Northern slope of Elbrus

The Northern slope of Elbrus is completely undeveloped. There are no cable cars or marked trails. Climbers come here to climb Elbrus, and people without equipment come to visit the Dzhily-Su nature sight. You can only get to the Northern slope of Elbrus by road from Kislovodsk. The distance will be 80 kilometers. You will spend at least 1.5 hours on the road.

You can Park your car in the Parking lot near the Narzan Valley of Dzhily-Su (altitude 2300m). There are 14 springs here. The water temperature of some reaches 24 degrees, which is very comfortable for taking bath and very healthy.

Here you can also see the Valley of Castles. These are powerful stone teeth on the mountainside, similar to the teeth of a dragon. The height of each of them reaches several tens of meters. Very close is the Sultan waterfall (height 40 m), it is one of the highest in Europe. There are also other waterfalls: Emir and Karakaya-su.

The path which climbers take for the ascent is very picturesque. It goes past the Kala Kulak gorge, Emmanuel`s Glade, and the German Airfield (2900m). If you are planning a day trip, you can choose the end point of the Field of Stone Mushrooms. The distance to it from the Narzan glade is 6 km, the height difference is 750 meters. The ascent will take about 3 hours. Emmanuel`s Glade is named after the first man who conquered Elbrus in 1829. You also should bathe in the Silver spring here.

Only climbers with special equipment and good physical training can go further. They go up to the Northern shelter camp (3750m). Then from the shelter on the Rocks of Lenz (4650m) climbers storm the Eastern peak of Elbrus.