What’s not to like? It’s a challenging ski tour, one of the 7 summits, and a unique cultural experience. No small wonder that Mount Elbrus is becoming more popular as a tough ski tour for the cognoscenti. We’ve had two successful ski touring trips there so far this winter, with a team out on the mountain this week.

These trips offer a great cocktail of adventure, skiing, exploration and high altitude. To consider one of these ski ascents, you should be a very competent ski tourer who is familiar with regular 6-7 hour day tours with height gains of up to 1300m. No significant previous mountaineering experience is required, but any you have will be a real bonus.

At 5642m, Mount Elbrus is the highest summit in the Russian Caucasus and is the highest peak in continental Europe. It can be climbed on foot in summer, or on skis in winter. On skis we opt for the more remote northern route via Kislovodsk and a base camp at Dzhily-Su, as sometimes there is 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.

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.

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 really appeal to those who have skied hut to hut trips such as the Haute Route (link) or Ski Mont Blanc (link), who want a challenging ski tour to step up a gear in terms of altitude ski mountaineering. Our trips are 10 days long with 8 days of guiding, and they run from a Friday through to the following Sunday.

There’s one final chance to join us this winter for this unique ski tour, on the trip running the 13-22 May 2016. Currently there are just 3 spaces left.

Elbrus Ski Tour trip itinerary, click here.

If this trip is to much time or commitment, we have the following final spaces on our Alpine ski touring trips this season. You can book online for immediate confirmation;
1) Monte Rosa ski tour (link), 24-30 April 2016, 2 spaces
2) Oberland Traverse ski tour (link), 24-30 April 2016, 1 space