Eric-final thoughts

this trip was unlike anything i have ever done before in my life. the mountain was the highlight for me, during the climb and once we made it to the summit. it was a great challenge climbing due to altitude and being inactive for a month prior to the trip from a torn miniscus. for the majority of the climb i wanted to turn around but john kept motivating me for that last 1000 ft and all the others gave me motivation to finish what we had started. at the summit i forgot all the things that had held me back while climbing, it was an unbelievable sight to watch as the clouds moved below us and seemingly all the world could be seen from that point. after the climb it was just as fun and suspenseful dealing with the locals and run in with russian athourities. other than at rustan and sauers' houses for dinner my next most enjoyable experience was when the team traveled to munich. i was seperated from the team in a church so i was able to give myself a tour of the city trying to get back to the hostle where we had stayed at. all in all this trip was amazing and something that i will treasure for the remainder of my life due to the places we went, people we met, and relationships built to last.