Today we are planning to make an acclimatizing trip up to Pastukhova Rocks and then go back down to MBS hotel and rest for one day before we return and set camp near Priut 11 for the summit attempt. The weather forecast has predicted bad weather for the next few days and our first views of the horizon in the morning confirms this. Mattias and Maria have brought more food and has decided to move up to Priut 11 today.

After we have filled our water bottles in the small stream above the barrel huts we set of in a relaxed and steady pace. Marco is a good pace setter and we put him in front of the rest.

After 30 minutes we are all warmed up and stop for a short break to remove some clothes and drink some water.

Once the sun breaks through the clouds it gets really warm and we are able to walk in just a t-shirt.

The snow cats that brings tourists and climbers up to Priut 11 or Pastukhova Rocks has formed a wide road of compressed snow that is very easy to walk in. But it also somewhat spoils the scenery…

As we get higher the temperature drops and we make another stop to put on windproof clothes. Marco is still in the front to set a comfortable and easy pace for the others, except when Altin use his energy reserve to run uphill to take photos.

We stop for a short break above and on the same ridge as the airplane wreckage that we visited yesterday. The wind is picking up and we put on our down jackets to stay warm.

The hats might not look good but they keep your ears warm...soon we also used a special name for the hats..."coma hats".

The section between Priut 11 is slightly steeper that the first part, but again the tracks form the snow cat provides a compressed road that we follow. We are now near or destination for today, Pastukhova Rocks that is visible in the background.

We stop about just below the upper parts of the rocks and find ourselves a sheltered spot for a lunch break.

A group of tents are located below us, they look very exposed to the winds behind small rocks that surrounds them. It must be scary to be up here in a tent when the storms kick in…

We stayed for one hour until it was time to turn around if we were to catch the last lift down to Azau that afternoon.

We did a short stop at Priut 11 to say bye to Mattias and Maria who had just put up their tent and was relaxing in the afternoon sun while their lunch was getting ready.

We also had a quick look at the Priut 11 hut (built next to the ruins of the old one) before we rushed down to the barrel huts to break camp and get on the lift down to Azau and the taxi back to Terskol and MBS hotel.