MOUNT ELBRUS (5,642 m.)

Roof of Europe... One of Seven Summits... Mt. Elbrus!

ITINERARY

Day 1: Meeting in Mineralnye Vody airport. Bus ride (4 hrs.) to a mountain hotel in the Baksan valley near the foothills of Mt. Elbrus. Overnight stay in the hotel.

Day 2: Acclimatization ascent (using ski lifts) of Cheget Mountain, 3600 m (11,800 feet). Overnight stay in the hotel.

Day 3: Ride ski lifts. Set up base camp. Acclimatization hike. Overnight stay in the Barrels hut on the slopes of Elbrus.

Day 4: Acclimatization hike and relax day. Overnight stay in the Barrels hut

Day 5: Summit day. Leave base camp about 3 am for the climb of Elbrus' west summit, 5642 m (18,498 ft). Descend to base camp. Overnight stay in the Barrels hut.

Day 6: Reserve day for climbing Elbrus (in case of bad weather) or descent to the Baksan valley

Day 7: Reserve day. Descend to the Baksan valley. Overnight stay in the hotel.

Day 8: Drive to Mineralnye Vody airport for onward flight.

DETAILS

Undoubtedly, the best known and most alluring mountain in Russia is Elbrus (5621m/5642m), a dormant volcano, one of the "Seven Summits". The fact that it is the highest point in Europe suffices for many to go and climb it. It stands 11km north from the Main Range and exceeds its neighbors in height by 1200-2000m. The views from both the summits are breathtaking: to north it is a rolling carpet of pastures veiled by the blue haze of distance and on all the other sides the sea of snowy peaks. It is said that through the clear air of autumn you can see both the Black and Caspian seas.

On our first day, we meet at Mineralnye Vody airport, we take a 4 hours bus ride to Baksan Valley, and we reach our mountain hotel "Scheherazade" near the foothills of Mt. Elbrus. The next day, after breakfast, we walk from the hotel to Cheget. When we reach Cheget village we use ski lifts (chairs) to get as high as possible and follow the mountain edge to the summit of Cheget Mountain 3600 m (11,800 feet). If the weather is good we can spend 40 minutes on the top for making pictures and sightseeing. Then we go down to Cheget village again and have a lunch there in a local cafe. On the way back we can visit mineral spring (natural, with gas). We return to the hotel at about 4-5 pm. We have dinner and overnight there.

After breakfast we start from the mountain hotel with all necessary climbing gear. You can leave your unnecessary gear at the hotel. We set our base camp at the Barrels huts (3900 m/12800 ft). You will carry your own equipment/clothes from hotel to lifts (5 minutes) and from lifts to the huts (5 minutes). Sometimes (not often) the 3rd leg of lifts is closed and it may occur that you have to walk from lifts to the huts. It takes about 40 minutes along a good trail. That is why please have a backpack not a handbag for your gear. After a short rest and tea we start for a hike up to the beginning of the Pastuckhov rocks and probably higher (4200-4300 m/ 14100 ft). Depending on weather and time your guide may offer to have a short snow\ice\rope\self-belay technique courses. Lunch, dinner and overnight at the Barrels huts.

The barrels huts are not the highest huts but the most comfortable ones. There are electric power, light and heaters, personal beds, separate big dining room and kitchen. One of the important rules for acclimatization is: walk as high as you can but sleep as low and comfortable as it is possible. This gives you you relax and rest after hard day. Having night on high elevation in bad conditions makes climber tired without any activity and you can get up even more exhausted than you were several hours ago.

We think that it is good to have a good rest before a summit day. That is why on day 4, we will go for an acclimatization hike not higher than 4300 m (14100 ft) and return to the huts for rest. Depending on weather and time your guide may offer to have a short snow\ice\rope\self-belay technique courses. Our tours do not assume any previous experience and many participants in groups are novices. Your guide will give some training just to make you feel more comfortable with crampons or ice axe but we do not expect you use any climbing technique when it really concerns safety. If there is a danger our guides will rope you up and make proper belay.

Although we do not recommend strenuous hikes on this day if you want to go higher our guide can accompany you but not higher than Pastuckhov rocks. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, overnight in the Barrels huts.

Sometimes if all people in a group are in a very good shape and have good acclimatization we can climb the top even this day. However the decision about this must be taken on the first day at Baksan Valley.

Day 5 is the summit day for Elbrus. We stand up early in the morning (at about 2am) and leave The Barrels after breakfast at about 3am. The idea is to meet sunrise somewhere over the Pastuckhov rocks. It is possible to hire a snow-cat (Ratrak) for a group. This vehicle carries climbers (12 people) up to Pastuckhov rocks and saves 2 hours and a lot of energy. Generally, for an average group, it takes about 7 hours to reach the top and 3 hours to come back to The Barrels.

Generally we stay at the Barrels this night. If a group returns to the Barrels before 2 pm we can discuss the possibility to descend to the valley and have overnight at the mountain hotel. However this will require additional payment for hotel, because this night is paid for the huts. After breakfast at Barrels, we descend back to the mountain hotel and have a rest day with short hikes around or shopping at the wool market. In case we do not climb the top the day before due to bad weather, we will 2 reserve days for the summit and return back to Baksan valley.

In our last day in Caucasus, we will drive back to Mineralnye Vody airport for the end of services.

For Moscow hotels, and international flight tickets back to home, you can ask for a quote from our staff.

RUSSIAN VISA

All foreign nationals are required to have entry visas to travel to the Russian Federation. Russian entry visas can be obtained at local Russian Embassy or Consulate. Proper invitation (visa support) from a specially authorized travel agency (host company) is required.

A visa to the Russian Federation is a document, permitting stay in Russia for a specific period of time. A visa lists exact entry/exit dates. You can enter/leave Russia on any date within visa period but overstay is a serious violation and in case of overstay leaving the country could be much more troublesome than entering it.

We can send visa support for more days than a period of our real service but for not more than 20 nights. If you need wider period please make real reservations in hotels through us for the extra days or address a visa company to purchase proper kind of visa. A sample of visa company: www.visatorussia.com

Requirements for foreign citizens to enter Russia (tourist visa)

- Passport: must be valid 6 months beyond intended stay
- Russian Visa: required
- Vaccination: not required

Requirements for obtaining Russian tourist visa in a Russian Consulate.

- Your original passport with at least 2 blank visa-designated pages (passport must be valid for at least 6 months after intended departure date from Russia).
- Two copies of Russian visa application form (Consulate's Questionnaire), completed and signed.
- One passport-size photo signed on the back.
- Visa support (invitation) page(s) from host company. ('Voucher' and 'Confirmation' forms)
- Consular fee (different in different countries) must be paid.

We will send you visa support (invitation) page as email attachment. That is a page with two forms: "Voucher" and "Confirmation of Hosting". You have to print it out and pass to the Consulate along with other necessary items. There will be some comments sent with visa support. Those comments will help you to fill out the Consulate application form (questionnaire). If you are going to apply for visa not in the country of your citizenship, let us know that country. Some Consulates (such as in France, Japan and some others) have their own demands for the visa support edition.

All Russian Visas should be registered upon arrival to the Russian Federation.

According to Russian law, your Russian visa must be registered within 72 hours upon your arrival (excluding weekends and official holidays).

If you stay at a hotel, the hotel will register your visa. You will be asked of your visa and passport. A small registration fee may be imposed.
If you are not staying at a hotel and travel on a tourist visa you will have to register your visa at the Passport and Visa Department of the local Police Precinct (OVIR/UVIR office).
In case you have a tour from a tourist company they will register your visa themselves.

Please note that not registering your Russian visa may lead to serious problems: detention by police, fines on departure, prevention from boarding the plane, etc. We strongly advise you to register your Russian visa to avoid possible unnecessary inconveniences. Paying a fine does not free you from registering. If you do not register within 72 hours you must pay fine before you may be registered.