The mighty Elbrus strikes the imagination when you stand at its foot and look up at its peak, rising to many kilometers high. Only the most courageous climbers managed to conquer its peak, because the mountain is merciless to brave, but inept or simply unlucky climbers, and not everyone who dared to climb it returned later.
Interesting facts about Mount Elbrus
- From the point of view of geology, it is a stratovolcano composed of many layers of solidified lava.
- With a peak height of 5642 meters, Elbrus is the highest peak not only in Russia, but throughout Europe (interesting facts about Russia).
- Water from the glaciers of Elbrus feeds many of the largest rivers in the Caucasus.
- Strictly speaking, Elbrus has two peaks, not one, and the first is only 21 meters higher than the second.
- Between its two peaks, at an altitude of over 5.4 km, there is the highest mountain shelter in the Caucasus, where tired climbers can rest.
- Different peoples call Elbrus differently, as a result, more than a dozen names of this mountains.
- In Iran there is Mount Elburz, which is often confused with it.
- While Everest was first conquered not so long ago, in the second half of the last century, to the top of Elbrus the first climber climbed almost two centuries ago, in 1829 (interesting facts about Everest).
- 23 glaciers flow down from the slopes of Elbrus. Their total area is approximately equal to the area of the Principality of Liechtenstein, a small European country.
- Since the cable car was stretched to the slope of this mountain, climbers began to arrive along it immediately to a height of 3750 meters.
- Despite the fact that Elbrus is a volcano, it began to form 800-900 thousand years ago, like an ordinary mountain. Its first eruption occurred much later, and about 45 thousand years ago it even caused a volcanic winter (interesting facts about volcanoes).
- In recent years, a number of indirect signs indicate that Elbrus is waking up again. If this happens, there will be a big problem, because its slopes and surroundings have long been inhabited. The last time it erupted about 2 thousand years ago.
- The top and partly the slopes of Elbrus are in some places hidden under a thick layer of ice, which reaches a thickness of 400 meters.
- From the top of Elbrus, you can see both the Caspian and the Black Sea at the same time.
- This mountain is officially listed as one of the 7 wonders of Russia.
- Snow on the tops of Elbrus, at a height of more than 5 kilometers, never melts.
- Atmospheric pressure on the top of Elbrus is about 50% of normal, which can be fatal for an unprepared person. For comparison, at the peak of Everest, the pressure is even lower – about 30% of the norm, if we consider the pressure at sea level.
- Among experienced climbers, Elbrus is considered easy enough to climb. Every year, about 15-20 people die on its slopes, which is a very small percentage. For example, the bloodthirsty eight-thousander Annapurna kills every third climber trying to reach its summit.
- 39 years have passed between the first and second conquests of the impregnable mountain, but now thousands of climbers climb Elbrus every year.