Only sky proves limit for 'mountain men'

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (USAFENS) --  For some people, reaching the top is enough. But the sky was the limit July 28 to 31 for two 352nd Special Operations Group pilots -- Rob Marshall, a captain in the 67th Special Operations Squadron, and Mark Uberuaga, a first lieutenant in the 21st Special Operations Squadron. For them, reaching the top of the world wasn’t enough.

The duo has just returned from climbing to the summit of Mt. Elbrus -- 18,510 feet of mountain in Russia, and the highest peak in Europe, and part one of their “seven summit challenge.”

The mountain men have set themselves the goal of climbing the highest peak on every continent -- Mt. Elbrus, Russia (check); Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania; Mt. Acancauga, Argentina; Mt. McKinley, Alaska; Mt. Koscuiuszko, Australia; Mt. Everest, Nepal; and Vinson Massif, Antarctica; ranging from 7,310 feet to 29,035 feet and all representing the highest physical achievement obtainable on each land mass, according to Marshall.

“We’ve each climbed some of these mountains already, but not as part of this challenge we’ve set ourselves. Mark has been a paid mountain guide at Mt. McKinley -- he’s climbed that particular mountain four times -- and has a wealth of mountaineering experience.

“For me, it started when I was on leave just after graduating from the Air Force Academy; I went to Nepal and hiked to Mt. Everest’s base camp (about 17,000 feet). After I stood looking up at the mountain in awe, it was then I decided to come back, and for a bigger reason than just to climb for the sake of it,” he recalled.

Sharing a passion for mountain climbing, the two house mates decided to work together and perform a challenge that would really mean something to them. They also figured it would be a great opportunity to raise money for a worthwhile charity, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The SOWF was set up to help families of Special Operations Forces personnel whose military family members have given their lives on operational missions or intense training programs.

To raise money for the SOWF, Marshall and Uberuaga asked people to pledge money.

“I’m a big fan of promoting morale and pride,” said Marshall. “I decided it would be really cool to see the Air Force, not just (Special Operations Command in Europe) come together, and be able to put the Air Force and American flag on top of a mountain.

“The (Royal Air Force) climbed Mt. Everest and put their flag on the summit, a few years ago. We figured we needed to do that too, and we decided we wanted to raise money for SOWF -- we climbed Mt. Elbrus in memory of the Wrath 11 crew,” he said.

Nine Airmen from the 352nd SOG lost their lives when their aircraft, Wrath 11, crashed March 31 in Albania.

Marshall and Uberuaga flew to St. Petersburg, Russia, July 25, to start the entirely self-funded journey.

“We wanted to prove to people we could do it on our own, with our own money -- and we did,” said Marshall proudly. Physically, we felt great. We had more difficulty getting to the mountain, than climbing it (three out of their four bags, containing most of the gear they needed on the journey, were lost by the airline, causing them to rent a few critical items). Emotionally, we were ready for the challenge -- we were healthy, had good food before we started, and worked with some great people.”

To get into the top physical condition required for this feat, both men put in many hours of body conditioning and physical training, including running and biking, to ensure each had stronger lung capacity and enhanced leg strength.

Several months, and several hundred hours a piece, were spent planning and making vital arrangements such as finding drivers.

Getting to the mountain proved a major task in itself.

“As if losing our luggage and equipment wasn’t enough, we ran into problems over visa paperwork. We got to the last military checkpoint and were just about to drive by when we made eye contact with the guard, and he pulled us over. After going through our passports and paperwork, he kept asking us questions in Russian, which neither of us understood, as we don’t speak Russian, and he didn’t speak a word of English -- and neither did our driver,” laughed Marshall.

“The guard made me get out of the car, and beckoned me to go over to a covered shelter -- though he eventually decided it was Mark who needed to go, because there was some discrepancy with the dates on his visa paperwork. Once the problem was resolved, we were quickly on our way,” he said.

Upon reaching their destination, the two mountaineers spent two days camped at 12,000 feet, acclimatizing their bodies in preparation to climb the summit. Bodies need to adjust to the increase in altitude, to prevent acute mountain sickness, which could ultimately lead to death if not taken care of appropriately, Marshall explained.

During the acclimation period, both men practiced moving around on the glaciers and crevasse rescue training. According to Marshall, Mt. Elbrus has very deep crevasses -- some more than 100 feet deep -- so it’s important to know how to work around them and how to deal with accidents.

“It’s a lot of fun stepping over a three-foot wide crevasse that’s so deep you can’t see the bottom,” said Marshall.

After a breakfast of hot oatmeal and hot chocolate, the duo began their climb to the summit at 4 a.m. July 31. Once they’d climbed for two hours, they put their skis on their backs and continued the climb wearing crampons, which are very sharp steel teeth attached to the boots.

Eight hours into the climb, they reached the saddle of Mt. Elbrus at approximately 17,500 feet. Feeling worn out from carrying their large backpacks up 4,000 (vertical) feet into low oxygen air, they dropped their skis, equipment and supplies, continuing onwards with minimal gear.

They found the last 1,000 feet the most difficult, Marshall said. But triumphant, they reached the summit after several hours climbing.

“It was so exhilarating, reaching the top and being able to plant the American flag, along with the Air Force and SOWF logos. There were some Russians at the top, and when we proudly unfurled our huge American flag, they all clapped and cheered,” relived Marshall excitedly. “When we reached the top, we planted our flags, hugged and ‘high-fived’ each other and looked out at a view that made us feel like we were on top of the world,” Uberuaga said he felt ataxic, suffering from a loss of muscular coordination.

“My coordination was reduced from the lack of oxygen my body was receiving and I was just fighting to keep my wits about me,” he said. “I was also relieved -- personally, making it to the top of a mountain isn’t what most satisfies me. It’s the outside pressure of climbing for a charity, having told so many people about it and knowing we’d done what we set out to do.

“When climbing, I consider myself to be swimming out to sea -- every step I take away from camp is one I’ll have to take to get back, once I turn around.”

After descending to (17,500 feet up) to pick up their skis and backpacks, the duo then skied the 4,000 feet back down the mountain to their camp.

What had taken them more than nine hours (from their camp at 13,500 feet) to climb, took just one-and-a-half hours to ski back down.

“To turn back and see the summit was absolutely fantastic,” smiled Marshall, remembering the experience. “We had huge smiles, but empty lungs. We knew we’d come through with our promise to ourselves, and we raised about $1,500 for SOWF -- mission accomplished!”

For more information on participating in the seven summits challenge, or donating to the SOWF, e-mail USAF7summits@hotmail.com, or visit www.specialops.org.