22nd-23rd - Lamington NP

I arrived in Brisbane Sunday the 21st where I got picked up by Ina at the airport and the following morning we drove to Lamington NP where we would spend a single night. This national park is known for its bird life so our hopes were that we would be seeing a large variety of birds - and getting some good shots as a bonus.

The weather wasn’t quite as we had hoped; overcast some of the time and not too warm. But it didn’t get too bad, either, so we did get to see a few birds during the afternoon after we arrived, especially because they weren’t too shy and got quite close to the resort where we were staying.

The next morning we had a small tour around the resort where we were introduced to the less visible birds. After breakfast we went for a long walk – the weather wasn’t too optimistic, and the bird sightings were limited, but we got a good impression of the surrounding areas and nature, and that wasn’t too bad either.

After this walk we drove back to Brisbane, readying ourselves for an early departure to Tangalooma, a resort on Moreton Island just outside Brisbane, the next morning.

28th - Going home

The 27^th we left the hotel in the morning – despite having been drinking generous amounts at the dinner last night everyone made it to breakfast at 0700, though some did look quite hung over.

3 hours drive to the airport, checked in the luggage all the way to Copenhagen and we were soon on our way to Moscow. Arriving in Moscow we were as last time taken to our hotel by bus. The difference this time was that we arrived relatively early so after a quick dinner at the local mall we took the metro to the center where we had a walk on the Red Square and around the Kremlin before finding a place where we had a couple of drinks. Back at the hotel at 2230-ish.

Next early morning we returned to the airport and without further ado (we were checked in all the way so it was straight to the security check bypassing the queues at check in) we went through the tax frees, got the mandatory amounts of vodka, and flew home and arrived in Copenhagen as planned at 1130.

It was a great trip, considering how lucky we were with the weather. Some rain one night when camping and otherwise high sun and dry, and not too cold when climbing the summit. Aeroflot’s planes were of surprisingly high standards; they were all very new, not at all like the stories you hear of planes almost falling apart and rattling all over. A big thanks to our tour guide, Jakob, and local mountain guide, Max, for bringing us all around, up and down without problems. Thanks to the assistance guide (Ishmael), the cook, and the porters for carrying tents and food. Thanks to the entire group for being such a fantastic group – it wouldn’t have been the same without you.

Great trip, very memorable, but has made me change my mind about having plans of climbing Aconcagua (6959m, tallest point in S. America) in January/February in 2014. Maybe something smaller instead. Maybe Mont Blanc next summer. We’ll see…

The Red Square with the Kremlin on the right.

Lenin's mausoleum.

St. Basil's Cathedral.

Found at the Red Square's metro station.

Found at the station at our hotel...

... and this, too.

26th - Day 13

Today we left Diesel Hut and began our trip home. In the morning we left the hut and walked down to the lifts which we took down and got picked up by a couple of busses. At 1130 the first group was back at the hotel, enjoying a hot shower and comfort.

Lunch at 1300 and otherwise just relaxing, walking around, getting some drinks and trying to have patience with the hotel’s not quite so stable wireless internet.

Tonight at 1900 we will have a farewell dinner at a nearby restaurant; stories from the former groups indicate it will be a very happy evening. Apparently bottles of vodka will be available from the start and we are 20 people getting together. This will be an interesting evening.

Waiting for the lift to take us down from the mountain.

25th - Summit day

Out of 17 people in the group, 15 departed for the summit. We had extra guides so that we would be able to split up more, and easier go back with escort without risking someone would end up going towards the top unescorted.

We were split up in two groups; a fast and a slow one. The slow would depart at 0100, the fast at 0200. The goal was to try and get as many at the top at the same time.

I joined the slow group together with 6 others even though it meant getting up at midnight after not much sleep. Departure wasn’t as cold as expected, and we were soon off in the darkness. Physically it wasn’t too hard in the beginning as we knew the area and had been acclimatized to this altitude. Soon things did get harder – and colder. I started having problems keeping my toes warm and at one point I lost feeling in my right foot’s toes. I also started moving slower – much slower. When reaching the traverse on the eastern top things starting getting steep and speed decreased even more. The walk gave some beautiful views of the sunrise and colors that followed. This also included the shadow of Elbrus spreading out over the surrounding mountains.

At around 0815 we reached the saddle between the two summits and at the same time the sun had gotten high enough that we were able to have a break in the saddle in the sun. The saddle is located at the altitude of 5300m, meaning we still had 300 meters to go. We had a full view to the next very steep section of the path which was quite intimidating in my exhausted state. After half an hour’s break we started we started the last part of the walk – the steep ascent on the western summit’s traverse. It was tough, but the advantage was that the sun combined with the exercise warmed up my toes and feet again. After the steep part it flattened making it easier (but still very slow) to walk. After a final steep part (15-20 meters) we were finally on the summit at around 1030.

Despite being exhausted I still took in the view of the surrounding areas and it was breathtaking (maybe that was just the lack of oxygen, though). We spent 10-150 minutes at the top before starting our descent, and even though I could have been standing and enjoying the view all day I was quite happy to leave as it was pretty windy on the top.

Despite going down the pace was still pretty slow due to our physical condition. Coming back to the saddle we had a short break (sun, quiet and no wind) before continuing downwards. Going around the traverse and down the eastern lower summit (it is 21 meters short of the tallest point in Europe) we passed the steepest parts of the path. From here there was almost a slide worn into the snow which meant we could descend 300-400 meters by sitting down. Not always comfortable it was much preferred from walking all the way down.

We finally arrived at Diesel Hut around 1400, finishing the primary goal of the vacation with a 13-hour 1600 meters up and 1600 meters down walk.

Was it amazing? Yes. Was it beautiful? Yes. Was it horribly tough? Yes! Will I ever consider doing it again? Hell no!

At the top!

Max at the top.

View from the top.

24th - Second day on summit trip

Today was a short day to be ready for the summit push tomorrow. The plan was a short 800 meter acclimatization walk for 4 hours, back for lunch and relaxation the rest of the day.

Diesel Hut is at 4080 meters and climbing to 4850 was hard work – but knowing that it would make the walk to the summit easier I didn’t mind at all. This also meant that we passed the summit of Mont Blanc which is at 4807 meters.

Coming back we had lunch and the afternoon was mostly spent on sleeping as much as possible. Dinner was early and soon most had gone to bed to try and get as much sleep as possible before departure.

The view from our return point.

23rd - First day on summit trip

Today the last trip started where the end goal is to reach the summit of Elbrus. As we are staying at Diesel Hut the entire time and we won’t be doing much walking before arriving it was easy to justify to bring main pack for the usual stuff and my day pack for the walks we will be doing (and at the same time saving a lot of weight on these!). In this case the day pack was filled with the two 5-liter jugs I had bought as there is no source of water at the hut (except the snow, but it has to be cooked before use).

We drive to a small town at app. 2300m where we took two cabin lifts and a chair lift all the way to 3800m. It was a little peculiar seeing chairs coming up with nothing but a bag on it. (Fun fact; there are two parallel cabin lifts up to the chair lift. The each run every second day so only one is running at a time. Apparently the two lifts are owned by two different fractions of the local mafia, so doing like that they avoid any unnecessary competition and therefore conflict). When arriving with the chair lift the luggage was loaded onto a snow cat which took it the 200 meters up to Diesel Hut while we walked the distance. Arriving we occupied the dorm and a room for sleeping and we soon had found our places in the building. A tight fit but it seems OK – except for the fact that there is barely any ventilation, effectively boosting the temperature and humidity in the room.

After lunch we went for a small walk (300 meters up). The original plan was to stay at the high point for half an hour, optimizing the acclimatization, before going down again, but seeing thunder clouds gathering in the distance we were ordered down immediately as fast as possible. It is an advantage having a high 0-degree altitude but it means that despite we won’t be freezing (or it will be harder to) the high temperature gives us a surface that most of all reminds of slush ice. It’s heavy, but it’s only just around and above the hut for the first 400-500 meters, afterwards it ought to be cold enough to give a firm easy surface.

Tomorrow with be a relatively short day; 700-800 meters ascent and return being back for lunch, followed by an afternoon where we do as little as possible before departing to the summit in the night. It feels weird that we have returned from the summit in less than 48 hours.

Getting into the first cabin lift there was a lot of attention directed towards what looked like a bullet hole in both ends of the cabin.

3 people in the group decided to walk all the way up without using the lifts - here escorted by a guide.

Food arriving by chair lift...

... and also our bags.

Diesel Hut, the dorm. 

Dusk at Diesel Hut.

Dusk panorama at Diesel hut.

22nd - Last day in second trip

We woke up to a windy and cold morning. The sun was hiding behind the hills, not being able to give us the warmth we have gotten use to the previous mornings.

Packing up went like a breeze and we were soon on our way. The plan was to descend 300-400 meters in 2 hours and these were fairly eventless. Around 1000 we arrived at our destination for a round of beer/soda/something else and pickup back to the hotel at 1030. Time for a very much needed shower!

The next couple of days we will spend the nights at Diesel Hut at 4000m where we will acclimatize before the push to the summit on Wednesday. It will be interesting – the walk will be all the way from the hut which will mean an ascent of 1600m – and of course followed by an equal descent. We will apparently leave around 0300 and no matter where we are at 1300 we have to turn around to make sure we will make it back to the hut before it gets too late. The weather forecasts are optimistic; including the wind-chill factor the top has temperatures of app. -10°C and the zero-degree altitude is around 5000m. It’s better than a summit temperature of -35°C which is the case now and then, but it also means that the conditions will be wetter, and therefore heavier.

A short break, overlooking the town where we will be picked up within the hour.