ITINERARY
DAY 1: ARRIVAL TO MOSCOW: Welcome to Russia! Your driver will meet you outside baggage claim and transfer you to your hotel. The goal today is to get you to your hotel as quickly as possible! Get a good night sleep & prepare to see majestic Moscow tomorrow!
HOTEL: Mercure Baumanskaya (or something similar)
DAY 2: TOUR MOSCOW: Today you’ll experience the must-sees for anyone traveling to Russia: Red Square, the Kremlin, and of course the famous St. Basil’s cathedral and its onion domes. Standing in the middle of Red Square, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the weight of both history and modernity surrounding you: The Kremlin walls, Lenin’s Tomb, Gum Mall. You will have a guided tour inside the world-renowned Kremlin, seeing the Armory and its fascinating collection of national treasures.
HOTEL: Mercure Baumanskaya (or something similar)
DAY 3: ARRIVAL TO NORTH CAUCASUS: Today you fly to the Caucasus! Your driver will pick you up at your hotel and transfer you to the airport. Upon arriving into the Caucasus Mineral Waters airport (MRV), settle in for the scenic, three-hour drive through the Baksan valley, home of Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe. Along the way your guide will brief you on the history of the Balkar people, among whom you will be spending the next week. Your final destination today is the Adirsu gorge. Entering the gorge requires you to take an old Soviet vehicle elevator (not many can say they have done that before!). Three days of amazing skiing awaits you on the mountain slopes ahead. Don’t blink because you will have risen 7,000 feet above sea level on this three-hour drive without even noticing! Check into your accommodations at the Alpine Lodge (7500^/2300m) and enjoy some free time to explore the area and
take in the views around you. You will meet with your guide tonight and go over the plan for the next 8 days, and for a successful Elbrus ascent!
HOTEL: Ullu-tau Alpine Lodge
DAY 4: ACCLIMATIZATION SKI TOURING: After breakfast you will start with important avalanche safety training: your guide will cover the basics of using an avalanche beacon, probes, shovels, and protocol for search and rescue of lost skiers in the event of an avalanche. Following training you will ski tour to the MesBa Pass (12,300^/3750m) for acclimatization, and of course, some excellent skiing. Before turning in tonight, your guide will check your equipment to determine what (if anything) needs to be rented to complete your Elbrus summit.
HOTEL: Ullu-tau Alpine Lodge
DAY 5: SKI TOURING: Today you’ll explore a new route on skis to the Koiavganaush Pass (11,900^/3625m). If you can pronounce the name of this pass by the time you return to the lodge it’ll be a great accomplishment!
HOTEL: Ullu-tau Alpine Lodge
DAY 6: ACCLIMATIZATION SKI TOURING / TRANSFER TO ELBRUS: This morning you will ascend to one more pass on your final day in the Adirsu gorge – Gumachi Pass (11,730^/3575m). After lunch, you will be driven to Mt. Elbrus, which lies at the head of the Baksan valley. On arrival you will check into your hotel where you will stay for the night.
HOTEL: Azau Star
DAY 7: BASE CAMP: After breakfast at the hotel you will make final preparations and then ascend to basecamp (12,500^ / 3800m) where you will stay for the next several nights. As you ascend the famous cable car system be sure to drink in the incredible Caucasus range, which stretches into Georgia and all the way to the Black and Caspian Seas. Base camp is snow covered year-round and you will immediately notice the cold. Here your body will continue to adjust to the elevation which has now doubled. Today your guide will also lead you in a mountaineering skills training to prepare you for summit day.
HOTEL: Leaprus Barrel Huts
Day 8: ACCLIMATIZATION SKI TOURING: During your second day on the mountain you will get a good feel for your route of ascent as you ski tour up to the Pastukhov Rocks, around 16,500 feet (4800m), which should take three to four hours. After dinner will be a final debriefing before the next morning’s summit push. Your guide will also introduce any extra guides that will accompany you to the summit. If you have a chance today, make sure to check out Elbrus’s infamous “World’s worst outhouse”; now you can mark that off your bucket list.
HOTEL: Leaprus Barrel Huts
DAY 9: SUMMIT DAY: It’s Summit Day! You have a 7-10 hour day ahead of you! You will start your climb in the dark between 2:00-4:00 am. Team is a beautiful thing as you work together with your group up the mountain. You may never have experienced the sunrise like you will on your ascent. Your climb will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination, with altitude sickness, extreme cold temperatures, and unpredictable weather all being real possibilities, but it will be worth it when you reach the top. After a quick celebration of your success, the real prize of the climb lies before you: 6,500 feet of ski descent all the way back to basecamp. While the ascent may have felt never ending, you will never want this incredible descent to end!
HOTEL: Leaprus Barrel Huts
DAY 10: RESERVE/REST DAY: Rest day! You’ve earned it. Sleep in as long as you want. Today you will want to peruse the charming local souvenir markets, full of tempting goods, including Caucasus Papakha hats, beautiful hand-knit slippers, shawls, and tasty local jams. Or if you’re up for it, go on a horseback excursion, see a beautiful waterfall or explore a Soviet-era abandoned titanium mine. Enjoy re-living and re-telling your Elbrus expedition with your fellow climbers and guides at your celebration dinner tonight. In case there was inclement weather on Day 7 (yesterday’s planned ascent), today will be your summit day on Elbrus.
HOTEL: Azau Star
DAY 11: DEPARTURE: Pack your bags and say goodbye for now to the North Caucasus, a place we hope you will come back to for another adventure very soon. Your guide will accompany you for the ride back to Mineral Waters airport (MRV). Upon arriving in Moscow, a driver will meet you at the airport to transfer you to your Moscow hotel.