Mount Elbrus Adil Su In The Caucasus Mountain, Most Beautiful Travel And Tourism, Best SKI Tour

• published: 18 Oct 2015
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At over 800m higher than Mont Blanc, Elbrus is the “Seventh Summit” of Europe. This is a physically tough ski tour, and although it is not as technical as a ski tour of Mont Blanc, the importance of previous altitude experience and acclimatisation is far greater. Although you require no previous climbing or mountaineering experience for this expedition, you are advised to be a competent ski tourer who is familiar with regular 6 - 7 hour day tours with up to 1300m height gains. You fly in and out of the local Caucasus town of Mineralyne Vody, from where you are transferred to Kislovodsk, which is the last town before the lower steppes of the Caucasus. This 11 day itinerary combines the enjoyment from riding powder snow whilst attempting the huge slopes of Mount Elbrus and seeing the remote and rarely visited Caucasian passes of the North side of the mountain.The accommodation used in the Caucasus varies from hotels in the valley, to a specialist base camp at 2500m, and a mountain hut/ refuge at 3800m. This accommodation provides dinner, bed, breakfast and hot drinks, and are the best starting point for the touring. Unlike our summer Mt Elbrus ascent, this ski tour goes from the North side of Elbrus as the south route involves crossing passes located in the Russian-Georgian border zone, so on the North side the border permit is unnecessary. There is also sometimes not enough snow in Adyl-Su and Adyr-Su valleys on the South side for ski touring, but on the North side there is good snow much later in the season at the same altitudes. Who are the guides? Our guides have been leading ski touring groups for years in this area. They know all the potential avalanche threats on the routes, how to avoid them and how to act in case of emergency. All our guides speak English and have radios and satellite phones. The mountain of Elbrus is an extinct volcano, conical in shape, with a crater rim on which the twin summits are perched. The higher west peak is reached by a steep snow climb from Sedlowina saddle, the col separating the peak. With good snow it is possible to ski tour all the way to the summit with a great powder run down. This expedition will appeal to those who have skied hut to hut trips such as the Haute Route or Ski Mont Blanc, who want to a challenging ski tour or to step up a gear in terms of altitude ski mountaineering. The weather is renouned for being cold and harsh, so good insulation equipment is essential. Dates: these are listed in the column on the right, and they show the live availability from our secure online booking system. When you book online, you receive immediate confirmation, your Icicle Elbrus expedition dossier, course specific kit list and invoice. Our formula is to restrict the group sizes, so that there are a maximum of 10 clients. The guiding ratio on the ski touring days is usually 1:5, but on the summit day it is usually 1:3 (or max 1:4). The small group sizes enable us to run specialist ascents, where the group can bond well, and each expedition member has great access to the local English speaking guides. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the planned itinerary, it must be realised that in this type of adventurous travel, changes to the itinerary may occur. Your final itinerary may differ in respect of the places where you stay overnight. Please bear this in mind, especially in the Caucasus! On the ascent of Elbrus, you are guided by local guides who have detailed local knowledge. Local guides are not ‘guiding’ or qualified in the same stringent way as IFMGA International Mountain Guides, but work in a far more traditional sense as route finders and assistants to our expedition members, so a higher degree of adventure and autonomy is required than on our Alpine trips. Our trips are not 'resold packages' from Russian operators, but are privately run trips exclusively for our clients where there are four or more on a trip. All dates are guaranteed, and if there are three or less of our clients on a trip, you are matched with other clients from our partners. We use local logistics agents for visa invitations, guides, transport and accommodation. You are guided by an English speaking local guide on these trips. Saya membuat video ini dengan Editor Video YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/editor)