An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Only sky proves limit for ‘mountain men’

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
For some people, reaching the top is enough. For two 352nd Special Operations Group pilots here, reaching the top of the world was not enough.

Capt. Rob Marshall of the 67th Special Operations Squadron, and 1st Lt. Mark Uberuaga of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, recently returned from climbing to the summit of Mount Elbrus -- 18,510 feet of mountain in Russia, the highest peak in Europe, and Part 1 of their “seven summit challenge.”

The mountain men have set themselves the goal of climbing the highest peak on every continent -- Mount Elbrus, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Acancauga in Argentina, Mount McKinley in Alaska, Mount Koscuiuszko in Australia, Mount Everest in Nepal, and the Vinson Massif in Antarctica. The mountains range from 7,310 feet to 29,035 feet and represent the highest physical achievement obtainable on each land mass, Captain Marshall said.

“We’ve each climbed some of these mountains already, but not as part of this challenge we’ve set ourselves,” Captain Marshall said. “(Lieutenant Uberuaga) has been a paid mountain guide at Mount 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,” he said. “I went to Nepal and hiked to Mount 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.”

Sharing a passion for mountain climbing, the two housemates 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 foundation was set up to help families of Special Operations Forces people whose military family members have given their lives on operational missions or intense training programs.

To raise money for the foundation, Captain Marshall and Lieutenant Uberuaga asked people to pledge money.

“I’m a big fan of promoting morale and pride,” Captain Marshall said. “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 Mount Everest and put their flag on the summit a few years ago,” he said. “We figured we needed to do that too, and we decided we wanted to raise money for (the foundation). We climbed Mount Elbrus in memory of the Wrath 11 crew.”

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

Captain Marshall and Lieutenant Uberuaga flew to St. Petersburg, Russia, 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,” Captain Marshall said. “Physically, we felt great. We had more difficulty getting to the mountain than climbing it. 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, were spent planning and making vital arrangements such as finding drivers.

Getting to the mountain proved a major task in itself. The men had lost three of the four bags they brought with them on the airline. Those bags contained most of the gear they needed on the journey, causing them to rent a few critical items.

“As if losing our luggage and equipment wasn’t enough, we ran into problems over visa paperwork,” Captain Marshall said. “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 ... and he didn’t speak a word of English, and neither did our driver.

“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 (Lieutenant Uberuaga) 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.”

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, Captain Marshall said.

During the acclimation period, both men practiced moving around on the glaciers and crevasse rescue training. Mount Elbrus has very deep crevasses, some more than 100 feet deep, so it is important to know how to work around them and how to deal with accidents, the captain said.

“It’s a lot of fun stepping over a 3-foot wide crevasse that’s so deep you can’t see the bottom,” he said.

The duo began their climb to the summit at 4 a.m. Once they had 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 Mount Elbrus at about 17,500 feet. Feeling worn out from carrying their large backpacks up 4,000 vertical feet which reduced oxygen to breathe, they dropped their skis, equipment and supplies, continuing onward with minimal gear.

Captain Marshall said they found the last 1,000 feet the most difficult. But triumphant, they finally 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,” the captain said. “There were some Russians at the top, and when we proudly unfurled our huge American flag, they all clapped and cheered. 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.”

Lieutenant 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,” he said. “Every step I take away from camp is one I’ll have to take to get back, once I turn around.”

After descending to pick up their skis and backpacks, the duo then skied back down the mountain to their camp.

What had taken them more than nine hours to climb, took just one-and-a-half hours to ski back down.

“To turn back and see the summit was absolutely fantastic,” Captain Marshall said. “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.” (Courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service)