How REG.RU climbed to the top

    A long time ago we did not write something to you, Khabravchians!

    Recently, I don’t want to bore you with statistics or post technical instructions - outside the window, heat and stuffiness, soul and body crave for something fresh and different from the routine of everyday work. Fresh as mountain air. Unusual, like the banner of REG.RU, fluttering at an altitude of 5621 m above the ground.
    So I decided to tell you how just a couple of weeks ago I decided to go to the mountains for the first time, and not just somewhere, but to the highest peak in Europe - Elbrus.

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    It must be said right away that physically it was not easy. “Hard” acclimatization, “mountain” illness (headache, insomnia, weakness, shortness of breath after minimal physical activity), heavy backpacks (they approached Elbrus for three days from the North, the most difficult side). At the same time, I never had such inner peace, I never rested so much from the city bustle as in these majestic, monumental mountains of tremendous beauty.

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    However, something brought me forward, I will start from the very beginning.

    For non-climbers, I explain: before climbing to a height, in order not to grab the "mountain" disease, you must first acclimatize. Acclimatization can be "soft" - over the course of 2 weeks you gradually accustom the body to height, and "hard" - which we had, that is, less than a week. And after that, the ascent to the top immediately began!

    On the first day there was no snow and cold, but there was a lot of everything else: strength, excitement, heavy loads in a backpack (everyone felt how much extra was taken on the road!), Kilometers and fatigue.

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    In 7 hours it was necessary to climb from 2,000 m to 3,700 m, breaking the Balk-Bashi pass. On bending legs, with a buzzing head, sorting out the nausea and other symptoms of the Pit, through the impenetrable fog, wind and hail, we did get there!

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    We camped at an altitude of 3500 m and fell to sleep. But it was not there! It turns out that insomnia is also a symptom of a "mountain" illness! In general, no one was able to fall asleep that night.

    The second day was easier. The food supplies in the backpacks were already a little eaten up, and it was not up to go that day, but down to go down from 3,500 m to 2,500 m into the Malka river valley. Symptoms of a mountain sickness were not observed, the sun shone brightly, the mood became completely different. In general, it seemed that life was getting better.

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    On the way we came across a slope at an angle of 45 - 50 °, all covered with pebbles, which crumbled underfoot and dragged behind it no worse than quicksand. They saved trekking poles - resting on them, it was possible to somehow escape this unpleasant site. So, resting on sticks, we mastered the "traverse descent." By the way, the same technique is used on the glacier, only the stick of the ice ax is used instead of sticks.

    After half a day, we reached the Aerodrom plateau , a perfectly even and flat "bottom of the bowl" of enormous size, surrounded on all sides by mountain walls.

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    Beauty! In every sense: and that the spectacle is fascinating, and that there is no need to look for a place for a tent;)

    There are many legends and tales about this place. For example, that during the Second World War German planes landed here aboard which were either German scientists from the Anenerbe organization, or Tibetan lamas, who were buried here for predicting the defeat of Hitler. Or that until the 60s. of the last century, the plateau was closed to visitors by direct order, first by the NKVD, and then by the KGB, because it was planned to build an airport for the Soviet troops here. In any case, the airport was never built here.

    It is a pity that it would be both convenient and great - such nature, such views ... I did not think that in the mountains I would meet such an abundance of flowers.

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    In addition, for the first time since the beginning of our adventure, a beautiful view of both peaks of Elbrus opened.

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    And the next day we “took off”! “Take-off” refers to a sharp transition from a plateau to an ascending serpentine path.

    On the third day, we had to reach the Northern Shelter, that is, climb from 2500 m to 3700 m. The climb was much easier than on the first day, for two reasons at once: acclimatization did its job, plus we left everything unnecessary at Aerodrome, to capture on the way back.

    The higher they went, the more cloudy the weather became. When we reached our destination, the Northern Shelter, a squally wind rushed towards us, generously offering us a shower and hail.
    North Shelterconsisted of a base of the Ministry of Emergencies (mostly empty), the Oleinikov hut and several stationary houses. Such a small base camp from which groups of climbers begin the assault on the peaks of Elbrus.

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    On the fourth day we made an acclimatization ascent to the Lenz rocks (4500 m). For the first time we tested climbing equipment (cats, a system with a carabiner, ice axes, harness).

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    Hello, blinding snow and insidious, hidden from the eyes cracks! Sprinkled with snow, they can reach a depth of 150 m. Did you know that every year people die in the cracks of Elbrus?

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    In 2 hours we reached the lower cliffs of Lenz. There, the instructors gave us an introductory course in mountaineering, teaching several basic techniques how to behave on a steep climb, on a steep descent, and in the event of a breakdown.

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    Everyone immediately felt like real climbers;)

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    A few more hours we spent on the lower cliffs of Lenz, following the law of acclimatization: "Climb higher, sleep lower!". And then went down to the camp to prepare for the upcoming climb to the top.

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    The fifth day passed under the sign of rest before the main "event". During the rest, the choir sang Russian and Ukrainian songs, as in our team six out of nine people were from Ukraine. Such a fraternization of fraternal peoples;)

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    And now it is the sixth day ! Rather, the night is between the 5th and 6th day. Departure from the base camp to storm the summit at 1 am.

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    The climb itself lasted about 10 hours, the descent back to the camp for about 4 hours.

    Dawn found us at 4.30 at the cliffs of Lenz. It was stunningly beautiful, not every artist can see such paints on the canvas.

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    I would be extremely happy to realize that I could see all this if ... If my thoughts did not freeze on the fly! Even in July, the thermometer on Elbrus never rises above zero. A similar temperature during this period is observed only in Antarctica and in Greenland. Between one in the morning and five in the morning on Elbrus it is really very cold!

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    The guys around begin to complain of numbness of the fingers and toes. Someone is sharing mittens with a friend. Someone recalls and immediately applies, as it turned out, the best way to warm your toes - with leg swings.

    After 7 hours of continuous ascent, we are already at an altitude of about 5100 - 5200 m. The forces end, and in front - the steepest climb in front of the peak. The closer to it, the more ice and less snow becomes around. The more carefully you have to look where you are stepping and, moreover, you sit down to rest - you can start to slide down, which, frankly, is not as pleasant in the mountains as from an ice slide during winter festivities.

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    And yet we did it! We overcame the last climb, reached a plateau. The height is about 5550 m. Up to the summit, it turns out about another half hour course.

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    The raging wind stretches these half an hour for at least an hour, trying with its impulses to either tear you off the surface of the rock, or to polish your skin together with the sun scorching through rarefied air to a state of dazzling sparkling ice.

    III ... the summit!

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    This is an incomparable feeling when you are standing on top ... So, it is incomparable with the feeling when you are standing on a REAL TOP!

    And, of course, I could not deny myself the pleasure of taking a picture with the REG.RU flag on top!

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    And why did it cost me ... Stand on the wind blown peak, feeling all the symptoms of the Pitmen, put on REG.RU banner on a tracking stick as a flagpole and take pictures of yourself!

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    Because my friend felt very, very bad at the height of a lack of oxygen and he could only “click” me once. But as soon as we went down 1000 m, he immediately felt better.

    The descent took place in conditions of almost zero visibility along noticeably grown snowdrifts. Apparently, while we conquered the peak, there was a heavy snowfall.

    Upon returning to the camp, we barely had the strength to throw clothes on the nearest stones to dry and crawl around the tents. And when we woke up, instead of clothes and stones, we were surrounded only by snowdrifts, snowdrifts, snowdrifts. Weather in the mountains, what a feminine mood: changing suddenly and for no reason visible to the eye!

    When the next day ( day seven, it turns out), we went down to 2500 m, I was so glad to see the low, rare, but green grass after the realm of endless stone, snow and ice. On the way down we came across various natural wonders of Jila-Su - stone mushrooms, which are a place of power for many shamans of the past and probably the present, tasted amazingly tasty water from a bruised spring from under a rock, plunged into a warm bath with mineral water natural origin.

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    After this hike, I fell in love with the mountains forever. It's worth it. Really worth it. So, I hope, "not far off" storming other peaks! ;)

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