I think everyone knows that the highest mountain in the world is Everest ... but do you know? what is the highest mountain in Europe? Is he Mount Elbrús and although it is the highest of all the European peaks, Everest beats it by more than three thousand meters. Wonderful!
Well today we are going to concentrate on Mount Elbrús, where is it, how is it, when was it formed, if it can be scaled, when and how. Aim!
Mount Elbrús
It is on the natural border between Europe and Asia, the Urlaes Mountains, in the European part of Russia, near the border with neighboring Georgia. The Urals are not a big deal, they are not very high but very gentle peaks that spread today between Russia and Kazakhstan, along 2500 kilometers.
The Elbrús It is a mountain of volcanic origin and has two peaks, one higher than the other. The highest peak reaches 5.642 meters and the other top is barely lower with its 5.621 meters. The first is to the west and the second to the east and both were first climbed in different years of the XNUMXth century, the lowest by a Russian climber named Khachirov and the highest by a British group.
It is a mountain that it is covered by a layer of ice and also has twenty-two glaciers. The area where the mountain is located marks the meeting between two tectonic plates, the Arabian and the Eurasian, so it is prone to earthquakes. The fault is difficult and complex and as it moves laterally there are almost no volcanoes, so that the Elbrús is of volcanic origin is a rarity.
According to geologists, Mount Elbrús began to form ten million years ago with volcanic eruptions, although the last major eruptions seem to have taken place 700 thousand years ago. Today what remains of all that chaotic activity are some weak fumaroles and the stories of Greek mythology that relate how Zeus chained Prometheus there for stealing the fire of the gods to give it to man.
In the summer months of the northern hemisphere, where the mountain is located, the days are milder to undertake a climb. It is estimated that on average half of the days are sunny although it can be a windy place. When you exceed four thousand meters in height, things change and it becomes arctic so you do not want to imagine how it is in winter if it is like that in summer. Well, as today the streets of Chicago are, at minus 50º C.
On the north slope there are forests of pine, ash and birch and hawthorn of silver leaves. At the subalpine level there are wildflowers and grasses and pale rose bushes of the famous «rose of the Alps». When the height can already be considered alpine, between two and three thousand meters of altitude, there are more flowers and more grass. On the south side, for its part, there are fields of ash, beech and maples, mushrooms and berries.
Among so many flora inhabit bears, chamois, mice, squirrels, moles, foxes, lynx, wild boar and roe deer, in addition to hawks, royal and imperial eagles and grouse.
Visit Mount Elbrús
In principle, you should be interested in climbing because the vast majority of its visitors are climbers willing to achieve the same as the Russian and the group of British who reached their peaks in the XNUMXth century.
El mountaineering and climbing they began to become popular in the years of Soviet rule. Even in the mid-50s a group of 400 men climbed the mountain to mark the 400th anniversary precisely of the annexation of the autonomous region of Kabardia Balkaria, which is where the mountain is specifically. Then, between the 60s and the mid-70s, they were built cable cars that reach 3.800 meters and several ascent routes were traced.
However, there is a main and more popular route that does not have glacier crevasses and it goes up quite straight up the side where the cable car is located. This is the route that fills up in summer and even so, there may be more than ten deaths per year among those who make the attempt. Is it is the safest and fastest route, partly by cable car but also by chair lifts that operate from morning until after noon.
Following this route ensures that you are back to take the last chairlift, and if all goes well, it will be completed in about six to nine hours of ascent, always thinking about the west summit. The descent takes less, but it can still take three to six hours. Actually, times depend on the route chosen so yes, on the contrary you choose the northern route you will see less technical support equipment and you will have camping life, but at the same time you will see more landscape.
Nowadays there are several agencies that offer to climb Mount Elrbús. One of them, for example, has a 14-day classic package, another that includes skiing, one of just eleven days And it's kind of like an express and one that also includes the ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. For fans It is one of the famous Seven Summits of the world. Agencies generally follow the simpler southern route and make between five and six climbs per season between May and August, the summer.
Generally you arrive by plane to the nearest airport, which is Mineralnye Vody, is usually via Moscow, and from there you take a bus to the beautiful valley of Baksan in a journey of about four hours. There are hotels nearby and all excursions include acclimatization days with hiking in the surroundings.
The truth is that it must be a wonderful trip. Did you see the movie Everest? Well, something similar. If you are interested in investigating a little more, websites such as Adventure Alternative or Mountain Madness offer trips to Elbrús and its wonders.