Last night was the hardest yet. I barely slept and got out of bed feeling exhausted. The team had already packed the gear we needed for today’s climb, so we quickly had breakfast and got ready by 9 AM for our toughest challenge so far.
Today, everything was covered in snow. This climb was a test to see who could reach the summit on Sunday. For many of us, it was our first time wearing harnesses, crampons, gaiters, and carrying a fully loaded backpack. This was all to prepare us for summit night. The climb was brutal.
The snow was both soft and hard, the wind was piercing, and snowmobiles zoomed up and down the trail. Knowing that failing today would end our expedition made us all anxious, but we gave it our best and reached 4,580 meters.
From there, I saw the summit of Mount Elbrus in the distance and smiled, feeling ready both mentally and physically. We took a 30-minute break to acclimatize. The wind and cold were insane, so we had to put on extra protective gear. After the break, we headed back down to Camp 1. The descent was just as challenging because we were tired and the snow didn’t make it any easier. About 80% down, a snowmobile came charging at us. To avoid getting hit, I jumped into a pile of snow. I smiled, got up, and assured my teammates I was okay.
We finally got back to camp after 5 hours and 12 minutes on the trail. At camp, a man from Siberia approached us to take a picture. He had told his friends that there were black people on the trail, and they didn’t believe him, so he wanted proof. This had happened a few times over the past four days, as we hadn’t seen any other black people on the trail since we arrived. I hope more of my people take on such adventures.
Our guide congratulated us for a job well done, which also reflected his great leadership. Tomorrow is Day 6, and it’s a rest day as we move to Camp 2 in preparation for Summit Day.
Do Hard Things 🙂
Source: Michael Amankwah
