Elbrus expedition diary - Day 2!

Tuesday, 31 July:
Here's it is! 
The 1st pic, sent this afternoon, from the 1st for Women climbing team on Mount Elbrus using the BGan satellite communications system.  Hooray and Mexican waves because at least the system is handling email even though it's currently unable to make any voice calls, although the team can receive voice calls.  This was just a test pic, better ones to follow!
Anyway after several days of travelling they arrived at their 1st base, Terskol, late last night and finally got a taste of the Caucasus today.   From now until Friday the focus will be on acclimatisation treks which will help them get used to the reducing oxygen levels in the air as they gain altitude.   The principle of acclimatisation is simple: climb high and then descend to base to rest.    The next day climb higher than the previous day and then return again to rest at base - and so on. 
Today the trek up to 2561m altitude, in 32degC sunshine, had them gasping for air with muscles sending loud messages to the brain for more oxygen ...now!   
Deshun commented on how incredibly civilised this expedition seems to be compared to her previous Elbrus experience in 2002.   They staying in a Terskol hotel until tomorrow when they'll move to a guest house at a higher altitude.   The food has been really good, the showers hot and everyone's very friendly and helpful.   At 1800 (Caucasus time) when we spoke she said the clouds were gathering and it was cooling down fast but sundown is only around 2000.
Besides relocating, tomorrow will see the team trekking from Terskol (roughly 2100m altitude) up to 2800m before descending slightly  to the overnight rest.
Although the weather was really good today they will constantly be looking out for the slightest sign of possible bad weather.  In 2002 Deshun was forced off Elbrus by particularly severe storms which lasted for several days until, eventually, she had no option but to abandon the expedition because her visa was about to expire.   On Elbrus it's the weather that decides if and when you summit but it is not possible to hang around on the mountain indefinitely in the hopes that the weather may clear.   This 2007 expedition allows for 3 possible summit days and all fingers are crossed for the climbers to summit in great weather and to return safely to base.

This stunning satellite image shows Mount Elbrus with its 22 glaciers that feed the major rivers in the region.   Sadly, due to global warming, accelerated melting of the ice has increased the size of lakes by 600% since the 1950's and now  presents a significant flood threat to the area.   Little or no research is available from the Cold War years so scientists are now working hard to measure the rate at which these glaciers are retreating.  Some of that research is in the very beautiful Adylsu valley (in the southern Caucasus mountains) and it is there that, starting today, our 1st for Women climbers will spend 3 days training and acclimatising to the higher altitudes.  

Keep reading the blogs because there'll be expedition news (and, hopefully, pics) every day and you can also help the 1st for Women climbing team up the mountain by posting your comments.  We'd love to hear from you.