Caucasus Dombai Iceclimbing
Alex TrubachevMain page of MCS AlexClimb Iceclimbing School
A short report on our iceclimbing tour to Dombai (North Caucasus), in the season 2021.
In the 2021 season, due to restrictions related to the pandemic, it was not possible to hold our traditional Iceclimbing School in Norway. But how could we remain without training, which had already become an integral part of our winter season?!
No, this could not happen and we had to look for an adequate domestic (inside Russia) replacement for the Norwegian iceclimbing program. In Russian they call it "Import substitution", so to speak.
There weren’t many options, despite the breadth and immensity of territory of Russia. And it’s not that the waterfalls don’t freeze or don’t exist there. The main problem is that for a interesting and safe iceclimbing program, frozen waterfalls are not enough.
In addition to cascades for iceclimbing, which, by the way, not all are suitable for training, there is a need for accompanying infrastructure, transport accessibility, and the presence of additional activities - isn’t it boring to hammer the same frozen pillar with an ice ax for a whole week?!
Of the numerous options that were considered as a replacement for Norway iceclimbing, we decided to settle on Dombai. The logic of choice was as follows.
Firstly, Dombai Gorge today is a fully developed and popular tourist region, offering, in addition to traditional mountain skiing, a lot of additional services - relatively comfortable accommodation, restaurants, wide range of entertainment. Not that all this is critically important for iceclimbing, but nevertheless, after training you want to fully relax, eat a tasty meal, go to the sauna or at least take a hot shower.
Dombai coped with all these parameters with a bang. Regarding the transport accessibility of the area, one cannot fail to note the presence of a new comfortable route to the resort. It’s a little boring to drive through the multiple areas with a speed limit of 40 km/h and countless cameras, but given the specifics of local road rules and Caucasian mentality, it seems that there is no other way.
So, the two parameters of a possible iceclimbing location – transport accessibility and infrastructure – have converged. What can I say about the quality of the ice? There is not an abundance of iceclimbing spots in this area, or we have not explored all possible options which is somehow complicated due to the local specifics...
The Amanaus River Canyon offers several locations with vertical cascades of 20-30 meters high, with relatively convenient approaches from the main road, 15-20 minutes each, but with a large group, not a single location provides the opportunity for good iceclimbing training.
For simultaneous iceclimbing, cascades can be climbed by a maximum of two pairs of climbers - this is not particularly convenient if there are more than 4 people in the group. But there is enough space for individual iceclimbing training and small groups.
Please note that I am talking exclusively about the ice that I consider as full-fledged training material - that is, it should be at least 20 meters of continuous safe ice vertical. Gentle and stepped cascades are not taken into account - their value for daily sports iceclimbing training is low, they are more suitable for one-day recreational walks.
The third parameter – the presence of additional activities – also did not become a reason for disappointment. The Dombai ski resort is a fully developed and still actively developing winter recreation center, one of the best in the North Caucasus. The main specialization of the resort is alpine skiing and snowboarding.
You can ski both on prepared trails or freeride, if you have experience and desire. Fans of ski touring will also not be disappointed, although there is a "fly in the ointment" - all the most suitable ski tour routes for beautiful trips are blocked by border posts - the Russian border guard protection of Georgian border from Russian tourists is organized at the highest level at any time of the year.
Among the nice improvements: I can’t ignore and not to write a few words about our innovation of this season - a mobile sauna. This really cool thing will now be actively introduced into our mountain and alpine training programs. (yep, 2021 was full of plans and hopes...)
A tent with a special heater, quite compact in size, convenient for transportation both by car or on foot, can be installed in any place you like and delight the program participants with a real sauna pleasure.
Even the process of organizing this sauna event turns into a real adventure! We set our mobile sauna almost at the foot of a frozen waterfall and, after completing iceclimbing training, we treated ourselves to a real nice steam room in an amazingly beautiful place! The most advanced fans of the sauna art would appreciate such a pleasure!
In conclusion, of course, I cannot ignore the general aesthetics of the Dombai Gorge. The training took place in the location with incredible views of the most beautiful peaks of the Caucasus, surrounded by rocky cliffs covered with centuries-old pine trees, on the banks of a beautiful mountain river. The proximity of the skiing resort and the good highway did not manifest itself in any way, so we could enjoy our outdoor iceclimbing training as in a full immersion in the world of wild nature.
Thanks to Dombai - we had a great vacations, iceclimbed and prepared ourselves for coming difficult ascents of the coming summer season.
Author of iceclimbing programs, texts and photographs – Alex Trubachev
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