Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25044
MT ELBRUS, CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS, GEORGIA 18,510 FEET Attempting Mt Elbrus? Pack all the usual gear for difficult snow, ice and rock climbing. The highest mountain in Europe is part of the natur al barrier between the Caspian and Black seas, separating the steppes of Russia from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. A moderately technical climb, Elbrus is excellent for advanced beginner to intermediates. The heart of the Russian climbing center, Elbrus is a meeting point for European mountaineers. OPTIMUM SEASON: JUNE TO SEPTEMBER TEMPERATURE: WELL BELOW FREEZING PERMIT COST: NONE NEEDED LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN may be the first person to ever keep an edge on the frozen conti nent: "I don't know if anybody's even snowboarded anywhere on Antarctica." With many of these mountains, it isn't necessarily the climb that's the killer, it's the red tape. In addition to the spontaneous list of fees, rangers can find plenty of ways to make your stay unpleasant. Koch found Kilimanjaro, the 19,340-foot Tanzanian monster, friendlier than the local park bureaucracy. The director general there was more than happy to invite climbers to vi sit his peak, but he held firm to a policy forbidding descent on skis or snowboards. Koch "even tried to give him a 'special permission fee,'" but the high minded director balked. Refusing to be shut out so easily, Koch contracted a porter to sneak the board into the park under cover of night. When this first attempt fa iled because the team ran out of time, he came back with a documentary team in tow, snuck the board in again, and fin ished the job. The breathtaking African vistas from atop Kiliman!aro were enough to assuage his guilty conscience: "It's spectacular to turn around and look at the green jungles below that you hiked up through a couple of days before." But all other mountains are little more than high-altitude lagniappes compared to Mt Everest. On the border of Nepal and Tibet, towering 29,028 fe·et above the Himalayas, "It's the ultimate in height. Everest is it for this planet," says Koch. Next summer marks the 35th anniversary of the first American ascent, by James Whitaker, so Koch's commemorative climb could make for spectacular PRo Ever the performer, Koch insists on mounting it "by the most elegant line, without oxygen, without Sherpa support. In other words 'by fair means.' " And, as if that's not good enough: "I really want to mountain bike to base camp and make it the first Mt Everest tri athlon." There are two ways to approach the behemoth, from the Chinese Tibetan side or from the Nepalese side. There are pit falls on both flanks. Nepal is more accessible, and .the summit success rate is higher; in Tibet the Chinese gover�ment can be expensive and troublesome. It's been said that two-thirds of all Everest expeditions lose at least one member. Most climbers fall prey to Nepal's treacherous Khumbu Icefall, a glacial deposit of huge ice seracs that have a nasty habit of collapsing under pres sure, wasting anyone in their path. Moreover, the area is rib boned with huge crevasses that must be spanned with narrow aluminum ladders. Child likens the difference between scaling a peak like Rai nier and taking on Everest to the "difference between traveling in a 747 with a pressurized cabin and flying in the space shuttle without oxygen." With the myriad of sketchy details that demarcate these peaks, it makes one wonder what would drive a per- son to such slippery, windswept, ai rless. crags of the world. For Bass and Wells, it MT KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA 19,340 FEET This legend has two peaks-Kibo and Mawenzi-and now is one of the best times to climb. The nontechnical climb is more of a hard hike and takes five days for the unacclimatized, less for the super fit. No special equipment neces sary: just a sleeping bag and a stove. As you make your way to the top you pass through five different ecosystems from lush tropical forest, to tundra, to snow. And once at the top you look out over the plains of the Serengeti. Local porters are also reliable guides. OPTIMUM SEASON: DECEMBER TO MARCH, JUNE TO AUGUST TEMPERATURE: CLOSE TO FREEZING PERMIT COST: $310-$375 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH