Tyler's Blog

Climbing Mt. Elbrus

On 8/9/15, at age 11, I climbed Mt. Elbrus in Russia, the third mountain in my 7 Summit attempt. This is part of my journey to Climb to CureDuchenne. My goal is to raise money to find a cure for my friends who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Mt. Elbrus is the highest mountain in the European continent and is in the Caucasus mountain range. The climb starts above a ski resort. We loaded up our gear and food and took a tram up to 12,000 feet. Even though we were surrounded by glaciers it was not that cold. You could still wear pants and a T-shirt.

Our base camp were these large bunkhouses that looked like barrels. The barrels fit six people in them and had hard wooden beds, but it was still very tiny. From our base camp we did acclimation climbs for two days, followed by a rest day. What was amazing this high on the mountain was that there was a kitchen barrel with tables. There was a wonderful Russian woman who cooked all of our meals. But you only had 30 minutes for each meal since the next group needed to get in to eat also. The food there was pretty good, but you just have to remember to eat and drink a lot to help prevent altitude sickness. Altitude can make you feel nauseous so it might make it hard to eat and drink at these high altitudes, but you must do it anyway.

After three days of acclimatizing we headed for the summit. But there is something hard about this summit attempt, as it is the longest summit day of all the seven summits. In all, you do 6,000 feet of elevation gain on summit day. Other summits you typically climb around 3,000 to 4,000 feet on summit day. To make this long brutal day easier on Mt. Elbrus, most climbers take a snow cat 2,500 feet higher which can save many brutal hours. We started very early in the morning and climbed over a huge ice slope in darkness. It was so cold that our water was freezing quickly. I was excited when the sun came up as it made me feel warmer and I could see where we were going.

During the most challenging parts of the climb I kept thinking to myself was that I climbing for those with Duchenne who can’t. They face challenges every day. When my legs were tired I thought of Duchenne boys and what they must feel like when their legs don’t do what they want them to do.

After many long hours of climbing we reached the ropes. We had to clip ourselves in because of the dangerous drop. Part of the challenge was waiting for other climbing teams on the ropes. You didn’t want to be exposed for too long waiting for other climbers. After the ropes, you make a final easy hike to the summit. The summit is around 18,500 feet. Along the way there are many false summits that after a while it makes you aggravated. But when you get to the real summit you think that is not the summit but it is. The summit area is not big and can get jammed up with other climbers. What was amazing on the summit is that you could tell you are at the highest point on the continent.

The way down seems short compared to the many hours it took to climb up. However, you almost need to be more careful on the way down because you are more tired, and it is difficult to climb down steep areas. It was great to have the ropes to help protect us from falls. When we got back to camp we spent one more night in the tiny barrels. Then, in the morning we packed up all of our gear and took the tram back down the mountain.

Note from Tyler’s dad: On summit day I needed a small summit pack, rather than the large Gregory Denali 100 pack I had used. So, I took Tyler’s Wander 50, and because of the size adjustments, I was able to use his pack for the summit. It was the perfect size to hold our water, food, jackets, and safety gear. It was amazing that the same pack that Tyler used could be adjusted for an adult. It was comfortable and now I know why Tyler loves his Wander 50 so much.

At age 7, Tyler Armstrong was the youngest person to climb Mt. Whitney in a single day. Now 11 years old, he's decided to embark on an epic quest of heroic proportions to climb the world’s Seven Summits – the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, including Mt. Everest. If Tyler succeeds, he will be the youngest person to ever accomplish this feat.

But Tyler is not just trying to set a world record; his goal is to raise awareness and funds to cure Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common and lethal muscle disease found in children. Duchenne afflicts approximately 300,000 boys worldwide.

Find out more about Tyler’s epic quest at climbtocureduchenne.org

Help Tyler raise $1 million to save his friend’s lives with Duchenne at: www.crowdrise.com/climbtocureduchenne