Team “No Shortcuts” starts the expedition
An alpine start of 3:30 am gave us a jump on the day. We caught an early flight out to the western Mongolia town of Kovod.
We loaded luggage and ourselves into land cruisers and headed across the Steppes in search of the mountain known as Küiten, the “cold one”
We pitched camp by an Idyllic little dream and then we were able to relax a bit.
Mongolia Team Tours Town
Friends, family & loved ones,
In addition to several temples and monks’ residences, the monastery houses a 26 meter gold-leaf statue of the Buddha of Compassion. We were told that this is the largest indoor statue in the world. Impressive.
We spent some time in the National Museum and then went to a cultural performance, which sounds cheesy but the dancing and local music was really great and we all enjoyed it.
Team Explores Terrell National Park
Friends, family & loved ones,
An overcast day here in Ulaan Bataar came as a relief from the hot sun of the last several days. Perfect weather for a day trip outside of the city to Terrell National Park, where we saw Turtle Rock and, nearby, a huge statue of Chinngis Kahn (— we Americans call him Genghis Kahn).
A highlight was holding a Golden Eagle, the largest bird of prey used by the Mongolians for hunting.
We returned to town in time for gear check, which went smoothly as this is not the Team’s first rodeo, and finished the day with a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant.
Tomorrow, we will tour some of the major sites in Ulaan Bataar.
Thanks for following!
More Nadaam Festivities in Mongolia
Friends, family and loved ones,
In addition to wrestling and archery, horse racing is the other main sport celebrated as part of the Nadaam festival. So early this morning we left the center of town for the outskirts, where the horse racing venue was located.
What a scene. Again, lots of people watching. Many of the spectators arrived on horseback.
In terms of the races themselves, the youngest jockeys (racing 2 year old horses) were about 6 years old and the oldest (racing 5 year olds) were maybe in their mid teens.
The races ranged in length from 10 to 25 kilometers. We stood near the finish line, which resembled a mosh pit as the spectators jostled one another in an attempt to get close enough to touch the haunch of each winning horse (for good luck).
Einar managed to get close enough to touch one of the horses and Tom got jostled himself by locals trying to do the same.
More fun in store for tomorrow,
Carole & Vern Tejas
Mongolian Climb begins with the Nadaam Festival!
Friends, family and loved ones,
Welcome to our coverage of the 2025 Alpine Ascents climb of Mt Khuiten, the highest peak in Mongolia. This year, we were lucky in that the Nadaam festival — a 3 day festival celebrating Mongolia’s independence and culture — is taking place just before the official start of our trip. Several of us have arrived early to experience it.
The opening ceremonies today were nothing short of spectacular. A riot of color, sound, pagentry, fireworks, dancers, acrobats and live music of all types. Processions of various groups in colorful traditional dress, some in suits of “armour” galloping at high speed on horseback.
The production value was top-notch. We could only compare it to the opening ceremony of the Olympics. On steroids. The sold-out stadium was filled with both tourists and locals, many of whom were dressed for the occasion in beautifully made traditional garb. The people watching was as fun as the show itself.
After a lunch break for some Mongolian bbq, we watched some of the sporting events that followed the opening ceremony- wrestling and archery.
The archery competitors were nailing targets the size of a small paper cup from 80 meters away as the judges stood right next to the targets— apparently not too concerned about getting struck by a wayward arrow.
Tomorrow the festivities continue and we plan to travel out of town to see some horse racing and, if we are lucky, a Mongolian ankle bone competition called Shagai (- more on that later).
Thanks for following!
Carole & Vern Tejas
Excellent all around! Mongolia and Mt. Khuiten with AAI exceeded my high expectations! I would highly recommend this expedition and climb to any alpine mountaineer who wishes expand their horizons and climb to Mongolia’s high point on the border of Russia, China and Mongolia.
