|
| Elevation |
5,642 metres (18,510
ft) |
| Location |
Russia |
| Range |
Caucasus |
| Coordinates |
43°21'18"N 42°26'21"E |
| First ascent |
1874 by Gardner, Grove, Walker,
Knubel, and Akhia Sottaiev |
| Our route |
Baksan Valley |
On June 18, 2006 Laura Mallory age 18 and Dan Mallory
age 55 departed Canada for Moscow, Russia and ultimately
to Mineral’nye Vody, Russia and into the Baksan
Valley the base of the climb to the top of the west
summit of Mt. Elbrus at 18,510 feet (5642 meters), the
highest mountain in Europe located in the Caucasus mountains
of South West Russia.
Although on first glance, the mountain appears to be
an oversized ski hill, the month before our arrival,
12 people died on the mountain and the week before they
were still looking for some members of the party. Many
have perished by being over confident and/or unprepared
for the challenges of Mt. Elbrus.
We made four acclimatization climbs and each time around
14,000 feet the air was buzzing with electricity from
the incoming storms which would cause your hair to stand
on end and some very frightening moments.
On June 27, 2006, we awoke at 2:30 am for our summit
attempt. After starting the climb in a snow storm, the
weather cleared as we ascended the mountain to produce
a perfectly clear day on our arrival at the top at 10:45
am. The pinnacle of rock at the summit allows for a
magnificent 360 degree panorama of the surrounding mountains
and valleys. We drank in the moment at the top and prepared
our descent with great satisfaction.
|
