Logistics: The difficulties started with getting the Visa from the Embassy. The form is 2 pages long and asks for pretty extensive information. Even a cover letter is required listing your contact info, itinerary, etc. On top of this, you need a Visa Voucher. Basically, you can't go to Russia on your own, you need to be offically "invited." The Visa Voucher is documentation of this invitation (in our case, from our climbing guides). When you get to the Russian embassy (they close at 12PM) it's a teeny room and there isn't room for a line and no number to take--you find out who was there last. If someone else comes in, you say they are next after you. They also grill you pretty hard. Why? Where? Who? For me, I didn't staple my passport photo to the form, so I had to get out of line and walk around looking for a stapler to borrow. I finally found one in a coffee shop. They, of course, had one there but I could not use it. I go in and get back in line. I barely made it in time before they closed their doors at 12PM! Probably the most difficult Visa I've ever applied for.
Getting There: We departed from San Francisco and after an all-day layover in New York, we got kicked off our plane. The problem was that we would arrive a few hours earlier than stated on the Visa. We were told by our climbing guides that we would simply have to wait in the airport for a few hours. Apparently not. The Visa start date is firm. Oh well. So, we missed our connecting flight from Moscow to Minvody in the Caucasus. Normally, rescheduling flights is a straight-forward affair, but today was a bad day for our airline--they had cancelled a few flights, so there were about 700 people in line with us to rearrange flights. The line went outside and wound around the JFK parking lot. Yay. After a long wait, they only had 1 Moscow flight per day from NY. We were placed on standby for the next day. Better yet, the airline didn't know where some of our bags were. A few said it made it off the plane, then others said they couldn't get it off in time and it was in Moscow. Ugh. So we spent the night in New York with Chiang's family. Long story short, we were able to get on the flight to Moscow and managed to get last minute (but pricey) tickets from Moscow to Minvody. Turns out, the missing bags were in Moscow. Note: there are 7 airports in Moscow, make sure you know which one you are going to.
Our domestic flight had a strict baggage limit of 20 kilos total--yes, including the carry-on. We were way over with our climbing gear. So, to save some overweight fees, we put on our heavy jackets and stuffed the pockets with stuff. The flight was uneventful, except for the fact that the bathroom was freezing cold! However, the nice thing was that the Minvody airport didn't have as much security as I expected, given the fact that there was a hostage situation involving Chechens a few years ago... All in all, it took us 4 days to get to the base of Mt. Elbrus (Azau). After much ado, we actually made it in time for the climb. Whew.
Azau: We were fairly close to the Georgian border and their border patrols. We were simply told "don't walk too far from the hotel. You might run into a Georgian border patrol--and they could give you a hard time." I think we were over a hundred miles from Chechnya, so we were okay on that front. Besides, I had a map indicating the local kidnap zones, and we were pretty safe. The lodge was nice, except for the coils poking me through the bed. Ouch.
My Nuts: As far as climbs go, this was the easiest of the 3 of the 7 summits I've already climbed. Although 12 people had died on the mountain so far this season, the mountain is considered relatively straight-forward. It was an 8-day trip (compared to 3 weeks for my last climb). We had some poor weather going up but had absolutely beautiful clear skies on summit day (see pics). On summit day, we left camp at 1AM and returned by 4 or 5PM. We only needed our ice axes for the final steep grade. Chiang and I made it to the top but Gabe had trouble breathing and had to turn back. Oh, and it was cold. The thermometer said -20 F. This is not including the wind chill factor. My toes were warm because my boots cost $600--it was the best damn money I ever spent. However, all my other appendages were frozen. Because it was cold and you drink a lot of water to counter the effects of altitude, I had to pee quite often. I have to remove my outer glove shell (otherwise you can't find your zipper fly) and find my fly, reach through my thermals and find my pecker. Needless to say, your pecker freezes within seconds and it goes numb. Thereafter, it doesn't matter how hung you are, you're blindly groping for it with abrasive glove liners (which are pretty thick themselves) and after a few pee stops, it, um, starts to hurt. It gets a little easier after the sun comes up, but until then, your thingy never really warms up before you have to pee again. This is, however, par for the course in mountaineering :)
Lessons learned: Pre-date the Visa unless you are staying 30 days, in which case, you don't have much of a buffer. And, we would have flown directly to Minvody from Munich instead of doing a domestic flight from Moscow. This way, you avoid the baggage limits.
Words of wisdom:
On toilet paper - This is John Wayne TP. "It's rough, tough and it don't take no crap off nobody."
On making repairs with duct tape - "If it can't be duct, it's fucked."
On questions of whether to bring a piece of equipment or not - "If you've got it, pack it."
Sunrise on the mountain.
The sun hitting the Caucasus range.
The group climbing. I'm the guy in the ugly yellow boots.
Me.
On the summit of Mt Elbrus!!! 18,513 ft.
