Fisht Mountain in Adygea and how to visit it

Description of Fisht Mountain

Fisht Mountain or "White Head" located in The Caucasian Nature Reserve on the territory of the Republic of Adygea and in the Krasnodar Territory in the western part of the Caucasian Ridge (Fisht on the map). Fisht is the highest mountain of the Fisht-Oshten massif, which includes Fisht, Pshecha-Su and Fisht. Its height is 2867 meters. The border between Adygea and the Krasnodar Territory runs right along the top of the mountain, so it is located in both regions at once, but the ascent to it takes place from Adygea. Moreover, during the ascent you will probably cross the conditional geographical border between the regions several times.

Fisht is a very beautiful peak, sheltered on the northern slope by the Fishta glacier all year round. In general, it is believed that this is one of the most beautiful peaks of the North Caucasus, and the famous Fisht Olympic stadium in Sirius (formerly part of Sochi) is named after her.

Mountaineering ascents are made to the top of Fisht along several routes. The safest and easiest of them is the classic route through the glacier on the northern slope. It has category 1B, others are even more difficult. If this designation does not mean anything to you or you have only remotely heard something about it, we do not recommend even trying to climb Fisht on your own without more experienced tourists or climbers as part of an organized group.

Even if you "ran up" Oshten easily and quickly earlier, do not expect anything like this from this route. Compared to Fisht, climbing Oshten in the summer is more like mountain trekking than mountaineering. You need to climb Fisht already with climbing equipment. At a minimum, you need: an ice axe, cats, a helmet, a safety harness, ropes. And you also need to be able to use all this. It's not a fact that all this will be useful to you, but for a successful and safe ascent all this should be. There is also mandatory sun protection and climbing goggles with UV protection (the third category will do), because you will have to walk on a glacier and snow that reflects sunlight.

How long does it take to climb Fisht

Climbing Fisht along the classic route starts from Fisht shelter, this is a tent campsite or campsite in the reserve, more details about it were told here. To get to the shelter, you need 4-5 hours of walking with all the equipment from the Uzurub checkpoint on Yavorovaya Polyana. But in fact, this transition takes a full day, because after it you still have to stay in the camp and arrange your life.

You can start up the next early morning, preferably with the first rays of the sun, in summer it is 4-5 o'clock in the morning. With a good pace of movement, at 12 o'clock you will already be at the top, and by 15 o'clock you will be able to go back down to the shelter, pack your things and have time to leave the reserve by evening.

Thus, the entire route to Fisht will take two full days. But this is with ideal weather conditions, your excellent physical condition and knowledge of the route. And it will be a very tough test for your body. We passed the route exactly like that, and upon returning to Yavorova Polyana we were incredibly exhausted, almost exhausted.

Therefore, from my personal experience, I strongly advise you not to do this, but it is better to plan at least three full days: one to go to the shelter, the second to climb, and the third to exit the reserve. This is not only a more gentle regime, but also more reliable and safer. After all, if you know that you need to leave the reserve on the same day, you will be in a hurry on the ascent and descent, and then there is a high probability of dangerous mistakes.

Equipment, food, water and clothing

As mentioned above, to climb Fisht, you need at least minimal climbing equipment and basic skills to use it. These are an ice axe, cats, a safety gazebo and a rope. The fact is that you have to walk almost a kilometer on the glacier. Of course, you can walk along it in ordinary trekking boots and use rubber "ice floes" with spikes from the supermarket, but this, again, is a matter of safety and your personal risk. But there is also a danger of cracks forming in the glacier...

After passing the glacier, there will still be a steep "take-off" to the ridge along the northern slope with a height difference of about 50 meters in front of the very top. There is also snow all year round, and cats and an ice pick are needed for its safe passage. We climbed Fisht in the first days of July, and then on this "takeoff" we didn't even find a well-developed trail, everything was covered with snow. Without cats and an ice axe, it was simply impossible to climb there.

As for shoes, climbing boots are not necessarily needed here, ordinary trekking boots are also suitable, so long as cats can be fixed on them. Cats will easily fit with a soft mount, but these are not the rubber bands with spikes that are sold in supermarkets, but climbing cats are needed.

You don't need anything special for clothes here, everything is according to the classic three-layer scheme and taking into account the weather. Taking into account the early time of the exit, even in the summer you will have to put on all three layers (the top layer may be a membrane windbreaker), and then as the sun rises and climbs, you will have to take off and put on layers according to the situation.

Need glasses with UV protection, the third category of protection (cat 3) is suitable without problems. Trekking poles are very desirable, in our opinion, without them you should not go to the glacier. Put a cap on your head, take sunglasses. The sun is very active even at this altitude, so it is recommended to take it with you or smear it with sunscreen before going out.

An overnight stay at Fisht Shelter involves accommodation in your own tent. To do this, you need traditional bivouac equipment: a tent, mats, sleeping bags, a burner and gas, food, water, etc. There are no special requirements for the strength of the tent, but it is better to give preference to specialized lightweight tents with aluminum arches. If there is no such thing, then you can use any of the sports shops, as long as it is not a heavy camping tent, but a light trekking tent. You don't have to take a lot of drinking water with you, you can replenish it right at the camp and along the way in one of the mountain streams or springs. In general, try to make everything as easy as possible when preparing, because from the checkpoint to the Fisht shelter with all the equipment you will have to walk 10 kilometers, and even with a climb of 500 meters, and then the same descent.

Of course, you don't need to take bivouac equipment directly to the assault, everything remains in the camp. Take at a minimum: a light assault backpack (quite suitable for 20-30 liters), a raincoat, trekking poles, water or a thermos of tea, a camera, a navigator (smartphone with maps), glasses, a hat, climbing equipment.

Weather

The weather at this altitude in the summer season is usually good and warm, rains are rare. But a warm hoodie, jacket, raincoat will not hurt. The peculiarity of the weather at such a height is that while the sun is shining, it can be very hot, but as soon as it is hidden by clouds, it immediately becomes cold. Also note that the temperature at the height of the assault camp is 5-6 lower than at the bottom, and 7-9 lower at the top.

Current weather in Fisht and forecast

Do I need to acclimatize to Fisht

The height of Fisht is 2867 meters above sea level. For a healthy body, regardless of age, including for children, this is a safe altitude that does not require any special measures to acclimatize to possible manifestations of altitude sickness.

Is it possible to climb Fisht with children

It is possible, and parents with children go to the mountain, we also went. However, we do not advise you to conquer the summit with your children if you and your children have no experience of mountain hiking and you have never been to these places at all. Nevertheless, any mountain hike is associated with dangers, so reasonably calculate your strength and the strength of children, and soberly look at your experience.

Opening hours, when it is better to visit

It is best to climb Fisht during the tourist season from July to August. The most comfortable weather with a minimum of rains is established from the second half of June. Directly climbing to the top is best done in the morning, starting early in the morning, since after noon there is a high probability that the mountain will be covered with clouds, it may rain or snow (in winter).

Entrance fee (cost of visit)

To get to Fisht Mountain, you need to pay 300 rubles per adult for admission to the Caucasian Reserve, 100 rubles for children from 7 to 14 years old, children under 7 years old - free of charge. Tickets are purchased at one of the checkpoints (Lagonaki checkpoint or Uzurub checkpoint), and are valid until midnight of the same day, and not for a whole day from the date of purchase. Ie, if you buy a ticket at 18:00, then it is valid not until 18:00 the next day, but only until 24:00 of the same day day. Above, we wrote our recommendation that it is better to plan for the entire rise of 3 days.

If for some reason your plans have changed when you are already in the reserve, for example, if due to bad weather you decide to spend one or two more nights here in addition to the paid ones, then this is a solvable problem, albeit with some violation of the rules. The fact is that the official rules, as far as we know, require you to calculate the duration of your route in advance and accurately. And if you are on the territory of the reserve with a permit that has expired, then you will formally be considered a violator. But in practice, the rangers, who can check whether you have a ticket on the route, are sympathetic to this and can accept a fee from you on the spot or allow you to deposit money at the exit to the checkpoint. Well, or you can ask this question to the reserve staff at the Fisht shelter.

Getting there and route description

Fisht is located on the territory of the Caucasian Nature Reserve (Fisht on the map), the ascent along the classic route is made from the Republic of Adygea. The entrance to the reserve is through the nearest Uzurub checkpoint at Yavorovaya polyana. To Yavorovaya Polyana, in turn, there is an asphalt road through Guzeriple.

You can get to Yavorovaya Polyana and the checkpoint only by private car or taxi, public transport does not go here. There is a cafe on Yavorovaya Polyana and parking next to it, where you can park a car for 200 rubles per day. You can also park a car for free on the side of the road, but given that you have to leave it for a few nights, this option seems to us to be a dubious idea.

From this parking lot and cafe, the way further is only on foot. First you need to go a little further to the Uzurub checkpoint, where tickets are purchased to enter the reserve (Uzurub checkpoint on the map). As already mentioned above, you need to decide immediately when paying for tickets (vouchers), for how many days you enter the reserve. We recommend climbing at a normal pace for 3 days.

Further from the checkpoint there will be a long transition to the Fisht shelter with all the equipment. Walk 10 kilometers with a climb of 500 meters, and then descend almost 500 meters. It took us about 3.5 hours at a fast pace at a fast pace, at a normal measured pace with stops to go 4-5 hours. By the way, we do not advise you to hurry, it is better to go with rest and save energy.

The next day, climbing from Fisht Shelter is best to start early in the morning with sunrise, in summer it is about 4 am. Tents and other valuables should not be left in the camp, theft is not common here. Take only the most necessary things with you: water and something to eat. It will be necessary to overcome 5 kilometers with a climb of more than 1100 meters.

For navigation, you can use a navigator or smartphone with installed "folk" offline maps OSM, Organic Maps, Locus, etc. The path to the ascent from the shelter along the classic route is actually one. Build a walking route between the shelter and the summit in the applications mentioned above. They build it exactly according to the classics.

There are no peculiarities in the section up to the glacier, and if you already have experience of mountaineering or at least mountain hikes, you will pass without any difficulties. But the climb here is very large, so this is probably the most time-consuming part of the route. In a couple of places you will need to climb a vertical rock on ropes, it is easy to pass without equipment just "on your hands". After climbing, you will get to an almost horizontal stone plateau with karst craters, be very careful here, especially if they are covered with snow in non-summer time. By the way, there are marks on rocks and rocks with paint, follow them.

There is no clear path along the glacier, the navigator here diverges from the data in the maps, but it is better to go along the trails already passed in front of you. So go through the glacier in fact by visual traces. In summer, the cracks in the glacier are open, but the rest of the time they are hidden under the snow, you need to go in a bundle.

From the glacier you will get to the stone ridge, along which you will need to climb steeply up. There are also marks on the stones here, but there are two options for passage on the left and on the right. We walked along the marks on the left, it's very steep and dangerous in places, we had to cling to the stones. They say it's easier to go to the right, but we didn't check. There is a danger of falling stones! Go carefully and keep an eye on those above and below. On this stone ridge, depending on the state of the snow cover, you can go directly over the stones to the pre-summit ridge, but it is not a fact that there will be a passage. We were here at the beginning of July, and at that time the passage was only on snow / ice in cats and with an ice axe for insurance.

Then it will be necessary to walk a few tens of meters along the ridge to the top almost without climbing. Be careful here because of possible gusts of wind.