stop, we came to a fabulous clearing with a small clear spring, the decision was made instantly - we’ll stay here for the night! We reached the required altitude of about 3000 meters (in fact 3100), there was beauty, silence and no one all around. What an unexpected gift, just an hour's walk from the main trail.

Camp on Paradise Glade (3100)

The places are fantastic! I didn’t even expect it to be so cool here. It is also surprising that it is quite clean. There is practically no garbage. Following the environmental code, we take out our trash bag (garbage bag) - you just can’t raise your hand to shit in such places! While I was running around our heavenly meadow with my camera all evening, Artem ran in his slippers to “Mushrooms” - it turns out they are right above us. Grabbing the tripod, I rushed up the hill in pursuit of the fleeing rays of the setting sun. Missing the “golden hour” is a sin! I barely managed to capture my beloved self with these things before sunset!

View north

Self-portrait with beloved "Mushroom"

The northern slope of the Eastern peak of Elbrus and the path to the Lenz rocks

In the vicinity of Paradise Glade

In the evening I had a seditious thought - to change the plan of the hike. Well, I don’t want to dial 3700 tomorrow morning and leave our wonderful Paradise Glade. I really want to not only climb Elbrus, but also see the nature of the Northern Elbrus region! Therefore, tomorrow we decide to “run away” lightly to the radial to the area of ​​Kalitsky Peak and the Jikaugenkez Plateau, and at the same time find a mysterious lake that is hiding somewhere in one of the moraine pockets.

Timing of the day:

• 11:00 - leaving the camp at Emmanuel's clearing
• 13:00 - 14:00 lunch break at the "airfield"
• 16:00 - camp at 3100

Day 3. Radial to Kalitsky Peak and Jikaukengoz Plateau

We left again late, in the heat... Well, I want to get some sleep, it’s a vacation after all! And the terrain still allows walking during the day - there are no couloirs or slopes dangerous for rockfalls nearby. Our goal - the Jikaukengez ice fields - seems to be nearby and almost at our same altitude, but the first impression is deceptive. During a short section of the traverse, you have to constantly go up and down, crossing small, about fifty meters deep, valleys of streams running down from the northern slopes of Elbrus. But, again, a positive attitude helps us out - we’ll get more here, we’ll better acclimatize! So let's go, sweat, but don't grumble. Fortunately, there are the most beautiful unreal lunar-Martian landscapes on either side! It’s a pity for those who follow the short, classic route - they don’t see half of all the beauties of these places!

Cerastium (Cerastium)

The Jikaukengez ice field itself was a little disappointing - stones, gray ice, brown water. But I was pleased with the unreal tiny valley on the way - a clear stream with cool water and unusual flowers. Here, among the black and brown ruins of solidified lava, it looks fantastic and seems like some kind of fairy tale. I remember my other mountain hikes and am amazed at how diverse the mountains are. For example, in Kamchatka, at such a height, winter reigns even in summer, and in the Himalayas there is a real pine forest.

We return to camp tired and hungry. Still, the exit took six hours!!! Instead of throwing a little doshirak, a can of saury and a JetBoil into the backpack and having a normal lunch, we only took a snack in the form of a handful of dried apricots and hematogen. But nothing, but the acclimatization went with a bang, and we saw some very interesting places!

Timing of the day:

• 10:00 - departure from camp 3100
• 13:30 - reached the beginning of the Jikaukengoz ice plateau
• 16:00 - returned to camp 3100

Day 4. Ascent to the Northern Shelter (3700 m)

Once again we leave late. I somehow relaxed; I didn’t have any problems with this before. We climb along the already familiar path past the mushrooms. The trail cleverly bypasses the spur on which these interesting rock formations on the left, so as not to climb sharply uphill. Having gained half the altitude set for today, we take a lunch break with a snack. There is absolutely no water around ( muddy water from the streams it doesn’t look at all appetizing), but you’re thirsty and need it! The isotonic drink is going well, but our half-liter personal thermoses, filled with hot sweet tea in the morning, come in handy.

After a snack we decide to rest some more. Despite the decent altitude (already 3400), it is very hot. We made what turned out to be a very correct decision - we put one of my two thermal T-shirts under the knife and made two excellent bandanas from it, almost branded (the LowAlpine logos glow on the forehead!) It immediately becomes lighter, the white color and even an excellent thermal material is excellent reflects the rays of the southern midday sun and does not cause discomfort from overheating - the fabric is too small and has microscopic holes.

Artem on the climb to the northern shelter

At an altitude of 3500 we again reach the main, rough trail along which the vast majority of climbers ascend. It becomes noisy and fun again, you can watch your “colleagues in misfortune.” It’s interesting to see who is dealing with what (occupational illness) and how, and who has acclimatized how. We seem to be fine - our appetite is excellent, our pulse is normal. True, Artem’s head hurts a little, but this is normal, his body is working! The last three hundred meters to the shelter the trail goes steeply uphill, rising onto a glacial moraine. The path forks. Since there is nowhere else to go here except to the shelter, we decide that they both go to the same place and decide to take the right one, which rises more gently to the top. Then it turned out that it was better to take the left one, since it goes directly to the tent camp, while our right one goes out a couple of hundred meters to the west, to Oleinikov’s huts.

Glacier to the right of the trail

Oh, we were so tired on the last meters of this path! The path began to divide and merge again, in places getting lost among the scree with areas of “live” stones. There was a moment when I even doubted whether we were going the right way, but suddenly, somewhere above, against the sky, first a wooden cross appeared (or did I imagine it?), and then a felt boot (!) on a stick, which I remember exactly. It turned out that this is a landmark for doubters like us, pointing very precisely to Oleinikov’s huts :) When we finally got to the top, the whole camp came to look at us, and especially the guide guys working “for Petrovich” (Oleinikov). Apparently they don’t often see such backpacks, because 99% of the people don’t do a traverse with an overnight stay on a saddle, which means they don’t need tents and as many warm clothes as we carry!

Friends, technical report on the trip(diagrams, track and coordinates, prices and budget) can be found on a separate page "Technical report".

I’m really hungry and the guys kindly invite me to the dining table in Oleinikov’s main hut. We take out our fashionable JetBoil and prepare lunch for ourselves in a couple of minutes - pour boiling water over Gala-Gala freeze-dried buckwheat and drink a couple of mugs of tea. It turns out that one of the guys working as a guide doesn’t eat meat! A lively discussion ensues, full of jokes and banter. It seems that someone even suggested betting whether the “vegetarian” would survive until the end of the season! To which the culprit of the dispute replied that on the mountain he would give odds to any meat-eater :)

Oleynikov's hut at 3700

From Oleynikov’s hut to the places where you can set up your tent, it’s five minutes of wandering among huge lava blocks and small puddles of water and snow on the edge of the glacier. Unexpectedly I meet Danya, an old friend of mine. By his tan and lean figure, I immediately recognize a man who has already climbed Elbrus more than a hundred times. I ask where is the best place to stand. Points to a place a couple of hundred meters away from the main tent camp place - it’s quieter, there’s more space for camping and water is right next door.

Thanks to Dani's advice, we are in a really good place. I was surprised that there were a lot of free sites in the camp area. We choose the largest and widest one with a ready-made windproof wall made of stones. For the first time during this trip, we set up not only the inner tent, but also the upper awning. The weather at these altitudes can change suddenly, so it's best to prepare ahead of time! In the evening we go to visit, see how life is in the main camp where there are tents of commercial groups. We really are better! It's cramped here, there are almost one tent on top of the other, and it's noisy. I can imagine what it will be like to sleep here when the next climbers start tossing around from 1 am, preparing for the assault exit, which is usually scheduled for 2 am.

Timing of the day:

• 11:30 - departure from the camp at 3100
• 13:30 - 14:30 - lunch and break at ~ 3500 m
• 16:30 - climbed to the northern shelter at 3700

Day 5. Day break

Usually, the day after the first overnight stay at the Northern Shelter, climbers make an acclimatization climb to the Lenz rocks to an altitude of 4600 (beginning of the rocks) or 4800 (middle). After this there is usually a day of rest, and on the night of the third day there is an attempt to storm the summit. But we have our own plan. Spending the night on the saddle of Elbrus requires you to have excellent acclimatization, which cannot be achieved in one walk to the Lenz rocks... Therefore, our plan is this: to be sure, we take a rest day at 3700, on the second day we go on an acclimatization trip to the Lenz rocks (at the same time we add gas, food and some of the things that will be needed only at the top), on the third day we still rest, on the fourth we go up to our drop-off point on the Lenz rocks, spend the night there and on the fifth day we go out to the saddle of Elbrus. We have enough days, so everything will be OK!!!

Again we sleep until we stop... But today we can, because we have a day and a day of additional acclimatization. We crawled out of the tent at the beginning of ten, when the sun peeking out from behind the moraine warmed the temperature inside the tent to +25 degrees! And this despite the zippers on the tent doors being open on both sides and the ventilation holes under the canopy being open. This is what high mountain sun and clean mountain air that does not interfere with the sun mean :)

Glacier or meringue cake? :)

At lunchtime we set aside gas and food for delivery. The result was a three-day reserve - a day to go to the saddle, a day to reserve for bad weather on the Lenz rocks or on the saddle, and a day to descend to Bochki. After lunch, we watched rescue operations right from our camp. Grandfather, who had been climbing to the summit yesterday evening, became ill at an altitude of 5000. The rescue guys had to lower him into the akye (photo). Fortunately, everything ended well. When the grandfather was rolled down to 3800, he got up from the akya and little by little hobbled to his tent...

Day 6. Transfer to the Lenz rocks (4800 m) + acclimatization

The camp has its own routine of life. First, those who go to storm the summit of Elbrus wake up. Their day is long and hard. It's no joke - gain two thousand vertical meters, and then also descend back to the camp. That’s why they go out early, at one or two in the morning, with flashlights. The second echelon of climbers wakes up at dawn - their plan is half as big, to climb to the Lenz rocks and down. These leave at 7 - 8 in the morning, this is enough to go down to the camp by four or five o'clock.

We overslept everything again and left only at nine! But it’s good - no one is breathing down your back! We go at our own pace, “don’t bother anyone” :) Right at the camp, the trail goes out onto the glacier. The first two hundred meters of the climb pass along the flat part of the firn zone. We put on the crampons, systems, the rope is not needed yet, we throw it under the backpack flap. We quickly rise to an altitude of 4000. Four years ago in Nepal, it was at this altitude that I first encountered symptoms of altitude sickness - I ate almost nothing for dinner, and before going to bed I had to take a pill for a headache.

Pimpled ice at 3900

At an altitude of 4000 - 4200 meters, the top passes through a zone of cracks. The cracks are not wide, no wider than a meter. The path among them is marked by wooden poles stuck into the snow at a distance of 20 meters. We carefully cross the cracks on snow bridges. The slope gets steeper, you have to get to work! And the height makes itself felt. A drop in body power is felt due to a decrease in oxygen content in the air. You have to consciously work on your breathing and walking technique. The guys from Pyatigorsk (firemen!) who overtook us had an unusual lifting technique - rest on the upper leg, while the lower leg was free from load, which gave the muscle rest. I try it - it’s interesting, it really seems easier!

Caucasus from an altitude of 4400 meters

At a lonely stone sticking out of the snow at an altitude of 4400 we unravel; there are no cracks higher up. This place is noticeable. Climbers gather here in flocks - those going up take a breath, those going down admire the surrounding panoramas. The views are truly impressive! In the southeast they proudly soar above the clouds highest peaks Caucasus - Bezengi peaks, a cult area for truly serious mountaineering. You should definitely go to the mountain camp there for a shift!!

"Party" at the stone not reaching the lower cliffs of Lenz

Another 200 meters of “ploughing” (inhale and exhale almost every step) and we finally climb to the Lenz rocks. Directly below the rock there is a small area, more or less protected from the wind, where you can throw your backpacks and catch your breath. In principle, if you are not feeling well or the weather is bad, then this altitude will be enough for acclimatization. But we have a different goal - to scout out a place for a future overnight stay on the “medium” cliffs of Lenz at an altitude of 4800 and it is advisable to find that same metal kung near the ruins of a military helicopter that fell several years ago. These two hundred meters of height are already really difficult - the speed drops significantly, each step is given with effort. Thoughts in my head are only about one thing: if now, with one 10-kilogram backpack for two, it’s so difficult to walk, then how will we go the day after tomorrow with 20-kilogram backpacks??

Icefall below the Elbrus saddle

Suddenly my eyes begin to water. My old Cebe glasses don't block UV light? This will be an ambush! I take out a ski mask from the flap of my backpack, maybe it will be better with it? In reality, it turns out everything is simple - sweat mixed with sun cream got into your eyes. Finally 4800. Somewhere there should be helicopter parts and the long-awaited kung! We find it without any problems. The door is open, no one is inside. The interior is certainly not a five-star hotel - the kung itself stands half on its side, the floor is covered with snow and ice. Of course, you won’t be able to get a good night’s sleep here. We mark this place as a last resort.

Kung on the "medium" cliffs of Lenz (4820 m)
Photo: (c) Artem Ustyugov

While we have strength and the weather is good, we decide to find a site to set up a tent. Judging by the windproof walls made of stones, it becomes clear that people are standing right here. We are afraid that these walls will not save us from harsh weather. About thirty meters below we find a couple of places that look like they should provide good shelter from the strong wind, which, according to experienced ones, blows from the direction of the saddle. We leave here our supply, which was brought from below - food for three days, ice axes, a spare set of dishes, a second burner and a large gas cylinder. Of course, there’s an ambush with the dishes and burner, I took this set in case of unforeseen situations when working with the brand new JetBoil (you never know!), but this American miracle of technology works like a clock, and the spare MSR WindPro, which served me faithfully for God knows how many years, is stupid carry in a backpack. We mark the place using GPS; the success of the climb now literally depends on it!

We take a breath and begin to descend. Down - not up! The going is easy, the mood is good. We admire the views and cheer on those going up. For better acclimatization, we decide not to rush down, but to stay at altitude longer. We take a rest under the lower cliffs of Lenz. Nice place, protected from the wind! A group of tourists climbing up takes a hammer drill from their backpack and attaches a sign to the rock in memory of their comrades who died in this place ten years ago. Elbrus is deceptive and treacherous, we must not forget about it!

Timing of the day:

• 8:00 - departure from camp 3800
• 13:15 - 13:45 - transfer to the middle cliffs of Lenz, 4800 m.
• 14:00 - 14:30 - rest on the descent, tea at the lower cliffs of Lenz, 4600 m.
• 16:00 - descent to camp 3800

Day 7 - 9. Prison for 3700

The next day after such a load is a planned day of rest, after which - climbing. But from that day on, everything didn’t go according to plan. In the evening it started to snow, the tent was buffeted by gusts of wind all night, and in the morning winter came. It became clear that if we want to carry out the planned traverse to Terskol, and even spend two nights - on the rocks and on the saddle - we will have to wait for the weather...

A thick book taken from home “R. Amundsen” helps out. South Pole" and "R. Piri. North Pole". The most interesting diaries of unique expeditions of the beginning of the last century. We tear the book into two parts and read at the same time, Artem - one part, I - the other.

Listen to radio Kazak-FM (video)

Oleinikov's hut after an overnight snowfall

Three days of serving in a camp for 3700 is still a test. Firstly, every day at this already quite high altitude does not add strength. Moreover, from complete inactivity the body begins to lose shape. In addition, food supplies are rapidly disappearing. Well, doing nothing in itself is already demoralizing!

Bad weather in the mountains, bad weather...

We are discussing the option of abandoning the traverse to the south with an overnight stay at the saddle. Maybe just “run radially to the top like everyone else?” But after thinking it over, we decide to follow the plan to the maximum. True, for this we will have to take risks and tomorrow we will have to go out for the night on the Lenz rocks in unclear weather.

A group of brave people on the traverse of the Elbrus ice fields (high magnification!)

This is the plan - we already know the path to the landing on the Lenz rocks - our track is in the GPS. So we can get there in any weather. In case of serious weather deterioration, we can always go down (camp points and the trail track are written in GPS). Well, if the weather still permits, we spend the night on the Lenz rocks and go out to the saddle the next day. And then it will be clear - the weather is OK - so we’ll spend the night, the weather is rubbish - we’ll immediately head down south to Terskol.

Day 10. Go ahead!

In the morning we take a long time to get ready again... First, we wait until the sun comes out from behind the moraine - we need it to dry the tent awning, which is covered with a thin layer of either frost or ice. Then we pack our backpacks so that everything is at hand - rope, ice screws in case of setting up a tent in bad weather, and cameras, which you always want to keep at hand. As a result, we leave only at the 11th hour! It's extremely late. The camp is already quiet, almost no one is there, everyone is already on the route.

Having risen to a height of 4000, we notice that recent snowfalls have closed a significant number of cracks! It's extremely unpleasant to walk. I am glad that we are the last to go and see on the sides of the path tracks gaping in blackness. No way to go there! We understand the rope, we walk extremely carefully.

Crack zone at an altitude of 4000 - 4200

The cracks have been passed, the ropes have been removed...
Artem and I are at an altitude of 4300. Photo by Alexey Kalita.

Acclimatization did its job, and, despite the heavy backpacks (23-25 ​​kg each), we climbed to the Lenz rocks in about the same time as four days ago, lightly! I won’t say that it was easy (it was hard), but we climbed! Plan “A” - to spend the night in an iron kung - was covered with a copper basin, it was taken over by the guys from Stavropol, who had risen before us.

We decide to follow plan “B” and set up a tent. Right next to the kung I notice a large stone, on the leeward side of which a natural niche has formed. We decide to pitch a tent right in it. From the side of the peak, in 15 minutes of working with one shovel in turn (excellent active acclimatization, just like in the textbook!), we build a small snow wall to protect from the wind blowing from the peak.

Building a wind barrier

Let's meet our neighbors, the guys from Stavropol. It turns out that yesterday they spent the night on the lower cliffs of Lenz at 4600 in severe bad weather conditions (thunderstorm, strong wind), and today they attempted to climb the Eastern peak of Elbrus. But due to strong wind and fatigue, we didn’t reach the top by some 50 meters and decided to spend the night here, at 4800, in order to make a second attempt at climbing tomorrow.

After the previous night, they decided that there were no tents, just a kung, and they began to level the floor in this very kung! As a result, for almost three hours, at the speed of a slow-motion movie, they dragged into the kung all the stones that they could find in the surrounding area in order to level the floor inside. It’s certainly a noble cause (subsequent climbers will probably thank them!), BUT they spent so much effort on it, it’s just a bummer. As a result, when we packed up the camp the next morning, they were still sleeping and I’m not sure that they had time to go to the top. And the second night at an altitude above 4800 - well, I don’t know, it hardly added strength to them.

I wonder if they managed to complete their route?

While Artem is busy with cooking, I manage to take a little photo. Space all around. We feel like astronauts...

The good thing about The North Face Mountain 25 tent is that you can only install one inner tent if necessary. We decide to do so. There will be more air in the tent, and the main thing is that by the morning the same condensation that added a kilo to the tent yesterday will not freeze on the tent!

In the camp on the "medium" rocks of Lenz
Photo: (c) Artem Ustyugov

At sunset, as often happens, the wind rose, but the sky was clear, the weather should not deteriorate. We play it safe and put on a full set of warm clothes - thick fleece pants on our feet, warm thermal underwear, fleece and even a puff jacket on top, our favorite woolen hat made in Terskol on our heads, and fleece gloves on our hands. After all, this is an overnight stay at the height of Mont Blanc!

Lastly, we throw in a record number of pills. Of course, at such an altitude you can easily do without them, but our task is different - not just to go to Elbrus from the north, but to personally test on our bodies a “high-altitude first aid kit” for further trips to even higher mountains, so that there are no longer any surprises with individual reactions to certain drugs. Glycine to improve cerebral circulation, mezim so that dinner doesn’t go sideways, the sleeping pill Donormil, multivitamins and pharyngosept for the throat - a full combat kit is in use. To all this I add my “know-how” - I put earplugs in my ears and now the wind tormenting the tent does not interfere with falling asleep :)

Timing of the day:

• 10:15 - leaving the camp at 3800
• 16:00 - camp at 4800

Day 11. Exit to the Elbrus saddle (5380 m)

We were very lucky with the weather. After the usual post-sunset wind increase, everything calmed down. We slept well. The morning pulse measurement showed me only 60 beats per minute, Artem’s 90. This is within normal limits, which means the body is adapting. We didn't get up very early, at seven. First of all, we look outside - what’s the weather like? The temperature “outside” is only -5, but small Spindrift clouds high above us they bring alarm. From here to the saddle it seems like a short walk - the climb is only 500 meters. We decide not to change our plans - go to the saddle before lunch, and then try to go to the western peak.

Despite my generally good health, I feel a little tired and almost don’t feel like eating. For prevention, I take a cerucal tablet to prevent nausea. But in general, everything is going well, the overnight stay at 4800 passed without those very unpleasant digestive consequences that often accompany ascents.

We have breakfast, pack our things and head out. Ahead is the snow-covered slope of the eastern peak and single tracks to the top. Someone from another neighboring group had already gone out lightly in the direction of the eastern peak. So we are not walking on virgin soil, but at least following some traces. True, they are of little use to me, even Artyom’s tracks are not convenient for me and I still have to follow my own...

The 400-meter climb was not easy, but it was manageable. The main thing is to go at your own pace, it’s better to go slower, but stop less often. So the muscles do not cool down and the “pulse” and “breathing” processes work more harmoniously. At exactly noon, at an altitude of 5200 meters, we pass the last cliffs of Lenz. From somewhere here, a path to the saddle should go to the right. We find it difficult to detect traces blown by the night wind. We take a mini break at a small stone. The clock says 12:00. We are a little behind schedule, but it doesn’t seem to be critical.

Traverse towards the saddle

Suddenly, right during the halt, the wind suddenly increases and snow pellets begin to fall. We take out puffs and warm mittens. The weather is deteriorating faster and faster, visibility drops to hundreds of meters. We decide to connect with a rope. Not so much because of the cracks (although they say there is one here, albeit a little lower than the path), but in order not to lose each other in bad weather. I transfer the GPS navigator from the flap of the backpack into the pocket of the down jacket; apparently, we will look for the saddle “using instruments”. Here it is, that same Elbus weather, which, with enviable frequency, claims the lives of climbers who are too superficial about the Mountain and its deceptive good weather.

Due to headwinds and bad weather, the speed drops sharply, and the tracks disappear in a matter of minutes. We go in the direction of the treasured flag on the navigator screen, trying not to go too high. Judging by the navigator, we are already at the right altitude.

Because of the wind, as I have long noticed, a feeling of anxiety and restlessness comes over me. There is absolutely white space all around. I want to somehow capture the moment, but what to shoot? You can't see either the top or the bottom, or the mountains, or the sky, just a piece of rope leading to your partner!

Hello dear readers! As promised, I’m posting my report on climbing Elbrus. The long-awaited trip took place from August 30 to September 6, 2014. The report will contain photos and video materials, as well as my explanations for them. To enlarge a photo, click on it. Go!

So! I have been dreaming of climbing to the highest point in Russia and Europe for about 2 years, ever since I went on a mountain hiking tour in the mountains of Adygea on my “post-wedding” trip. Even then, the understanding came that adventure tourism is much more interesting than stupidly lying on the beach in Turkey, Egypt or anywhere else. And at the end of July 2014, everything is going well for me and I buy the “” tour. For anyone interested, the cost of the tour is 25,500 rubles.

On August 30 at 09:30 I fly to Mineralnye Vody, at 14:20 after a short layover in Moscow I am already there. Me and two other guys (Yura and Roma, both young guys, under 30 years old) are picked up by the miracle driver Seryoga, and we rush to the village of Cheget in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. By the way, landing in Min. The waters took place in cloudy conditions, so the plane shook noticeably all the way to the ground, which caused my heart rate to increase somewhat. As it turned out, this was nothing compared to the upcoming three-hour trip on the Kalina with Seryoga. We drove at least 130 km/h on the rather narrow roads of this region! Well, okay, as they say, “what Russian doesn’t like driving fast”?!

We arrived in Cheget and checked into the Zapovednaya Skazka hotel, I think that’s what it was called. Here, according to the program, we had to spend that night, the next day and night. This is what our village looks like from a height of 3000 meters. By the way, it itself is located in the gorge at 2000 m above sea level.

I mean the day of arrival. After checking into the hotel and a short walk around the area, it's time to meet the group and guides! There were 5 of us in the group: me, two guys with whom I was traveling from the airport (Yura and Roma) and a couple Vika + Vitya. To get acquainted, we gathered in the hotel lobby, two guides came - Oleg (he will work with us until the climb) and Pavel (as he called himself - a manager, he works more in France on Mont Blanc).

Oleg told us the plan of action for tomorrow - an acclimatization climb to a height of 3000 meters on a nearby mountain called “Cheget-Tau-Chana” or simply Cheget.

Day 2 - acclimatization at 3000 m

After having breakfast at the hotel and listening to the first dose of fables and tales from the cheerful Pavel, we took trekking poles (by the way, an amazingly convenient thing, without them in the mountains it’s just boring - they take some of the load off the legs and shoulders + additional points of support in unstable areas) and set out with light backpacks (water, snacks, sunscreen and some other small items) to Mount Cheget. The climb probably took about three hours, I didn’t remember it at that time. From this height you can clearly see the route to climb Elbrus from the south. The photo below shows two peaks legendary mountain and its slopes.

In general, on the second day of our trip, we went to acclimatize at 3000 meters, admired the beauty of the surrounding mountains, and saw the place where we would move tomorrow. In the photo below I covered part of our route for the ascent. The rest of the part is simply not visible in the photo.

By the way, in the evening I had a slight headache from climbing to an unusual height, but after a night’s sleep it all went away.

Day 3 - transfer to the shelter 3700 m

In the morning we went to rent climbing and other necessary equipment. From mine I had: a windproof jacket, a sleeping bag, a large (80 liters) and a small (30 liters) backpacks, two pairs of ski gloves (one warm), thermal underwear, a fleece jacket with a neck, ski pants, and all sorts of little things.

What did you have to rent?

• plastic climbing boots are the most important element. No super-warm ankle boots or winter sneakers will save you from the piercing wind and frost at an altitude of 5 km (in the summer at the top it can reach -20)
• cats are amazing things! Walking on the glacier is a pleasure.
• An ice ax - after 5300 m - is an extremely important thing, without it you can fly far and forever.
• safety system
• trekking poles
• down jacket (by the way, it was almost of no use; I took it off 40 minutes after the start of the ascent, as it became too hot in four layers of clothing. But this was solely due to the fact that we were lucky with the weather during the ascent and there was no strong wind)
• special down mittens (as the guide assured me, my warm Columbias don’t work at all at altitude, although these were actually enough)
• a ski mask is also a very necessary thing: 1) it covers half of the face from the wind and sun irradiation; 2) you can’t go to the mountains without sunglasses, as you can “burn” your eyes. The sun in the mountains is not only at the top, it is EVERYWHERE! Because it is reflected from white snow. For the same reason, I had to regularly smear the exposed skin of my face with sunscreen, otherwise I might end up lighting a cigarette in the evening! 😉

I think I've listed everything that's important. The whole thing cost me 8,500 rubles in 5 days. These expenses are not included in the tour price, so you need to take them into account.

We took our equipment, adjusted it, packed our backpacks and at 12 o’clock we moved to the Azau clearing, from where we took three cable cars up to the base camp - the tourist shelter “At Islam”, located 50 meters above the famous “Barrels”. Next photo:

Cable car ride from Azau station to base camp
Arrived at the Barrels shelter - 3700 meters

Then we were “lifted” directly to our shelter on a snowcat (this is a local all-terrain vehicle that can climb to a height of up to 5100 meters). After which we settled into wonderful trailers! Here is a photo of our camp -

Tourist shelter "At Islam" - 3700 meters

Ours was that blue trailer! 😉 Just like in the song about the blue carriage that runs and sways, only ours stood and swayed from the wind, and, falling asleep, we thought that it wouldn’t roll into the “abyss” located to our right, you can see it in the photo, there’s only -nothing 150-200 meters flight! But this only added courage to our adventure! 😉

In the evening I was pleasantly surprised by the local “canteen” - one of the trailers standing on the rocks. Our cook Nadya (by the way, a former mountaineering instructor with 15 years of experience) created amazing breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and before going to bed she told us another portion of scary tales about Elbrus, about the “corpse collector”, tourists falling into ice cracks and so on...

Our "dining room" on the rocks

Tales before bed...

So, as I already said, our Nadya and Oleg (guide) told a lot at our requests interesting information, including various kinds of “nightmares”: cracks in a glacier up to 180 meters deep, thunderstorms and bad weather in the mountains and what all this is fraught with... Therefore, falling asleep, for another hour and a half I personally thought about how I wouldn’t end up in one of these cracks and don't float away in the underground lake! :]]] So funny of course! But there really isn't much that's funny.

Every year the mountain takes 3-4 people missing, and sometimes at one time 11 people out of a group of 14 people died while descending from the peak in bad weather (a group of Canadians who went without a guide, simply relying on the experience of someone from the group) . Literally in July of this year, a guy died on the top of Elbrus, whose girlfriend was photographed posthumously when, while at the top, he raised his hands with trekking poles... What do you think happened?! He was killed by lightning - he made himself a lightning rod!

So they strictly explained to us that it’s better not to raise your hands up during a thunderstorm... In general, a thunderstorm in the mountains is the worst thing a natural phenomenon. I was not lucky enough to encounter this, but our guides said that while driving in storm cloud(don’t forget that the height of Elbrus is 5642 meters, and the clouds are also below you) hair stands on end, metal parts of the equipment begin to hum and sparkle with blue light... as they say, the sight is eerie and the only right decision in such a situation is it's an immediate descent. And secondly, all metal elements of clothing and equipment are put into a backpack, which is tied to a rope and dragged along at a distance of several tens of meters.

The second main danger is closed cracks. What it is? The entire mountain, starting from a certain height, is covered with a glacier several hundred meters deep. The glacier is constantly moving and cracks form on its surface and in its depths. And it’s good if you can see them, you can get around them. Much more dangerous are closed cracks that are covered with snow and you walk on it. At one moment you can fall through and get stuck somewhere at a depth of 30-40 meters with broken legs... This is of course the worst option, but this happens from time to time.

By the way, when climbing from the South, Elbrus has only one relatively safe route (which everyone actually takes), where the glacier rests on the rock (something like this) and for this reason is relatively stable and rarely moves. Therefore, tourists fall into the cracks and go astray due to ignorance of the path or bad weather that leads them away from the safe path.

Acclimatization at 4050 meters

On the same day, we put on climbing boots, put on glasses, smeared ourselves with cream and went for a short walk to the rescue base at an altitude of 4050 meters.

Day 4 - Pastukhov Rocks

This day we had an acclimatization trip to the Pastukhov Rocks, located at an altitude of 4700 meters. You could say this is the first serious “test”. At this altitude, some people already begin to experience altitude sickness, or “mountain sickness” as it is called here. The manifestations are completely different for everyone: almost all people have a headache; nausea, dizziness, abnormal bowel movements... Fortunately, apart from a headache upon returning to camp, I had nothing else.

We covered the 1 km vertical climb in about 4 hours, taking into account stops and rests. We had a snack at altitude and went “home”. Let's look at the photo:

Day 5 - rest before climbing

Today we had a late rise, breakfast at 9:00 and a free day to rest before the night climb. Also on this day, guide Oleg (or sensei, as we called him) gave us a short lesson on the technique of moving along the “railing” using a safety net and the technique of self-restraint using an ice ax when falling.

Tonight we had an early rise at 3:00, a light breakfast at 3:30 and departure for the climb at 4:30. The night before we gathered in two groups (our 5 + 5 people from another group who also lived at our shelter, they were from another tour company) + our guides. The forecast at the time of the climb to the top was not good at all - 10:00 - thunderstorm! This is the worst thing that can happen, as I already wrote above. For this reason, as well as another one - in the second group there were weak participants (the day before, only 1 participant out of 5 was able to reach Pastukhov Skal), it was decided to set out to climb to an altitude of 5100 meters on a snowcat. By the way, here is a photo of this miracle machine -

In the foreground, by the way, I’m standing in a blue bandana with a bunch of gear on my backpack! At this moment we “take off” from the snowcat after arriving at the base camp (I wrote about this above).

In general, on the rest day we prepared our equipment and went to bed early, at 22:00... Then a couple of photos from this day and a short video:

The same “corpse collector” - cracks on the descent from the top

Day 6 - climbing the Western peak of Elbrus - 5642 meters

Rise - 03:00

Light breakfast - 03:30

Departure of the group, accompanied by 2 guides (for every 4 tourists - 1 guide) - 04:30. In the photo below, I'm on the right -

In fact, we left by snowcat at 04:45, since the members of the second group were late. At 05:15 we were at an altitude of 5100 meters. The snowcat cannot go any further. We parachuted in, adjusted our uniforms and took off!

Soon our group was divided into two: we were three guys, we walked more confidently, one guide went with us, and our couple Victor and Vika walked less confidently, the second guide took them.

At 09:27, the three of us reached a height of 5642 meters on the Western peak of Elbrus - the highest point in Russia and Europe.

And here is a short video from the top of Elbrus!

We took pictures and admired... really there was nothing special to admire! 😉 Since by the time of our ascent, which took 4 hours (542 meters in 4 hours), the weather had already begun to deteriorate and we had to go down, since the road back took another three hours.

The descent was far from easy, especially for some of the participants. I forgot to mention that after 5000 meters above sea level, due to the low concentration of oxygen in the air, some people begin to experience “amazing” changes in the body: according to the story of our guide, one man suffered from cerebral edema, the cerebellum was compressed and he could not coordinate his movements and speech, so he was simply tied up and dragged down on a rope. All three of us had an “incident” with our legs, or rather with the brain in terms of controlling the legs. With your mind you understand where and how to go, but your legs live their own life and go as they please... ;))) Not a very pleasant feeling actually! Fortunately, for me it went away literally in 15 minutes, but for Yuru it “held” until the descent to 3700 m, where we reached about 13 o’clock.

Descent from Elbrus - Yura had a show-off with upright walking

Descent from Elbrus - people are 40 meters away on the left, they are almost invisible

In short, we successfully descended in more than 3 hours to our shelter, pleasant fatigue set in and an exchange of opinions began. The next day we descended 2000 meters to the village of Cheget to our hotel. Then there was a “farewell” bathhouse, a cafe, barbecue and “Balkar style meat”, but this is no longer the topic of my article... 😉

Who is interested in the price of the issue, I can give an approximate calculation of how much it cost me: voucher - 25,500 rubles, tickets to the city. Mineral water- 25,000 rubles, equipment rental - 8,500 rubles, snowcat rental for lifting - 4,900 rubles, other expenses (cafe, bathhouse...) - 6,000 rubles. Total: about 70,000 rubles.

In short, I got incredible pleasure from this adventure (I don’t want to call it anything else), no beaches can compare with this, it’s completely different: overcoming oneself, going beyond comfort, learning something completely new...

Investing in projects covered on this blog involves certain risks, up to and including complete loss of the invested funds. The author is not responsible for the actions of companies/projects described on the blog. Blog materials are for informational purposes only and do not call for any action.

Meeting with the group in Kislovodsk. Anatoly is an instructor, Vladimir and Dmitry are experienced climbers.

We drove from Kislovodsk on a gazelle to the village of Khurzuk, Karachay-Cherkessia, in about 3 hours. We stopped at the Gumbashi pass, had a snack with khychin and ayran, admired the wonderful views and rushed on.

In Khurzuk, having agreed with a local resident for 3000 rubles (at that time it was about $100), we continued our journey in a UAZ. We drove through a pine forest with numerous river crossings on bridges made of logs.
Every time we approached a river, the driver poured a bucket of water into the radiator to cool the beast-machine. In 2 hours we covered about 20 km and reached the last point of civilization called Djily-su, set up tents near the closed base of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, ate porridge and went to bed.

Day 2:
We woke up, washed ourselves with water from the well, ate muesli, drank tea and hit the road. We walked along the ridge, it was terribly uncomfortable; because of the slope, one leg was often higher than the other. Beauty, wild nature, not a soul besides us. We communicate, from our conversations I begin to understand where I ended up smile emoticon . Elbrus is not for beginners, Elbrus from the north, especially. Horror stories the accidents on the mountain turn out to be true. Anatoly does not dramatize, but confirms the authenticity of all the accidents that I have heard about. From the very beginning, I decided for myself that the ascent would be without fanaticism. Everything is under control for now. Dmitry and Vladimir share their past exploits and worry whether they will be able to conquer the summit. Do you have enough strength to climb, what if the weather is bad, because the previous group didn’t climb because of the weather?.. What if the mountain won’t let you? Looking ahead, I will say that climbers are wildly superstitious. Dima refused to go “for water”, it was like being carried away by a river, so we walked “on water”. And I already considered the ascent successful, a lot of impressions from yesterday and I had already set my high-altitude record when I ate khychin).

Stop for a modest lunch, Snickers and tea. There is no time for a full lunch, and you can’t eat heavily because it will be difficult to move on. It was still dark when we arrived at the parking lot, Balk-Bashi pass, altitude 3600, fresh air, clear spring water from the stream.

A charming view of the Elbrus glacier; the roar of breaking off blocks of ice can be heard periodically. We cook porridge with stew, dinner is our main meal. We drink tea, discuss tomorrow’s route, prepare mentally for the fact that it will be difficult. Let's go to bed.

Day 3:
A difficult section of the route, descending into the valley to the source of the Malka River. Constant ups and downs. Descending down a hill the size of a skyscraper was quite an adventure. A very steep slope, small and not so small stones move in a stream with you. We descended in a traverse in twos, parallel to each other, so that the rockfall would not hit the one below. Anatoly and Volodya went first, it looked very beautiful and smooth, almost like a ski descent, only instead of skis there were boots, instead of snow there were stones. Dima and I are sitting and waiting, we have already lost sight of the first bunch. Anatoly shouts that they are already below, it’s time to go down. I can’t get up, the slope is so steep that it seems that if you stand up straight, you’ll immediately roll down, the heavy backpack makes it difficult to catch my balance and straighten up. The sticks that are supposed to help get in the way due to lack of experience. After several unsuccessful attempts, I manage to get up and move down, periodically I fall and get up with difficulty. After 2/3 of the descent I learned to keep my balance, and then I glide with pleasure. Below we pour stones out of our shoes and move on.
We came to a fast and wide river; we had to cross to the other side. We spent about an hour looking for a convenient place. Balancing and jumping from rock to rock with 20 kg on your back is not easy at all. We insure each other and find ourselves on the other side, change our shoes and continue our journey. Since the river meandered, we had to repeat this trick several times.
We pass by the dragon's teeth, it begins to rain and hail, we increase the pace. I'm really thirsty, and I'm sucking on hailstones. I've had no strength for a long time. Anatoly says that we are almost there, our camp is on the hill, “Aerodrome”. Having gathered all our willpower into a fist, we climb the plateau, walk another 2 km and we are there.

Day 4:
Today we have to get to the base camp, an altitude gain of 900m. We leave some of the equipment and food for the return trip at the drop-off point. Over the past few days, I have realized the value of every gram in my backpack, so I leave everything that is unnecessary. For example, a second thermal T-shirt and a silicone mug turned out to be superfluous, because you can drink from the thermos cap. I suggest taking one toothpaste for everyone, and Tolik wonders why we didn’t do this from the very beginning.
It is very difficult to walk, a steep, endless climb. The landscape changes every year, so there is no permanent path, you have to make your way through trial and error. We stop several times for 15-20 minutes to catch our breath and go up again. A group of climbers descends, we say hello, Dima asks: “Where are you from?” - they answer: “From above” smile emoticon.
In the evening we arrive at the base camp. We find only a few tents, few climbers, it’s already the end of the season and the last shift of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
When you take off your backpack, you get a second wind, we go to the glacier “by water”.
I wash my face with ice water, a smile appears on my face, and I’m in a great mood. It seems that the top is within easy reach, but it only seems...

Day 5:
Acclimatization hike to the Lenz rocks (4700 m), elevation gain of 1000 m. Our dress rehearsal before the ascent, the purpose of which is to test the equipment and the body’s reaction to a height that has never been before.
The fear of any climber is mountain sickness. "Gornyashka" can develop due to oxygen deprivation along with aggravating factors, such as physical fatigue, cooling, dehydration, severe weather, sudden changes in temperature, etc. “Gornyashka” is a terrible thing, it can lead to swelling of the lungs and brain. Therefore, when symptoms arise, the best medicine is down, down and down again.
At a nearby shelter I rent boots 2 sizes too big, they are incredibly smelly, I’m lucky that I even found these. For the first time in my life I put on crampons and sharp spikes so as not to slip on the ice. There are many cracks on the glacier into which you can fall, so we go together. I control every step so as not to get caught in the crampon or step on the rope. Tolik has an ice ax ready in case someone falls. His task is to quickly “hack himself” to stop us from sliding down. We conduct snow and ice training on the Lenz rocks and return to the camp.
Despite extreme fatigue, I feel good, my body adapts perfectly to the altitude and lack of oxygen. Let's rest.

Day 6:
We have two days to climb: today and a spare day tomorrow.
If everything goes well, we will go out at night to storm the summit.
We eat, relax, gain strength, enjoy the views and walk around the camp. Only in the mountains can you get sunburned and frostbite at the same time. We sit near the tent, the bright sun burns our face, but our back is freezing. In a matter of minutes, we are enveloped in clouds, the weather turns bad, and it begins to snow. We hide in a tent, play cards, chat. The likelihood that today will be suitable conditions for climbing is very small, but there is hope. It was wildly cold, visibility was zero.
Under such conditions, there is not the slightest desire to attempt an assault; I don’t even want to get out of my sleeping bag. I decide for myself that if the weather suddenly “improves” and Tolik says “go ahead,” I will stay in the camp and wait for the group to return.
It’s snowing, we take turns digging out the tent so that it doesn’t get completely covered with snow and we don’t suffocate.

Day 7-8:
Tonight is the last chance to walk along the top of Elbrus. I don’t like the expression “conquering the peak”; in the mountains you realize how small and helpless you are. A strong gust of wind can carry you into a crack, and you won’t be found for the next hundreds of years, you can stumble and die, you can freeze something or break something...
In the evening, the weather on Elbrus worsens, so the ascent begins at night in order to return safely before the evening. We wake up around one in the morning, the weather is excellent, we are about to climb. Elevation gain 1900 meters. Lenz rocks, where we went for acclimatization, are half the way. But mathematics doesn’t work in the mountains; in terms of time and difficulty, the Lenz rocks are only 30% of the ascent. If I had known how difficult it would be to get to the top, I would have stayed in the tent.
We leave around two in the morning, walking with headlamps. The beauty is incredible, the stars are not only overhead, but also on the side. It seems that you are at the same height with them. The stars are so close that you can touch them. We overcome the familiar route to the Lenz rocks and continue to gain altitude.
We were joined by a large group led by the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Saving people is a dangerous and thankless task, which is why EMERCOM officers prefer to be instructors during working hours. Tolik was assigned as a trail leader, and he ran far ahead, bringing up the rear as a rescuer.
At the last section, a magical stone awaits the climbers, and the magic is that the closer you get to it, the further away it seems. To increase my chances of climbing, I don't look at it. Dima is far behind. I follow Volodya, it’s easier psychologically.
On the ascent, when it is already very difficult to move forward, there is a technique called “counting steps.” For example, you set a goal of 50 steps, reached the goal, stopped, set the next goal, and so on. Tolik explained in advance that 50 steps is very good, 20 is also very good, and 5 steps is also very good. I decide to take 200 steps to quickly get to the magic stone, from which the top is already nearby. But this system did not work, the forces ran out long ago, the magic stone is infinitely far away.
I walk around Volodya, he has been standing for too long, and my feet are already starting to freeze. Tolik is standing near the magic stone, I go up to him, and he says that this is not the peak yet... We wait for the others and together in about half an hour we climb to the eastern peak of Elbrus, height 5621 m.
It is difficult to describe the wonderful views that opened up to us. But there is no time or special desire to admire for a long time. There is a strong wind at the top, it is very cold, you want to quickly find yourself in a warm and safe sleeping bag. We take pictures and begin our descent. If you didn’t have the strength to go up already, it’s not clear how to go down.
The feeling that if you close your eyes, you will immediately pass out. The weather is getting worse, strong winds, snowing, visibility is poor. The glacier scares us the most, we can barely drag our feet, and there we have to be very careful so as not to fall into a crack. We drink snow with tea, fill the thermos cap with snow, pour tea on top, so we get more of it.
Dima is feeling very bad, Tolik gives him vitamins and the last of his tea, we sort out the contents of his backpack among ourselves, and move on. We safely passed the glacier and around 3 pm we were back in a warm tent. The climb was successful!!!

Why do people go to the mountains? It seems like a simple question, but for some reason you will never hear a definite answer. Maybe because there is no universal, correct answer? Everyone who goes to the mountains has their own goal, their own motive. Achieve something previously impossible for you. Test yourself. Test the friend you are going on a hike with. To prove to someone that you are no worse, that you were able to do it, too. Switch gears, escape from reality. Take a wonderful photo at the edge of the world. We can think of many more reasons. But is it necessary to do this? Probably, not. Still, mountaineering is not about mountains. These are people who go to the mountains together.

For me, mountaineering in general and Elbrus in particular began six months before the ascent. Thinking about how to spend your upcoming vacation. There have already been underwater adventures. Water ones too. What's next? Or higher? Mountains? Why not? I had no experience of mountain hiking, let alone mountaineering. I started by researching the issue on the Internet. What kind of mountains do we even have? What do you need to know and be able to do to go to the mountains? What equipment is needed? How hard is it physically? Even a cursory acquaintance with the materials of Internet sites dedicated to mountains was enough to understand that this is by no means entertainment, but a lot of hard work and struggle. Fight with yourself. Not with the mountain. It cannot be “conquered”, as some say. They stood long before us, and will stand for a very long time when we are no longer here. A person can only climb the mountain for a short time if SHE wants to let him go. Spend some time at the top, for a moment, soaring above the clouds. And go downstairs if SHE decides so and wants to let go of the little man who disturbed her peace.

During all this time, people treated the mountains with respect. The legends of many peoples say that gods live on the tops of the highest mountains. The Greeks believed that Zeus lived on Mount Olympus. And, according to Chechen legend, Pharmat (Prometheus) was chained to Mount Kazbek. According to this legend, Prometheus was a giant who stole fire for people. For this the gods severely punished him. But the hero’s suffering did not end there. Every evening the Hoopoe bird flies and pecks his heart. The Balkars have a legend that during the Flood, Noah’s ark touched the peak of Elbrus sticking out of the water. The impact was so strong that the top of the mountain split in two. Noah, tired of floating at the mercy of the waves, asked the mountain for refuge. Not forgiving the disrespectful attitude, the mountain refused. Then Noah cursed the peak: “And even if there is spring at your feet and flowers bloom, let the middle always be autumn, and the peaks be eternal winter.” And since then, the peak of Elbrus, forked by the ark, has been covered eternal ice and snow.

This mountain, covered in various legends in the epics of many peoples, had to be climbed. A prerequisite for a successful ascent is, among other things, the availability of the equipment necessary for such an event. By the way, it's quite expensive. At that moment I had practically nothing. I had to study on the Internet what people wear to the mountains now. I learned a lot about modern high-tech clothing. For six months I gradually bought the necessary equipment. I tried to take goods only from well-known, proven brands that make equipment for climbers - Sivera, Bask, Marmot, RedFox. When the issue with equipment became more or less clear, I started thinking about physical preparation for the hike. To begin with, as a warm-up, I went on a hiking trip in Crimea in May. To my chagrin, I realized that with such a physical form there was nothing to do in the Caucasus. I had to urgently, because... Time was running out for me to do some physical exercise. A The best way To prepare for climbing mountains is to run. Swimming is also very beneficial. In winter it would be nice to go skiing. But now it was already summer, the time for skiing had passed. What loads should you give when running? For myself, I decided simply - I start with 2 kilometers a day, gradually increasing the distance, and after 3 weeks I reach 10 kilometers. I completed the task, although of course, with 10-kilometer runs, daily training was out of the question - the body did not have time to rest. It was necessary to redesign the training regimen and composition. After consulting with a professional trainer, I settled on three full workouts per week. As practice has shown, this was enough to prepare for the campaign. In 3 months of such training, I lost 10 kilograms of excess weight. This result was encouraging, but of course did not guarantee anything. It was necessary to start classes earlier, at least six months, or better yet, a year, so that before leaving for the mountains, 2-3 weeks before the ascent, the pace of training should be slightly slowed down to restore the body’s strength. After all, with such active training before the trip itself, there is another risk - decreased immunity. Unexpectedly, sores that you didn’t even suspect about may “pop up”. And the course of diseases in the highlands is much more acute than in the plains. On the eve of departure, my temperature rose to 38 degrees. There were no more visible symptoms for me, a non-specialist. There was no time to run to doctors anymore. The question arose - to go or not. After weighing all the pros and cons, I decided to take a risk. In the end, I had several days for treatment on the way to the south with a transfer in Moscow. As it turns out, I made the right decision. After a couple of days I felt fine.

I traveled to Pyatigorsk, where the group’s meeting was scheduled, by train. I was somewhat surprised by the conductor’s question about my documents. It turned out the train was going through Ukraine and we had to cross the border twice. My documents were in order. I did not expect any trick from the customs officers. But in vain. As it turns out, knives with a locking blade cannot be carried on trains. And I had exactly this one. And the young guy from Udmurtia, with whom we were traveling in the same compartment, also had a knife of this type. We crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border normally. Already on the territory of Ukraine, a policeman piles into our compartment. I asked my fellow traveler, Misha, if he had a knife with him. Of course have. Show. I'm sitting next to you, and my knife is on the table. But the policeman doesn't even look at him. In short, after a short conversation in the vestibule, Mikhail’s knife leaves with the policeman.

In Pyatigorsk, the group gathered early in the morning at the station. There were three of us in total: our guide Alexander, Ivan and me. There were several hours before the grocery store opened, and we decided to take a little walk around the city, in its old part. The city is quite clean. Narrow streets. There is a house right on the street where you can drink Narzan for free. Typical seaside town.

our team

Pyatigorsk, Lermontov St.

Having bought provisions, we returned to the station, where a minibus had been waiting for us for a long time. We loaded up and went on a three-hour trip to the Adyl-Su gorge in the Elbrus region. I felt the local flavor on the road when we stopped at a gas station. I haven't seen such old gas stations for a long time. And not one of them worked. But there was a fuel tanker nearby, and those who wanted could refuel directly from it. Great service!

Herds of cows roam freely along the road, feeling like masters. Nobody is looking after them. Where can you get out of the gorge? Especially a lot of cows accumulate on bridges. They are cool there from the river and blown by the wind. The condition of the road surface on the bridge is appropriate - like in a barn. Local horsemen, on their iron horses, carefully ride around the herds, trying not to hurt anyone.

We passed several stationary checkpoints along the road. Soldiers on duty at checkpoints do not like to be photographed. The city of Tyrnyauz, the center of the Elbrus region, was built as a city of miners extracting tungsten and molybdenum. It is located at an altitude of 1300 m above sea level. When in 1938, as a result of geological exploration work, it became clear that tungsten and molybdenum ores were suitable for industrial development, a decision was made to build a tungsten-molybdenum plant. In Soviet times, the plant operated, providing life to the entire city, and was a city-forming enterprise. In the nineties the plant was closed. At present, attempts to revive the plant are leading nowhere, because... The tungsten and molybdenum mined here are very expensive and cannot compete with metals supplied from China.

We stopped at a tent camp in the Adyl-Su gorge. We walked to the border post. Behind it were the alpine camps Shkhelda, Elbrus, and Dzhantugan. But you can’t get into them without a pass to the border zone. And the pass must be ordered 2 months in advance. After taking photos against the backdrop of the mountains and the post, we began to descend back to the camp.

Camping

The next day we had our first acclimatization trip to the mountains with two overnight stays. We left in the morning. We went down the road to the village of Elbrus. We walked through it, stopping briefly at the store to buy more bread. Having gained a couple of hundred meters in height, we came to the Narzan spring. Unusually tasty water flows in a powerful stream from a pipe carefully inserted into the slope of the gorge. Unforgettable and incomparable, refreshing taste. The beauty of the mountains surrounding you. And below, clearly visible, is the village of Elbrus. But it’s too early to relax. It's time to go.

Elbrus village

We walked along the Irik River through the Irik Gorge. On the way we meet climbers to Elbrus from the East. Normal dialogue: Hello! From Elbrus? Have you gone to the Mountain? Sometimes Alexander asked a few more questions, or suggested some points to the travelers. And further and higher. We didn’t go to the Irik glacier, but turned into the Irikchat gorge. Perhaps the most vivid impression about the beauty of the mountains are associated precisely with this gorge. Unfortunately, photography cannot convey all the grandeur and power of the mountains. You have to see it, you have to experience it on the spot.

Irik Gorge

Having risen to a height of 2600 meters, we arranged our first overnight stay. Not far from the tent there was a mountain stream flowing from the glaciers. Ivan went to freshen up in a small font formed by a dam on the stream just downstream. To say that water invigorates is to say nothing. Scorchingly cold, icy. Meanwhile, the sun set behind the mountain. It immediately became very cold. We reached into our backpacks for warm jackets and fleeces. A cloud of fog crept along the gorge. This is cold air descending from high mountains, meeting the sun-warmed earth in the gorge, forming a cloud before our eyes. Ten to fifteen minutes pass and we are in a fog. Visibility is no more than a hundred meters and continues to decrease. It’s time to go to bed, having previously put all your things under the tent canopy, thereby protecting them from getting wet. But I can't sleep. We talk about life in a low voice. About the places where we went with backpacks. About plans for the future. Suddenly the silence of the night is broken by the sharp cry of a bird. We freeze. Silence. Darkness. Wait, where is Ivan? He wanted to read some book in English before going to bed near the tent by the light of a headlamp. But there is no light visible near the tent. We lean out of it on different sides. We scream into the night. We peer intensely into the darkness, hoping to spot a ray of light. What happened to him? Various thoughts are running through my head. After a few endlessly long seconds of waiting, we saw a light flash about fifty meters away. It relieved my heart. It turned out that he had gone off to take some night photographs of the mountains without warning anyone. A rash act. These are mountains. You have to be careful. And walking alone at night with a flashlight along a scree of stones can lead to very disastrous consequences. Before going to bed, we all measure our pulse. Counted 117 beats per minute. This started the acclimatization process. When you find yourself in the mountains, especially for the first time, you need to listen very carefully to how you feel in order to avoid the negative consequences of exposure to altitude.

First night's place

The next day we went further, under the Russian Officers Pass. Gradually the grass underfoot becomes less and less. Only stones. Bigger and smaller. Islands of snow are becoming increasingly common. We come out to a small flat area at an altitude of 3600 meters. Nearby there are large boulders and snowfields. We leave our backpacks and go to the pass lightly. Along the way, Sasha tells how to walk in the mountains correctly. For example, when going up and down a slope, the minimum possible interval between participants must be maintained. With such a movement, a stone that accidentally falls from under the leader’s foot, without having time to gain speed, will be stopped by the tourist following him. While talking, we gradually climb the pass. This is my first pass. Pass difficulty category 1B. Height 3819. Technically, it is not difficult. But from the emotional side it is a huge step forward. First step. And the first step is the most difficult. And here we are at the top. We open the plastic bottle left on the stone tour at the pass. There is a note from the last group that passed here. Who is going where? When they passed. Someone's note was taken and theirs was included. I ask, will we write? It turns out that it is written only when passing the pass, i.e. going up the pass on one side and going down the other. Our descent follows the path of ascent.

On the descent from the pass, we noticed three mountain goats - aurochs, who were carefully watching us from the mountain steeps. With incredible ease, as if on wings, they galloped along steep walls. I imagined how fast I would travel this path. The comparison is clearly not in my favor. And not in favor of a person at all. After watching us from afar, they descend below. They hope to profit from something tasty. But we have enough provisions ourselves. Feeding three hefty aurochs is not part of our plans. Before departure, all supplies must be securely hidden so that the next day of the hike does not become a “unloading” day in terms of food.

On the way to the camp, trouble happens. Having stepped on a moving, “living” stone, I unsuccessfully fall onto my trekking pole and bend it in the middle. I looked and there seemed to be no cracks. I'll try to fix it if I don't break it. It’s hard to climb Elbrus without it.

In the evening, the pulse was measured. 97 beats per minute. The body gets used to the altitude. The head is a little heavy, but it doesn't hurt. This is good. We spent the night normally. The tours didn't come close. They had nothing to make money from in the camp. They probably felt it.

We got up in the morning. We had breakfast. The tent is all damp from dew. But until the sun rises, it cannot be dried. I had to wait. We managed to take photos, sunbathe, and leisurely pack our backpacks. Illuminated by the sun, the tent quickly dried out. We started our descent. We met many climbers, mostly foreigners - Czechs, Slovaks, Italians.

We drank cold water from the Narzan spring and stocked up for future use. In the village of Elbrus we bought a bottle of homemade Ayran. It is so thick that you have to eat it with a spoon. There is no comparison with what they sell in our stores. Just two different products.

We arrived at Saklya, our guest house. We set up a tent. Today until evening - rest. You can relax a little. We had dinner with two Czechs. One turned out to be the director of a large furniture store. The second is a lieutenant colonel, head of the criminal police. Both understand Russian quite well. Still, they were taught Russian well in Czechoslovakia. They treated us to Czech vodka. We give them local beer. We prepared borscht. We had a great time and relaxed. The next day they were also going to Elbrus. Moreover, they planned to climb the next night. Just monsters.

In the evening another problem with ammunition was discovered. My trekking shoes did not stand the test of the Caucasian trails. The soles of both shoes burst. There was no way to climb in such shoes. We had to rent boots. Buying normal climbing shoes for one use is too expensive.

The next day in the morning a gazelle was supposed to come for us to take us to the foot of Elbrus. We plunged into the gazelle. Along the way, we left things we didn’t need for the climb for storage in one of the hotels. I rented boots, high quality and inexpensive, 250 rubles per day. Subsequently, I was repeatedly convinced of the correctness of this decision. They made the climb so much easier. In addition to the physical component - good shoes on your feet, the psychological component is also important - confidence in your equipment and, as a result, confidence in achieving your goal.

We took the lift to the Mir station, located at an altitude of 3500 meters. It was already wet, cool and windy. Temperature +5°C. Put on warm clothes. It's good that we had plenty of them. It was a pity to look at those who climbed here just to ride the ski lift and look at the mountains. The sharp rise to altitude, windy weather with drizzling rain and the lack of warm and wind- and moisture-proof clothing made real martyrs out of the excursionists. Many, just leaving the building cable car, took a couple of pictures for memory and, frozen, quickly returned back to warm up. Our path lay even higher. We take the chairlift up to 3870 meters. All. Continue on foot. You can, of course, climb on a snowcat - a special tracked vehicle used for preparing ski slopes, as well as for the transportation of goods and rescue operations. But it’s somehow uninteresting, unsportsmanlike. We decided to climb on foot to a height of 4200. This will be our advanced base camp, from which we will go out to storm the summit. Along the way we pass “Bochki” – a camp for climbers, which consists of huge iron barrels containing 4 beds and a small table. They are placed in them if it is necessary to acclimatize on the mountain. You can also launch an assault from the barrels. Although it's a bit far on foot. Just right on a snowcat. But we were already at this height. We need higher. At 4100 meters there are the remains of the highest mountain hotel in the world, Shelter 11, which burned down in 1997.

We stopped on a rocky ridge formed after the passage of a lava flow here. The location is excellent, flat, protected from the wind. Only there was a huge stone that hung right over the tent... I looked at it from one side to the other. It seems to be strong. But it's full of deep cracks. And just below the parking lot I saw a piece that had once broken off from it. The words from Vysotsky’s song “... and the stone that gave you peace does not look like a monument” came to mind. And then I remembered other words: “Stop talking. Forward and upward, and there... After all, these are our mountains, They will help us! We must calmly prepare for the ascent.

I couldn't sleep at night. At altitude it is generally difficult to fall asleep and sleep is superficial. This is the effect of altitude. The higher we rise, the less pressure there is. And therefore, the oxygen content in the inhaled air. First, the body tries to fight its lack by increasing breathing. Heart rate increases. Shortness of breath appears. If we go higher, it won't be enough. There must be deeper changes in the body. Full acclimatization is achieved by staying at altitude for 3 weeks. If you gain altitude too quickly, you may develop altitude sickness. Its manifestations, in increasing order: headache, sleep disturbance, mood swings, loss of appetite; weakness, nausea and vomiting, increased body temperature; development of cerebral or pulmonary edema, coma and death.

The next day it was planned to go to the Pastukhov rocks. This is a stone ridge named after the Russian military topographer, climber, surveyor, glaciologist and explorer of the Caucasus Andrei Vasilyevich Pastukhov. The lower edge of the rocks is at a level of 4600 meters. Upper - 4800. Climbing these rocks is not technically difficult, but it is important in terms of acclimatization before storming the summit. Last check of myself and equipment. Before going out we put on crampons. We learn to walk in them. Tomorrow these skills will be very useful. We reached the rocks quickly. The weather is great. But for how long? She has been favoring climbers for 3 weeks already. Someday this must end. Characteristic clouds appear in the sky - harbingers of bad weather. Tomorrow we should definitely try to walk down the mountain. Most likely, the weather will not provide a second chance.

Three heroes

After taking photos on the rocks, we go down to the tent. The snow is wet. Streams gurgle under the melting snow. We try to carefully avoid them. Even though we are wearing waterproof mountain shoes with a membrane, no one wants to get their feet wet unnecessarily. It will be difficult to dry it.

Alexander went to the camp. Vanya and I decided to go to a nearby rocky ridge, where we had never been before. To get used to the height better, you should not sit, but move. Not quickly, without sudden loads. But constantly.
After walking for another hour, we also went to the tent. We need to have dinner, prepare for tomorrow’s ascent and go to bed early. They go out to storm the peak at about 3 am. Usually the climb takes 8-10 hours. At one o'clock in the afternoon, regardless of whether you have reached the top or not, you must turn back to return to camp before dark. A cold night should not be allowed. This is what we call spending the night without a tent or sleeping bag. We are traveling light and don’t take anything with us to spend a comfortable night on the mountain. Only an ice ax and a thermos with hot tea. Snack – a handful of nuts and dried fruits. Spare gloves and jacket. We went to bed. But I can’t sleep. All sorts of thoughts come into my head. How will the mountain meet us? What will the weather be like? And dozens more questions. Important and not very important. You try to think them through, to let them pass through you. Then it dawns on me - it’s the height that’s playing such a trick on us. One of the symptoms of altitude sickness is poor sleep. We need to calm down and try to fall asleep. Can I take some pills from my first aid kit? No, I'll try to sleep without medication. If I don’t fall asleep in half an hour, then I’ll take it. For now I'll just count the sheep. And not simple ones, but mountain ones. One mountain ram, two mountain rams, three mountain rams. And I quietly fall asleep. At about ten o'clock in the evening, through my sleep, I hear the hysterical roar of snowcats going upstairs. So something happened. It's a little late for walking. After a while they went down. Already with the unlucky climbers on board. It turns out that a couple of tourists, without sufficient acclimatization, went to the Pastukhov rocks. And there they were overcome by mountain sickness - mountain sickness. They could no longer move independently. I had to call a technician to urgently get down. Losing altitude is the best and only cure for altitude sickness. All kinds of medications only alleviate the symptoms without eliminating the cause itself. And behind this lies a big risk. By medicinally suppressing the signals that the body gives - “You can’t rise higher!” - we can reach heights from which we will no longer be able to descend without outside help, thereby driving ourselves into a trap. At the same time, you need to understand that rescuers are, of course, strong, hardy people with excellent acclimatization. But they are People (that’s right, with a capital “H”), but not GODS. There is no need to consciously bring the situation to that critical point when you can no longer cope with it yourself. It is necessary to predict possible developments. Rescuers, of course, will do everything possible to ensure that the mountain tourist (climber) who has received his portion of adrenaline is brought down alive and, if possible, healthy. And they do this, often risking their own lives. If a person has a desire to test his strength in extreme conditions, then let his own life be at stake. And not the lives of dozens of people trying to save him.

We woke up around one in the morning. The backpacks had already been packed since the evening. Sasha was the first to get out of the tent. He examined the sky critically. Clouds. No stars are visible. This is bad. The weather begins to deteriorate. Last nights were starry. We make (or rather, it is brought to our attention) the decision that we should attempt the ascent that night. Because there may not be another opportunity in the coming days. But you have to be prepared that when bad weather you will have to retreat before reaching the top. Well, let's take a risk. We put on the crampons, backpacks on our backs, and off we go.

We go out from the rocky ridge into the snow. Along the route you can already see garlands of lanterns, which climbers use to illuminate their path. Moreover, the lights are visible both above and below us. Let's start moving. One step, another step. Let's go zigzag. We place our legs wide apart, as wide as our feet, as we were taught, so as not to get hit in the leg by sharp crampons, fall on the slope, or injure the leg. A snowcat is catching up with us, coming from somewhere below. Probably from Shelter 11. It has about 20 climbers on board. Let's go get to the top, damn it. No, we don’t need that kind of mountaineering. We'll get there on our own two feet.

We approach a resting place, from which about a dozen climbers have departed. There is a one and a half liter plastic water flask on the ground. We call out to the departed group - who forgot the flask? In response they shout: “You don’t need it, take it if you need it!” Indeed, its contents froze in the cold, crystallized and moved inside the jar like thick sour cream. Drinking like this is of little use. And the rise has only just begun. Someone was left without a drink. Although the group is large. They will share. There won't be any problems. I should have taken a thermos for the climb. Preferably with red tea. At altitude it goes better than black or green. Or you can use special energy drinks for athletes. And in general, taste sensations change at altitude. I want to eat more spicy seasonings. Ordinary food may not go well at all, seem bland and tasteless.

We approach the Pastukhov rocks. I adjust the flashlight on my head. And suddenly it dawns on me - I didn’t take my sunglasses. Yes, that's the number. I tell Alexander about this. He puts his hand up to his head - he also forgot to take his glasses. And without them there is no way on the mountain. Situation. I swore. What to do? If we turn back, we won’t have time to climb again that day. I'm starting to look for options. I have a windproof mask. The mask has a breathing mesh at lip level. If you pull it higher, to eye level, then the road will be visible in bright light. I'll try to do that. Sasha has a spare set of glasses in his backpack. Let's break through!
Just above the Pastukhov rocks we caught up with the first large group of climbers. These are snowcats that overtook us along the way. And now we are overtaking them, despite a big head start. Okay let's go. The path slowly turns left. I understand that we are entering an oblique shelf. It's getting lighter. You can already walk without flashlights. Step. Step. Step. Many, many more steps up the hill. The sun appears above the mountain, illuminating the mountains with its light Caucasian ridge . I recognize Donguz-Orun with its Semerka glacier. Indeed, this glacier in the middle of the mountain makes a 90-degree turn, forming a profile reminiscent of the number seven. We saw him at the exit to the Irik gorge. Opposite us stands Cheget. And many more peaks and glaciers with unusual, but beautiful and sonorous names. So we met the sunrise at the top of Europe. Time to put on my makeshift goggle mask. Its front part is made of windproof material - windblock. You can only breathe through a special mesh. I pull the mask over my head and try to inhale, but that’s not the case. The windblock blocked the access of oxygen in the already highly rarefied atmosphere. I take a couple of shuddering breaths. From lack of oxygen the vision immediately becomes cloudy and blurry. You feel like a fish thrown ashore. It was not enough for you to be “led” and fall on a steep slope. Trekking poles in hands. The ice ax is fastened to the backpack, it will not be possible to hack yourself with it. You can drive many tens of meters until you manage to stop. I pull the bottom of the mask off my face, exposing my mouth and nose and leaving only my eyes covered. I take a few deep breaths. It gets easier. So I'll move on. Forward. Gradually the slope becomes flatter and flatter. We reach the saddle. This is a huge flat field between the two peaks of Elbrus, East and West. It seems huge. 800 meters long. The sun is already shining quite brightly. It's getting hot. We had a small snack at the saddle. We ate a handful of dried fruits and took a sip of tea. The food doesn't make any impression. He just automatically threw the food into his mouth and chewed it a little. Swallowed it. No taste sensations. This is also one of the manifestations of altitude - loss of appetite and changes in the taste of familiar foods. It’s good that they don’t ask for the food back. It lies quietly at the bottom of the stomach and, slowly, is digested. But we drank tea with great pleasure. When driving in the mountains you lose a lot of water, up to 5-6 liters per day versus 2-3 liters under normal conditions on the plain. This happens mainly through sweat and through pulmonary breathing, since the air at altitude is very dry. After 5 minutes we moved on. We pass by fumaroles. In our case, these are holes located on the slope of the volcano and are a source of hot gases. The gases that come out of them may be unsuitable for breathing. But these fumaroles are quite harmless. On the contrary, you can wait out bad weather in them, since the air inside is warm, not poisonous, and the entrance to the fumarole is narrow, but people can easily pass through it. . The fumarole itself resembles a cave that can accommodate up to 20 people. About 50 meters away you can see the remains of a hut destroyed by the winds. It was installed a couple of years ago so that tourists caught in bad weather on the mountain would have a chance to wait out the bad weather in a hut, in relative comfort and coziness. However, the wooden structure could not withstand the hurricane winds blowing on the saddle. Maybe a more secure shelter will be built later. But so far they haven’t come up with anything better for salvation than hiding in the fumaroles.

Beyond the saddle there is a steep climb to the western peak. We carefully pass it and reach the plateau. The top is already visible from here. This is a small elevation, 15 meters high. We overcome it in one breath, one more push, and that’s it. YAY!!! We've arrived!

What do you feel when you stand on top of a mountain? Of course, the joy of reaching the top. They have risen. Reached. No matter where you turn your head, you look down at the mountains. The clouds are also somewhere below. You're on top. And you realize that from this point the road only goes down. It's hard to breathe. The height presses and makes itself felt. We drop our backpacks. We take out cameras. You need to take the obligatory photo at the top of the tour. On the western peak of Elbrus it is a meter-high stone. Near it lie many flags that climbers left here. Several panoramic photos. We are at the top for 10-15 minutes. Then we need to go down. The weather is getting worse.

Vertex. 5642 meters.

We quickly reach the saddle. On the oblique shelf I feel that the movements become somehow smooth, as if in slow motion. Covered. Slowly, but I'm going. You have to drop about a kilometer of altitude to let go. We drank a sip of tea. Feels like being born again. Strength appeared from somewhere. It was not for nothing that I took a large thermos, 1.5 liters, instead of the recommended liter ones. Without these tea breaks it would have been much more difficult.

In the middle of the slanting shelf, our neighbors catch up with us. Our tents are nearby. It turned out they had a spare set of glasses, which came in handy for me. You can finally take off your mask and put on your glasses. Although the lack of side curtains on the glasses played a cruel joke on me - in just a couple of hours I managed to burn my left eye in the sun. It’s as if he picked up some “bunnies” while welding. I walked the last kilometer of descent, looking broadly at the world with my right eye, while squinting my left. We have already passed the oblique. Now straight down to the Pastukhov rocks. The height is still making itself felt, but the condition is improving.

I turn around and take a farewell look at the peaks. Clouds have already formed above them. Those who are now at the top will not only not be able to take good pictures. If it were not for the markers that stand every 30 meters, you could get lost at the top, go to the dump, or fall.

The sun melts the snow that holds individual stones. One of them, the size of a large watermelon, breaks loose 15 meters from me and begins to slowly roll down. I shout “Stone!” The speed is low. Maybe it will stop on its own, braking on the firn? No. After rolling a few meters and not encountering an obstacle, he accelerates down a steep slope. It hits another, larger stone and jumps up a couple of meters. It flies about fifteen meters in the air and hits a hard firn, creating a fountain of snow spray, and continues, bouncing like a ball, to fly down. A guy is walking about two hundred meters below. The stone flies straight at him. I've never seen anyone run so fast with a backpack. I managed to run away. The stone passed about three meters from him. The sun melts the snow that holds the individual stones. One of them, the size of a large watermelon, breaks loose 15 meters from me and begins to slowly roll down. I shout “Stone!” The speed is low. Maybe it will stop on its own, braking on the firn? No. After rolling a few meters and not encountering an obstacle, he accelerates down a steep slope. It hits another, larger stone and jumps up a couple of meters. It flies about fifteen meters in the air and hits a hard firn, creating a fountain of snow spray, and continues, bouncing like a ball, to fly down. A guy is walking about two hundred meters below. The stone flies straight at him. I've never seen anyone run so fast with a backpack. I managed to run away. The stone passed about three meters from him.

After about 30 minutes I reached the tent. Sasha poured an energy drink. Every sip literally gave me strength. Congratulations on your ascent. Congratulations on the mountain are given below, upon arrival at the base camp. By the way, most emergency situations happen not on the ascent, but on the descent. Fatigue, melted snow, increasing avalanche danger and the likelihood of rockfalls. Changeable weather in the afternoon. The onset of dusk and many other factors can lead to an accident in the mountains.

The ascent took us 6 hours. Usually it takes 8-10 hours. So we walked at a pretty good, sporty pace. The descent took me 3 hours 40 minutes.

I don’t feel like eating after such physical activity. I would like to lie down with my legs stretched out for at least a couple of hours. But there is no time. We need to have time to go down to the camp today. I throw several pieces of food into my mouth. I'm chewing. I swallow. There is no taste. I simply replenish lost calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

The tent is assembled. The mountain is already completely covered with a continuous cloud. You begin to feel humidity, which turns into drizzling rain as you lose altitude. On the way to Garabashi station we walk through slushy snow. We try to avoid puddles in the snow whenever possible. True, not all of them are visible. A couple of times I fall into the snow, under which there is water. If it weren’t for good-quality shoes, all my feet would definitely get wet through and through. But these are okay, they endure, they resist water. We approach the cable car. There are about 50 people in line. Mostly tourists. Lightly dressed, not for the weather. Everyone is rushing down. It's our turn. We sit down in the wet chairs of the cable car. It's already raining quite heavily. The wind dangles you in the air on a small seat. Lightning strikes are visible nearby. Smells like ozone. The water running down your feet fills your boots with water. Still got my feet wet. Not from below, but from above. The gaiters would have saved me from this, but I had already taken them off.

We went down to Azau, the car was already waiting for us. On the way to Saklya, I rent out rental shoes, which helped me out so much. We stock up on branded beer “5642”. We have the right to go down the mountain! We celebrated our ascent in a cafe. Balkar khychins, lagman, beer.

This is how we went to the highest point in Europe, the most high mountain Russia - Elbrus, Western peak, 5642 meters, difficulty category 2A. What's next? There are still many interesting and most beautiful places where I haven't been. And where you should definitely visit. Maybe even together with you, dear reader? So to be continued...

Valery Smetanin

Not having had time to arrive from friendly Georgia, where our group made the trip, I was already looking forward to a trip to the highest point in Europe - Elbrus. At the same time, against the backdrop of a simply impeccable last trip, there were certain thoughts - well, what will I find beautiful in a place where I am not the first time, where there are a lot of tourists, where ski lifts, snowcats, snowmobiles, shelters take away the last bits of freedom from people who have come to experience themselves, pleasant difficulties of ascent and a real mountaineering bivouac? At least we didn't plan to use aids above 3500 meters.

Also, for success, good acclimatization and regular training for uphill climbs are important, preferably with a heavier backpack. We planned to get all these joys in the first part of our trip - mountain trekking in the area of ​​​​the village of Verkhniy Baksan.

Day 1-2 [/]

So, I met the group at the Pyatigorsk station on July 1st. Dima arrived from Voronezh before everyone else. We already knew each other from a previous trekking trip in Montenegro and were glad to have the opportunity to go to the mountains together again. To celebrate, we managed to buy food and gas even before the official time for the group to gather, as well as take a short walk around Pyatigorsk. Our group consisted of 5 participants and a guide, i.e. me. Five men and a girl. Not everyone had experience in mountain climbing, but everyone was quite well prepared physically, and - simply excellent - mentally. A very good number of people for such a trip. From the very first hour, the group developed a great atmosphere of camaraderie, humor, and healthy sporting ambitions. Not once during the trip did we have any conflicts; no one spoke in a raised voice to each other. I ordered transport by phone, which took us from Pyatigorsk to Verkhniy Baksan on the same day after lunch.

Trekking. We were able to warm up on a very beautiful route that passed through the valleys of two rivers - Syltrans and Kirtyk, and included an overnight stay near mountain lake Syltrankel, conquest of the Syltran pass and easy radial access to the ridge without backpacks.

On the first night, we only rose slightly above the village and spent the night in sight of the Baksan River near, as he explained to us local, a miraculous spring where water containing silver enters a banal metal bath. Evening by the fire, conversations, getting to know each other, the first night in tents. For many, this was the first night under the stars outside the city in a very long time.

On the second day, the participants had to demonstrate all their stamina, endurance and strength - after all, with heavy backpacks, we had to gain almost one and a half kilometers of altitude over rather difficult terrain. At first the trail passed through the forest; we often crossed streams. Then we entered the mid-mountain zone with its amazing vegetation of dwarf trees twisted by the winds, thickets of radodendron, wildflowers and herbs. Sometimes I had to move along scattered stones, balancing with a heavy backpack on poorly standing stones. As we gained altitude, snowfields began to appear and vegetation began to disappear. After many hours of difficult but extremely beautiful travel, rests and snacks, losing the trail in the snow and my reconnaissance wandering along the rocky scree slope, we finally reached an altitude of 3200m, where an amazingly beautiful view of the lake opened before us. Ice floes were still floating on it, on the slopes of the mountains surrounding us there were strips of melted snow, and on the higher peaks there were caps of glaciers. In this place, a person is overcome by an indescribable mood and state. We set up camp on the very shore of the lake. At this altitude it was already quite cool and windy, especially in the evening, so we had to dress properly and reinforce the tents with guy ropes. It also turned out that this place is a favorite habitat for mountain goats, which walked around in whole groups, sometimes approaching a couple of tens of meters.

In the morning we indulged in the pleasure of swimming in ice lake and after quite a long time of getting ready and visiting the observation point above the reservoir with a view of yesterday’s valley of the Syltransu river, our group began to climb the Syltran pass. The height difference here is small and the climb did not take all our strength, but it brought us a lot of joy - the views from there are stunning, the landscape is simply alien! After a short rest at the pass, we began to descend into the valley of another river - Kirtyk, along which we had to return back. The descent was not an easy task for many. In the mountains, the descent can often be more difficult than the ascent. It was very steep in places, we had to take every step with caution and help each other. Still, after some time, we found ourselves in a new valley, where it was decided to set up camp at an altitude of about 3050m and arrange a half-day with a radial exit.

We chose one of the ridges that close the “circus” of the Kirtyk River valley as the object of our mountain excursion. After a short but very steep climb up the scree slope we found ourselves on the ridge. It was so beautiful there that no one wanted to go down. As a result, we sat at the top for about two hours, admiring the panorama of Elbrus and the surrounding mountains. Nevertheless, towards evening, we went down to our camp and started preparing dinner.

In the morning we allowed ourselves to walk a little and sunbathe, after which we packed up camp and moved down the valley towards Upper Baksan. Gradually dropping altitude, we admired the views and had conversations with our neighbors along the trail. We spent the night at about 2300, on the high bank of the river. We collected a lot of firewood, so in the evening we were able to sit around the fire to our heart's content. In the same fire Dima’s socks disappeared without a trace...)

On the last day of trekking, we could not allow ourselves to sit for long - we had a very busy program ahead of us. Therefore, we left early and after a couple of hours we went down to the village. Before we had time to eat our ice cream, our driver arrived. First we stopped at the village of Elbrus, where we bought the products necessary for climbing in a store. Then we went to the turn to Chegetskaya Polyana, where at a well-known rental place we picked up the missing equipment for an hour and a half. After consultation with local guides it turned out that ice had become exposed on the western peak and it was necessary special equipment to overcome a dangerous area. I had to take that too. Rental is quite expensive, but there is almost everything you need for entry-level mountaineering.

Climbing.

The driver waited patiently for us and took us to our final destination - the village of Azau - the highest populated point in the valley. From here the cable cars begin their ascent to Elbrus. This village is simply imbued with the spirit of Elbrus, it is everywhere - in names, souvenirs... it has become part of the mountain and exists at the expense of the mountain. Here we were given a farewell lowland lunch in a cafe, thanks to which we almost stayed below longer than expected - the cable car closes at 16:00, but we stayed until 15:50)). Twenty minutes, and we have already risen from 2300 to 3500. It’s cooler and fresher here. You can go further - by chairlift to the “barrels”, at 3800. But for the sake of better training, we go on foot. At 3800 our accommodation for the night is found a good place under tents on a stone ridge along the road for heavy equipment - something is being built here all the time, huge trucks and other mastodons drive by. Now they are installing supports for the next cable car. As always, we had a hearty night.

In the morning we moved on - we climbed to an altitude of almost 4200, to a place known as the “shelter of the eleven,” although this shelter burned down seventeen years ago. Now there are a bunch of trailers on the scree. In addition there are tents. We also settled in tents and found good sites above the KSS trailers.

There is nothing to compare the feeling of living at a high altitude, above the clouds, in the shadow of a huge volcano! On such days, I feel like some kind of bird, an albarthos wanderer, who has made a temporary nest somewhere on the edge of the world in order to rest and fly further. We lived in our camp for four partial days and three nights and to some extent managed to get used to these piles of stone, a world without greenery, with a bewitching view of mountains, glaciers, snow, and changeable weather. We managed to catch this simple mountain rhythm with early retreats and early rises, to feel this bird's weather dependence - here we are subordinate to the sun and fog, snow and rain, wind and sun. But the Mountain was waiting for us and calling us. When you see her every time you look up, over time you learn to see her even through the night or a veil of clouds.

Therefore, on the second day of our “bird” life, we went higher, without heavy backpacks. To acclimatize, we, as usual in these places, climbed to the top of the Pastukhov Rocks, where we safely found ourselves in a snowstorm. We began to be covered with snow, visibility disappeared to several tens of meters, and we sat simply like six tightly dressed Alices in the White Wonderland... at such moments I lose contact with what is commonly called reality... Beginning of July? Heat? Ice cream and the beach? We are covered in snow up to our heads and shift from foot to foot so as not to freeze! Afterwards we went downstairs, warmed up, and rested. Some of us experienced what an attack of mountain sickness is like - weakness, headache, many were driven into the tent. The weather forecast for the next day was not good. We agreed to have one more acclimatization trip and rest before climbing Elbrus. At the same time, we agreed that we would watch the weather.

Vertex.

And the weather again presented a surprise. At four in the morning there were no clouds above us, it was quiet and Elbrus simply attracted us with the purity of its contour. We began to get ready, although not all of us were physically ready to go up. The disposition was as follows - we dress “in combat style”, put on harnesses, take tea, food and go up. Further depending on the circumstances. This will either be another outlet for adaptation, or perhaps an attempt at assault. Although personally I didn’t really believe in this possibility. Firstly, in the alpine camps it was firmly drilled into my head that people don’t go to Elbrus so late, and secondly, the condition of not all participants was pleasing to the eye. Nevertheless, we left in full force at six in the morning. Unfortunately, one participant immediately felt ill and returned. The rest continued to climb. Here is the place of yesterday's highest point for us... We take a short rest and go higher. We get to the last frontier civilization is somewhere at 4900, a place where snowcats and snowmobiles reach. Next begins the infamous “oblique shelf” - essentially an oblique traverse of the eastern peak with a constant climb. For an unprepared climber it is already difficult to climb here. Gradually, the intervals between rest stops began to shorten, the group began to slow down, but still climbed quite confidently. Finally, we reach the traverse, and, having passed between the peaks, we get to the place of ascent to Western, the highest. Occasionally you come across people coming down. Their appearance can give confidence to few people - most are exhausted, make frequent stops, and sit on the snow. But, as I already wrote, the morale of our group was difficult to shake by such trifles)). We begin the steep climb to the Western Summit. Thanks to the ascents I accomplished this season (twice), I feel pretty good, I’m watching the guys. Some are holding up well, some are going free, but everyone is going and no one is complaining. I admire and move on. This is the beginning of the railing. We go separately, with self-insurance. Even for a novice climber, this section is not difficult, but what should an ordinary city person who was sitting in his office a week ago feel here?! It’s hard to even imagine... One after another, having passed the steep takeoff, we reach the gently sloping pre-summit plateau. And so, after another thirty minutes we reach the top! Three PM. The weather is calm, cloudy, almost nothing is visible. And yet here we are! On the top! There's no one here except us. Highest point Europe is at our complete disposal for almost an hour. Someone laughs, someone silently rejoices. The feeling is unreal. Something happened to us that many of us realize in detail only after days and even months of life. In the meantime, we are all here celebrating our small victory! Our team was able to achieve its goal. Almost by force, after forty minutes I force him to begin the descent.

Surprisingly, the summit added strength and vigor to almost everyone. On the descent, our group looks better than many others - we do not stagger, we do not fall onto the path in search of peace. We confidently go down. If the ascent took us about nine hours, the descent took us a little more than three. We go down to the camp and rest. A comrade who refused to climb made us tea and brought us shish kebab from the cafe. We swallow dinner and relax.

The next morning we begin to get ready little by little. Closer to lunch we go down to the lift at 3500, from there to Azau. We go to Cheget and rent out equipment. Here two participants leave the group and hurry by minibus to their trains.

There are still several days ahead, which we spent traveling around the Caucasus, swimming in Narzan, tasting local cuisine, and going up the ski lift to Cheget.

This trip as a whole brought me a lot of bright and varied sensations, useful experience and incomparable pleasure. I sincerely thank all participants in our journey for their participation, good mood, cheerfulness and willpower! See you on the Path!