Mount Elbrus: geology, volcanic history, and climbing heritage

¶ … Elbrus

Geologic Formation and History

Elbrus itself is a huge volcanic cone with two summits that lies just off the main Caucasus Mountains ridgeline. The mountain's highest summit stands at 18,456 feet and its main ridge is made of crystalline rocks like shale, gneiss, and granite (Helman, 2005). Over the millennia, heavy amounts of glaciation have resulted in its pyramid summits and glacial tongues (McColl, 2005). The mountain range Elbrus belongs to was created as two tectonic plates collided creating an uplift. These plates, the Arabian and the Eurasian, have been colliding and pushing the Caucasus ever upward for millions of years. The entire area surrounding the mountain is prone to earthquakes and other seismic activity as the plates' actions continue (McColl, 2005). The mountain remains an active volcano, erupting most recently nearly 2000 years ago. The volcano has been active for over 200,000 years with ample evidence of massive dacitic flows and other eruption-related activity (McColl, 2005). This evidence shows that the mountain has a major eruption about every 3000-5000 years.

Mt. Elbrus is rich with history, having first been climbed by Kabardinian Killar Khashirov in 1829. Khashirov was employed by the Russian Army to survey the area and surrounding mountains (Horton, et. al., 2006). This ascent was only to the top of the lower summit, as the higher of the two summits was first climbed in 1874 by Akhia Sottaiev, a Balkerian mountain guide working with an international climbing team. Over the next few decades, as more and more climbers and travelers descended upon the region surrounding Mt. Elbrus, the summit became less and less of a novelty. In fact, so many people were coming to the mountain to climb it that in 1929, a small hut was erected at the 13,000-foot level called Priut 11 (Horton, et. al, 2006). This small hut was eventually expanded in the 1930's and came under Nazi control in 1942 as Hitler's Army was passing through the region. Russian forces took the hut back after an air bombing campaign in 1943 and it survived until 1998 when it tragically burned down due to a careless climber's out of control cooking stove.

The mountain is also home to a very rudimentary and sometimes very shaky cable car system that helps carry climbers over vast regions of glacial moraine including two small rivers was constructed between 1959 and 1976 and even includes a museum set up to help visitors understand the region's history (Hurley, 2009). In late summer, skiers can be found near the top of the cable car, taking advantage of the system's ability to lift people from the valley floor below to nearly 11,000 feet.

Political and Economic Importance

The mountain has always been a significant feature of the landscape for the locals living in the area. Culturally, Mt. Elbrus represents an immovable beast of a mountain, and the Russians and Soviet Union have taken full advantage of this image when using it in propaganda campaigns (Shklarov, 2010). After the Nazi's captured Priut 11 in 1942, the Russians sent a bomber to destroy the structure, which was a few thousand feet below the summit. The Nazi's that took the Priut had climbed Elbrus and hoisted a giant Nazi flag at the summit, further emboldening the Russians to take back the mountain and the hut as both a propaganda action as well as a way to visibly defeat the Germans. According to official records, the only bomb to have landed near the hut destroyed the fuel tank (Shklarov, 2010). But the Nazi's and later, archaeologists studying the event disagreed that the fuel depot was even significantly damaged during the bombing. The Russian pilot was none the less awarded one of the country's highest honors for his bravery, and the event was used as a propaganda springboard for helping to drive the Germans from Priut 11 and ultimately in defeating the Nazi's in World War Two (Shklarov, 2010).

Currently, Mt. Elbrus represents an excellent draw for tourists, climbers, and skiers. The locals have begun to cash in on this attraction and besides the cable car system, have also constructed other climbing huts as well as outhouses and structures to aid in climbing the mountain and in other various recreational activities. Russia has spent millions of dollars in a campaign to help attract more people to the region, and according to many climbers, there are as many as 100 people who attempt to summit Elbrus on a daily basis (Horton, et. al., 2006). This number has been increasing, and will likely continue to do so as the snow and ice begin to recede from the mountains flanks and glacial moraine.

Environmental Condition and Threats

Mt. Elbrus is said to be home of the "world's nastiest outhouse." This small structure is located nearly 14,000 feet above sea level and incorporates a small pipe to direct the flow of human waste onto the rocks and glacier far below the cliffs it rests on. Besides this anecdotal evidence for lack of environmental concern, Mt. Elbrus is subject to glacial shrinkage as well as other issues that threaten the very fragile ecosystem and surrounding flora and fauna (McColl, 2005). Since the Russian government has not put any restrictions on climbing the mountain through issuing permits or limiting the number of visitors, the human footprint on Elbrus is enormous (Helman, 2005). Starting with the climbing hut built in 1929 and then Priut 11 and the cable car system, the mountain is host to myriad human intrusions which attract large crowds.

These crowds tend to leave large amounts of garbage and human waste and destroy much of the very fragile glacial ecosystems that exist on the mountain (Helman, 2005). The sheer amount of refuse and the human impact on the mountain and the surrounding areas have led to pollutants showing up in streams, lakes, and rivers as well. Many of these pollutants are extremely difficult to remove and the Russian government has show very little effort or interest in cleaning the area up (Hurley, 2009). Crowds and human waste are a problem on many of the world's tallest peaks as climbers, skiers, adventurers, and tourists flock to these areas to enjoy themselves and their surroundings.

Even the museum that houses many of the Priut 11 artifacts from the World War Two era has been abandoned. The power was shut off two years ago and the structure and all the artifacts inside stand rotting at the top of the cable car system. This is but one example of the waste and mistreatment of Mt. Elbrus's environment. Mt. Elbrus's glaciers have also been shrinking at an alarming rate. Much of the mountain is covered with snow and ice year round, but these areas have been shrinking over the past 30 years as weather patterns and conditions have changed, signaling a possible period of warming.