How it all started
I was 17 years old, my brother Vadim was already engaged in mountaineering in the section of Alexei Maryashev, so he invited me to play football with them, I didn’t even think about mountaineering.
Then they all went to the Asian rocks, which is 300 meters below the Medeu skating rink, Maryashev showed where to climb, and I climbed there. Then they called me to the alpiniad at Shkolnik Peak, I packed a backpack together with my brother, a large geological sleeping bag weighing 8 kg, I got it, as well as a blowtorch on gasoline, and gasoline was also in my backpack.
We walked with Medeu to Shymbulak and slept in a tarpaulin tent, it was already quite cold in November, in the morning we went to Shkolnik Peak, it was really hard, but it helped that others were even worse. In general, I went and got the badge of the USSR Alpinist, that's how I got into mountaineering, it is unlikely that in my next life I will agree to such a fate.
Then rolled twos, threes and fours. Later I also got into the climbing section of the coaches of the Arkhipov brothers, it was very comfortable there, we climbed in the warmth and in the company of beautiful climbers.
Then the conscription began, well, then Ilyinsky E.T. took me to SAVO, it was a prestigious team that already included the first Himalayans who conquered Everest.
Then the seven-thousanders began as part of a strong SAVO main team, so I gained the right experience fairly quickly. We made the snow leopard in one season. 
In 1987, selections for the second national team of the USSR began. There were 120 senior candidates and 40 youth candidates. Into the main cast  It was planned to select 20 people. 
The program of the first selection in the Caucasus included rock climbing in boots, crampons, push-ups, pull-ups and Elbrus short and long races. At the youth preselection, I took 1st place and 2nd place was taken by Vlad Moroz (the current owner of the Red Fox company), so the two of us were included in the next preselection, but already with the elders. 
Then selections in the Pamirs, it was planned to make three circles of ascents to the peak of Communism. The first round went at a normal pace, the second round was already on time, except for the “old” Himalayans, they were judges and observers. All the first six places were taken by the Kazakhs. The coaches refused the third round, arranging a kind of survey of the participants whether it was necessary to do this, such a practice of loads in those days was the first time and there were fears of putting someone on the mountain. Of course, I advocated for the third round, because I definitely wanted to get into the main team. As a result, they refused the third round and held another elimination, including Vlad Moroz, who was excluded from the youth team, I was the only one from the youth team in the main team, while I had only the first category, although I had enough experience in high-altitude ascents. 

Rinat Khaibullin