Countdown to Elbrus…

I’m back down from my early morning Wicklow Mountain hill-walk.  It was cold and windy up there, but bracing and totally energising. Walking on a blustery day like today really makes me feel alive.

My leg is properly healed now and I’m training hard for Elbrus.  I’m heading to Russia in July with Pat Falvey Irish and World Wide Adventures, to climb the highest mountain in Europe. Elbrus is a frozen volcanic glacier with a big reputation and one of the ‘Seven Summits’ the highest mountains of each of the seven continents.

The odds are stacked against me, because I need to fit 6 months of training into less than 2 after being injured earlier this year.  It’s a serious challenge and I’ve got an awful lot of work ahead.  It doesn’t help my confidence when I keep finding little details like this on ‘about.com’…..

•Climbers regularly die on Mount Elbrus, as many as 30 a year. In 2004 alone, 48 climbers and skiers died on the mountain. Elbrus is considered one of the world’s most deadly peaks with a high ratio of climber deaths to climbers.

May the force be with me! I’m heading down to Pat’s Kerry Mountain Lodge shortly to begin training on Carrauntoohil. I hope I’ll be ready for climbing Ireland’s highest mountain. It will certainly show me how much work I have to do. Kerry will bring this challenge home.