Beyond the Irikchat Pass the route crossed the sweeping ice sheet known as the Jikaugenkez plateau
Each pass
revealed a
fabulous new
panorama...
< The Sultan waterfall crashes through a narrow gorge on the north side of Elbrus
to make the most of a short-lived
window and I’ve yet to meet anyone
else who has walked the Elbrus
Circuit.
Our guides had already marched
around the entire circuit a week
before we arrived – partly to properly
reconnoitre the route and partly to
hide stashes of food at various points
along the way. Semolina, sardines
and salty bread seemed to comprise
much of our diet - with Mars bars as a
reward at the top of each high pass!
The great dome of Mount Elbrus seen from the Irikchat Pass
Twenty-five years ago the oxygen
of freedom swept across Russia and
trekking brochures were suddenly full
of daring new destinations: Crimea,
Dhagestan and the Caucasus. The
circuit of Mount Elbrus was already
being promoted as the new Tour de
Mont Blanc, with talk of unspoilt
valleys, pristine meadows, dramatic
glaciers and scenery to satisfy anyone
who thought the Alps were a bit too
commercialised.
Looking back, you would have been
daft to even think about Dhagestan
but, despite murmurings of political
disquiet, the glistening Caucasus
drew us like the drawstring on a
sleeping bag and we knew we would
be exploring places that hadn’t been
seen by western eyes for many, many
years. And now, unexpectedly, we
were going to pioneer the Mount
Elbrus trek before the crowds arrived
two or three years later.
They never came. Those ‘local
problems’ were about to erupt in
nearby Chechnya as the jigsaw of
mountain republics on the north side
of the Caucasus splintered into ragged
pieces calling for independence
from Moscow. Ascents of Elbrus
(5642m) have remained possible
but the surrounding ranges swiftly
became off-limits and this part of the
world quickly disappeared from any
brochures. We were lucky to be able
autumn 2019 | Outdoor focus 13