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სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 20:56
by nagli33
აქვე მინდა შემოგთავაზოთ ჩვენი პოლონელი მეგობრის, იგივე სოსოიას რუსის (ჩვენ შევარქვით საბერწეზე) შთაბეჭდილება ყაზბეგში ლაშქრობისას..
მოკლედ გეტყვით თუ ვინ არის და აქ რა უნდოდა
ჩამოვიდა პოლონეთიდან ავტოსტოპით (1 კვირაში)
უნდა ასულიყო მყინვარწვერზე, არანაირი ეკიპირება არ ჰქონდა,
არ ჰქონდა შესაბამისი ტანსაცმელი
ნახევარი პური, 2 დახუფული ხამსა თევზი, და 1 ზეიკიძის ძეხვი ჰქონდა.
ჰო მართლა კიდევ ჰქონდა გრიპი :D შალვას წამოღებული ჭაჭა ასპირინივით იყო იმან უშველა
3 დღე საჭმელს ჩვენ ვაჭმევდით,
PS საჭმელი ჩვენც ცოტა გვქონდა, :D :D :D :D

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 20:58
by nagli33
Georgia 2010: Mkinvartsveri (Kazbegi)

Coming back to Georgia gave me a second chance to try to climb Kazbegi, one of the highest peaks in Georgia - 5047m high. Last time, in June 2008, I wasn't able to do this due to poor weather. Since I didn't have much experience in climbing mountains higher than 3000m, Kazbegi seemed to be an interesting challenge.

It all started on 31th of July. I woke up at 6.30, packed my stuff quickly, left Vaxo's house and headed to Didube bus station. Ate there some chachapuri (Georgian traditional food made of bread and some kind of cottage cheese) and went to find a mini bus (marshrutka) going to Stepantsminda (Kazbegi). It was supposed to leave at 8, but as usual it was late. We left the station at 8:30 when somebody finally filled the last empty place in the car. Even thou it was quite early the weather was very warm and travelling was tireing. Opened windows were not helping much. The bus was moving fast thou and I was hoping that at least it won't take long to reach it's final destination. I was wrong - we arrived at 11, but the road wasn't so horrible at all. The road was nicely situated offering the us some views on the mountains.

In Kazbegi the weather was very nice. It was to warm, as usual in Georgia, but good news was that the mountain itself was not covered in clouds at all. I was hoping that it will remain the same for few more days. My only problem was that I cought a cold the other day and I was worried it will get worse making the ascent impossible.

I bought some medicine at the local pharmacy and went to do some shoppings. Spent all my money but didn't buy enough for the whole trip. Unfortunately it was Saturday and the bank was closed and it was impossible to get any more cash or exchange any euros. I decided to go anyway hoping I'll be able to buy something from other people on the trail.

The plan for the first day was to reach the meteo station situated at about 3600m. It was supposed to take 8h to get there. I crossed the bridge and headed to Gergeti village situated next to Kazbegi. From there there are several roads leading to Cminda Sameba church - one of the most famouch churches of Georgia situated picturesquely on the hill above the village. I took the hardest option - the trail through the forest going almost straight up. It was very tireing, especially considering 37-40 C deg. temperature and 15 kg backpack I carried. I wouldn't recommend it for most of the people. The main advantage of it is that it's the fastest one (if you have enough stamina). To find it, when you reach Gergeti, you have to go as much left as possible and then pass a small gate that allows you to cross the fence. Than you just have to climb up. Approximately 45min - 1h. When I stopped at Sameba church for some rest I realized I lost my knife somewhere. Kinda bad news considering I bought a lot of canned meat and fishes and didn't have any other opener. Fortuntely borrowed it from some Israeli tourists visiting the church and after few minutes I was able to head to the meteo station. The road was easy. First it leaded through some trees but soon it went up the hill. According to Georgian people I spoke with, it was supposed to be marked with red&white signs but on my whole way I couldn't find any of them. Anyway, the road easy to spot and there were no problems with finding the right way to go. Soon the trail went up to the pass which offers a nice view on Kazbegi and Ortsveri glacier. At least in theory cause by the time I was there the weather got a bit worse covering it in thick fog. From the pass I went a bit down and crossed the river. Since the visibility was not so good I decided to camp near the river instead of going up to the meteo station. Just after the river there are a lot of good places to camp already prepared to pitch the tent. There's also a drinkable water source. Usually you can meet some other people camping there and so it was this time. I encoutered 3 Georgians who also stopped there for a night. We spoke a bit, ate something together and then I went to sleep. It was 6pm but there was absolutely nothing to do. Of course it turned out to be a bad idea. After sleeping 4,5 hours I woke up at 22:30, then at 2am and few other times. It was a very long night. Finally the sun came out and it was possible to go further. I joined the Georgians and we headed together to meteo station. The road was quite hard. The first part leaded through morena full of loose stones which made the ascent more tireing. After that it was only the glacier we had to cross. There are a lot of small stones on it so it's easy to keep the balance and move fast. The only problem is that it's covered by rifts and you would have to find a way around them. When we finally got to the other side of the glacier we started to search for the best place to get down. There are only few of them and the best one should be marked by a pole (it might be quite hard to see it thou). When we finally found the passage it was only a short ascent in front of us and we already were at the meteo station. We pitched our tents (1 night costs 5 lari) and decided to go see the chapel nearby. To get there you have to climb about 200m up. The trail is visible from the station. Going to the chapel might be quite good idea for acclimatization and getting used to high mountain conditions.

My plan was to climb the top the next day but it turned out that nobody was going then and it was not such a good idea to go alone, especially I wasn't sure how my organism will react to the height. In case it doesn't adjust well it might be a problem to get back without any help and might be dangerous. Usually altitude disease go as follows: first you feel a pain in your head, then you feel you like to vomit. In most advanced stage you might start to lose an ability to think resonably. While standing in the middle on the glacier you may just fall asleep on the snow thinking you're going to sleep in your comfy bed at home. If nobody finds you, you're dead.

The next day I also had problems with finding a group I could join. All of the guides wanted me to pay like 60-150 euros to join their groups. I almost decided to go alone but later on I found 2 girls from Poland and Czech Republic - Bożena and Iva, I could join the next day. I also borrowed some warmer pants from Archi, one of the Georgians I met the ther day, cause mine were not apropriate for the high mountain conditions.

About the guides: it was amazing they didn't allow me to join their groups for free. Is somebody's life really worth those bloody 60 euros. Is it better to let somebody go alone instead of taking him with the group? Especially they were already paid for that day. Unbelievable.

That wasn't the only unpeasant experience there. The person running the refuge was even worse. Me, I came to Georgia hitchhiking, didn't have much money, didn't have enough to eat. When I was borrowing crampions and ice axe I was hoping to get few lari discount or at least something ot eat. But no, that guy was like a vampire trying to suck your blood till the last drop. Every lari, every tetri. Until you have some money it's ok. Later you can die there - he wouldn't care. I love Georgia and it's people but this one was surely not acting like one of them. If you get there some time try avoid him if possible. I got cheated when paying in euros (got 2.00 exchange course for euro instead of 2.40) Also don't borrow any equipment under any circumstances. The crampions I got were missing some parts and they were in really bad condition. Inexperienced person could've died during the ascent (but I guess it's not a reason to buy new ones - some people will take it anyway cause they've no choice and the owner gets 15 lari anyway so everything's ok, right?). If somebody dies, well, accidents happen. If you don't have whole equipment needed to go to the top, better ask some people in the camp. Most of them stay there for one extra day before the ascent to adjust their organism to mountain conditions and they can borrow it for free.

To get to the top you need:
headlight -you start at 2-3 am so at the beginning it's completely dark
crampions - the most important piece of equipment, later on the slope is very steep
ice axe - not a must but you should take it for your own safety
trekking poles - useful for 3/4 of the road to the top, for the final ascent it's better to use ice axe
warm clothes - while it's 40 C deg. in the village, on the top it can be around 0 C deg.
suglasses - a must (unless you wanna get blind)
sun protection creme - even if it's cold
a piece of rope - you can manage without it but better take it for your own safety, there are some rifts on the way you could fall into

So.. the countdown has begun. I was about to get up at 1:30 and leave the station at about 2:15. The problem was my phone run out of battery and couldn't set the timer. I asked the girls to wake me up but I was kinda afraid that they'll forget or I'll just say (while sleepng): "OK, I'm getting up" and then stay in the tent. I woke up myself in the middle of the night not knowing what time it was and decided not to go to sleep again. If I felt asleep propably it would've been hard to wake me up and I didn't know if the girls were motivated enough to spend 10 mins by my tent trying to do so. I waited about 2 hours before I heard Bożena's voice. Uff.. I managed.

It was 1:30. It was bloody cold outside. I put everything I got on me but still I felt cold. My tent was covered in ice. I didn't have warm gloves but fortunately Iva borrowed me her undergloves which together with the ones I had made the cold bearable for my hands. After eating something we hit the road. Direction: Kazbegi. Into the dark.

It was easy to spot the road on te beginning but it turned out to be much harder to stick to it. Although it was marked by some piles of rocks sometimes they were hard to spot and it was even harder after getting to the morena where the path leading up and down and was cut by many rifts. At some point we lost our road and went to the glacier which was not so good idea at the moment. Going up to the plateau you should walk only through the morena. We noticed some other groups walking different way than ours and we decided to join them. It was slowly getting brighter but the temperature wasn't rising. Still bloody cold. We were moving up and soon we managed to overtake a group with a guide. The rest of the path from morena through plateau to the top was marked by footsteps and it was just impossible to miss. From the plateau I recommend to wear crampions - you just move faster (unless they're in similiar condition to the ones I borrowed:)).

The most important thing is that the biggest mountain that you see is not really the biggest one, the one you wanna climb. Kazbegi has 2 peaks and for most of the time you would see the smaller one. To get to the right one just follow the footsteps, go around small Kazbegi almost passing it on your right. You should get to the point where the road will split - on the right you'll have small Kazbegi (wich it not so small really) and bigger one on your left.

The last ascent migh be quite tireing, the slope is quite steep and it's better to change trekking poles into ice axe. We were also using the rope for assecuration but it's really optional. After we climbed the top we had some time for photos.

On the top!


As it turned out later we were the only group that had a nice view from the top that day :) It was quite cold on the top so we started the descent quite quickly. On the pass we had some food and continued to get down. In meantime Iva started not to feel goos showing some sighns of altitude disease. Also the weather conditions were getting worse. In meantime I broke one of my hiking poles and my sunglasses. Damn! We were walking much slower than expected. Also once again we took the wrong path. At least I think so cause it all looked different on our way back. The snow started to melt uncovering the rifts hidden underneath. Or.. not. Few times my feet fell more that 1 metre into the snow. How deep was the rift - I'll never know. Maybe one hour later I'd fall 10-15 metres down. While going back it's recomennded to go through the glacier. Morena might be dangerous because of lots of stones falling down from the cliff released by melting snow. Anyways for me it looked safer than the glacier, at least at the beginning. We started on the morena, then we walked the glacier, then morena again etc etc. We were changing the way very often trying to choose the safer options. The whole descent took us almost the same time as going up making it 14h total. As we heard later the guides also had some problems while going down - this made me think we really made a great job on our way back to the meteo station. First to leave, first to reach the top and first to come back. I was proud of it. I got back tired, with wet shoes and wet socks which meant sleeping without it during the night, cause I didn't have another pair.

I survived somehow and left the station next day at around 8. I went to Stepantsminda with a Polish girl I met at the station. We were not moving very fast - just to make it in 5 hours and catch 1pm marshrutka to Tbilisi. Before I got on, I had a deserved beer. Feeling somehow satisfied I spent the whole road thinking bout next ideas for the trips

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 21:39
by qvevri
ეს სადაურათა სწერია ზემოთა ტექსტი, ესპანურად? მე მაპატიეთ გაუნათლებლობა...
და ვინც ფრანციცული ენები არ იცის?
ეეეეჰჰჰჰ მეუბნებოდა ცხონებული ბებიაჩემი, ისწავლე , ისწავლე, გამოგადგებაო.... ყოფილა თუ არა მართალი.....

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 21:56
by nagli33
qvevri
ზემოთა ქართულია, და ქვემოთა ინგლისურია მგონი :D

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 22:04
by nagli33
მოვიცლი და ვთარგმნი ქართულად

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 22:51
by Na-tia
უჰ, ერთი ამოსუნთქვით შემომეკითხა :) მე მეტეომდე ვერ ავსულვარ უმეგზუროდ და კაცი მყინვაწვერზე ავიდა ყველაფრის გარეშე :D მაგრამ აი იმ ქართველების კი შემრცხვა ძალიან. გასაგებია, რომ შესყიდული აქვს ეს მეტეოსადგური და ფულს იღებს გაქირავებში, მაგრამ ასეთი უსინდისობაც არ შეიძლება რა. მერე კიდევ სტუმართმოყვარე ხალხი ვართო და რამე. მთაში მითუმეტეს, უფრო სხვანაირ დამოკიდებულაბას ელი ხალხისგან და ძაან ტეხავს რა

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 23:12
by nagli33
Na-tia
ხო 5 ლარზე მე არც მილაპარაკია,... იმ იმედით გადავიხადე რომ ისევ კეთილ საქმეს მოხმარდება.
კიდევ იყო რაღაცეები რაც გულზე ძალიან ცუდად მომხვდა, უბრალოდ არ მინდა ეხლა ამაზე აქ ლაპარაკი

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 23:26
by nagli33
Na-tia
ჩემი დიდიხნის ოცნება არის მყინვარის დალაშქვრა, რამოდენიმე ტურ-ოპერატორთან ვიკითხე ფასი, ერთმა 500 მეორემ 700 დოლარი მითხრა..
700 დოლარად ჰიმალაის მთებში მხოვრები ადგილობრივები ზურგზე შემისვავენ და ისე ამიყვანენ ევერესტამდე :D


ეხლა რასაც მე ვუყურე იქ, მთავარია მონდომება, და მიუღწეველი არაფერია :)

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 08 აგვ 2010, 23:45
by Na-tia
nagli33 wrote:Na-tia
ხო 5 ლარზე მე არც მილაპარაკია,... იმ იმედით გადავიხადე რომ ისევ კეთილ საქმეს მოხმარდება.
კიდევ იყო რაღაცეები რაც გულზე ძალიან ცუდად მომხვდა, უბრალოდ არ მინდა ეხლა ამაზე აქ ლაპარაკი
საზიზღობაა რა მართლა, კიდევ კარგი წარმოდგენა რჩებათ ამ უცხოელებს საქართველოზე. თან რა ვიცი, მე მთაში ხალხზე(მთაში რა, ვისაც მთაში სიარული უყვარს :) ) სულ სხვანაირი წარმოდგენა მაქვს, გაცილებით ამაღლებული ჩვეულებრივ მოკვდავებზე:D :D და უფრო მეტად მიტყდება ხოლმე.

700 დოლარი ნახე რა :D ქართული ალპინიზმი თუ ასე კომერციალიზებულია, რაღა უჭირთ, აშენებულან და ეგაა :D მაგრამ პრინციპში მყინვაწვერზე რა გასაკვირია, ჭაუხებში ვაჟაზე მინდოდა ასვლა და 100 დოლარი ღირსო ტბებიდან, არადა მართლა არ ღირს რა მაგდენი :D ნუ, ჩემი აზრით :)

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 09 აგვ 2010, 00:18
by nagli33
Na-tia

მანდ 18 ივლისს ავედი, როშკიდან, ტბებამდე, ალპინიადა იყო, 120 კაცი იყო დაახლოებით, რამოდენიმე გავიცანი, გამოველაპარაკე, დავახლოვდით, და მერე გვეხვეწნენ ჩვენთან
ერთად დარჩით, ტანსაცმელსაც გათხოვებთ, კარვებსაც დაგითმობთ და მეორე დღეს ვაჟა დავლაშქროთო, მაგარამ დრო არ მქონდა, არც ჩემ მეგობრებს ეცალათ და იმ დღესვე უკან დავბრუნდით

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 09 აგვ 2010, 00:23
by nagli33
Na-tia
ისე ვაჟა რთული არ არის, 3 დღე საკმარისია სალაშქროდ,
მგონი ღირს ამ თემის ამოწევა სამომავლო გეგმებში, ბევრი მსურველიც იქნება :)

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 09 აგვ 2010, 00:26
by Na-tia
nagli33 wrote:Na-tia

მანდ 18 ივლისს ავედი, როშკიდან, ტბებამდე, ალპინიადა იყო, 120 კაცი იყო დაახლოებით, რამოდენიმე გავიცანი, გამოველაპარაკე, დავახლოვდით, და მერე გვეხვეწნენ ჩვენთან
ერთად დარჩით, ტანსაცმელსაც გათხოვებთ, კარვებსაც დაგითმობთ და მეორე დღეს ვაჟა დავლაშქროთო, მაგარამ დრო არ მქონდა, არც ჩემ მეგობრებს ეცალათ და იმ დღესვე უკან დავბრუნდით
კი, მაგ დღეს ვიყავით ჩვენც :) და მაშინ გავიგე საერთოდ მაგის არსებობის შესახებ :D და ის რომ სპეციალური აღჭურვილობა არ სჭირდებოდა ასვლას. უბრალოდ მაშინ ვეღარ მოვიფიქრე, რომ მეკითხა დეტალები :)

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 09 აგვ 2010, 00:28
by nagli33
Na-tia

ვისთან ერთად იყავი????

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 09 აგვ 2010, 00:28
by Na-tia
nagli33 wrote:Na-tia
ისე ვაჟა რთული არ არის, 3 დღე საკმარისია სალაშქროდ,
მგონი ღირს ამ თემის ამოწევა სამომავლო გეგმებში, ბევრი მსურველიც იქნება :)
აუ, მიდი რააა, გეხვეწები, თემა გახსენი სამომავლოებში :) მე დიდად არ გამოვიჩევი ორგანიზაციული ნიჭით და თავს ვიკავებ ხოლმე :D მაგრამ წამოსვლით უეჭველი წამოვალ.

სტეფანწმინდა, საბერწე, მეტეო, სამება 2010.31.07-1/2.08

Posted: 09 აგვ 2010, 00:31
by Na-tia
nagli33 wrote:Na-tia

ვისთან ერთად იყავი????
კარავიდან ერთად ვიყავით, მგონი შენზე თქვეს, გზაში შეგვხვდა ერთი ახალი კარაველიო :)ანუ ჩვენ რომ ჩამოვდიოდით, შენ ადიოდი მგონი