"So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life."
--Peter Gibbons (Office Space)
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Herb - Sep 11, 2006 8:24 am Date Climbed: Aug 22, 2006
Standard route (Pastukhova rocks - saddle - west summit - botchkis)Beautiful climb - amazing sunrise! We had good conditions (some fresh-fallen snow, but not too much) and very good weather (sunny and fairly warm) up to the saddle. Then clouds and fog appeared and we had to speed up a little bit. Went with a german tour operator. Reached the west summit with six other group members and our incredibly competent and likeable guides: Ralf Dujmovits and Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner - two of the currently best high-altitude mountaineers in the world! We had the summit for ourselves for more than half an hour. For a few moments the clouds opened and we got a view of the blue sky above 5.600 meters. :o)
Four of our group had to turn back during the climb (mountain sickness, exhaustion, stomach problems...) - our local guide Eugen took care of them. During the descent we had fog and clouds continuously.
JanVanGenk - Aug 2, 2006 8:10 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2006
Route Climbed: Normal routeSummited the west peak in whiteout and blizzard. Previous night spent in a crevasse near the saddle. I climbed the whole route on skis and then descended from the summit (nearly zero visibility until the saddle). Summited the east peak a few days earlier.
Olaf - Jul 22, 2006 8:58 pm Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2006
Route climbed: Normal to West SummitPerfect climb to the summit. Two days of waiting paid off. The first day we were surprised by a thunderstorm at 4900 meters and ran down the slope like crazy.
We had really nice weather although a strong and very cold wind.
From the P. Rocks to summit took 5 hours.
Thanks to Pilgrim Tours and our guide Sergei.
alexclimb - Jul 20, 2006 5:43 am Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2006
Route Climbed: Southhern route. West summitAfter 6 days of acclimatization and couple of days down in the valley with four clients I started the Elbrus ascent from Priyut 11 and climbed the West summit quite easily in 6 hours. The weather was OK, a bit cold (-20C on the Seddle), moderate wind, good visibility. Planty of fresh snow on the Seddle.
MoT - Dec 22, 2005 8:28 am
Route Climbed: Main Route Date Climbed: August 16th 2005Perfect summit day! Gale blowing on top but no clouds! Much better than my attempt in 2002 when we abandoned the climb above the saddle in a really bad blizzard
rdesota - Dec 1, 2005 12:23 am
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: August 10, 2004cold but great summit day. Earlier in the season seems like a great ski down...
philippe bridgeman - Nov 29, 2005 7:08 am
Route Climbed: Normal route Date Climbed: 11 - 18 of August 2001Great trip a little difficult to get to the mountain from Aberdeen Scotland though : 3 planes, 1 Bus, 3 cars including taxies, 1 cable car and a chairlift and that’s just to the start.
Acclimatization was done on MT Cheget and at the Observatory.
EQUUS - Nov 6, 2005 6:43 pm
Route Climbed: ordinary route from Prijut 11 Date Climbed: Aug of 1990Ascent after 3 days of fight (on second day I couldn't make a step upstairs on the saddle between W and E summits) with frozen fingers and burnt face, but I was happy on the W summit which is on the edge of former volcano crater.
redwards - Oct 28, 2005 10:55 am
Route Climbed: South Face to West Summit Date Climbed: July 08, 2005Summited at 10:58 am. Guided by Pilgrim Tours.
MikeW - Oct 25, 2005 4:46 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: August 2004The Caucasus mountains are awesome. I should have brought my skis, this is a skiable mountain from the summit. Summit day was perfect until I reached 5200m. The clouds came in with the winds, visibility was about 5 feet. We still reached the summit though. The Russians were really nice.
flying_naffie - Aug 27, 2005 7:02 am
Route Climbed: north route Date Climbed: 15 Aug 2005Perfect day , 10 hours to reach the summit from high camp at about 3650m.
Anders Holm - Aug 11, 2005 7:05 pm
Route Climbed: Normal route Date Climbed: 06 Aug 2005Started at 02:00 from the campsite above the barrels. Reached the summit in excellent weather with spectacular views of the Caucasus at 11:00.
Nadios - Aug 11, 2005 4:45 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: 2005 August 7Camped at 4400m. Excellent weather, but too hot all the way to the saddle. This time I climbed the peak all the way from Azau. No cabin, no lift.
h2omarc - Jul 24, 2005 10:54 am
Route Climbed: Normal Date Climbed: July 20th 2005We left the Priot huts at 3:00 AM and reached the Western Summit at 10:30 AM -- We were back to Priot huts by 11:00 Am and drinking beer at the bottom of the mountan by 2:00 PM.. Tempertures when we left for the summit were very cold and windy just before saddle - But when we reached the top it was warm 35 degrees F -- a great day! - Marc Goddard / Bio Bio Expeditions
chapter11 - Jun 8, 2005 5:06 pm
Route Climbed: Normal Route Date Climbed: 5/29/05Perfect summit day. 10 hours round trip from the Barrel Huts. Thanks Pilgrim Tours!
cristakhe - May 5, 2005 9:12 am
Route Climbed: normal route Date Climbed: 3 july 2004First I have to say that this is a mountain very windy. Second, if you go in Caucasus only for Elbrus it`s a shame because in that area you have alot of peaks that are more beautiful than this one.
melindahalasz - Apr 14, 2005 3:40 pm
Route Climbed: normal routes, East and West Peak Date Climbed: 27 Aug 2003Changeable weather and snow conditions. The upper part was quite windy.
Great experience!
Vangse - Jan 20, 2005 2:08 am
Route Climbed: Normal route Date Climbed: July 2002Summited via normal route. My first "big" mountain. Just before the saddle I thought that there could not be far left, so went with all guns blazing. Boy did I regret that. Was so tired and feeling like shit that I turned around on the summit plateau, maybe 5-8 minutes from summit. Our guide convinced me to turn around again and I got to the summit and vommitted. Left after 5 minutes or something like that.
Nadios - Dec 18, 2004 12:41 pm
Route Climbed: Normal route from Azau Date Climbed: 2004 07 07Overslept and left the camp 100vert/m higher than Priot 11 at 08:00. Five Hours later I was on the summit of Elbrus. Nice views. A bit windy, - 11 C on the summit.
sokolxxx - Oct 31, 2004 6:19 pm
Route Climbed: Normal to West Summit Date Climbed: 27 June 2004We spent one week on the mountain. Very stormy (lightning) and white-out conditions also. Ascent day was nice but it was just one nice day! Way to summit tooks 8 hours from Prijut and descending 4 hours if you've good aclimatization.