Elbrus

Summit Day

Summit day was intense, we had to battle against 100km/hr winds snow blasting on our faces and insane incline levels at high altitude. After hours of climbing and pushing we made it to the top of Europe. Usually we get to look around enjoy the views but not on this mountain. We just took our few pictures of glory of my country’s flag, ROTA and Rahhalah’s and headed straight down to lower altitudes where the winds was less and warmer.

After reaching camp we rested fora while before dinner, we also finished a day earlier and were trying to change our tickets. Not the easiest thing to do in Russia. We slept not knowing if we were leaving the next day.

After a long night sleep we woke up to find that the storm started. It was freezing in the huts and a whiteout. You can nearly see anything. We had to double check if we where going to leave for the valley of not. We were waiting for a snow cat to take us to the first cable car to head down. At 10am is came, we loaded the cat with out gear and jumped in to take us to the cable car. Only finding that it was closed! We had to carry all our gear to the next cable car which was another hour down hill in mud rain and wind. This wasn’t my most pleasant experience on this trip.

Finally after hours of going down we finally reached our tiny hotel for a quick shower and a meal before heading for the airport. The drive to the airport was a 4hr drive that we spent remembering the good days in the mountains and looking forward to the ones in Moscow.

We had to slit into 2 groups in to two different airports in Moscow. Asti was last minute all flights were full. To make it simple we arrived at the hotel at 1am only to find problems with all our rooms. Apparently the hotel overbooked and was full,we had to fight hard to get the rooms, let’s put it this way Ziad fought the hardest and got the most out of it in freebies.

All in all was an amazing trip, with amazing friends and the summit was the cherry on top. I am really happy that I managed to show some of my Friends what’s mountaineering is all about. It is also. An honor to climb for ROTA and I truly believe in their cause and the 1000’s that benefit from their hard work. Now it’s time to set my eye on my next mountain in Jan.

Mount Elbrus

Arabs with Altitude…

Mount Elbrus

Arabs with Altitude…

Mount Elbrus

Arabs with Altitude…

Mount Elbrus

Arabs with Altitude…

Acclimatization day 1

We woke up after a good night sleep at 7am, to have a breakfast. I think they read my blog last night because they gave us aaaaaa lot of food. Then took the cable car up to 2,700m and started our first day of acclimatization hike up to 3,500m. It took us about 5 hours to reach it, the team paced up really well and made it with great spirit and attitude. We were blessed with amazing weather and beautiful views of mount Elbrus. We took a lot of pictures that i will share after the climb. You can also track us on spotmoe on my website.

On the way down was very quick,  it took us about an hour back to the chairlift.   Back in Cheget, we had the best Shashlik ever which is basically a Russian Kabab. Bought some water, snacks, and some supplies for tomorrow and the days to come.

Arriving at Cheget

We woke up at 7 and dragged our bags down for a nice breakfast, before heading to Cheget in the Baksan vally where we will spend the next 3 days acclimatizing. During the 3hr drive we stopped to buy some snacks and found amazing water Mellon that are grown in the village.

Reaching our destination we, went straight to lunch. Must say the portions are not as big as I expected. But we are having a high carb diet that hopefully will help us climb the mountain.

Then we headed up to the hotel which is about 2100m high. Before checking in we did a full gear check to make sure no one is missing anything. We came out with a whole list of items that we must arrange before heading to the barrels in 3 days. There are small mountaineering shops here that carry the essential gear.

I am sharing with  Masoud, and looks like we have the smallest room in the hotel and it’s purple! Every single thing is purple. As long as there is a pillow and a bed I won’t complain.

I got a saddening call today that one of the employees in the Sharjah Golf & Shooting club Rasheed passed away. He handled the juice bar for years. Unfortunately a car hit him in the morning while he was crossing the road. May God rest his soul.

On Route to Mineralnye Vodi

The plane left Dubai airport at 10:30am for a 5 hour flight to Moscow. Landed there on time around 3:30pm, as usual drama in the airport. We had to pick up our luggage pass it thru customs and recheck them in in the domestic terminal. After spending 1hr at the check in counter, the supervisor came and decided to go over the weight when all the luggage already went to the plane. Guess what we were over wait!!! We had to go to another counter and pay for the excess luggage. Now we are pushing it with time. As we passed security check, the airport customs stopped Abz (Abdulaziz) and asked him why is he carrying an ice axe in his back pack! So he had to leave it with them as we didn’t have time to check it in. We just made made it to our flight to Mineralnye Vodi which is another 2hr flight. We landed there and waited a loooooong time for our luggage which we had to carry 200m to the bus. After a short ride to the hotel, met Raed, Elia, and our guides Vern and and Carol. Checked in our rooms and headed out for a quick dinner. One thing really surprising is there a lot of Mosquitos here, it’s really unbelievable. Being after Ramadan hope we will get our sleeping habits as quick as possible. So we will be abel to generate as many red blood cells as possible. The altitude at Mineralnye Vodi is about 600m.

Off to the Top of Europe…

First I would like to wish you all Eid Mubarak. In less than 8 hours I will be off to my next adventure this time to the 5th highest mountain of the 7 Summits
Mount Elbrus. Mount Elbrus is located in the western Caucasus mountain range in Russia, near the border of Georgia. Your support is the reason I strive to reach higher and aim further, for that I Thank You.

Elbrus at 5,642m is an extreme, high altitude climb. Climbing up to 8 hours per day. Summit day is the most demanding portion of the climb, typically involving 8 hours for the ascent and 7 hours for the descent, that is 15hr straight . The expedition requires strength & endurance. Being in sound physical condition is the single most important aspect for me to maximize my chances to summit. I have been training really hard the past few months and hope it will all pay off soon.

I will update my blog as much as possible. I also will be having audio blogs on the days I do not have internet connection. I would like to keep you all as close as I can to the real thing. You can also locate me at any time using my gps on SpotMoe it will be activated tomorrow onwards.

Wish me luck…