Elbrus

 Arrival in Mineralnye Vody, on a direct flight from Moscow. Private transportation by bus to our hotel, near the village of Terskol, in the Baksan valley (it is a four-hour drive). 

We drive to the Cheget Glade, and hike up the Cheget Mount (2,750 meters), starting our acclimatization process. There is bar just there, where we will have our first “altitude beer”. We’ve earned it!! Descent by cable car to the valley.

We take the cable-car to the Mir station (3,500 meters), and up again by chair lift to the Garabashi huts (3,750 meters), where the famous Barrels (Bochki) stand. New acclimatization hike to the Dizel hut (4,040 meters).

We climb to the Pastukhov Rocks (4,750 meters), in our final preparatory trek. It is a test to our response to altitude. Free afternoon to read, play chess, or mingle with alpinists from all over the world.

A rest day. We are now rested and fully acclimatized for our summit day. If not needed, we use Day 5 as a reserve day, in case the weather forces us to miss one day in our schedule.

Summit day: we wake up at midnight, have breakfast and start walking towards the Pastukhov Rocks, which we pass shortly before sunrise. The view is breathtaking (and you will need to catch your breath, the hardest is yet to come!). We reach the summit around 11 o’clock. We take pictures, and start the descent. We are back in the hut by 3pm, and we descend to our hotel in Terskol. Time to enjoy a warm shower buy some souvenirs (“I climbed Elbrus” in Cyrillic characters is a must!), and have our celebration dinner.

We are driven back to Mineralnye Vody, in time to catch our flight to Moscow.

They take us back to Mineralnye Vody, in time to catch our flight to Moscow.

(Optional, but highly recommended) Tour of Moscow and St. Petersburg, two wonderful cities.

We fly back to our country, congratulations!