Almost 300 young skiers competed for the Elbrus Prize.
From July 2nd to 5th, the Elbrus resort hosted the largest all-Russian competition for teenagers of various ages—12-13 and 14-15.
At an altitude of 4,000 meters, the winners were determined in two disciplines: slalom and giant slalom. Teams from Moscow, Siberia, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Murmansk, and Kamchatka won medals.
Elbrus is the only place in Russia that allows training and competitions of this level to be held in the summer. Especially for the athletes, the Kavkaz.RF operation service is installing a three-section T-bar lift on the Garabashi Glacier, with a total length of 900 meters. The only equipment available at this altitude is snowcats, which clear snow for the installation of the stations.
"We preserve the glacier as much as possible, so we don't drill anything. We bury a pipe in the snow, attach guy ropes to it, and then attach the stations to them. "Plus, the snow melts in the summer, so we constantly adjust the positions of the stations to ensure the athletes' safety," said Khasan Timizhev, Executive Director of Kavkaz.RF.
The "Elbrus Prize" was a preliminary result of the training camp that has been underway at the resort since April. The athletes gradually got used to the altitude and the feel of the equipment on the summer snow. Acclimatization was a major focus:
"On the ground, we got used to it with light jogging, gradually increasing our overall fitness, adding strength training and trekking. On the weekends, we went to the thermal springs to take a break from the high altitude and refocus our minds," shared Roman Chudny, coach of the Moscow national team.
The resort plans to create year-round training conditions for national alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, ski mountaineering, and Paralympic sports teams. The corresponding order was approved by Mikhail Mishustin following a meeting with members of the Government Commission on the Socioeconomic Development of the North Caucasus Federal District in May 2026.