Mt Elbrus – summit day report

It snowed, it froze over, we were pinned in our tents.  The weather forecast was set to improve but it’s never accurate on big ‘hills’.  Of course the sun has to shine eventually.  When I woke up at 1am on Monday we were still in ‘Fogville’.  It was miserable.  Big mountains generate their own weather, forecasting is a vague guide.  I keep on realizing that mountaineering is so appealing because of the contrasts of Mother Nature and how they affect us.  It sounds quite ‘shoowah’ but when we work with what a mountain throws at us, everything seems to fall into place.  If we have the luxury of time and the combination of good timing we get to experience the incredible beauty of ‘Wilderness’.

We decided to leave the camp at 3am and found ourselves climbing into an ‘inversion’.  The higher we went, the colder and clearer it became.  We pushed through the cloud layer just as the sun was rising.  There are few better sensations than the warmth of the sun melting frozen limbs that are debilitating your mobility.   Icy, arthritic hands and feet turn supple and you come alive.  We had such a good day.  The weather was perfect.  As good as it could ever be on the highest hill in Europe – Mt Elbrus (5694m). We all reached the summit.  The Fuchloch boys Bradley and Michael must have infected us with their youth.  Their mum ‘Linny’ and Dad Dirk were elated they’d all reached the summit as a family. Dido was in tears – I think she had underestimated the scale and extremity. Tony Badenhorst told me that while on the descent, exhausted and numbed, Dido had said she will never climb another…lets see about that!  I reckon the climbing bug has bitten her properly.