"Today I realised how much respect one owes to the mountain. We hiked up to 4.700 metres in the middle of a huge snow storm (by the way, the gighest I've ever climbed). We were at minus 3 °C , and the wind was going 20 kilometres per hour. I was freezing because we were walking so slowly, and I had to stop three times to put things on to protect myself from the cold: My snow pants, a scarf, ear muffs, hood and gloves.

We walked for six hours. We got back to our camp site (3.750 metres) by 2 pm, and had dinner at 7. I haven't said much about our cook, but she's been key to our journey. She's 25, and today she cooked peppers stuffed with beef, zucchini salad and another salad made out of beets, which I normally dislike deeply but today I thought was exquisite. Right now (9:30 pm, Russian time) I have a bit of a height-related headache. But physically, I'm fine. Everyone on the journey is doing alright.

Today was quite revealing. I noticed how hazardous summiting can be. A group of 12 people left the camp site today on their way up and none of them made it. They had to go back once they reached 5.200 metres (the summit is at 5.642 metres) because up there, it's -35 °C and the wind alone will lift you off the ground.

We plan to summit in two days and, sadly, if the weather is against us, we will not be able to do it. God and the weather will decide if we summit or not. No matter how much you train, no one will take the risk of climbing in bad weather.

The funny thing is, the weather up here is always changing. Today it's pretty cloudy, but it's likely that tomorrow the sky will be completely clear.

We will try to reach 'Priut 11', a camp site located at 4.000 metres. There, we will eat lunch, train with our harpoons and such, and rest, save our energies for the big day.
On Sunday we will begin our journey at 3:00 am (Russian time). We will do it that early because it's twhen the weather is nicest and there's almost no wind at all. We hope to be at 5.200 metres by 7 am."

Andrés Cruz is climbing Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, in support of 157 single mothers and teenagers who live in Cartagena. Follow his blog, and remember to make a donation.