Elbrus North route 2023

      Elbrus from the north is a route for lovers of the virgin nature. There are no hotels, restaurants, cable cars and snow cats, so the climbers reach the summit by walking - from the beginning to the end. It is this very route that people used to climb Elbrus for the first time. That was in 1829. The tour starts in the SPA-town of Kislovodsk where an off-road vehicle will pick us up and bring us to the place called Dzhily-Su where the route begins. It is an unique SPA-resort with healing springs attracting people from the different corners of Russia.
        As a rule, all climbers are striving to climb the West summit (5642 m). But the way to there is 3 hours longer than to the East summit (5621 m), so some people choose to climb the East one. The decision is made at  altitude of around 5100 m on the summit day.

     The itinerary of the northern route to Mt. Elbrus is designed for 11 days and provides two reserve days in case of the bad weather. Previous mountain experience is not necessary to climb Mount Elbrus. Our English-speaking guides will train you to walk in crampons, to use the ice-axes and to get over the crevasses in ropes.

Itinerary of climbing Mt. Elbrus from north, 10 days itinerary

Day 1. Arrival to Mineralnye Vody. Our representative will be waiting for you at 14:00 outside of the arrival hall. Our group transfer is scheduled for 14:30. From the airport we drive to the town of Kislovodsk, the last town before the lower steppes of the Caucasus. We spend the rest of the day sorting our gear and preparing for the climb. Overnight in Kislovodsk.

Day 3. Acclimatization hike up to 3100 m. We'll see fascinating stone mushrooms with the hight up to 5 m. It is a good place for rock climbing. Descend to the base camp. Overnight in the Base Camp.

Day 4. Carry to High Camp. We pack up a portion of our supplies and make a carry to High Camp (3800 m/ 12,300'). After depositing our cache and enjoying the views, we descend back to Base Camp for the night.

Day 8. Summit Day! After an alpine start we climb from the High Camp across the upper portion of the Mikelchiran Glacier until we reach the Saddle at 5300 m/ 17,700'. Mount Elbrus has two large summit domes and the Saddle separates the East Summit from the West Summit. Both are comparable in size and height. After enjoying the summit and its impressive views of the Caucasus mountain range, we descend back to our High Camp.
 
Day 9. Today we breakdown our High Camp and descend back to Basecamp for the night. This day can also be used as an extra summit day in case we encounter bad weather or need additional time for acclimatization. 

Day 10. Transportation from Dzhily-Su to Kislovodsk where we will enjoy hot showers and a good night's sleep. Sometimes people don't want to wait untill this day and want to return to Kislovodsk earlier when they have done the mountain on the Day 9 or before. In this case you will have to pay extra for individual transportation to Kislovodsk and for additional nights at hotel. Please, keep in mind that Kislovodsk is a very popular SPA town, so, it may be difficult to find a room in the not agreed dates, especially in July and August. But our representatives we'll do their best to arrange everything.