The Team tours St. Petersburg: July 29, 2014
Yesterday, we had a great day of touring St. Petersburg. Our guide, Paulina, was exceptional not only with her knowledge, but her vivacious personality. We enjoyed the historic churches and former palaces converted to museums, etc. The highlight of the day was the Hermitage Museum which probably had every tourist in St. Petersburg. It was exciting to see how our guide Paulina pushed her way through the crowds, strongly telling other groups to not cut in front of us or get away from the exhibit she wanted us to see. We have decided that Russian women are strong willed.
Our group consists of 13 climbers from a very diverse geographical range. There are George, Dora and Krystyna from Canada. The Americans include Tom, Alex, Michael, Chimu, Cyrus, Kevin, Mario, Marshall, Laura and myself. The entire group is kept in line by our fearless leader Willie. The collective climbing experience of the group includes Everest, Vinson, Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and many others.
We have enjoyed traditional Russian meals including Chicken Kiev, Beef Stroganoff and Borscht. Tomorrow we will begin acclimatization hikes. We are still searching for a group name. I came up with the idea that we all adopt Russian names. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.
My final thought for the day is: How do you keep a turkey in suspense?
“I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
Lauryotzky II
Team Jason Reaches Elbrus Summit
Just before 11am, “Team Jason” celebrated a successful summit on Europe’s highest peak, which may not have been possible without the inspiration of our friend and teammate Jason Mattingly. We all made it back to Terskol safely, and we are ready for a delectable Russian-style BBQ this evening!
Elbrus summit bid
Hi all
After a rest day yesterday and to avoid cabin fever, today we spent the morning hiking up the mountain. We could feel progress in our acclimatization as we moved faster and more freely.
We finished the morning with some ice axe skills training prior to gear check and preparation for our summit bid at 4am tomorrow.
The excitement and anticipation is building but it feels good to know we are in the safe hands of our able and knowledgeable guides; Willie (Cookie Monster) whose observation skills continue to amaze us, and our local guides Nikolai senior and young Nikolai.
Nikolai senior is a living legend in Russian mountaineering and has scaled peaks across the globe. At 75 years young he is an inspiration and can climb rings around us. Young Nik is in training and has already shown his worth when needed. We look forward to climbing with them all tomorrow morning.
The next update from us will be post our summit bid.
Ciao for now,
Kim
PS- Jason, great to hear news from you.
PPS- To D & L back home in Oz…. miss you, love you, see you soon.
Mt. Elbrus cybercast
You may have read about the famous goings-on of Willie Benegas in various alpinist publications. You may have even caught his fledgling show on ESPN Latin America. But you don’t know the real Willie until you’re snowed in the Caucasus and you catch him, not once, not twice, but thrice sneaking into the kitchen trailer to hoard cookies in between meals.
Lucky for us, Willie transmits a passion for teaching skills and preparing us for summit day that rivals his lust for simple sugars.
We are a diverse lot here on Mt. Elbrus. We range from energy entrepreneurs, to factory managers, to National Skeleton Team studs, to a surgeon in pursuit of his seventh summit. So on this rest day, we spent much of the time getting to know each other, holding Willie accountable for his sweet tooth, and missing our teammate Jason Mattingly.
Tomorrow is another skills day due to inclement weather. And Willie, don’t think the Kremlin isn’t aware of your infiltration of the cookie jar.
Mt Elbrus 7/20/14
Hi all,
We just finished our acclimatization hike to the Pastukov rocks and are now tucked in our cozy and warm accommodations at the “Barrels”. Everyone is climbing well and all should be standing on the summit when weather permits. The weather is unsettled now and sleeting outside. We await better weather in a few days.
The team is inspired by the grit and determination of one of our members, Jason. As the author of this cybercast, I am taking the liberty to change the lame team name given yesterday by Mike to Team Jason because of his big smile and bigger heart. I know the whole team agrees.
Louis
It was a great trip and I would travel with Alpine Ascents anywhere. Everyone on the trip was extremely fit which made the climb a pleasure for all. I thought the organization of the trip was superb with excellent pacing, meal preparation and logistics.
