{"id":37388,"date":"2016-03-02T13:20:12","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T10:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountainguides.pro\/?p=37388"},"modified":"2026-09-10T16:10:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:10:54","slug":"mount-elbrus-in-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainguides.pro\/hi\/2016\/03\/02\/mount-elbrus-in-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Elbrus on the Border of Winter and Spring: What Changes in March"},"content":{"rendered":"

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March on Elbrus can be treated neither as a continuation of ordinary winter nor as the start of the summer season. There is more sun in the valley, but winter conditions hold high up: frost, strong wind, fresh snow and visibility that changes fast.<\/strong> So a clear day in Terskol does not yet mean the route is ready for a climb.<\/p>\n

This article grew out of a short news item about Mountain Guide acclimatisation walks to the VTsSPS pass and the Pastukhov Rocks. Its purpose now is wider: to explain what to expect of Elbrus on the border between seasons and why a March trip needs a plan of its own.<\/p>\n

What changes in March<\/h2>\n

The days get longer and the solar radiation becomes noticeably stronger. On an open slope it can be warm in the sun and very cold once cloud arrives or the wind picks up. Snow that has thawed and frozen again changes its structure, and new snow can hide ice and the tracks of earlier groups.<\/p>\n

Conditions differ with height. A forecast for the village or the Azau meadow cannot be carried across to the huts, the Pastukhov Rocks, the saddle and the summit. To decide whether to set out, a guide compares high-altitude forecasts with the actual wind, visibility, state of the slope and what the group is capable of. There is more on how to read that data on the page about weather on Elbrus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Acclimatisation is still compulsory<\/h2>\n

The cable car takes a person up quickly, but it does not speed up physiological adaptation. The plan has to include a gradual gain in height, repeated walks and recovery. In the cold, participants sometimes want to cut a walk short or move on to the summit push sooner, but that does not make altitude any safer.<\/p>\n

An acclimatisation walk is not a promise of the next point up. The team may go up to one of the training objectives, practise moving in crampons and turn round because of the state of the route. How people feel is assessed throughout the programme, not only on the morning of a departure. The basic principles are collected in the article on acclimatisation on Elbrus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who the March format suits<\/h2>\n

March makes sense for an experienced private team that has already been out in winter, can work in crampons and is ready to accept a turnaround calmly. For a first climb at altitude it is better to choose the main season and a longer programme. Good physical condition helps, but it does not replace experience of cold, of handling equipment and of moving in poor visibility.<\/p>\n