Day 1

Lada Niva 4x4

Trip to Base Camp - 8th June 2006
On the 8th June 2006, three members of the West Azeri Drilling Crew left on their trip to climb Mount Shadagh at 4243 metres above sea level.  That’s about 14,000 feet to the real mountaineer!  This is the highest mountain in the Caucasus range which is entirely within the borders of Azerbaijan.  They raised money through sponsorship on the oil rig and in the office so that their trip would be of some use to the local people of Azerbaijan.  The three members of the Shahdagh climb ‘crew’ were Jamie Jarrold, Driller; Paul Burgess, Assistant Driller and Kev “Jungle Boy” Cocking, Deck Foreman.  They were picked up from Zabrat Heli Port in Baku by taxi and driven to the East Caucasus Mountains in Northern Azerbaijan, a trip of almost four and a half hours.  Their mission was to climb Mount Shahdagh in three days which was a trek and climb that usually takes four days.  Immediately after landing and straight off of night shift they were greeted at Zabrat by Elman, one of the guides who was also providing the transport for the trip.  The four and a half hour journey north was on one of the scariest highways any of the men had ever dared travel on.  The last hour of the trip was only passable by a 4x4 vehicle which took the men through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in that part of the country.  They arrived at Suva at ‘the end of the road’ at around 3.30pm that day.  Jamie and Paul then said their farewells to Kevin who was to remain in the village as ‘back up’ in case of any mishaps along the way!  At around 4pm Jamie, Paul and Elman headed off on their initial part of the trek to base camp, some four hours away, where they looked forward to meeting their guide for the second part of the trip. 
The guide for the second leg was to be Affik, Elman’s father, who knew the area as well as any mountain goat.  Base camp lay at around 2200 metres and by the time they reached there darkness was falling and the men pitched their tents to settle in for the night.  They had had a very strenuous, yet exhilarating day and as the next day was to be an arduous one the thought of a good night’s sleep was very appealing to all!  Reminiscing on the last twenty four hours the men soon succumbed to tiredness and were fast aselep.

 

Day 2

Summit Day – 9th June 2006
Awakening to clear blue skies around 5.30am the men had a quick breakfast, checked their equipment, said their goodbyes to Elman (who was staying at base camp) and followed Affik onwards and upwards.  The summit conditions looked perfect from the outset and although not clearly visible, due to the steepness of the initial slopes, the summit beckoned and the men made good headway.  The mountain path at this stage of the trek was easy underfoot and stayed that way for around the first three hours.  Soon after a brief lunch (no time to eat on this trip mum!) they happened upon a narrow ledge which Affik trundled up in front of them like a whippet!  The look of this ledge left both Jamie and Paul thinking, “he must be joking, yes?”, although they soon realised he was not.  If they had not followed him along this ledge (approximately a metre wide with a sheer drop to one side) then the summit would not have been possible at all.  After the ledge the terrain again became easier going until they reached the “scree from hell” on which they were stumbling across small boulders and shingle under foot.  This scree and the altitude made progress very energy sapping.  Reaching the snow line was next!  Donning crampons and getting their ice axes out was a ‘definite’ rather than a ‘maybe’.  This equipment was used for the next 300 metres of ascent to the summit.  Mission accomplished!!
The trio reached the summit at around 1pm, so with a steady pace since leaving base camp, they did it in around six hours.  Views across the mountain range towards Georgia, Dagestan and Russia were glorious at this altitude with an impressive cloud inversion over the Abseron Peninsula.  This part of the trip seemed to make it even more worthwhile and the men stopped for a brief photo shoot to add to their family albums.  However, the winds were so cold and strong that the men knew that if they wanted to get back to base camp that night, they had better not linger long.  They set off back down the mountain retracing their steps and at around 5pm they were safely back at base camp.  With a few blisters on their feet and a bit of sunburn on the back of their necks, they were again soon fast asleep.

Day 3

10th June 2006 – The End is Nigh!
The trek back down the mountain was to be no easy feat as the men woke up feeling very tired and having aching legs and sore feet, not to mention the sunburn!  They left Affik on the mountain and Elman was again their guide back to Suva.  The trip down was going well with about half an hour left to walk, when, out of nowhere appeared Kevin….. he was on horseback!  He had come to meet them and encourage the party along the last leg of the journey.  Apparently Kevin had been treated like royalty when Jamie and Paul were slogging their guts out up and down the mountain!  He kept telling them about the amount of Vodka he had consumed and to be honest it sounded like he had drunk the village dry.  After a few cool beers and a hearty lunch in Suva all three men climbed aboard the cars with Elman for the return journey to Baku, to arrive just in time for that day’s England game!