Friends, Family & Loved Ones,
Greetings from 12,800 feet on the flanks of Mount Elbrus. This morning, wearing our crampons we hiked up to the bottom of Pashtakov Rocks – just under 15,000 feet. We had weather! A wee bit of sun, but mostly whiteout and, as we got higher, blustery winds. For three maybe four minutes at one point, the winds succeeded in blowing away most of the clouds, so if we were paying close attention, we could see the Eastern summit of the mountain and a cool panorama of the jagged Caucasus Range behind us. But it was a mostly whiteout day. Weather notwithstanding, we had a great hike up to the rocks. Some steeper “off-road” sections were exciting and the steep angle of the trail itself allowed us to practice our cramponing skills. The Team was super strong and everyone did great.
Along the way, we were adopted by a small black dog hanging out just below Pastakov Rocks, who must have known that we would give him food scraps upon our return to the hut. For now, the Team is calling him “Toto”.
This afternoon, we tied knots and rigged a “cow tail” safety cord for the summit fix line.
All my best,
Carole and Vern Tejas
