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Mt Elbrus is 5642 metres high - that's about 5630 metres higher than London. We would need to get in shape
The itinerary provided by Jagged Globe seemed very well-designed, with ample time to acclimatise. We pored over it until we had learned it almost by heart. Scholars of the Talmud could hardly have dissected its sparse prose with more enthusiasm for clues about what lay ahead. The programme allowed six days of acclimatisation at progressively higher altitudes before the summit bid. That seemed ideal, as it would give us a chance to brush up on rusty (or non-existent) ski mountaineering skills.
Nevertheless a quick weekend learning ice and snow techniques seemed like a good idea, so the Doc and I packed our bags and headed for La Grave, France, hailed by pot-headed skibums everywhere as the "like, the next Chamonix, man".
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La Grave - The Doc coming down...
Photo: Michael Liebreich
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La Grave is a very special resort. It has two lifts, no avalanche safety crew, no grooming, and no chic hotels or restaurants. But it does offer 2,200 m of the most awesome vertical anywhere in the world. This is not a family resort. In fact in three days there we saw only one child under the age of twelve, and he was being spit-roasted by some hungry snowboarders from Valdez.
We had three great days of training, first just skiing, then renting touring equipment and heading off up Le Rateau for a taste of the steep & deep.
If any of you ever go to La Grave, call Robin Molinatti (+33 (4) 76 79 96 39) to be hauled up slopes and Eric Mossiere (+33 (4) 92 24 22 98) to be lowered down them.
Then there was the fitness training, four or five times a week. By the time we were ready for departure we could dismantle and assemble a running machine in the dark. "This is my treadmill, " we would chant as we climbed aboard for another mind-numbing five miles "there are many like it but this one's mine!"
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