Ski Resorts in Russia
The view of the wide open pistes on Elbrus and the second stage of the cable car.
There are ski resorts in many parts of Russia. Detailed here are two neighbouring areas in the Central Caucasus, near Europe's highest mountain, Elbrus. These are both quite small areas, but between them give good skiing for a few days. Ski mountaineering potential in this area is huge and heli-skiing is also available. Elsewhere in Russia there are resorts at Dombay and Krasnaya Polyana in the Caucasus, at several places in the southern Urals and many other very small ski areas dotted around the country. Russia is a huge country and they get a serious amount of snow in winter...!.
Pictured above is the top section of the chair at Cheget.
This two section chair climbs from Cheget polyana at 2100m to this top station at 3400m. It is a long slow ride up, but accesses a huge amount of terrain only a small amount of it counts as piste. There there are hotels, cafes and hire shops at Cheget polyana.
A few kilometres further up the valley is the Azau meadow, from where the two stage Elbrus cable car leaves, this climbs from 2300m to 3500m, with a further 250m ascent on a single person chair, or, if the weather is good, you can hire a Ratrak (piste-basher) to take you as high as 4100m on the slopes of Elbrus. There can be horrendous queues on this cable car, particularly at weekends. There is also a gondola climbing the first stage.
These are the barrels at the top of the chairlift used by climbed on Elbrus. From here back to the base there is 1400m of piste.
Georgian Ski Resorts Ski resorts in Russia's southern neighbour.
Practical stuff
| When to go | March and April are probably the best months. Winter is very cold. Skiing is usually possible in the upper areas until June. | |
| Where to go | Fly via Moscow to Mineralyye Vody in southern Russia. The resorts of Azau and Cheget are about a 3-4 hour drive from here. In season minibuses frequently make this trip form the airport. | |
| Costs | Travel and accommodation in Russia are expensive. However restaurant meals and lift passes are quite cheap, a lift pass at Elbrus cost only $15 for a day. | |
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