Elbrus noted as the highest mountain in Europe - Ronnie's first summit date was 19 September 2005.

see more pictures in the Elbrus photo album

"Elbrus - The highest mountain in Europe"by Ronnie Muhl
ASWC News December 2005, S. A. Mountain Magazine March 2006.

As the small glasses were raised and rammed together in a series of loud “clinks,” “Nazdrowie” (“To your good health”) echoed down the Baksan Valley. My climbing companions and I were attempting to converse and share in the success of two mig fighter pilots who had just returned from climbing Europe’s highest mountain. We could not understand each other, but we spent an hour together drinking vodka as though it was water and periodically looking up the valley and shouting “Elbrus!” The Russians say the word in a deeply guttural way and have tremendous respect and admiration for this extinct twin-peaked volcano, which forms the natural boundary between Russia and Georgia and is situated in the magnificent Caucasus range.

The more vodka we consumed, the more guttural we became and the more we understood each other. It did not take us long to realise that trying to compete with a Russian drinking vodka was a battle that we were never going to win. What a remarkable introduction to the Caucasus, the Baksan Valley and the little village of Terskol, which lies at the base of this awesome mountain.

A journey to this classic mountain invariably begins with a flight in to Moscow. A visit to this incredible city would not be complete without walking through the famous Red Square and past the Kremlin, Lenin’s resting place and St. Basil’s cathedral with its exuberant colours. We spent a night in the Rossia Hotel and then caught a domestic flight to Mineralnye Vody (translated “Mineral Waters”), where we were met by our guide Yuri.

I was dead keen to capture our arrival on film, but Yuri cautioned me and warned us all to be on our best behaviour until we were right out of the airport’s perimeter. The old Soviet Union’s influence still permeated many parts of society.

The drive from Mineralnye Vody up to our mountain lodge in the little village of Terskol took about 4 hours. The higher up the Baksan Valley we drove, the more beautiful it became. The next few days were spent acclimatising. Part of our program was to ride the ski-lifts up to a point on Mt. Tcheget before climbing further. We sighted Mt. Elbrus for the first time, while riding the ski-lifts. What a breath-taking sight. On the opposite side was the impressive Donguzron with her famous shape of the number 7 lying on the west face.

The day dawned for us to move higher up the mountain and into the barrel huts, which were to become our base camp for the rest of our expedition. This move was made easy by making use of the cable car. The ride is broken into 3 sections and it is steep. Most of us had sweaty palms as we were critically aware of how old the machinery was and we could not help thinking about its reliability, but we were assured that it is serviced regularly and it is safe. I’m not sure how many of us felt that convinced. We settled in to barrel life and started preparing ourselves for the climbing conditions that awaited us higher up on the mountain.

The next two days were spent acclimatising by moving up to Postukhova Rocks located at 4 560m. On our first day we got caught in weather that deteriorated very rapidly. We soon found ourselves fighting gale force winds, snow and the temperature that plummeted to –15ºC. We also spent a day brushing up on our technical skills by doing some ice axe training and rope work.

We were the last team on the mountain, which meant that it was quiet, but it also meant that the weather was beginning to change. We received the last forecast for the season from the office in Terskol but it was not very promising.

It was agreed that should the weather hold, we would make a bid for the summit the following day. Final preparations were made to our gear before Yuri briefed us about what lay ahead high up the mountain. As the weather forecast was questionable, it was unanimously agreed that we would ride the snow cat as far as Pastukhova Rocks, before proceeding further up on crampons.

The alarm woke us at 2:45 am. We had breakfast and boarded the snow cat at 4 am. It was beautifully clear, all the stars were out and we had a full moon. There was no wind, which is very unusual on Elbrus. The temperature was – 15ºC.

We started our climb at 4:40 am with headtorches. As it slowly got light, we became aware of the magnificent Caucasus range behind us. The sun slowly rose above the horizon. It was a spectacular sight.

The climb up to the Sedlowina Saddle situated at 5 300 metres was long, steep and hard. The final rising traverse up onto the mountain demanded all that we could give. As we struggled those last few metres, we suddenly realised that we were on the summit plateau and all that remained was a determined 20 minute slog to the very summit of Mt Elbrus.

We arrived there at 12:35 pm. It was a mild –5ºC. We spent 20 minutes on the summit taking the celebratory photographs and soaking up the magnificent scenery. It appeared as though the weather was changing rapidly, so it was time to leave. We spent a further 4 hours on the descent, finally arriving back at the barrels at 4:30 pm. It was a long, but successful day. What made the ascent very special for me was being able to climb with my 16 year old son who succeeded on his first big mountain. I felt very emotional seeing him reach the summit a few paces before me. It was indeed a proud moment.

We rested for a while before having dinner and finally getting into bed at 8:30 pm. We were all fast asleep half an hour later.

It was a beautiful morning when we woke and the views of Elbrus and the Caucasus were spectacular. We packed our gear and left the barrels for the first cableway station. The climbing season had come to an end and the upper ski-lifts were no longer operative.

We finally got back to Terskol just after 11am. We certainly had something to celebrate as we had all successfully climbed the highest mountain in Europe and another one of the 7 summits.

What remained was a relaxing day in Terskol, before packing up and driving back down the Baksan Valley to Mineral Vody and the flight back to Moscow.

As we left the Elbrus region, I could not help thinking about the Greek myth and Prometheus, who stole fire from the Gods and in so doing, angered Zeus so much that he was punished eternally by being tied to a rock. During the day the condor’s would peck away at his insides and at night he would be healed again. The rock he was tied to is today known as Mt. Elbrus.

Although most of us suffered to some extent on summit day, fortunately our suffering was short-lived. But, we too were energised, healed and rejuvenated by the experience of being on one of the classic mountains in the world. We returned back home all fired up. We were filled with the fire of Elbrus in our hearts, the fire of Russian vodka in our stomachs and the desire to visit the Caucasus at some stage in the future again.

Ronnie Muhl leaves for Everest at the beginning of April. He is part of an international team. The leader is Alex Abramov from Russia. You can follow his progress by visiting www.samountainmag.com