International youth ascend Mount Elbrus

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A group of young people and leaders from eight countries have ascended Europe's highest mountain as part of the Global Youth Summit.

The climbers, six women and 14 men, traveled from England, Germany, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, Russia and the Ukraine to take part in the international youth expedition "Elbrus - 2008", July 7-17.

"During the expedition all these persons from different countries and various cultures teamed up so quickly into such a cheerful and sportive youth group, that climbing together was great pleasure and a lot of fun," says Alexander Zaidler, the expedition leader. 

He was supported by instructors Anatoly Brynza and Valery Karlovich, experienced climbers who have ascended the peaks of Mt. Elbrus many times before.

The participants first spent some time on the Kashka-tash glacier, practicing how to use crampons that were necessary for the ascent. They also took a few days to acclimatise to the high altitude, including making an ascent of Mt. Andyrchi, almost 4,000m.

In order to help rangers from the National park to take care of wild animals, the group also brought and spread out salt needed by Caucasian goats.

In preparation for the main ascent the group took a cable car and chair lift to an altitude of 3,800m, then hiked to base camp at 4,200 meters, where they pitched their tents in the snow.  At one o'clock in the morning they started the final leg of almost 1,500 metres in altitude. 

"The pace was getting slower and slower. Everybody started to feel a lack of oxygen," tells Zaidler. One of the participants became unwell and had to return to the camp, while the rest kept going for the last difficult part.

"Like in slow motion, making the last steps with great efforts, the participants reached the top of Mt. Elbrus at 5,642 meters," says Zaidler. On the peak, the climbers embraced each other and took photos with their national flags and a UIAA banner. The weather was clear enough to give them a panoramic view of the ranges and canyons of the Caucasus below.  

You can read Alexanders full story of the expedition here.  More pictures in the Youth Events 2008 photo gallery.