Climbing Elbrus with children?

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Is it possible to take a child to climb Mount Elbrus? At what age can children climb Mount Elbrus?

Mount Elbrus

The issue of the participation of minors and children in mountain hiking and climbing programs concerns not only climbing Mount Elbrus. However, using the example of this mountain, some general theses can be deduced.

The position that I follow when setting the age limit for participation in mountaineering programs is the following: a person taking part in any mountain ascent must be fully aware of the objective and subjective risks and possible consequences of his actions.

A team of climbers on the eastern slope of Mount Elbrus

Accordingly, any participant in the alpine ascent must understand and bear full responsibility for his decisions and actions. Especially in the mountains, where, as you understand, the level of danger and unpredictability of the terrain is much higher than in familiar, "flat life" conditions.

Regarding children, this condition cannot be realized, since a child a priori cannot be held responsible for his actions.

View of Mount Elbrus from the north, Stavropol Region

For this reason, any of my mountaineering programs have an age limit of 18+

Another question that my clients ask is whether it is possible to take their own child to the climbing program under personal responsibility of the parents - how safe is it and will there be any potential health consequences for a child?

Climbing Mount Elbrus in bad weather

With very rare exceptions, I do not accept such applications. A parent’s readiness to bear responsibility for their child continues exactly until the moment when, God forbid, an accident or emergency occurs with the child. It is obvious that after the incident, the unfortunate parent’s willingness to bear responsibility will be replaced by an ardent desire to share it.

Moonrise over Mount Elbrus glaciers

Regarding the second part of the question - is alpine climbing safe for a child’s health? There is no answer to this question in principle, since no one in the world has specifically studied the possible consequences of the influence of altitude on the child’s body. Without scientifically confirmed information, I am inclined to consider the worst option. Therefore, if your child is dear to you and has not yet grown to a gray beard age, you should not expose him to extreme physical stress with unknown consequences.

Sunset from the southern slope of Mount Elbrus

In general, the age at which the effect of altitude on the body is considered as safe as possible (which is very subjective) is the age at which the physiological processes of growth and development end.

In this stable phase, when growing up has already ended and aging has not yet begun, the body reacts to altitude as neutrally as possible, and the likelihood of a sudden functional failure is minimal. I would define this age as 30-45 years old, the age that is considered ideal for high-altitude climbing.

At the top of Mount Andyrchi during acclimatization before climbing Mount Elbrus

Based on my own experience, I can say that until the age of 30, I regularly had unpleasant problems in the mountains associated with various forms of mountain sickness, including while climbing Mount Elbrus. After 30, I began to tolerate altitude much more calmly, although the need for acclimatization and the likelihood of health failure partially remained.

“Lens” over the top of Mount Elbrus - a sign of coming bad weather

A child in a state of active body growth is much susceptible to the influence of external extreme factors like altitude, which can provoke a sharp negative reaction of the body, as well as lead to delayed consequences and complications in future.

In my opinion, any activity with children in the mountains should be limited to the asymptomatic acclimatization zone (2500-3000 m) with moderate gentle loads and careful health monitoring. And ideally, there should be a presence of a parent who knows all the characteristics of his child.

View of Mount Elbrus from the northeast, from the Tyzyl gorge

During my practice in the commercial and sport mountaineering, I have witnessed several accidents involving children, and the listed above point of view is partly based on this experience.

In 1994, on my first mountain trip in the Tien Shan mountains, we took part in assisting a group of tourists in which a small boy died. At an altitude of only 3200 meters, on the green slope, the child just died of cardiac arrest.

There are only 50 meters left to the summit of Mount Elbrus

Now I would define the cause of this incident as an acute reaction of the young body to aggressive external conditions - perhaps there were some unobvious heart problems.

At the time of the incident, I had no mountain experience yet; this event left a very dark impression to me, overshadowing all the positive emotions from our mountain hike. The main thing that I understood was that the mountains are very beautiful, but no less dangerous in any form of human contact with them.

Poor leaders of this group, I would never want to be in their place, although there was no direct blame on their part for the boy’s death.

The south slope of Mount Elbrus - it seems that the summit is just a stone's throw away

Another case was with my client, who decided to set a record for speed climbing of Mount Elbrus with a 7-year-old child. I generally have a negative attitude towards record holders. But this case was especially memorable, since it later turned out that the child’s parents did not know about the plans of their adventurer relative and entrusted the child to him without knowing what would happen.

On the eastern route to Mount Elbrus along the Ichkerikol lava flow

Having noticed in time the threatening signs of the boy's health, I stopped the ascent at the level of 4900m, when the child began to show obvious signs of lack of acclimatization (classic Elbrus type AMS: tachycardia, drowsiness, sudden loss of power). An adult could fight and force himself for some time, try to continue the climb using willpower. But the child definitely can not do that.

Descent from Mount Elbrus along the northern route

After a small scandal with the client (as he had a personal motivation to continue climbing - the sponsors), we safely descended from the route, and the boy quickly recovered. However, such an experience left a grave impression on me. Since then, I have been doubly attentive to any attempts to convince me that the child is “strong as a bear and not susceptible to altitude sickness.”

The two-headed giant Elbrus dome stands apart from all other mountains of the Caucasus

The conclusion that I can draw from the above is that experimenting with children in the mountains is a bad idea, no matter what considerations the parents have. There are plenty of opportunities to introduce children to the outdoor nature without exposing them to the extreme stress of high-altitude climbing with possible negative consequences for their health.

Sunset in the Caucasus mountains

And one last thing. Let's leave aside the physiological nuances of altitude climbing.

Let's talk about motivation. Every adult, when deciding to climb a mountain, is guided by his personal reasons and principles that form a volitional effort. Often, it is this volitional impulse that leads a person from the base to the summit, stronger than even his physical capabilities. A conscious adult climber, first of all, wins not over the peak or mountain, but personally over himself, receiving deep inner satisfaction from this.

Climbing in the Caucasus Mountains

The child does not and cannot have this motivation; child's consciousness is not yet ready for exercising “willpower” or do similar self tests. For a child, climbing mountain will be either a kind of game or following an order of adults. Neither one nor the other form is a correct or valuable motivation for mountaineering.

At the summit of Mount Elbrus

Forcing or pushing a child to perform actions that are incomprehensible to him and (quite possibly) unpleasant or painful - that is a dubious decision which is unlikely to have a positive effect on the child’s psyche, even if he successfully climbs the summit.

The author of the texts and photographs Alex Trubachev
Your professional mountain guide for Mount Elbrus and other mountains in Caucasus

MCS EDIT 2024