7 summits speed record attempt: Elbrus - without summit

Dave Pritt, Director of Adventure Peaks and friends Ian McKeever and John Whittle are attempting to break the world record for climbing the seven summits. The record currently stands at 187 days. They made 4 summits before trying to climb Elbrus.

9th April - Life can be hard in the mountains. The team have had to retreat from Elbrus without the summit. They reached the Saddle (5350m), with the summit still another 2-3 hours away, before the decision was made to turn back. Extremely harsh conditions on the mountain meant that they were unable to establish a high camp leaving them with a mammoth 1600m of ascent to reach the highest point in Europe. Storm force winds had stripped the mountain of snow leaving large expanses of bullet hard blue ice which demanded the utmost concentration. The correct descion was made and everybody is now safely off the mountain.

Despite this setback the `7 Summits Speed Record` is still very much on. A winter ascent of Elbrus was always going to be a real challenge and plans are already being made for the team to return to the mountain after Everest & Denali. Potentially this would still knock a staggering 32 days from the current record.

Within the next few days the team will arrive in Kathmandu to begin the journey to the North side of Everest. With their time on Elbrus their bodies will have adapted to the altitude and they should quickly catch up with the rest of our Everest North Ridge team at Base Camp. Next stop the roof of the world around the 16th May or day 112 of the challenge.

5th April - The team have now returned to the valley. The weather has been very clear today giving fantastic views out across the main Caucasus moountains.

4th April - The team have moved up to Purit II and acclimatised up to the rocks of Pastukhov at 4650m. The temperature has dropped significantly today -10C to -15C. Tomorrow they will all head down to the valley for two days rest before starting the summit bid.

3rd April - The team have arrived at the Barrels (3800m) today, they are planning to walk up to 4200m and stash some kit. The weather is cloudy but the temperature is fine just above freezing. Tomorrow everyone will move up to Purit II (4200m) to sleep before heading back down to the valley on the 5th April.

2nd April - The private trip to Elbrus is well under way, the group left for Russia yesterday and have flown to Minvody today. They then travelled by minibus through the Caucasus mountain range along the Baskan valley to a small village at the base of Elbrus. Tomorrow the team will make their preparations before they begin the ascent.