No, the Mont Blanc is not the highest mountain in Europe! In fact it is not even in the top 5 as there are many higher mountains in the beautiful but war-torn Caucasus.
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Facts & Figures |
Height |
Elbrus has two summits, the west summit is the highest: 5642m, the east summit is just a bit lower: 5621m |
Name: |
The local (Balkar) name: 'Mingi-Tau' means: 'Resembling a thousand mountains', because Elbrus is so big... |
1st ascent |
First ascent of east summit (5621m): 1868 First ascent of west summit (5642m): 1874 In 1967 the Soviet party organized a mass climbing and about 2500 people participated; although most of them had never seen a mountain up close before... |
Infrastructure |
There is a cable car running: it starts at 2200m in Azau, the first stop is Stary Krugozor, 2900m; the second stop is Mir station, 3500m. From Mir a chairlift can take you to 3750m. At the end of this chairlift are 'the Barrels' and that's just what they are: old huge barrels, in each of which 4 people can sleep. |
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