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The attempt on Kazbek

Posted on 27. May, 2009 by yoyo in Georgia

 We left Tbilisi in the 17:00 Marshutka (minibus) from Didube station (same nae metro station) headed for Kazbegi village (8 Lari, 3 hours). the road north is considered the best road in Georgia, called “The Military High-Way” over which the last Russia Georgia war was fought. the road is pretty crooked and a van full of people and cucumbers (about 200KG) gets crowded. we stayed at Nazi’s, a dorm-homestay, and went for a short walk the next day towards Juta, a nearby village. the scenery is quite Alpine and the summits are still snowy. most villages along the way have small fortress like castles built to defend a single family from attackers.

 Consulting with Vako, the local tourist information-guide, we decided to try and climb the summit of Mt. Kazbek (5047m). next morning we rented the needed equipment (crampons, ice-axes, rope and harnesses. 4 days rent we got for 70 Laris each) from Vako. we bought food at the local grocery shops, about six of them, good variety but very bad fruits and vegetables.

 With a very late start (11:30) we got to the Tsminda-Sameba church at about 13:00, we had to hustle up, as the first camp site (meteorological station, or Betlemi hut) was supposedly 9 hours away.

 The climb up was very hard for us, not being accustomed to high intensity climbing. once high enough, the cold, the wind, the snow and the lack of Oxygen started to kick in.

 When we finally got to the Gergeti glacier we were cold and tired and late. it was getting dark and the metro station was far. darkness made us decide on spending the night outside, on a small hill beside the glacier.

 Our first night was cold, windy and snowy as hell (when it’ll freeze I guess). the tents barely held through the winds.

 We woke up surrounded by 30cm of snow ad a very bad weather. deciding to stay pot due the weather we spent time playing games and talking. the following night was worse.

 The next day we decided to go down no matter what. but plans change. waking up at 5:30 we packed our things, not an easy job in the blizzard, to discover the way down was too fogy to decline. so we climbed farther up to the metro station. the climb up was FREEZING, and Yuval (whom we met in Tbilisi together with David) lost his glove to the wind, chancing his hand to the cold.

 Crashing in the metro station we met a group of Georgian skiers who warmly welcomed us offering us hot tea. hard to describe the full meaning of hot for us at the time. the “warm” (3 Celsius) kitchen-saloon room was crowded, the Georgians were getting ready for the summit and to ski back down to the metro station. the amount of layers of coats and pants they put on emphasized our lack of equipment, and the fact we were not prepared for the weather.

 We spent the day regaining ur strength by drinking countless amounts of tea glasses, and cooking some rice. cards we found there helped pass the time. the metro station was a real refuge for all four of us. the group returned in the afternoon and we all sat for some tea, Chacha (Georgia national alcohol) and our Glenfiddich (Irish whisky). which was approved by the Georgians. the Georgians told us of their intention to go down the following day, a pair of them by foot, and that we could join them on the way. good news for us.

 We were able to keep up with our ’saviors’ even through a very harsh blizzard, as they were kind enough to wait every time our inferior equipment slowed us down. we had to improvise gaiters (read how we improvised gaiters) to prevent snow wetting our socks. the limb down was fun, after being stuck in the cold, it was snowy and beautiful. the lower we got, the better we felt.

 The Georgians said Goodbye when we got to their jeep waiting at the church. we could not be more grateful.

 the afternoon and next day were used to re-group ourselves and laundry. a small argument with Vako got us a 100 Lari discount, as we never used the rented equipment. the 13:00 Marshutka took us back to Tbilisi.

Tags: blogsherpa, Georgia