The Treacherous One
Elbrus, 5642 m
 
Just 11 km north of the continental frontier between Europe and Asia rises a long ago extinguished vulcan that is by 800 m higher than French Mont Blanc, which is said to be the roof of Europe.
During last decades ice has been retreating and thus rocks and stones have been revealed, Elbrus the Caucasus giant is still mostly covered with 140 km2 of compact ice shield. The ice terrain ascend is not very time demanding and belongs to the fastest one among the seven summits. Nevertheless, Elbrus should not be underestimated. The height of the mountain and its location near the Black Sea, which is in the distance of mere 100 km, may result in extreme weather changes. Both sudden and often changes of temperatures ranging 400 C and windstorms make the ascend hard and dangerous.
 
Elbrus, 5642 m
Continent: Europe
Country: Russia
Mountain range: the Caucasus
First ascent: 28.7.1874 Frederick Gardiner,
Florence Crawford Grove,
Horace Walker (Great Britain)
and Peter Knubel (Swiss)
Seven Summits: 6./ 7.2001 Peter Hámor