In this season of harsh weather, when weather anomalies intensify around the world, especially in mountain regions, from the Alps to the Pamirs, the Caucasus remains a bright spot on the weather maps of the world’s mountains. Or at least we’re so lucky that whenever we come to these mountains this year, the weather is great.
At the beginning of August, we went to Kazbek for the second time this year. It was nice to see life back to normal in Georgia. For us, the abolition of the curfew was particularly important. It was also much easier to climb from Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) to the Meteostation (approx. 3600 m above sea level). The snow had melted, allowing the horses to carry our luggage all the way to the station building. Unfortunately, the reduction of snow cover also turned out to have negative sides. The glacier was melted so badly that it became a maze of crevasses, so there was no possibility of staying overnight on the Plateau: there was no place to safely pitch tents between the crevasses. Therefore, after two days of acclimatization above the Meteostation, at night we started the summit push from a height of about 3600 meters. It went brilliantly. Out of the five-person team of the expedition members, four people stood at the top. The team was led by two guides: Kahi Tsiklauri and Marian Nisczuk, additionally supported by their assistant. Congratulations to all participants for reaching the summit and for fighting their own weaknesses. We would like to thank the guides for safely leading the team.
We hope that our weather luck will continue and that during the third edition of the Mt. Kazbek expedition, planned for the turn of August and September, the weather will be equally excellent.