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.
