iconodylan wrote:Can it be climbed alone- does anybody know any local guides- and can I follow others up the path- will their be alot of people summiting during this time? any body going?

It can be climbed alone, as it's not technical. But I guess it's always nice to have somebody around. You never exactly know how your body is going to react. Having said that, in august there'll be plenty of people on the mountain, so it'll be easy to follow a group with a guide.

I think your time frame is a bit short though. We didn't summit last year because of bad weather that stayed on for four days. Besides, seven days to acclimatize properly seems a bit short.

I'll be going again this year and will be there from the 7th of August 'till the 22nd. I can recommend Pilgrim Tours. If you want to meet up over there, let me know.

its gonna be cold!!!!! it is climable but only to those with harsh winter climbing experiance that time of year is allready the end of the season and the snow turns solid and sliperry my friend who climbed elbrus in winter told me that is the reason for most of the fatalities on that mountain.
as for following the tracks and guide assitance, it is easy to get guide assistance via the web thay are pretty usefull as far as getting along with all the red tape you have to deal with over there.
plus thay have tons of experiance in winter so you can feel marginally safe, and from the top of the ski resort the rout is pretty stright forword as i remember high camp3800m-postochova rocks 2h, rocks to saddele 2h, saddle to summit 1-1:30h
and thats in good weather.
the exposure on this route can be quite brutal .
so good luck with that and get youre worm gear on.

etai101 wrote:its gonna be cold!!!!! it is climable but only to those with harsh winter climbing experiance that time of year is allready the end of the season and the snow turns solid and sliperry my friend who climbed elbrus in winter told me that is the reason for most of the fatalities on that mountain.
as for following the tracks and guide assitance, it is easy to get guide assistance via the web thay are pretty usefull as far as getting along with all the red tape you have to deal with over there.
plus thay have tons of experiance in winter so you can feel marginally safe, and from the top of the ski resort the rout is pretty stright forword as i remember high camp3800m-postochova rocks 2h, rocks to saddele 2h, saddle to summit 1-1:30h
and thats in good weather.
the exposure on this route can be quite brutal .
so good luck with that and get youre worm gear on.

Since when is August considered winter in the northern hemisphere?? The peak climbing season on Mt Elbrus is from mid-May thru mid-September. August is summer.

FYI - Pilgrim Tours offers an "Elbrus Lite" package for handling the legal permits/registration. This looks like a very convenient way to go.

my mistake read the date wrong i thought he was talking about october nevertheless the information is correct for winter climb.
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Alpinist wrote:FYI - Pilgrim Tours offers an "Elbrus Lite" package for handling the legal permits/registration. This looks like a very convenient way to go.

+1 used it last year and using it again this year.

AlexClimb.com is your man....and he's a SPer...!!! Talk with him.

Good luck,

BTW: we will be there at that time...

John Climber wrote:BTW: we will be there at that time...

See you there.