How to prepare for Elbrus?

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How to prepare for the ascent of Mount Elbrus?

When planning to climb Mount Elbrus, many climbers ask me the question: how to properly build an optimal preparation schedule for this relatively simple climbing program?

Mount Elbrus, South side

First, let's highlight the main features of the Mount Elbrus routes that require attention when preparing for the ascent:

• The altitude of Mount Elbrus is 5642 meters, which is much higher than the normal horizon of human habitation. The oxygen content at this altitude is only 55% of the usual norm. For the most Mount Elbrus climbers, it is the lack of oxygen that is the key obstacle.
• The length of the simplest Southern route of Mount Elbrus is 7.8 km (one way) from Gora-Bashi Camp to the West summit, with an altitude gain of almost 1900 meters. This is quite a long distance, the average ascent time is at least 8-9 hours.
• The significant altitude and location of a lone high mountain increases the risk of unpredictable sudden changes in the weather and climbing conditions - professional development and strict adherence to a tactical climbing plan is required.

What do you need to effectively and safely solve the task at hand - climbing the highest peak in Europe - Elbrus?

Adequate physical fitness

Absence of chronic diseases and medical contraindications to mountaineering.

The presence of moderate mental disorders and inappropriate behavior does not prevent climbing Mount Elbrus

Absence of diseases of the cardiovascular system or severe problems with the musculoskeletal system.

If your health does not prevent intense physical activity, then you will not need any special physical training to climb Mount Elbrus.

The only obstacle to climb Mount Elbrus may be the fact that you yourself are of the size of Mount Elbrus. Then, alas, nothing will work out with your climbing plan

However, the total volume of physical load during the Mount Elbrus ascent is very high - approximately, such a load can be compared with a running distance of 12-15 kilometers at an average pace. If you cope with such a task on the plain, this gives you a good chance that after proper acclimatization and good luck with the weather, you will not have problems reaching the Summit of Mount Elbrus.

Age 75+ does not prevent you from climbing to the Summit of Mount Elbrus

The training schedule for any high-altitude climbs consists mainly of aerobic exercises - running, skiing, swimming, Nordic walking. During these training sessions, you force your body to intensively use oxygen to maintain continuous muscle tone.

2-3 workouts per week for 4-6 months before the climb will be enough even in the case of a complete lack of initial physical training. And if you follow the basic rules of a healthy lifestyle: proper nutrition, avoiding alcohol and smoking, etc. – your success is practically guaranteed.

If the basic preparation conditions are successfully realized, there is a good chance in climbing Mount Elbrus

The key point in preparing for climbing Mount Elbrus is acclimatization

As a rule, if you do not have sufficient experience of being physically active at an altitude, the body's reaction to low oxygen levels can be sharp and painful. The occurrence of the so-called “acute mountain sickness” is a consequence of violation of the physiological schedule when gaining altitude. This physiological effect occurs when your body does not have enough time to rebuild internal processes in accordance with a new conditions.

In order not to get sad in the mountains, you should not neglect the correct acclimatization program

The solution to this issue is to effectively pass through an acclimatization program: - 5-7 days of easy ascents or training with the overnight stays at the altitudes of 3500m - 4000m. Followed by a descent to a comfortable altitude level for complete recovery.

Training and acclimatization climb to the summit of Mount Kurmychi (4050 m) in the Elbrus region

For acclimatization, it is recommended to choose a mountain area with more favorable conditions than Mount Elbrus. Acclimatization on Mount Elbrus is complicated by a combination of factors such as low temperatures, too gentle slopes and great distances, the depressing properties of an enormous mountain.

Acclimatization climb in Dagestan, Mount Bazarduzu, before climbing Mount Elbrus

All this makes your acclimatization on Mount Elbrus more tedious, boring and ineffective. Ideal areas for acclimatization, which we have been using for this purpose for more than 20 years, are the Shkhelda and Adyl-Su gorges, Irik-Chat gorge, Bezengi region. Perfectly fits for acclimatization before climbing Mount Elbrus the climb Mount Bazarduzu in Dagestan or Mount Kazbek in Georgia.

Correct tactics for climbing Mount Elbrus

Your physical fitness is not always the key factor for success when climbing mountains.

Often, more important is tactical training, proper equipment, knowledge of the route, ability to navigate in the difficult conditions, ability to see and understand signs of worsening or improving weather, to know the peculiarities of the functioning of your own body at altitude - altitude experience.

The Summit of Mount Elbrus gets a light veil of clouds - that is a clear sign of coming bad weather

All of these points are collectively called the tactical skills and are the key issue for the safe and successful mountaineering. Regarding climbing Mount Elbrus, I can say that this mountain, for all its technical simplicity, is a rather serious and dangerous tactical object for climbing; most failures and accidents occur precisely because of the tactical mistakes of the climbers.

Climbing Mount Elbrus along the west slope - the most difficult route to Mount Elbrus

Among these mistakes are underestimating the difficulty or length of the route, insufficient acclimatization, overestimating one’s strength (very dangerous), excessively high rate of the ascent, deficiencies in equipment, and so on.

Unfortunately, many climbers do not understand the extreme seriousness of such mistakes, which often lead to very sad consequences.

A reminder for those who think they are knee-deep in mountains

Unfortunately, you can only learn tactical skills in the mountaineering through your own practice. No amount of advice or recommendations will help in that - only regular trips to the mountains, increasing the complexity of the climbing routes, self-guiding simple ascents can give you confident decision-making and tactical skills in the mountains.

Climbing Mount Elbrus

Regarding Mount Elbrus, the safest option, especially if you have little or no experience in mountaineering, is to rely on the knowledge and experience of those who already well understand the features of this mountain and know the climbing route - professional mountain guides.

High-quality equipment for climbing Elbrus

All the nuances of selecting equipment for climbing Mount Elbrus and other peaks of this category are described in detail in the corresponding article.

Here I want to remind you once again that high-quality equipment is not only your comfort and pleasure from climbing to the summit, but in the most cases that is your safety.

It’s nice to have a good equipment in the mountains. But it's not always easy to carry

The main criteria for high-quality equipment for mountaineering are its comfort, durability, and light weight. Modern technologies allow to the manufacturers to produce clothing and mountain equipment that make our climbs fundamentally safer than, for example, 50 years ago - this is a huge advantage that should not be neglected.

Climbing equipment of more than 50 years ago - in these times you had to be a hero to go climbing mountains. Now it's enough to be rich

When selecting mountain equipment for climbing Mount Elbrus, special attention should be paid, among other things, to the quality and sizing of shoes - even a small callus on your heel can cause the entire ascent to be disrupted, or frostbitten toes can remain a “souvenir” for life.

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

MCS EDIT 2024

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