Caucasus panorama

The Central Caucasus

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Mt. Volnaya Ispaniya (Free Spain), C.Caucasus region. Photo D.Lifanov

For quite a long time the Caucasus has been making screaming headlines in the world media and unfortunately it is not its wilderness and outstanding recreational properties that are discussed in these articles. "War", "kidnapping" and "Caucasus" are the words closely connected in the mind of the man in the street. Yet, since the first trouble in Ossetia in the late eighties and even at the peak of the Chechen war of 1994-96 only relatively small parts of this huge mountain country had to be scratched out from its climbing and trekking map and the flow of foreigners coming to travel in the West and Central Caucasus has never diminished seriously. Even the season of 1999, when the British and French governments were very busy trying (and quite successfully) to dissuade their citizens from coming there, Elbrus Area saw a considerable number of foreign groups and individuals. (For the latest Caucasus news see "Unknown Elbrus")

Asked about the highest mountains of Europe nine out of ten Europeans will answer "the Alps". Yet, the grandest and by far the highest mountain chain of Europe (six summits over 5000m plus Mt Elbrus 5641m) is the Caucasus which lies in its south-eastern corner, stretching between the Black and Caspian seas for 1100km in a crow line. Caucasian landscapes range from the cosy hills of the coastal subtropics to dazzling-white alpine deserts, thus making a rich playground for walkers and climbers of any level of experience.

The main scene of the Silver Age of British mountaineering at the end of the last century, now the Caucasus is becoming more and more popular among those in Europe who seek basically the same as those pioneers: novelty, beauty and wilderness. The total absence of the free enterprise during the Soviet epoch resulting in a dormant recreational activity, plus the Cold War, have preserved intact most of these riches, now open to any foreign group or single traveller. Apart from the Baksan and Dombay, two relatively busy centres, most Caucasian valleys (and practically all the Elbrus massif except the classic route) look almost the same as in the days of Dent and Freshfield.

The fact that these mountains are almost virgin in terms of recreational development does not mean they are one large white spot on the climbing map of Europe. Practically all climbing and walking routes are registered and put in guidebooks. Quite understandably, they are in Russian and a couple of books put out in the West do not come near filling the gap.

Yuri Kolomiets - guide and author.