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Description of Area and Facts of the Mountain (Elbrus)
THE CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS are a spine of mountains that extend for over
1000 km roughly East to West, between the Caspian and Black Sea, a
natural obstacle between the plains of Russia and the mountainous
territories of Transcaucasian. They are covered with wild forests
and flowers. The Caucasus region has a mountain system that includes
many peaks over 4,000 meters high and hundreds of glaciers.
THE CENTRAL CAUCASUS, in the heart of the Caucasus, is the highest
part of the entire mountain system. Hard to access to the west
because of Mount Elbrus and to the east by Mt. Kazbek, the central
section branches off to the north and south into a series of
complicated geological buttresses.
PRIELBRUSIE, the area around Mount Elbrus is a highly frequented area
in the Central Caucasus reigon where many valleys converge into the
Baksan valley, where the river flows. In this region you will find
many legendary peaks such as Mt. Shkhelda (4,320 m), Mt. Chatin
(4,368 m), Mt. Donguz-Orun (4,468 m), Mt. Ushba (4,710 m), and Mt.
Elbrus itself (5,642 m), the highest peak in Europe. The area is
easily reached from Mineralnye Vody with a good network of roads and
the journey takes about four hours.
MT. ELBRUS dominates the Central Caucasus and has two which were
originally separate volcano vents: the western peak (Zapadnaya) is
the higher peak; the eastern peak (Vostochnaya) at 5,621m, has a
crater 250m in diameter. The mountain is covered by a huge sheet of
ice which covers some 145 sq kms and is reputed to be up to 400m
thick. Often ferocious weather surrounds the mountain and there is
permanent snow and ice cover year round. From the col that divides
the two peaks the snow slopes descend to tongues of ice and
crevasses lying in the many valleys that radiate from the mountain.
THE CLIMB OF MT. ELBRUS by the normal route is a longish climb over
a medium incline that requires good acclimatization but has no
objective technical difficulties. The apparent simplicity of this
route is deceptive though because it can be dangerous. Apart from
the altitude, the highly variable weather and frequent violent
storms combined with low temperature means that this ascent is a
real high altitude adventure! The prevailing weather approaches in a
Westerly direction and each season people are frequently caught out
on the high flanks.
The average time to summit is from eight to ten hours for the ascent
and about four hours for the descent. Crampons and ski poles are
necessary for this climb and ixe aces are useful for training
purposes and extra safety. In autumn, winter and spring the incline
above the Pastukhov rocks is covered with ice and can be dangerous.
The summit plateau is itself is large and featureless and surrounded
by steep drops. April, May and June are the best months for a ski
descent, mainly from the col since there is a steepish traverse from
there to the summit plateau.
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| Mount Elbrus West
Ridge |
Mount Elbrus Saddle |
View from Mount
Elbrus. Sunrise |
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