Yesterday, three friends and I attempted to walk up the mountain to the East of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk called Chekov’s Peak, which is the second highest peak in the vicinity of the town, and the highest which can be seen from the town centre. At 1,050m (3,450ft) it isn’t exactly the Kanchenjunga, but walking up from the town at sea level takes about 3-4 hours and is pretty hard going, especially if you are unused to such exertions.
Below are some pictures from the day.
The expedition team.
View from halfway up.
The route ahead.
Somebody pinched my legs halfway up, which made the going rather difficult from thereon. Snowshoes would have been a good idea.
Clouds began to roll in as we climbed higher.
Almost there…
View of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk from the top of Chekov’s Peak.
Looking west.
Looking north-east, at menacing black clouds coming in. It started snowing shortly afterwards.
Three hours and some snowfall later, and we were back down in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It was damned cold at the top, mainly caused by a strong wind which was striking the higher slopes, and I was less than pleased to discover my unbreakable thermos flask had broken and no longer kept the contents warm. I think I’ll need a new one before I climb up here again.
Wow! Nice photos. It is not as snowy as I would have expected, but still very beautiful.
Good job you had a team with you, did they use a sled to pull you along after the loss of your legs? With spirit like that you’re an inspiration to us all – Oh hang-on a minute loss of legs would have been avoided if you’d bought those snow shoes for $50 the day before – yer tight git!!
I had to spend the $50 on extra pasta in case our expedition leader helped himself to my lunch again, having mysteriously failed to bring his own last time.
Is all this exercise leading to some great heroic exploit? Small consolation maybe, but at least if you go out in a blaze of glory, you will be fondly remembered by some.
Fuck me, hills with snow on them. Unheard of.
Is all this exercise leading to some great heroic exploit?
I’m thinking about an attempt on Mount Elbrus in about a year’s time. This is good training.
Glad you’re back commenting George, not heard from you for a while. RLFANS taking up all your time?
I haven’t been on RLFans for ages. I joined the ranks of the bloggers (as above) instead but I’ve been off-line for a long time. This has been a hell of a winter and the old COPD has been regularly exacerbated; since November. I wouldn’t last two minutes in a Russian winter.
I look forward to your next death-defying exploit.
Expedition Leader had plenty of his own pasta. Just was fussy about the liberal application of Tabasco sauce.
My last comment was rejected as spam.
Pah. I haven’t been on RLFans for months. It has been a hell of winter for chest infections, so I have not been on line much lately. Otherwise, I have joined the ranks of the bloggers, as above.