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- Jun 25, 2013
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Elbrus Season Kick-Off
MM Guides Tino Villanueva, Dave Ahrens and Alan Rousseau have made it to Moscow, along with 10 climbers and 3 skiiers, coming from the US, Canada, Singapore, and South Africa, for our first Elbrus climb and ski descent of the season! Everyone arrived yesterday with all of their gear in tow, and started off the trip with an intriguing tour of Moscow. Dave wrote in with a report:
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FIMG_20130625_140739_188.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=63235b5ffbf16abc76a01bd0707825e9 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FIMG_20130625_140739_188.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=99ac96408e1f6d7c744423b1cff14d91 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FIMG_20130625_140739_188.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=e31c755e86758d4adc39ae8aeeec1c03 576w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FIMG_20130625_140739_188.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=fd676f95a92f4b8fabbb59a6b7fe076f 576w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FIMG_20130625_140739_188.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=cfe427f8273401eaa7b2c0b828415748 576w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FIMG_20130625_140739_188.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=1358d248063ad09be20dd30d2bd5f14b 576w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FIMG_20130625_140739_188.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=730314644443186739874eafac9d72e3 576w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FIMG_20130625_140739_188.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=804ecd9e1e8b6aa57270da0ecd39c60c 576w)
Moscow city tour. Alan Rousseau photo
“Things are going great over here! Today started with another great buffet breakfast at the hotel before heading out at 9am for the Moscow city tour. We first visited the Kremlin to tour the grounds and the armory which contained everything from medieval dresses, jewelry, and carriages, to weapons and religious relics. It was a great tour, which helped us all understand a little bit more about Russia and how Moscow came to be the city it is today.
World’s largest bell at the Kremlin. Dave Ahrens photo
We then headed up to Sparrow Hill to take in the spectacular panorama of the city.
Dave Ahrens photo
After that we headed to the red square for a little more history before saying goodbye to our local tour guide, Luba, and heading for a Belarusian lunch. On our way, a heavy rain storm erupted forcing us all into a covered alley where we huddled until it slowed down. When we decided to continue our journey to the restaurant, we had to take our shoes off to cross the streets, which were flowing with 5 inches of water! We decided to take the subway back to our hotel and had some free time before dinner. Heading to sleep early tonight for a big day of travel tomorrow to the Baksan Valley!”
~ MM Guide Dave Ahrens
The group getting to know each other. Dave Ahrens photo