A team of climbers met today in Moscow, to finish their preparations for Mountain Trip’s 2013 Elbrus Expedition.  Fortunately, everyone made it with their bags, despite some flight delays.  Flying halfway around the world is tiresome, and they will spend a day in Moscow, recuperating from their travels and seeing some of the sights that the city has to offer.

The team will fly from down to the Causus region, in the southwest of the country, into a small city called Mineralnye Vody (translated as Mineral Waters).  From MinVody (as it is commonly referred to), the team will drive about 3.5 hours to the Baksan Valley, and the town of Terskol.  The team will spend some time acclimatizing by hiking around Terskol and up onto the flanks of Elbrus, before gearing up for their attempt on the mountain.

The team consists of:

Matthew Metcalfe from Australia

Nick Baily from the UK

Masako Oya from the US

Jung Mi Son from the US

Dennis Gregory from the US

And our guide is Jacob Schmitz, who will have completed the Seven Summits, should the team be successful in their attempt.

We will publish posts as we receive them from the team and hopefully, they will be able to call in dispatches from the field, to share their experience through their own words.