Archive of Heights: Kavkaz.RF Collects the History of Legendary Elbrus.

A research expedition for the "Archive of Heights" project, dedicated to the Soviet legacy of the Elbrus region, took place in Kabardino-Balkaria. The focus was on scientific sites, the architecture of the Elbrus and Cheget resorts, skiing, mountaineering, and bard cultures, museum collections, and routes. The collected materials will form the basis of a future exhibition.

The project is being implemented by the Kavkaz.RF development institute under the supervision of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development. The main goal is to reimagine Elbrus's legendary status: not only as Europe's highest peak and a ski resort, but also as a place where great science, mountaineering, architecture, music, military memory, and personal stories have converged for decades.

The expedition was the first fieldwork stage. The participants didn't simply explore the Elbrus region; they collected material for future research: they filmed, sketched, and took notes, worked with archival books and photographs, spoke with experts, and discussed which stories were important to tell to a wider audience.

The organizers assembled an interdisciplinary team: they invited opinion leaders and experts from sports, museums, architecture, art, and design to join the trip. Participants included sports entrepreneur and ultramarathon runner Vladimir Voloshin; curator of the OBERIU and "Poltora Komnata" museums Yulia Senina; guide to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Caucasus Georgy Makeyev; CEO of the Museum of Moscow Anna Trapkova; tragicomic artist, illustrator, and graphic designer Daria Sergeeva; historian of Soviet architecture Konstantin Antipin; researcher and cultural popularizer Daria Sukhovskaya; artist Ekaterina Pugacheva; founders of "Excursion Bureau No. 1" Yulia Abramova and Marta Ageeva; Zhenya Chaika, Chairman of the Board of the Art Residency Association of Russia; fashion designer Mila Kereff; and Soviet architecture art historian Ksenia Kokorina.

During the trip, the participants shared details on social media. These posts evoked a lively response—users discussed little-known facts about Elbrus, shared personal memories, and expressed anticipation for the upcoming exhibition. Thus, the "Height Archive" began introducing a wider audience to the heritage of the Elbrus region even at the research stage—through the personal impressions, photographs, and observations of the participants.

The team from Dal, a partner of the "Height Archive," co-authored the trip program. Together with Kavkaz.RF, they are working on the research and content of the project.

The first stop was the Baksan Neutrino Observatory in the village of Neutrino. The group visited the adits and underground laboratories where solar particles have been studied for half a century. This part of the route demonstrated that the Elbrus region is not only a resort, but also a site of fundamental science.

The second day was dedicated to mountaineering and the high-altitude infrastructure of Elbrus. Participants passed through the Azau Glade, the Krugozor, Mir, and Garabashi stations, saw a new ski area, and ascended to the Liprus Hotel at an altitude of 3,912 meters. At the Mir station, a lecture was given on the history of the Elbrus resort. There, the group also visited the Elbrus Defense Museum, dedicated to the battles for the Caucasus during the Great Patriotic War.

The participants explored the tourist history of the Elbrus region through boarding houses, cable cars, and the sites around which resort life on Elbrus and Cheget developed. The researchers visited the Itkol ski resort, featured in the film "Vertical," and the Cheget resort. In the 1960s, the first cable car in the RSFSR appeared here, and climbers, skiers, tourists, and bards began to shape a unique mountain recreation culture around it. One of the symbols of this era was the "Ai" café—a place where the atmosphere of the 1960s can still be heard in the songs of Vysotsky and Vizbor. That evening, this theme continued with a house concert hosted by the "Koshki Tut" (Cats Here) rental and coffee shop team: participants listened to music, discussed mountain poetry, and shared impressions of the trip. Thus, Cheget's bard culture connected the place's past with its present.

"It's important for us to answer the question of what makes Elbrus legendary. It's not just the mountain itself. It's the people who worked here, climbed here, explored here, built here, wrote songs, made films, and created routes. The "Height Archive" project is needed to make this legacy visible again: for tourists, experts, future partners, and residents of the Elbrus region," the project team noted.

Following the expedition, Kavkaz.RF will continue to work with the collected materials. These will form the basis for developing the "Height Archive" and creating a future exhibition, which the project team plans to open in Moscow, Nalchik, and the Elbrus region this year.