When it comes to pushing their bodies, exerting themselves and taking on a challenge there is absolutely no doubt that Mark Heard our Managing Director and Ash Trowe our Senior Project Manager are 100% up or it.

With Ash competing in a 154 mile bike ride and a 2417m climb last Sunday 9 June and Mark taking on the incredible Mount Elbrus in Russia it’s been a week of apprehension for the team – we are very glad to have them both back at their desks with no bumps or scrapes, but there was one near-fatal fall for Mark – before we get to that here are a few facts about the incredible Mount Elbrus:

• It’s not actually a mountain it is an inactive volcano.
• With an elevation of 18,510 feet (5,642 meters), it is part of the Caucasus Range that straddles Asia and Europe, although most geographers place it in Europe
• It is the 10th most prominent mountain in the world. The east summit is slightly lower at 18,442 feet (5,621 m).
• “Mingi-Tau” is the name given to Elbrus by the Balkars, This means “resembling a thousand mountains,” as a homage to the mountain’s size.
• Previous to the Balkars naming the mountain, it was known as Sobilus, which is Latin for “pine cone” This is a variation of strobilos, meaning “a twisted object,” which is an apt description of the mountain’s summit.
• Mount Elbrus has 22 glaciers that feed three rivers — Baksan, Malka and Kuban.
• Summer nighttime temperatures average 18 F (-8 C). Temperatures above the snowline can fall as low as -22 F (- 30 C) during the day during the winter.

All in all a pretty challenging mountain/volcano to climb. Below is an abstract written by Mark the day before returning home to the UK.

‘Been off the grid in the mountains as no WiFi (or proper sanitation) the good news I’m alive but was a close call! Had to acclimatise to 3100m, then 4100m with our base camp at 3875m.

On the summit day (yesterday) I managed to entangle my crampons on the glacier traverse above Pastuckhov rocks resulting in a backslide to circa 40m or so luckily I remembered my ice arrest technique saving me from the grim reaper. My own fault in a way as a brief lapse in concentration.

Having clambered back up I managed to carry on for a few hours to top out at 5600m, just 200m short of the summit but was suffering early stages of HACE and needed to get down, with some Dexamethasone and squirts of oxygen I got down ok. To carry on to the summit, even with fixed lines would have been foolish, but still chuffed with my efforts.

Been a hell of an adventure and made some great friends (no option when sleeping 6 to a room) With many stories to bore everyone with! Looking forward to seeing Blighty tomorrow, flushing toilets, a shower and food that isn’t horrible’

We’re happy to have him back safe and well.