Cold glacier Krasnaya Polyana. Bzerpinsky Cornice, Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Russia - “Bzerpinsky Cornice is one of the best mountain routes in Krasnaya Polyana. Full description of the route: where to go, what to see, how to behave when meeting a bear.” Office addresses

We brought a lot of good things from Tenerife, as well as the habit of hiking.

For many years I wanted to go to real mountains to contemplate the hats, but things didn’t work out. Work in Moscow or travel to other places, postponement and sudden end of the season, WHO in the area North Caucasus and ten lazy reasons =(. This can go on forever! And we haven’t had long-distance road trips for a long time. I Google it and come across wonderful place, I collect information, persuade Nastya, and at 4 am our Japanese woman is already driving along the M4 Don (within the rules, of course). Let’s leave the road trip from Moscow to Krasnaya Polyana out of the equation: we won’t talk about the gap in the cultural code with the capital, we won’t say anything about the requests, cordiality, valor of the state traffic police workers, and I won’t even say a word about shame.

Ok, we are in Krasnaya Polyana and at 9 am, with the first Gazprom Alpika cabin, we rise to Pikhtovaya Polyana. Say hello to the mountains! What could be better? We haven’t been among these gray-haired giants for a long time; they haven’t changed, but we haven’t changed much.

From Pikhtovaya Polyana our hiking path begins into the mountains in the direction of the Bzerpinsky cornice and the Kholodny glacier. We have 2 backpacks, a supply of water to the zone alpine meadows and food for two days. We drop 50 meters in altitude, enter the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve (this is our second Russian reserve for the summer) and begin a long climb through a fabulous alpine forest. The beauty around us is terrible, the weather is wonderful, our backpacks don’t weigh us down, the fir trees, like empires or Burj Khalifas, demand to be looked at, we look and slowly eat up the climb meter by meter. After eating about 300 meters we go to the Medvezhye Vorota tract at 1940 meters. There are tables here and someone is already refreshing =))

We only climbed for about an hour, but not a trace remained of the clear sky; clouds flew in and blocked the view of Achishkho. Hid!

And we have very little left to the stopping point! We go around Mount Tabunaya and after an hour of walking we find ourselves on the Bzerpinsky cornice. And behind it is an alpine valley, stretching between the South Perevalnaya Mountains and the Pseashkho Massif. The endless beauty and intoxicating aroma of herbs simply blows your mind, even though September has already begun. And what was in ours cannot be put into words at all.

The Bzerpinsky cornice takes its name from the Bzerp river, which crawls from the Pseashkho pass and loudly falls down the cliff. Immediately, having taken out his ID, the grandfather from the operational service checks our documents for passage through the Caucasus Nature Reserve. In the pistol holster, in the temples there is gray hair, in the eyes, I don’t know, probably happiness. I envied him.

It's time to have a light snack and relax after getting up. There are already several tents around, burners are heating water, someone is sunbathing, girls are doing yoga, a couple of guys are building a new toilet by the cliff. The Bzerpinsky cornice becomes popular place last time. Of course, there is amazing beauty here, there are tents from the Krasnaya Polyana Mountain Club, proximity to civilization and one of the 2 permitted places to spend the night in the reserve. There is an easy climb nearby beautiful views to Krasnaya Polyana and Medvedev's dacha. This is such a wonderful and easy place to go that I highly recommend it to everyone!

While eating delicious food, we look around. Let's go there!

But we are not used to easily accessible places! Our path today lies further into the mountains, through the Pseashkho pass, Lake Maloye, to the Kholodny glacier, not far from which we will camp.

Nastya says that she likes it, but the sun tries to get into her eyes!

We follow an excellent path to the pass. In this part of the Caucasian Nature Reserve, they have worked on the trail and signs, the route markings are clear, there are signs, and boards have been thrown across the streams. The walk is very comfortable!

I look to the left:

I look directly:

I look to the right:

Indescribable beauty everywhere! Out of the corner of my eye I notice the peak of Sugar Pseashkho... =))

And below lies the smooth surface of the pass. Behind Nastya you can see the cross to Defenders from the Nazis, and a group of tourists of 3 people. This pass amazing place, it’s like you’re walking along it and not noticing anything unusual. But they notice the rivers. From the pass they flow into different sides. The Bzerp flows to the Black Sea, and Urushten flows into the Malaya Laba, then into the Krasnodar Reservoir and then into the Sea of ​​Azov. Now you’re standing on the pass, watching them flow in different directions and thinking... Holy shit!

We meet an elderly couple. Very happy and smiling, full of mountain happiness =) Everything is in our hands!

By the way, in the mountains everyone greets each other and expresses respect in every possible way. And below it’s quite the opposite. Although there are all the benefits of civilization, amenities and, again, the sea. Come on, it’s so comfortable here in the blog that I don’t want to remember anything else. 😉

Along the trail to the Kholodny glacier there are snowfields. In September! Although these are not hats, it turns out that this beauty can be seen almost all summer. And I so often put off going to Caucasus Mountains to see them accurately.

And we go to the shore of Lake Maloye, which is located halfway to the Kholodny camp. We lie down on the grass, take out some treats and begin a session of cleansing the mind. No, first the treats, and then consciousness!

My consciousness is in that cloud. ommmmm

Nastya calls me to follow her, and we set off to the final point of our route for today - the Kholodnaya River. Yes, she's wonderful!

Have you forgotten about Urushten? This small stream will gain strength and reach Krasnodar from the Caucasus Mountains!

Stopping in front of another stream, we chatted about something. Suddenly, from the noise behind me, I turned around, and behind me there were already 7 horses with people. Jaegers. The horses, pushing us away from the stream, rush to get a drink. One huntsman jumps off and lies down on the rocks, drinking the cold water.

Hello!

Hello. To Kholodny?

Put them on horses.

Thank you, we will drown ourselves =)

Well, as you wish

Have a good day!

Amazingly, these people here protect the nature of the Caucasus Nature Reserve, which is almost gone. Very modest salaries. There is such beauty all around. Something to think about. Somehow this is wrong.

Gradually the landscape changes and we find ourselves among dwarf birches. It seems they are in the Red Book. Somewhere below, the grown-up Urushten rumbles, full of mushrooms and thoughts of camp. I just want to go and eat some hot food. We collect water from the stream. Drink. I can taste the beginning. Let's stomp.

It opens around the corner new valley. At its end lies a large cloud, but whoever is hiding under it is immediately easy to recognize. Glacier! That is, this grandfather cannot be melted by the sun. So it goes.

Well, all we have to do is cross the Kholodnaya River, which originates from the glacier, and we are in the camp. The river temperature is invigorating!

Well, we reach our overnight destination. Camp Kholodny is located on the edge of the forest, not far from the river and glacier. There are 2 booths here, inside of which you can bivouac, as well as tents of the Krasnaya Polyana Mountain Club, where we will spend the night. I want to tell them thanks a lot, they bring beginner tourists as close to mountain hiking as possible.

This is the view from our hotel with Nastya for the night. A chic frame made of a pallet, a tent and 2 sleeping bags. A thousand stars above your head - as a gift for karma. What could be better?

By the way. See the red flag? This is a memorial to the Defenders and Heroes who stopped the German specialized and high-tech mountain rifle division Edelweiss in these places. The Nazis assembled a special squad from climbers and indigenous residents of Bavaria and Austria. They walked through the Caucasus mountains for several years together with our climbers, studying the landscape and terrain. And then the Edelweiss division tried to capture the Caucasus Mountains and reach Sochi. For the Nazis, this would be a strategic victory in the war in southern Russia.
At the cost of their lives, men, boys and girls defended hospitals on the Black Sea. There are a lot of people from Sochi tourist clubs on the lists of dead defenders.

The platoon climbs up, and at the river -
The one you were paired with before.
We wait for the attack to the point of anguish,
And here are the alpine arrows
Something is out of whack today.

Stop talking
Onwards and upwards, and there...
After all, these are our mountains,
They will help us!

You are here again, you are all collected,
You are waiting for the treasured signal.
And that guy, he’s here too.
Among the shooters from “Edelweiss”.
They need to be thrown off the pass!
Vysotsky 1966

The sun is setting. The mountain in front of us puts on a cap. Sasha, the head of the camp, says: “The mortar woman put on a veil. Gorgeous!"

Our route thread:
Laura - Fir Glade - lvl. Bear Gate - Bzerpinsky cornice - Kogot town (radially) - Dzitaku lakes (radially)

This is a slightly modified part of the excursion and tourist route No. 8a “Camp Kholodny” (Another name is “Bears Gate Tract - Camp Kholodny”). We had exactly 2 days of time, so we had to make adjustments. In the original, the thread looks like this: Laura - Fir Glade - lvl. Bear Gate - Tabunaya town - Bzerpinsky cornice - lane. Pseashkha - Kholodny camp. With radial exits to the Kholodnaya River valley and the Dzitaku lake valley (Semiozerye).

There is a route passport on the official website of the reserve.

Saffron (Crocus) Sharoyan, in the background is the peak of Chugush

We made the most of the time: we went up to Pikhtovaya Polyana on the first day on the first cable car, and went down on the second on the last. If you decide to repeat our route, be sure to check the cable car schedule and fix it for yourself so that you don’t have to set up camp in the clearing again and wait for the “morning express” to civilization.

Day 1. Laura - Fir Glade - lvl. Bear Gate - Bzerpinsky cornice - Kogot town.

Yesterday evening we arrived from Krasnodar to Krasnaya Polyana, so we woke up already on the territory of the Olympic Village in the hotel (information about it is here:). Despite the fact that we were in the completely opposite part of the resort from the cable car, we reached the parking lot at the railway station in about 15-20 minutes.

A paid, conditionally guarded, walk-through parking lot awaited us here. We left the car there.
In general, there are no options where you can leave your car for free at the checkpoint, either parking is included with the paid hotel room, or you can leave your car in a multi-story indoor parking lot. The second option, at a price per day, will be approximately the same as the cost of a room + parking in a budget hotel, so we simply left the car in the open parking lot and moved towards the cable car - 3S Alpika Service / KD Laura to climb the route "A1/A2 - Pikhtovy Shelter".

Tickets for the cable car are in our hands

The reserve’s website says that in addition to the cable car, you can go up by car (SUV) - but we didn’t check this road, and judging by the review of it from the cable car cabin, we wouldn’t even go there with a crossover. It resembles the Shaumyan Pass (known to everyone who was looking for alternative roads from Krasnodar to the sea without traffic jams), only the slope is much higher.

We arrived at the upper station of the cable car. We set off along the route towards the cornice:

Having reached the cornice, we had enough time to walk to Bzerpi Peak. By the way, in clear weather, the view of the sea opens from the top.

On the way to Bzerpi Peak - sea view

Bzerpinsky cornice. In the background is the peak of Chugush

We returned back to camp at sunset. Sunset in the mountains is amazing! Especially when it’s not far from the tent. We made Dasha an avatar and slowly walked towards the camp.

Day 2. Bzerpinsky cornice - Dzitaku lakes (radially)

Jitaku Lakes on the map | Camp Cold

See the video to see how the route to the Jitaku lake valley and the lakes themselves look like.

For those who are preparing for the hike as scrupulously as possible, the following information will be useful. Well, by the way, she wouldn’t bother us that day either. Because we didn’t calculate the time and had to return from the lakes without stopping, quickly have lunch and pack up the camp in order to catch the last cable car.

Route information in numbers:

As we can see from the table, in the first part of the route (to the cornice) you will have to gather all your strength into a fist and at the same time think about what things you will do without next time, since you have a rather steep climb ahead of you. But, as a reward, there are a bunch of cool places to visit, without any significant elevation changes. You'll like it!

Attention: the route begins with an elevator ride!
This is a very rare case when diversity Vehicle it’s just off the scale: car - elevator - cable car. Don't know how to get to the mountains by elevator? Watch the video:

I had a dream - to go to the Bzerpinsky cornice in winter, when there is a lot of snow there!
See you in the mountains!

In the upper reaches of the Urushten River there is one of the cordons of the Caucasian Nature Reserve - Camp Kholodny. This place is named so not by chance. Near the camp, the Kholodnaya River, which takes its sources on the Kholodny glacier, flows into Urushten.

The icy breath of the glacier brings coolness to the inhabited clearing in the summer, a chilling wind in the fall and spring, and a bitter cold in the winter.

Camp Kholodny is a legendary place. Located at the junction of two river valleys: Urushten and Kholodnaya, during the Great War of Medicine it became the site of fierce battles with the hated fascist invaders. It was here that the fighters of the 20th Mountain Rifle Division defended the approaches to Krasnaya Polyana and defended the hospital at the cost of their lives.

Their feat is announced to those who came to the valley of the Kholodnaya River by a memorial stele installed here in last years Soviet power. The stella is regularly watched by members of military-patriotic organizations of the city of Sochi and city tourist clubs.

Camp Kholodny has enjoyed deserved popularity among tourists in recent years. A number of improvements and transformations were made in Kholodny convenient place recreation for tourists, and active advertising in recent years has attracted tourists here from all over our homeland.

What makes Kholodny camp convenient for tourists?

• There is a good, well-maintained trail leading to the camp.
• basic amenities are provided here: a toilet is equipped, a wooden two-story alpine house is built
• A ranger service is constantly on duty here, monitoring order and compliance with the reserve regime.
• near the camp there is a spring with very tasty water
• From here there are several radial routes to the natural attractions of the Caucasus Nature Reserve

Radial routes from Kholodny camp

- the official route of the Caucasus Nature Reserve. There is a path leading up the Kholodnaya River on the left side. It rises up the valley and ends near a beautiful rift. If you are brave enough, you can walk along the stones to the Kholodny glacier itself and walk along its tongue. It’s cold here even on the hottest day, white waves of fog flow over the body of the glacier, carrying with them the dank dampness of ancient ice.

To climb stone steps and walk along the glacier, and even more so to go down into the valley, it is advisable to have good trekking shoes that support the ankle.

— the route to the lake valley of Jitaku will not leave you indifferent. Here, in a bosom of lush alpine vegetation, rest the bowls blue lakes attracting thousands of fans with their beauty active rest. In fame and beauty they compete in some way with - pearl of the Caucasian Nature Reserve.

Urushten River Canyon— if you go downstream of the Urushten River, then literally 1 (one) kilometer from Kholodny’s camp there is a beautiful canyon. The Urushten River has washed through the soft calcareous rocks and is breaking through the narrow throat of the gorge. Wild gray stones are washed by the bubbling flow of a stormy river. The beauty of the Urushtena Canyon competes with, but being located in the very heart of the Caucasus Nature Reserve, it is rarely visited and little studied.

Valley of the Kholodnaya River— rising to the upper reaches of the Kholodnaya River on the right side of the valley, you come to the Mramorny glacier. There is a convenient climb to the Mramorny pass, which offers a beautiful view of the valley of the Chistaya River and the peaks of the Chilipsinsky mountain cluster and the Pseashkho ridge.

The idea of ​​skiing in the mountains in winter is quite obvious to any tourist. There is even a type of tourism - “ski tourism”. Our fathers and grandfathers, and great-grandfathers too, walked in the mountains in winter. Recently, in the Western style, this sport has been called “ski touring”.

I'm not a big ski touring expert (I've only gone six or seven times), but I really like this sport! If you do everything correctly, then you can go on skis, in winter, in the mountains, on very beautiful hikes and at the same time, thanks to modern equipment, without spending a lot of effort. By personal experience, passing the same route on a ski tour is twice or even three times faster than, for example, on snowshoes. The secret is simple - unlike snowshoeing, when walking on a ski touring, as on any skis, you do not need to raise your feet, you can simply move them with slipping. And, secondly, and this is a special charm - on the slope you can ski (!!), and not walk in the case of snowshoes.

Slowly but surely I am moving towards my dream - to go real mountain hiking in the winter mountains. In the spring of 2012, I went on two short one-day ski touring trips in the vicinity of Krasnaya Polyana - to the Khmelevsky Lakes and from Medoveevka to Krasnaya Polyana, and last winter my friends and I made an outing to the Adylsu gorge (Elbrus region), where we tried real ski mountaineering! In short, I was ready for my first overnight trip in the vicinity of Krasnaya Polyana.

Max Kirin volunteered as a partner for this trip. Or did I volunteer to be his partner? :))

Having predicted a couple of days of good spring weather and having previously agreed on the route with the administration of the reserve (we are going on a mission - checking the walkability and timing of this route for ski tourists), we set off!

Day one: Pikhtovy Shelter - Kholodny Camp

It’s good to still be able to go to the mountains “under the forecast”! Yesterday’s weather forecast did not disappoint, and the morning greeted us with bright sun and a temperature of +12 already at 9 am.

The connection to the operating time of the cable car is perhaps the main disadvantage of this route. I would like to start ski touring with the first rays of the sun, at 6-7 am, but Gazprom cable cars start working only at 9 am.. I have to lose two of the most beautiful morning hours, but there are no other options..

At the Alpika-Service cable car station, located directly next to railway station, we board a large trailer, which immediately takes us to an altitude of 1600 meters without transfer. The upper station of the cable car is called “Pikhtovy Shelter”. This is where our hike begins.

Just like in the summer, you can go up from here in two alternative ways: along a path that goes directly along the forest ridge of the spur of Mount Tabunaya or along a dirt road. Both routes converge at Bear Gate, the point where the forest ends on the ridge. The first option (along the trail) is shorter, the second (along the road) is a little longer, but flatter. The first option is more interesting for snowshoes, the second is more logical for skis. We chose the second option.

Having glued the skin to the skis, we begin the ascent. The road goes through the forest, after half an hour coming out to clearings with sparse trees and houses. Here you need to turn off the road, which further traverses the slope, and turn sharply to the left and up. Find here this turn and our new road, covered with snow, is almost impossible. We go from memory, approximately the same way we went in the summer.

The first meters of the journey

The last few hundred meters the road leaves the forest into an area of ​​alpine meadows, traversing the southern slope of Mount Tabunaya. In case of increased avalanche danger, this bad option To climb the Bear Gate, it is better to follow the forest path along the ridge. But in our case, there was no snowfall for more than 10 days, and there was practically no snow left on the southern slope.

We go out to the benches at the Bear Gate. According to Max, until recently they were completely covered in snow, but now the spring sun has melted the snow and the resting place can be seen from afar! We spend half an hour on a light snack - tea, halva, some nuts.

This is an important point! If in summer you can go from here to the Bzerpinsky cornice in two ways, then in winter the main, equipped, “lower” path is completely covered with snow and is not passable. Moreover, this trail passes through a steep rocky area. If you fall off on it, you will fly three hundred meters into an impassable canyon. In addition, the trail goes as a traverse, greatly cutting the slope, which provokes avalanches. In general, they don’t go like this in winter.

Choosing the “right” one winter option- a path going up the ridge towards the top of Mount Tabunaya directly from the benches at the Bear Gate. It is interesting that if in summer the lower part of this path goes among thickets of rhododendron, now all the vegetation is covered with a thick layer of snow.

At the top, the slope is quite steep, so we gain height by zig-zag. You have to constantly change the direction of movement by sharply turning your skis. It's quite a tedious story if you don't get used to it. With this style of lifting, the camus should have a width that corresponds as closely as possible to the width of the ski, because when moving with a traverse on a steep slope, the ski touches the slope only at the very edge and if there is no camus in this edge zone, the ski will slip and slide down. At the top of the ridge, where the slope becomes too steep, we decide to take off our skis and walk the last meters of the ridge. It's faster and more logical.

Hooray! We went to Tabunnaya! For today it's just down!

We approach the northeastern slope. I call this place “Herd View”, since it is from here that a fantastic view opens up, for which many people like to climb to this peak.

Directly ahead, in the east, in a beautiful regular pyramid, rises Sugar Pseashkho (3189 m). Now, in winter, I can’t even believe that in summer, with good weather, climbing Sugar Pseashkho does not present any technical difficulties and is feasible for any physically strong tourist-pedestrian. In the direction from which we came, it opens best view to Krasnaya Polyana and ski slopes resort To the right, in the northwest, you can see the pre-summit glacier of another three-thousand-meter peak in the vicinity of Krasnaya Polyana - Mount Chugush. And finally, a view to the northeast - the beautiful valley of the Pseashkho pass, from the northern slopes of which the Urushten River originates. This is where we should go down today, but first we need to go down to the houses on the Bzerpinsky cornice...

I'm at the top of Tabunnaya. Photo: (c) Max Kirin

To gain time and at the same time have a ride, we decide to go down one of the small couloirs on the eastern slope. Going around, using the “summer” option, through the main peak of Tabunnaya, takes a long time and is not interesting. The main thing at the start of the descent is not to collapse the snow cornices that have formed here due to frequent south-west winds. In track number 2 (edited, the link to the track is at the end of the story) the route still goes along a long path.

The descent was not great, but positive! Just 10 minutes later we were already at the houses on the Bzerpinsky cornice. Skis have again proven their effectiveness - the descent is three times faster than on foot in the summer;)

Descent along the northeastern slope of Mount Tabunaya. Photo: (c) Max Kirin

We have a snack in one of the houses (no people, silence and bright sun all around) and go out in the direction of the Pseashkho pass. Once again today we choose a path different from the summer one. In order not to traverse the sun-heated southern slope of Mount Tabunaya, we simply roll straight along the bed of the stream, covered with snow. Cool! Unusual skating. And very beautiful.

Play of light and shadow. Halt at the Pseashkho pass

In just 40 minutes (15 minutes of which were spent stopping for photography) we reach the wide and flat saddle of the Pseashkho pass (2014 m), and, without stopping, following further to the northeast, in 20 minutes we reach a small booth in the form of a gable canopy with benches. Here you can wait out the sharply worsening weather, but the place is not suitable for spending the night. Having discussed the options, we decide that today we will drive directly to Kholodnoye, and we will stop by Lake Dzitaku tomorrow, on the way back.

In less than an hour, delicately maneuvering between the tops of dwarf birch thickets ( most of the height of the trees is covered under the snow), we go down to the bridge over the Kholodnaya River. Somewhere on the opposite bank, in a small clearing above the river, there should be houses of the Kholodny camp. We cross the bridge, hugging our skis (I was still waiting for some kind of incident!) and here we are!

Valley of the Urushten River in front of the Kholodny camp

The new booths and the huntsman's house are empty. The house for tourists is excellent - the same format as on the Bzerpinsky cornice. It has two floors and can easily accommodate 15-20 tourists spending the night at the same time. We are staying in the huntsman's house, as it has a stove! In the summer, such a chance is unlikely to arise - in the summer, from June to October, when the reserve is open to tourists, it is always crowded here, and the ranger keeps order.

In between leaving the house for another portion of the snow-white reserve snow to make tea and soup, we photograph the northwestern wall of the Pseashkho massif, basking in the last rays of the setting sun. A beautiful end to a great hiking day!

PS At night it was about -5 outside, and in our flooded house it was about +5+10. We slept like the dead. I had a funny dream about time shares :)) This is truly a “miner”! Although the height is ridiculous, only 1700 meters above sea level.

IMPORTANT! Dear tourists! If you, like us, are lucky enough to spend the night in this house, remember that this house is the result of a huge effort by a number of people. Please treat the house with love and respect and it will respond to you with warmth and reliable protection in bad weather. You just need to do nothing: 1) take all the garbage with you, 2) when leaving, close the door tightly so that a bear doesn’t get in and snow doesn’t get in there. 3) in the house you will probably find supplies of food (crackers, cookies, tea). Try not to waste them. Perhaps someday they will save someone's life!

Timing of the day:

9:10 - boarding the cable car
9:35 - Shelter Pikhtovy station
9:50 - put on the jacket, start to climb
11:00-11:30 - halt at the "Bear Gate"
12:30 - Herd show
13:10-14:40 - lunch in the houses on the Bzerpinsky cornice
15:20 - saddle of the Pseashkho pass
15:40-16:00 - halt at the booths with the sign " South Pole, North Pole, …"
16:50 - the camp is cold

#Conclusion of the day: SKI TOURING IS FUCK!!! Sparkling snow, warm sun, ringing silence and you can ROLL DOWN!!!

#Moral of the day: I understand why ski touring is so expensive! Because if ordinary skiing it's a thrill, but ordinary hiking- this is beauty, then ski touring is the thrill of beauty!! And for such a double thrill, you have to pay higher rates :))

Day two: Kholodny camp - Krasnaya Polyana

Having slept well and had a hearty breakfast, we head out into the street. The sun rose more than two hours ago, and it’s warm and sunny outside! I don’t even want to leave, but I have to. At 9:45 am we head back.

From the very beginning we are developing truly cosmic speed, despite the fact that we are going uphill! The combination of above-zero temperatures during the day and below-zero temperatures at night forms an excellent dense crust on the surface of the snow cover, called crust. This very crust is hated by freeriders (who likes to ski on the crust?), but tourists-skiers adore it - no need to trail!! Having estimated the speed of movement and the route for today, we decide to take a radial route - go into the side valley and see what the Jitaku lakes look like in winter.

We spent about an hour of extra time on this “hook.” There is white silence all around. Complete silence. Even the usual omnipresent wind in the mountains died down. The sun is hot as if you were stuck in a microwave. I think that in these two days we received as much sun vitamin D as the average Muscovite in a year;)) It’s good that they didn’t forget the cream this time. Without it, by lunchtime, we could have been served like a roast dinner for reserved bears;)))

Conclusion about the Jitaku lakes: there is nothing to do here in winter - all the lakes are hidden under a thick layer of snow (more than 3 meters now, in mid-March), and this is not yet a good snow season for you..

Urushten River

Having filmed a bunch of cool videos (I hope to post them someday), by 12 noon we retrace our steps from yesterday before the Pseashkho Pass. Taking off our skis and sitting on a bench, we eat nuts, finishing them off with chocolate. It’s a pity they didn’t boil the tea in the morning! We wash it down with just water that we boiled the night before.

By lunchtime we go to the good old Bzerpinsky cornice. I was surprised by the fact that given the current state of the snow (excellent crust, skis sink a maximum of a couple of centimeters), it is easier and faster to follow a parallel course rather than in the footsteps of your partner. And so they went for half a day - not one after another, but in parallel courses;)

Lunch in the house lasted for an hour and a half. It’s all because of the large reserves of delicious food, which I really didn’t want to take upstairs to Tabunnaya ;))

Looking at the clock (the time was exactly three o’clock in the afternoon!) I was afraid that we would be late for the cable car. This is not a funny thing. We already messed up like this once in the Alps, during acclimatization before climbing Mont Blanc. This then added a good three hours of walking down the boring road. Fortunately, Max reminded me that in winter the Gazprom cable car is open until six and we still have three whole hours of time!

Coming out of the houses, we look at the circus of Mount Tabunnaya. We estimate the avalanche danger by eye (ATTENTION! It’s better not to do this!!) as low and decide that we will not climb Tabunnaya using the long-distance option through the saddle, but straight ahead, almost along the path of yesterday’s descent. We climb first with a long traverse along a barely noticeable shelf, and then along the ridge of one of the small circuses on the north-eastern slope of Tabunnaya.

The tactics did not disappoint. Just half an hour of sports ski touring and uphill and now we are already standing on the plateau-shaped peak of Tabunnaya. We are moose! And these were still stops - in one place the snow began to stick to the camus, I had to stop and clean it off.

IMPORTANT: Despite our success, I advise future ski tourists to still take a detour, along a safer route (indicated in the track). You'll lose a little time, no more than an hour, but you'll add significant security!

Once again checking the clock, we realize that there is plenty of time. There are still 2.5 hours before the cable car closes, and now we only have to go down! There is time to throw your backpacks into the snow, sit and look at the surrounding slopes and peaks, and come up with ideas for future hikes. The conclusion is simple: there are plenty of options for walking, but don’t cross! We need to climb Perevalnaya and finally go to Bzerpi Peak!

Before starting the descent, I “tune” my “fashionable” ski touring boots: to increase their rigidity (useful on the descent), I insert additional plastic inserts into the tongue area of ​​the boot. The thing really works - the boot becomes significantly stiffer. Subjectively, from 30 to 70 units on the universal boot stiffness scale.

The only freeride section today is the descent from the top of Mount Tabunaya to the road (with a short stop at the Bear Gate) takes just over 10 minutes! In addition to the fun of skating, it’s amazingly effective. Pedestrians and snowshoers would have lost a lot of time on this section alone, not to mention the pleasure of skiing compared to the monotonous walk down!

As Max predicted, at exactly 17:00 we were sitting on the open veranda of the Khmeli-Suneli restaurant, looking at the route of our descent from Tabunna. From here, from the restaurant, the descent line looks cool!

While enjoying a bottle of life-giving beer (“For getting to know each other!”, “For a successful hike!”), we make plans for future joint hikes. The Caucasus is so big that a lifetime would not be enough to go around it all. And that's great!!

Timing of the day:

Get up - 7:30
Exit from Kholodny camp - 9:45
Jitaku Lakes - 11:20
Halt at the booth before the Pseashkho pass - 12:10-12:40
Lunch on the Bzerpinsky cornice - 13:40-15:00
At the top of Tabunaya -15:35-15:55 (we climbed head-on, at a sporting pace)
Bear Gate - 16:05-16:10
Shelter Pikhtovy station of the Gazprom cable car - 17:00

Technical photos from the route

The section of the route from Mount Tabunaya (vidovka) to the Pseashkho pass. Green - descent, red - ascent

Useful information about the hike

UPDATE from 12/02/2016. As of this moment, administration of the Caucasian State biosphere reserve began issuing passes for hikes along this route in winter time year (December-May). It's a good news. The bad thing is that you can ONLY walk WITH GUIDES. For amateur tourists Passes will not be issued unless accompanied by guides. The reserve explains this with concern for the safety of tourists. I partially agree with them (avalanches are a serious matter). But on the other hand I don’t agree. We go to other mountains at our own peril and risk, why are the rules different here?

P.S. general information about routes, weather and other nuances of hiking in the outskirts of Sochi, Krasnaya Polyana and the territory of the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve - in my homemade guide to Sochi and Krasnaya Polyana for outdoor enthusiasts and hikers. Read it, I think it will be useful.

conclusions

General conclusions about the route:

• Hike along the route from top station“Shelter Pikhtovy” of the Gazprom cable car (Krasnaya Polyana) to the Kholodny camp through the Bzerpinsky cornice and the Pseashkho pass - the most beautiful route, most accessible for any tourist, passing through the territory of the Caucasian State nature reserve. It takes two days to complete the route under favorable weather conditions with one overnight stay in tents or a house in the Kholodny camp.
• Unlike most routes in the Caucasus Mountains, this route is unique in that it is, in fact, the first experience of creating a route “for people”. The length of the route one way is about 12 kilometers (24 kilometers round trip). Maximum height- 2300 meters (top of Mount Tabunaya). The route starts at the Priyut Pikhtovy cable car station (Gazprom), altitude 1600 meters. At key points along the trail there are signs and maps of the route, and along the entire trail there are four tourist parking areas with benches, canopies for shelter from bad weather, and even two parking lots with houses. All this not only increases the comfort of hiking, but also safety. In the event of a serious deterioration in the weather, in such houses you can wait out the elements with a sufficient degree of comfort.
• Since the route passes through the territory of the Caucasian State Nature Reserve (site of the reserve), you must obtain a pass to pass it. Pass cost: 200 rubles per person for each day on the route. This can be done at any of the reserve's offices. The route usually opens in mid-June and closes in early November, after the first snowfalls. At this stage, the reserve does not issue passes for hiking in the winter season. We took this route as a test group. Perhaps someday the route will be opened for winter hiking!
• The route is almost autonomous. Cellular communication is available only at the beginning of the route to the top of Mount Tabunaya and at the very edge at the Bzerpir cornice. There is no further cell service. Calculate your strength correctly!!

Conclusions on winter trekking (ski touring):

• If completing the route in summer (see my story) does not present any particular difficulties, then the winter option described on this page, like any winter hike in the mountains, places increased demands on the participants of the hike. You need to know and be able to navigate the snowy mountains, independently and correctly choose the line of movement (paths and signs are often under the snow!), and have equipment appropriate to the weather conditions.
• “Pikhtovy Shelter - Kholodny Camp” is a very logical, beautiful, feasible ski touring route for any group. If weather They will not let you down, and the physical fitness of the participants is not below average; 6-8 hours are enough to complete the route one way, taking into account an hour-long lunch stop at the Bzerpinsky cornice. In case of a large amount of fresh snow, the time can increase significantly (up to two times!)
• Ski touring in March has a lot of advantages. If you catch weather with above-zero daytime temperatures but below-zero temperatures at night, it will be crusty in the mountains! Sucks for freeride, but great for ski touring! Firstly, there is no need to trail, which makes movement easier. Secondly, thanks to the crust, you can roll even on a very slight slope, where, with thick snow, you will not only need to walk, but even trail! For example, we skied the entire 4 km section from the Pseasho pass to the Kholodny camp, despite the generally slight slope of the Urushtena valley in this place. And finally, thirdly, in March it is usually warm both at night and during the day, which means you can carry less warm clothes!
• The avalanche danger on the route, in my opinion, is average. There is only one potentially dangerous section - the ascent and descent from Mount Tabunaya. As always, when going on ski touring routes, the group must have a full set of avalanche equipment and have the skills to rescue when caught in an avalanche. On days of snowfall and the first two days after it, the route is not recommended for passage due to avalanches from the fallen snow.
• My personal conclusion about the ski touring set that I put together this winter: everything is awesome in terms of weight (less than 5 kg for a set of skis + boots + bindings) and convenience (walking is comfortable, the leg works naturally, you want to go and go!), but the fact The fact that the fastenings do not work in the head is annoying on serious off-piste descents. Of course, I would like the fastening to work properly not only in the heel, but also in the toe. Alternatives - Diamir Vipec 12? Marker Kingpin? The only thing that stops us is the astronomical prices for these mounts...

A short video about the hike

And this spring, Max and his friends had a great time skiing in the area of ​​the Bzerpinsky cornice. It's better to watch with sound!

Route to the Kholodny camp

The route from Pikhtovaya Polyana to Kholodny camp begins at an altitude of 1600 meters. From the starting point to highest point route, the top of Mount Tabunaya (height 2300 meters), the route goes quite steeply uphill. The total elevation gain for the first 3.5 km of the route is 700 meters. Due to such a large elevation gain, this section may require 2 to 3 hours of time. Further, up to the Kholodny camp, go only down. First, go down to the houses on the Bzerpinsky cornice (about 30 - 40 minutes), and then, in 2-3 hours, first to the Pseashkho pass, and then down along the Urushten river, go down to the confluence of the Urushten and Kholodnaya rivers, to the end of the route.

Coordinates of key points:

• (1) The beginning of the trail near the station "Priyut Pikhtovy" of the Gazprom cable car - N43°41.659" E40°21.033"
• (2) Benches in the Bear Gate parking lot - N43°42.019" E40°21.850"
• (3) Top of Mount Tabunaya - N43°41.967" E40°23.084"
• (4) Houses on the Bzerpinsky cornice - N43°42.573" E40°22.580"
• (5) Canopy, benches and sign at the Pseashkho pass - N43°44.343" E40°23.719"
• (6) Bridge over the Kholodnaya River - N43°45.572" E40°25.017"
• (7) House in the Kholodny camp - N43°45.764" E40°25.093"

Infrastructure facilities indicated on the map:

• (A) Terminal station "Rosa Khutor" railway Adler - Krasnaya Polyana
• (B) Office of the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve in the Aviary complex
• (C) Lower station of the Gazprom cable car
• (D) Lower station of the Alpika-Service cable car
• (E) Rosa Khutor (hotels, shops, restaurants, cafes, embankment)
• (F) center of the village of Krasnaya Polyana

Additionally:

• Routes and key points of the area for viewing in Google Earth- download
• GPS track of the winter route (

Trek budget

• Products for 2 days - 450 rubles
• Gas cylinder - 250 rubles
• Electric train "Sochi - Krasnaya Polyana" - 350 rubles (in summer - 115 rubles)
• Ticket to the reserve for 2 days - 400 rubles (200 rubles per person per day)
• Climbing cable car- 850 rubles (descent included in the price)

Office addresses of the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve
to get a pass for the route:

• Adler, Karl Marx St., 8. Opening hours: from 9-00 to 17-00, except weekends and holidays.
• Krasnaya Polyana, Aviary complex (2 km along the road from the Gazprom cable car). Working hours: from 9-00 to 17-00, without weekends and holidays.
• Telephone number of the tourism department for information on routes and organization of hikes: 8-988-150-0102

Ski touring equipment

Ski touring is a fairly new sport. Unlike ski tourists, who go skiing mainly on plains or mid-mountains, ski touring involves hiking and climbing along a pronounced mountainous terrain with descents along unprepared slopes. Accordingly, the equipment used in ski touring is quite specific! A classic set of ski touring equipment includes:

• skis with metal edges, similar to classic mountain skis, but lighter
• boots, also similar to ski boots, but lighter and of a special design that makes walking easier in them
• the mounts are, of course, lightweight (!) and have, in addition to the riding mode, several walking modes
• Camus that prevents skis from slipping back when moving uphill
• avalanche equipment set. At a minimum - an avalanche transceiver, a probe and a shovel

The high cost of modern ski touring equipment is, in my opinion, the main obstacle to the transition of tourists to ski tourists... The cost of a new ski touring set, including skis, boots and bindings, starts from $1,500. But just having ski touring equipment is not enough! Hiking in the mountains in winter means making a serious investment in your avalanche training. And this is not only a standard set of avalanche equipment - a shovel, a probe and a beeper, but also high-quality training in both assessing the avalanche danger of slopes and choosing a route, as well as in searching for someone caught in an avalanche. In short, ski touring is a serious thing!

Especially for the report, I got confused and took a photo of the equipment I took on this trip. Here's what happened:

My equipment for this ski touring trip

Special ski touring equipment

• Boots for insurance against loss of skis (instead of skistops)
• Fastenings
• Kamus
• Telescopic poles
• Elastic safety lanyard for insurance against loss of skis (instead of ski stops)
• Ski ties just in case :)

Avalanche equipment

• Avalanche transducer (“beeper”) [not pictured]
• Avalanche probe
• Snow shovel

Tourist equipment

• Travel backpack
• Sleeping bag
• Seat
• Gas stove
• Gas bottle
• Bowl, cup and spoon
• Drinking bottle
• Sunglasses in a case
• Headlamp
• Folding knife with additional functions ("multitool")
• Matches and matchsticks in a sealed aluminum case
• Sunscreen cream
• Hygienic lipstick
• Documents and money
• Spare batteries for flashlight and navigator
• External battery for charging your phone/camera

Products

• Garbage bag ("trashbag")

Casual clothing

• Thermal T-shirt
• Thermal pants
• Ski socks
• Fleece jacket
• Softshell running trousers
• Thin gloves
• Headband
• cap
• Nasal tissue

Clothes for bad weather

• Membrane jacket
• Self-removing membrane trousers
• Warm self-release pants
• Puff
• Membrane mittens
• Spare socks, warm
• Balaclava [not pictured]

Clothes for sleep

• Long johns for sleep
• Jumper for sleep
• Warm socks for sleeping

Other

• Paper map [not pictured]
• GPS navigator [not pictured]
• Phone/camera/notebook [not pictured] - APPLE iPhone 5
• First aid kit [not pictured]
• Sponsor's flag!

NOTE. We did not take a tent and rugs, since we initially planned to spend the night in a house. The final weight of the backpacks was about 8 kg, unfortunately, it was not possible to weigh more accurately.

Other ski tours in Krasnaya Polyana and the Caucasus

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In the area of ​​the Kholodny glacier - the next step in efforts to improve the accessibility of mountain hikes.

Almost everyone is attracted to the mountains. It is not for nothing that mountains are believed to be the home of the gods. They are truly divinely beautiful and attract a person on a subconscious level. But many are deterred from going to the mountains by the amount of necessary equipment that advanced tourists wear, its significant weight and actual physical tone.

What to do if civilization and everyday life push us towards a sedentary lifestyle. And many people don’t imagine themselves on a mountain trail with a many-kilogram backpack. Forget this image! Now, after the appearance tent camp on the Bzerpinsky cornice and its brother camp Kholodny, all hikes can be done lightly, staying overnight in comfortable tents equipped with a mat and sleeping bag.

And if you go with a guide, then warm clothes for the evening, “snacks” and a camera are enough. The organization of overnight stays in the camp and meals is provided by the Krasnaya Polyana Mountain Club.

A guide is more than a mountain guide. Thanks to the guide, you don’t need to think about camping meals, arranging overnight accommodations, or organizing camping life. A mountain guide is also a guardian angel - taking care of your safety is his job; and an encyclopedia of flora and fauna; and a reference book on the history and ethnography of the region. Do not consider the guide as an additional cost - this is a guarantee quality travel regardless of location and weather.

Camp Kholodny is one of the triad of “cold” local attractions—the Kholodny glacier and the Kholodnaya River. They even say about the latter that “liquid ice” flows in it, it is so cold.

The further path north from the camp is limited - the territory of the wild animal world begins, which has the right to its secluded existence.

These places saw stubborn fighting during the Great Patriotic War. It was here that the German troops were stopped. The occasional old shell casings and mine fragments remind us of these battles. Recently, a memorial sign was erected on Morometnaya Hill in honor of the defenders of the Caucasus.

Dzitaku Valley - Semiozerye. The established definition is “landscape pearl”. Powerful glaciers at one time tried hard to create this valley and design it according to all the rules of Feng Shui. One can feel the hand of a divine landscape architect. It was made for the gods, but is now available to everyone.

The Kholodny Glacier is the great-grandson of global glaciation. In our age of global warming, one of the few preserved at such a relatively low altitude. The more valuable this natural phenomenon is.
We invite everyone to the camps of the Krasnaya Polyana Mountain Club. They changed the concept of tracking. Instead of overcoming physical activity and struggling with a backpack, you can relax and enjoy the views along the entire route. And the guides will help you navigate and show you secluded corners wildlife and spice up the journey interesting facts from the history and geography of these places.

The Krasnaya Polyana Mountain Club does not stop its efforts in building camps. The next camp on Lake Kardyvach is at the launch stage. Follow the news.