“Caddywhompus!” — Mike Hamill

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1 AM. We’re woken by Mike, who says it’s Go time. The weather is as good as it’s going to get, so we’ll work with what we have.We have 1 mile of elevation to climb to reach the summit. Breakfast is oatmeal – long lasting calories that’ll help up us get up the mountain.

2:30 AM. We start our summit bid, headlamps, crampons on, and layered up. It’s chilly, but we’re still protected from the wind by the local topography. As we get higher, the protection diminishes, and we’re hit with constant 30 mph winds making for ~-10 deg F temps. My core is warm, but my hands are starting to get very cold. I don’t have the best finger circulation, and my guide gloves aren’t cutting it.

~5AM. We stop for a break near Pashtukhov Rocks. I’ve switched to my Himalayan mitts, so my fingers are good now. However we’re supposed to re-hydrate and eat something during our breaks, which means taking the mitts off, which makes my hands very cold. With Mike’s help, I manage to get everything I need and we start again. The break took more energy than the climbing to be honest. Fitness-wise, I’m focusing on breathing, lock-stepping, and stride length,
and I feel like I’m doing pretty well.

~6AM. The Traverse. A steep section above Pashtukov Rocks that gets us to the saddle between the Eastern & Western summits. Dawn has broken, resulting in an amazing shadow of Mt Elbrus on the mountains below. I’m too focused on climbing to bother to take pictures, something I’m
sure I’ll regret.

~8:15 AM. We make it to the top of the Traverse and across the saddle, where we wait for team members who
have fallen behind. To be honest, I never noticed our group falling behind – I’m so focused on technique and climbing, I’m not thinking about anything else. We take a longer break here, because we’re shielded from the wind. It’s sunny now so without the windchill, temps are much more reasonable.

~9AM. The rest of the group catches up, our lead group consisting of Aaron, Anders, myself and Mike, are roped up, and we push through the last steep section to the summit.

10:30 AM. Summit! The wind is not as fierce as before, so we’re able to spend about 10 minutes at the summit.

Sasha’s team, consisting of Randy and Gina made it to the summit shortly after us, and Igor’s team of  Jo and Danijela had summited before us – having taken a snow-cat up to 16,000′. I think it was definitely the right call – they enjoyed their climb thoroughly.

A Huge Congratulations to the entire team for summitting. 100% on top is an incredible accomplishment, and speaks to the caliber of both climbers and guides. For some of us, this was the first of the Seven Summits, for others it was the fifth. Regardless, it is an accomplishment, so congrats again to everyone!!

As the saying goes, you’ve only climbed half the mountain once you’re at the top. Getting down wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be though, with the snow being soft enough to plunge step a lot of the way down. The snowcats would tear up the snow, making it really nice to step in. Brought back memories of the Osunabashiri on Mt. Fuji

Most of us were down by around 2 PM, while Randy took a bit longer on the descent. He toughed it out though, and hiked down instead of taking a snowcat. Hats off to him! Most of the team had a short nap in the afternoon, while I read a book. After dinner, we all turned in. Mission Accomplished.

Continue to Day 8 – Return to Terskol