The Last Well Movement Blog

At 12:30PM Elbrus Time (4:30AM EST) on Wednesday July 2nd, 2008 eight of eleven members of the Expedition Elbrus Team stood on the summit of the highest peak on the European Continent!

Rob Newton, Zach Casper, Andrew Good, Andrew Pitts, Thomas Heffernan, Nate Keeler, Jordan Olivero, and myself (Todd Phillips) endured forty mile-an-hour winds and a severe snowstorm to reach the summit.

Jim Printz became severely ill and just before the ascent was unable to climb with the team on summit day. Ryan Wheaton went temporarily blind in his left eye about two hours into the summit attempt and was forced to turn back, and Chad Madden, the videographer, turned around at 17,300 feet (1,200 feet below the summit). These men each made some of the toughest decisions imaginable and I applaud them for their clear-headed ability to make the right choice at the right time.

A few honorable mentions must be noted:
- Rob Newton, Tom Heffernan, and Zach Casper assisted one of our climbers down nearly 3,000 feet down unimaginably difficult terrain through a blinding snowstorm with high winds.
- Ryan Wheaton, upon returning to base camp, manned the radio and leapt to action when he heard two climbers were coming ahead of the rest of the team on a snow cat. He met the two climbers when they arrived, took their packs, ski poles and ice axes, and prepared hot drinks for the two dehydrated climbers.

When all of the pledges come in from this expedition, as well as donations made before the climb itself and a matching grant from a donor through Living Water International, we are confident that this 10 man team of bright, young, passionate Christ-followers will have reached their unheard-of goal of $250,000! One hundred percent of this money will be used to buy equipment and drill wells in Liberia in the name of Jesus! I am thrilled to have been part of such an incredible team of young men and count it as one of the highlights of my life.

We will stay in the valley just below Elbrus until Saturday morning when we will board our flight to the U.S. Every climber agrees that this was without a doubt the most difficult experience of his life. I agree whole-heartedly. I have had the privilege of summiting Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. I failed to summit Aconcagua on the Chile/Argentina border and failed to summit Mt. Elbrus on my first attempt in 2001. Each one of these challenges were unique in their own way but this summit was by far the most physically and mentally challenging effort I have ever undertaken. I give credit to the team but above all to God for the strength he gave each member of the team.

Your servant for His sake,
Todd Phillips