Just got back from climbing Mt Elbrus. I have led a team of 8 to attempt the North route of Mt Elbrus. The first from Singapore, I guess (not important anyway).

The day we arrived at the base camp after a 3-4hrs bumpy ride from Kislovodsk

No one guaranteed a summit. When I arrived at 5,200m, the bottom of the East summit, my guide told me that we will not proceed to the West summit. The West peak is the highest point on Mt Elbrus, to claim that you have climbed Mt Elbrus, one has to be on the West summit.

I was very disappointed, because we still have plenty of time when we arrived at the big rock below the East summit. It takes about 2.5hrs (or lesser on a more compact snow trail) to climb up to the East summit. But the deep snow piled up by the heavy snow fall the past 2-3 days made the climb to the West summit very tedious. No one wanted or even keen to continue as the breaking trail would be an “ass-fool” effort.

Rebelliously, I chose not to even ascend further. I refused to climb up to the East summit. I chose to descend. As I descent, I was planning to return again, probably July/Aug 2013.

I will put up a more detailed report about the climb on a new page at a later date.

A clear view of the East and West (R) peaks of Mt Elbrus from Camp 1 (or high camp) on the North route.