#7summits

[zebblais]

When nature calls 💩 #MaxRusski #Russia #outhousesofthe7summits #7summits #Elbrus (at Эльбрус 4400м)

[zebblais]

This could be anywhere- but it's actually the summit of #MtElbrus! We topped out yesterday morning in warm conditions with stunning views of the inside of this cloud. Couldn't see far, but can't complain 😆 🗻 Hard fought summit for our team, but we made the highest point in Europe. We're back in Azau, after an incredible celebration dinner at the @freeride_hotel we're rested up and ready for #Moscow! @alpenglowexpeditions #7summits #Russia #Elbrus #MaxRusski #DarnTough #strapinventureout (at Mount Elbrus)

[zebblais]

Russia is surprising. My expectations have been smashed every step of this journey. St Petersburg was way funkier than anticipated. People partying 24 hours a day is a typical Tuesday occurrence (OK... Maybe only 22... Bars do close from 6am to 8am). On my first, jet-lagged day in the country I took a 4am stroll to walk off the insomnia. I was stumbling around sleepily, everyone else was stumbling around still ordering 🍸🍹🍻! We've moved past the city for now, and are enjoying the stunning scenes of the Terskol Valley. Today we acclimatized on Cheget, taking some rickety but colorful chairlifts high on the mountain for some thin air. The scene is reminiscent of the Alps- breathtaking views, great local food and glacier covered peaks. More hiking tomorrow before we head into the big hills 🗻🗻🗻 @alpenglowexpeditions #mtelbrus #7summits #sevensummits #Russia (at Terskol, Kabardino-Balkariya, Russia)

[lucyrb]

The South Pole and summit of Mt Vinson 🎿🏔💥

[lucyrb]

Tuesday 11th January

After being weathered in at BC for 48 hours, (thank goodness we were not still up on the mountain!), the twin otters were finally able to fly us back to UG yesterday afternoon. At the same time, the 757 was given the green light from Punta to fly down onto the ice to collect us all, after being grounded for covid restrictions. There were definitely some odd looks as we walked through Punta airport in our climbing kit at 1am!

It’s amazing to be back in the world of decent showers, running water, non dehydrated food and a bed after far too many nights in a sleeping bag on the ice. Pretty sure my hair looked better in lockdown!

It’s been an incredible adventure and thank you for following. Now time to start jumping through numerous covid hoops to get back to the UK.

[lucyrb]

Saturday 18th December

We have the green light to fly! It’s a 4 hour flight in a specially converted 757. We land on the blue ice runway, at Union Glacier camp in the Ellsworth mountains and are due to stay there this evening.

[lucyrb]

Friday 17th December

My bags have been weighed, checked in and a boarding pass issued. It’s go time! The latest forecast shows a possible flying weather window tomorrow morning. Let’s hope the next update is from the ice, fingers crossed.

[lucyrb]

Thursday 16th December

After a 14 1/2 hour flight from London I arrived in Santiago on Sunday morning. Heathrow could learn a few tips as I had all my paperwork checked, a PCR test, cleared customs and all luggage collected within an hour! It was then a waiting game in my hotel room, under quarantine, until the test results came back. Luckily they turned them around quite quickly and I was free just in time for supper. No idea how anyone copes with 14 days quarantine!

After soaking up the sunshine of Santiago, we all flew down to Punta Arenas on Tuesday morning. Great to catch up with Mike and Tendi, who I haven’t seen since Nepal in 2018, and we have an incredible guiding team with 22 Everest summits between them.

I’m not sure covid has been very kind to Punta and you can tell that 2 years without tourists has taken its toll. Far too many boarded up shops and restaurants. Luckily Chile has a huge vaccine uptake which is keeping the number of cases down and masks are mandatory everywhere, even walking down the street. Covid definitely adds another dimension to these expeditions with extra paperwork and daily tests.

Luckily, as I’m attempting both the South Pole and Mt Vinson, I’m able to fly into the ice with up to 60kg of kit and food. A huge amount of nuts/cheese/salami/crisps/chocolate is needed for my daily snacks as I’ll need to be consuming about 5000 calories a day to keep my strength up and the weight on.

We will get an updated weather forecast tomorrow morning before they confirm our flight on Saturday. It’s currently -40c with gale force winds on Antarctica which sounds miserable! No one has been able to fly in to or out of the ice since Monday. Fingers crossed the weather gods start to play ball asap.