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Common name: Elbrus

Original name: Mingi-Tau (Balkar for ‘thousand mountains’), Yalbuz (Turkic for ‘ice mane’)

Location: Prielbrusie National Park, 65 kilometers south-southwest of Kislovodsk, Russia

Altitude: 5,642 meters (18,510 feet)

First (western) ascent: Florence Crauford Grove, Frederick Gardner, Horace Walker, Peter Knubel and guide Ahiya Sottaiev, 1874

Facts and trivia: Considered an active volcano, even though it last erupted when the Romans just started counting the years. The Soviets encouraged climbing the mountain and the Germans put a swastika flag at its top during World War II. In 1997, a Land Rover Defender made it to the top of the East Summit, but was not able to come back down, so the remains are still somewhere near the East Summit.

The Normal Route is the easiest and safest. A longer ascent, the Kiukurtliu Route, starts from below the cable-way Mir station and heads west over glacier slopes towards the Khotiutau pass. Climbing Elbrus from other directions is a tougher proposition because of lack of permanent high facilities. Three permits are required for climbing (Border Zone Permit, Park Permit and Russia visa).

During July-August, it is not uncommon for 100 people to be attempting the summit via this route each day. Winter ascents are rare, and are usually undertaken only by very experienced climbers; Elbrus is notorious for its brutal winter weather, and summit attempts are few and far between.

Please click here for our Elbrus expedition log, and here for the pictures we made during our expedition