MT ELBRUS, RUSSIA

WALLY BERG- THE MAN

D0UBLE CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE
RUSSIA--MT ELBRUS and A ROCK STAR; Mount Elbrus at 18,513' (5642 meters) is the tallest peak in Europe, but Wally Berg is BIGGER! There have only been a few people I have met that are larger than life: Jane Goodall, Francis Crick (discovered DNA helix) and now Wally, he is the rock star of elite climbers, and considered by many climbing experts as one of the top 3 climbers in the world. Wally has summited over 110 of the world's tallest peaks, Mt. Everest 4 times and believe it or not Kilimanjaro 54 times. One would expect someone with these kind of accomplishments to have an unapproachable ego but not Wally, he is compassionate, his eyes are full of life, he can tell stories that keeps you on the edge of the chair, and as Chistina Rosen said," he just makes you want to be a better person".

L-R JENNIFER, LES, MELODY,CHRISTINA,NICK, BOB,STEPHEN,
DEVIN, JOSH, ME, KALE,BAILEY & SCOTT

LUCKY 13: As our group became known, (since there was 13 of us and we beat the storm by 1 day) came from all over the US and Canada. We had all sorts of skill levels from neophyte mountain climbers to Les Dewitt who would bag his 6th summit on this trip. From ages 27-68 we had it all: A father/ son combination-Bob Nichols a fireman and his son Nick, Kale Kontz our lightweight gear expert and super hiker, my climbing buddies from Everest Base camp Christina Rosen (and her husband Stephen), our organizer Melody Deisher, and Josh, another Father/ daughter combination Les and Baily Dewitt, and her incredible supportive sweetheart Scott.., Jennifer Su a pharmacist from Colorado, and last but not least Devin (Molson/Coors) from Halifax, Canada, whose bulging muscles and personality kept the group entertained. (Although I am still recovering from his Mr. Bean version of "Hello" in the Red Square).

FABERGE MUSEUM

THE CANALS OF
ST. PETERSBURG-VENICE EAST

CHURCH OF SPILLED
BLOOD WHERE
ALEXANDER II WAS
KILLED

Berg Adventures International ran a superb trip, it all started with a few days in St. Petersburg and Moscow where Wally had special guides to give us the city highlights. I could write a whole blog on each of the 2 cities, another time, but let's just say the Russian tourist industry is alive and well, and there is a rich history behind the Czars of The Romanov family and their execution during the Soviet take over orchestrated by Lenin in 1917. One can see the opulent influence of European architecture everywhere with grandeur palaces and churches.

CHRISTINA & STEPHEN AT
CATHERINE THE GREAT'S
PALACE

ELENA OUR GUIDE AT THE HERMITAGE
MUSEUM MAKES THE LOUVE LOOK SMALL

THE "ROOMIES" DEVIN (L) AND
KALE ON THE OVERNIGHT
VODKA TRAIN RIDE TO MOSCOW

WORLD'S LARGEST CANNON, BIG
CANNONBALLS OR WHAT!

MAGNIFICENT DECOR FOR THE
MOSCOW SUBWAY SYSTEM 

RED SQUARE IN MOSCOW WITH THE KREMLIN

OUR GUIDE TOLD ME
 THIS SIMPLE RUSSIAN 
WAS HERE TO PAY HIS 
RESPECTS TO LENIN 
AND THE SOVIET
 PROMISE OF EQUAL 
OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL
-DIDN'T QUITE
WORK OUT. 

ST. BASIL CATHEDRAL IN
RED SQUARE-MOSCOW

TRAINING DAYS: 

PUTIN WELCOMED US TO THE CAUCASUS

We took a 2 hour plane ride south to the Caucasus mountains on the Russian Aeroflot airlines, and for a moment I thought we stepped off the first TWA flight, a smoothly run flight with all the stewardess dressed to the hilt in their brightly coordinated orange outfits with hats, scarfs and matching shoes.  The Caucasus mountains, are close to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, so security was high, and when we arrived in Terskol parked ourselves in the "Hotel Ozon 7 Vershin" at 6,900' to use as our day hike base. On the next day Wally informed us that a deal breaking storm was on the way. So all the training was bumped up. We did our first acclimation training on the mountain facing Mt. Elbrus and after a few short old style chairlifts we had some spectacular views.

1 PERSON CHAIRLIFT

CHRISTINA ROSEN WITH
THE CLASSIC YOGA HEADSTAND

LES, BAILY AND SCOTT
TAKING A LUNCH BREAK

DAY HIKE FOR ACCLIMATING

 THE OPPOSING VALLEY THE GROUP IS TAKING IN
THE VIEW OF MT. ELBRUS AT 18,513' (5,642 M)

WHY MT. ELBRUS you ask? Most people have never heard of it. So it is as one of the world's 7 continental summit peak.  Mt. Elbrus is the highest peak in Europe at 18,513' (Mt. Blanc in France is 15,782',),  and is perennially covered with snow above 12,900', therefore we had to use double plastic boots, crampons, ice axes, and wear a fandango harness.

VLADIMIR 2  OUR GUIDE:
RELIVING THE STORY
OF CLIMBING USHBA AND
MEETING HIS FRIEND (
WHO DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM) 
25 YEARS LATER ON THE SAME 
 MOUNTAIN - TURNED OUT TO BE HIS SON

MUSCLES (DEVIN) MOVING BAGS
ON TO THE GONDOLAS...MY NICK
NAME WAS GET OUT OF THE
FU.....   WAY  JERRY.

THE BARRELS: Time to move on to the slopes, so we loaded all our gear and food on the gondolas for our 5 day stay in the barrels at 12,900' (3,931 m). Now, you haven't quite lived until you stayed in these shipyard like containers with 3 other teammates. Bunk bed style living at its best, actually it wasn't too bad, they were warm, had electricity, 1 window, and could sleep up to 8 people (4 on each side). One was converted into a kitchen where Leila served up some amazing Russian grub.

THE BARRELS (HYATT NORTH)

KITCHEN IN ONE OF THE BARRELS

JOSH LOVING THE 
BOTTOM BUNK

LONG DROP AT 12,900'
WHAT A VIEW

Long drop: The highlight of the barrels is of course the squat, outhouse OR "shit hole" (as Bailey so aptly put it) now if you have a fast metabolism- not so bad, but for those that didn't get enough roughage it was a true testament of squatting stamina.
ABOVE 12,900':  We had 3 training days on the snow to acclimate and get use to the various aspects of our gear, one day with regular boots + poles, one with plastic boots + poles, and one with plastic boots + crampons + poles. Up and down, up and down... higher each day, all the way up to 15,585 and for some higher still.

TRAINING DAYS- UP THE EAST PEAK,
ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THE 11 WHERE
YOU SEE POSHOKOV ROCKS-15,585' (4,750 M)

SOMETIMES THE VIEW WAS
WORTH THE HARD WORK :))

CHRISTINA STARRING
DOWN THE POSHOKOV ROCKS

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN?

On the 3rd day, I was rocking out to AC/DC--- you know.."Highway to Hell", I had some weird emotional thing take over: happiness galore, tears pouring out the tear ducts, images of past people I knew and loved, and then... nothing back to the grind....Maybe I should have been listening to the "Stairway to Heaven".

IN THE DARK,
ULTRALIGHT KALE

SUN RISING WITH MT.
ELBRUS SHADOW

VLADIMIR 1 LEADING
THE WAY

ALMOST TO THE SADDLE
WITH MT. USHBA IN
THE BACKGROUND

SUMMIT DAY: Wally briefed us for the 1 AM wake up, leave by 3 AM departure. I wake up in a dream state with a hacking cough,  my mind starts to wonder off to Wally's recount of his near death climbing adventure up Mt. Ama Dablam (22,494') in Nepal while suffering with pneumonia. He made it up to camp 2 before being forced to head back down to be airlifted to Kathmandu and given a huge shot, followed by a night of coughing up phlegm on his sheets.
Finally waking up and realizing that I doubt I would die today, the lights go on, time to move out- eat a full breakfast, and jump on the snowplow for a 45 minute ride -from hell-- straight up-nothing to hang on to, we finally reach the drop off point at 15,585", and in the dark we start what seems to be a tireless climb straight up to the saddle, headlamps on, step by step we follow a narrow path up the side of the mountain.... one step to the left a 1000' slide straight down- good thing it was dark.
WE MADE IT TO THE SADDLE: for a deeply appreciated break, we still had one

THE SURGE UP TO THE PLATEAU, THE WEST
SUMMIT IS IN THE BACKGROUND

major section. The sun had just come out we were all over dressed as we ascended up to 18,000 feet or so. This is the first time I thought I could possibly faint and just fall over, we passed many fellow hikers lying off the trail, head down...more than likely suffering with altitude sickness. But Vladimir I pushed us on.."5 more minutes to rest", he yelled....seemed like 20!

BAILEY AND LES

THANKS MELODY--
ON THE SUMMIT

We reached the plateau and we dropped our heavy clothes and the rest of our gear with only a short 20 minute walk to the final summit. SPECIAL MOMENT: We started our final ascent, when Bailey stepped off trail and found her Dad, Les, who was behind me and said, "Dad, where do you want me, in front or back of you". At that moment tears streaming down my cheeks I knew she understood the big picture of life, it wasn't just the summit, it was about the experience of sharing a special moment with her Dad- who was climbing his 6th summit, he must have been bursting at the seams. AS FOR ME well, I put on my summit music had a complete rush to "Jethro Tull--Locomotive Breath", the greatest rock and roll song ever, and as the adrenaline kicked in, I felt like I could skip to the top.

"

"LUCKY 13" ON THE SUMMIT, A TESTAMENT
 TO FORTITUDE AND VLADIMIR I PACE. 
18,585' (5642 m)

Nothing like it when you finally get there.... the views were breathtaking, your with your new found friends, the guides, Wally..all there at that very exact moment! celebrating..... of course we had exactly 15 min. and Vladamir 2 said, "we have to go", a storm is moving in.

STORM HIT, HUDDLED TOGETHER

We headed down and before you know it the wind kicked up, the fog moved in, and 15 minutes later we would have missed the view. We all made it down safely celebrated with some beer. And the next morning the storm really hit, ONE LAST LONG DROP:  Life is full of firsts,  Bob had to hit the head one last time: the wind was screaming through the Long drop walls... and he told us that when he threw the TP down the hole, to his chagrin as soon as he stood up up the TP flew up into the outhouse..time to leave.

HYATT IN MOSCOW

HANGING WITH LES 
AND DEVIN ON
OUR LAST NIGHT 
IN MOSCOW

MOSCOW: A few days later we were back to Moscow, enjoying the luxury of the Hyatt, best sauna around and all you can eat breakfast. We were all sad as the departure was coming up and we would all return back to our normal routine. So at dinner Bailey asked, "so what did we experience"? She was amazed at the "unselfishness" of the team to reach the goal, and everyone helping each other. We all have challenges in our life, but watching others (like Josh and Nick) battling through altitude, digestion and migraines issues was a testament to the inner strength we all have---and if you can do it at 18,585'  you can meet any challenge at home. But most of all for me it will always be the camaraderie of hanging with the "lucky13" new found friends, already planning another adventure together.

1995 OF THE "11" ROCKS
TAKEN BY VLADIMIR V.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Just like almost everywhere else in the world the Caucasus are suffering form climate change. But I first have to recognize Brazil's innovative effort to bring light on the issue in the Olympic forum, and having each athlete plant a seed for an Olympic forest, my hat is off to you.

MIDDLE OF THE "11" ROCKS
PRESENT DAY-20 METERS LOWER

Being in the mountains most of their lives both Vladimir guides had their own take on climate change. Vladimir Vysotskiy who spent most of his adult life here flew over the "11" mark on Mt. Elbrus in a plane in 1995, and estimates that the present day (2016) exposure of the "11" rocks is 20 meters lower.

VLADIMIR B.
 KUGUTAY
GLACIER IN BACKGROUND

KUGUTAY GLACIER

Vladimir Bakhmutov who is also a University professor took the time to explain that even the Terskol region the glacial coverage had changed dramatically in the last 40- 100 years. Pictured here the Kugutay glacier, (@ 100 meters thick) used to touch the bottom of the rock face on the left @ 40 years ago.

TERSKOL GLACIER
PRESENT DAY - JULY 2016

The Terskol glacier change is even more dynamic. With a current depth of @ 400 meters, there has been a dramatic change since 1900, the entire right wall portion is no longer present today. TIME TO GET OFF OIL!!
WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY.

PICTURE OF THE TERSKOL GLACIER IN THE YEAR 1900.
THE GLACIAL WALL (LOOKS GRAY)  ON THE RIGHT
IS GONE!

MOSES AND HEPATITIS E:  As for Moses, he is so appreciative for his support to battle Hepatitis E in Uganda.  This disease is carried in contaminated water by fecal material--watch out Rio! killing over 50,000 people a year worldwide, and has a 30% mortality rate among pregnant women. We stand at $6,130 of the $8,000 needed for Moses to finish his research, hire a statistician, and receive his Master's degree.. Thank you all for pitching in, the 26 people that have contributed have made a difference: here is the site if you are able to help out, any amount will be appreciated- P.S. Krista is going to Uganda for his graduation in January: https://www.gofundme.com/gomoses

NEAR THE SUMMIT WITH WALLY BERG-WE COULD
USE YOUR HELP... ALMOST THERE

TRIP TIPS
 Hotels: Best Western Plus in St Petersburg, Hotel Ozon 7 Vershin-Treskol and Hyatt in Moscow
Tour Group: Berg Adventures International 5* www.bergadventures.com
Costs: $5,900 in 2016,  excluding airfare
Difficulty: 3 + maybe a 4 you need to get in good shape--- Days needed: 14 + travel days
LINK: to Slide show A-16:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v4wgSrDn1Tz71NSVRvqyzrbaQ36OzJgXYddbXFIRtL8/edit#slide=id.g1c23886759_2_2435