The Kavkaz.RF Department has become the first certified industry competence center in the real sector of the economy.

This concerns the tourism industry, which the state-owned company has been developing since its inception. Prior to receiving the certificate, a team of 28 experts was formed, each of whom was previously certified as an expert in tourism labor productivity.

During the certification process, the Center inspected and conducted on-site studies of the enterprises that the Center had already helped to become more efficient and customer-focused—hotels, resorts, and service providers.

"Initially, our Tourism Competency Center was conceived solely for the implementation of targeted support measures, but since last year, it has assumed federal responsibility for the development and support of a labor productivity improvement program in the tourism sector. We have certified the first pilot competence center in the real sector of the economy. "We coordinate all regional competence centers for projects implemented in tourism organizations, training and disseminating best industry practices aimed at increasing productivity through the implementation of packaged solutions for small and medium-sized businesses," says Timur Kebekov, Deputy General Director of Kavkaz.RF.

This summer, the Kavkaz.RF Regional Center of Excellence held training webinars for Russian regions. All 89 regions were divided into groups of federal districts, with a curator and experts assigned to each group.

"We work extensively with the motivation of project participants, trying to inspire optimization not only with figures but also with the big idea of ​​how to create maximum value for guests without unnecessary actions. There are several key concepts in this training, for example, every employee is an experience creator, optimization should not kill humanity, and a complaint is not an emotion, but a free business process audit," explains Inga Tvauri, an expert at the Center.

Today, the Regional Center of Excellence continues to help the tourism industry streamline its processes. Experts work at the existing and under-construction ski resorts of Arkhyz, Elbrus, and Mamison, and assist hotels and resorts. Among the ready-made solutions, in addition to traditional check-in, cleaning, and sweeping, are now "creating a new tourism product," "website optimization," and "managing online booking systems."

Kavkaz.RF is the unified development institute for the North Caucasus. Under the supervision of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the company builds and develops resorts, manages a tourism and recreational special economic zone, creates conditions for business development in the region, and fosters a favorable investment climate. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak oversees the North Caucasus Federal District in the Russian Government.

Timur Kebekov, Deputy Director of Kavkaz.RF, discusses the tourism industry's HR challenges and prospects.

Timur Kebekov, Deputy Director of Kavkaz.RF, spoke on RBC TV South about the current talent situation in the tourism industry and the key trends shaping its development.

During the interview, the expert outlined the growing shortage of specialists in the tourism industry, touched on the issue of wage imbalances, and emphasized the inevitability of digitalization in the industry and the importance of professionals in the new environment.

According to Timur Kebekov, tourism today is a promising area for training: the demand for new talent is growing annually, despite the development of automation and the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies.

Among the key requirements of employers, the expert identified three components of a sought-after specialist:

a well-established set of professional competencies—while companies often further train graduates according to their own standards and workflows;

Developed soft skills—the ability to handle emergency situations, customer-centricity, empathy, conflict resolution, and the ability to anticipate guest expectations;

Digital literacy—proficiency in booking systems, online ticketing systems, and mobile apps.

Thus, a combination of high-quality education, emotional intelligence, and digital skills today constitutes the basic minimum for a successful start and sustainable career development in the tourism industry.

Elbrus and Mamison invite you to a musical summer in the mountains.

The mountain resorts managed by Kavkaz.RF have launched a series of high-altitude concerts. Throughout the warm season, live symphonic music, neoclassical music, and DJ sets will be performed at Mamison and Elbrus, at altitudes of 3,000 meters above sea level. Admission to the concerts is free; you only need a cable car ticket.

The first Music Saturday took place at Mamison last weekend. The next musical encounter is scheduled for July 18th, when the Aeternum Show orchestra will perform at the Zaramag-1 cable car station. The program begins at 4:00 PM, so you can enjoy live music during the pre-sunset "golden hour." Hundreds of candles will add a touch of romance to the moment, surrounding the orchestra.

To make getting to the concert more convenient, guests will receive a free shuttle service from Vladikavkaz to Mamison and back. Minibuses will depart on July 18 at 1:00 PM from the Troya gas station and the Ossetian Theater. A daily shuttle service will also be available: a bus from the Ossetian Theater departs for the resort at 8:00 AM.

Guests at the Elbrus resort will enjoy neoclassical music performed by the Orchestra of New Time on July 25. Soundtracks from famous films and original classical compositions will be performed at the Mir station, at an altitude of 3,500 meters. Guests will be able to gather and take photos starting at 5:00 PM, and the concert will begin at 6:00 PM. Cable car rides will begin at 7:00 PM.

The main musical event of August at the legendary resort in Kabardino-Balkaria will be a mountain concert featuring popular artists. On August 15, Russian pop artists and renowned North Caucasus bands will perform at the Azau Glade. An autograph session will be held above, at one of the cable car stations. The concert begins at 6:00 PM.

Guests at Elbrus will enjoy live DJ entertainment on July 18 and 31, and August 8 and 22: live music will ring out over the mountains at the Mir station. At Mamison, you can hear original DJ sets on August 1 and 15 at the Zaramag-1 station.

"Before the end of the warm season, we'll be holding more than ten concerts at our resorts, all of which we've grouped under the code name 'Mountains Sound.'" While DJs can be seen in our mountains a few times this summer, we definitely recommend not missing the orchestral music and concert at the Azau Glade; these will be one-time events. After similar events last year, we collected hundreds of reviews, the essence of which boiled down to one thing: live music in the mountains is a unique experience that remains in your memory forever. We are pleased to offer such impressions to our guests," said Rustam Tapaev, Deputy General Director of Kavkaz.RF, commenting on the upcoming concerts.

The musical events at Mamison and Elbrus are organized by Kavkaz.RF, the resort management company and the unified development institute for the North Caucasus. Together with the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the company builds and develops mountain resorts, manages a tourism and recreational special economic zone, creates conditions for business development in the region, and fosters a favorable investment climate. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak oversees the North Caucasus Federal District in the Russian Government.

Kavkaz.RF has made mountain recreation more accessible for children in the North Caucasus.

Schoolchildren in Kabardino-Balkaria, Chechnya, and North Ossetia can ride cable cars operated by Kavkaz.RF for one ruble until the end of 2026. This offer is valid for organized groups traveling to the Elbrus, Mamison, and Veduchi resorts.

"One of Kavkaz.RF's missions is to make active mountain recreation not only comfortable but also familiar to residents of the region and the country. We often hear similar stories of people from the North Caucasus coming to the mountains for the first time and becoming immersed in the beauty of their region as adults. Therefore, today we are pleased to change the usual vacation scenarios for children and introduce them to mountain recreation as early as possible," said Rustam Tapayev, Deputy General Director of Kavkaz.RF.

Groups from other regions of Russia can also ride cable cars at a discounted rate.

Russia will establish its first cable car certification center.

This will be Kavkaz-Engineering, a company with expertise in the construction and operation of large infrastructure projects in the North Caucasus. The Russian government previously introduced equipment certification for all new passenger cable cars. It will become mandatory on September 1, 2026.

The purpose of these changes is to tighten quality and safety requirements for cable cars, both those manufactured in Russia and those imported. The list of equipment requiring certification includes fixed and detachable clamps, cabins (including those designed for people with disabilities), open chairs and chairs with protective canopies, cabin and chair suspensions, intermediate frames, drive and idler pulley assemblies, tension pulleys, load tensioners, tension trolleys, hydraulic tensioner cylinders, service and emergency brakes, as well as guide rollers and roller balancers.

A certificate of conformity for each component must be obtained by ropeway manufacturers and suppliers, or by those operating them and planning installation or modernization.

To undergo the certification process, you must contact an accredited certification body. The process includes preparing an application package, testing, and issuing a certificate. To confirm the compliance of ropeway components and assemblies with regulatory requirements, testing will be conducted by an accredited laboratory.

Elbrus Resort Ambassador Alina Pekova has been included in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Alina Pekova, ambassador of the all-season Elbrus resort, has been officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest woman in the world to have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders. The climber announced this on her social media pages.

The record-breaking achievement was her ascent of the 8,027-meter-high Shishapangma Mountain in the Himalayas on October 9, 2024. Pekova reached the summit as part of an international team, and the flag of Kavkaz.RF, the management company of the Elbrus Resort, also reached the summit with her. Pekova was 31 years old at the time of completing the program.

This ascent was the final one in the "14x8000" program. Thus, Alina Pekova not only set a world record but also etched her name in history as the first Russian woman to climb all 14 of the world's highest mountains, those over 8,000 meters.

"Now I am officially listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest woman to have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders," wrote Alina Pekova.

The journey to the record took the Kabardino-Balkarian native about a year and a half. The project began in April 2023 with an ascent of Annapurna. During this time, the climber has climbed Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Chogori, and other peaks. Particularly noteworthy was Alina Pekova's ascent of Everest and Lhotse in a single day.

The Kavkaz.RF Development Institute, which includes the Elbrus resort, expressed pride in its ambassador's achievements.

"Alina Pekova's Guinness Book of Records reflects years of discipline, risk, inner focus, and a profound love for the mountains. This courageous woman's story is especially important to us because it not only began here on Elbrus, but also continues on her home mountain. We are proud that the Elbrus resort ambassador demonstrates that the North Caucasus produces people who are capable of setting and achieving world-class goals," noted Andrey Yumshanov, CEO of Kavkaz.RF.

Having completed the 14x8000m program, Alina Pekova was also included in the Russian Book of Records as the first Russian woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders.

The all-season Elbrus resort is one of the largest ski resorts in Russia, located at the foot of Mount Elbrus, the country's highest peak. Part of the Kavkaz.RF development institute, it attracts skiers, climbers, and trekking enthusiasts from around the world.

Thousands of guests of the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy are planning to visit the North Caucasus this summer.

This is the main outcome of the 6th International Forum "Travel!" and the five-day work of the Kavkaz.RF team. From June 10th to 14th, the development institute's stand in central Moscow sold tours to the Elbrus, Mamison, and Veduchi mountain resorts, presented company and partner projects, and sold products from North Caucasus artisans. The stand's visitors were particularly interested in the new branded collection of the Elbrus resort mascot, Lisa Mukha, jewelry by Dagestan jewelers, and fashionable Chechen brands. In total, over 100,000 people visited the Kavkaz.RF site during the exhibition.

The official part of the "Travel!" forum was held. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov opened the plenary session, "Time to Travel: A Diversity of Experiences Available to Everyone." Andrey Yumshanov, CEO of Kavkaz.RF, was among the key speakers at the session. He outlined the company's focus for promoting the North Caucasus tourist destinations in 2026:

"Tourism development cannot be built indefinitely on infrastructure and hardware alone. This approach has its limits. At a certain point, high-quality infrastructure alone is no longer enough for tourists. To attract people to the North Caucasus, the tourism product must evolve—through new meanings, emotions, and a reassessment of the values ​​that draw people to the region. The next impetus for increased tourist flow could come not only from new facilities, but also from new product qualities. An example of this approach is our work in the Elbrus region, where, in addition to skiing, trekking, and mountaineering, we offer guests an immersion in Elbrus's Soviet heritage: scientific, architectural, and sporting. At the new Mamison mountain resort, encounters with contemporary art become such an added value," the director noted.

The search for unique offers for guests of the region continued with a session organized by the development institute, "United Caucasus: What Unites Us in the Eyes of Tourists." Participants in the discussion—regional tourism ministers of the North Caucasus Federal District, territorial branding experts, industry leaders, and creators of the most interesting tourism projects—answered the question of what people associate with the Caucasus today.

"We value the vision of the region from everyone involved in working with guests of the North Caucasus. The goal is to identify unifying meanings and use them collectively to promote the North Caucasus Federal District as a large, hospitable, and richly diverse region," emphasized Khasan Timizhev, Executive Director of Kavkaz.RF.

The portal kavkaz.hh.ru , designed to alleviate the acute labor shortage in the region's tourism sector, was presented to the Russian Minister of Economic Development at the forum by Timur Kebekov, Deputy Director General of Kavkaz.RF. The development institute developed the platform jointly with hh.ru . It not only allows visitors to find jobs and relevant personnel, but also to explore regional labor market analytics and select hospitality training programs.

Ambassadors of the North Caucasus addressed guests at the Kavkaz.RF booth. A comprehensive guidebook to North Ossetia and the Mamison resort was presented by Tatyana Baeva, Communications Director of Kavkaz.RF, and writer, photographer, and travel author Daria Sirotina. Elbrus glaciers were discussed with Taisiya Kiseleva, a glaciologist and engineer at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences and polar guide. Guests met with Nikolai Piotrovsky, director of the documentary "The Mountains Are Calling."

The boutique stand concept received a special award from the forum organizers: "Mountain Partnership: For an Unconventional Approach to Presenting the Hospitable Caucasus."

The 6th International Tourism Forum "Travel!" at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy was organized by the Roscongress Foundation jointly with the Ministry of Economic Development, with the support of the Russian Government and the Moscow Tourism Committee. The forum was held during the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia, declared by presidential decree.

Kavkaz.RF will open a travel boutique at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy.

The North Caucasus Development Institute will represent the region at the International Tourism Forum "Travel," which will be held in Moscow from June 10 to 14 at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy. Kavkaz.RF's travel boutique stand will be a meeting place for tourists with those who shape the key experiences of a mountain vacation—those who build and operate cable cars to the country's highest peaks, tour operators and guides who create breathtaking routes, and artists and artisans who create the region's multilayered image.

The main product will be specially designed tours for the forum from the North Caucasus Mountain Club (NCMC), a subsidiary tour operator of Kavkaz.RF. For the first time, NCMC is entering the scientific tourism niche with a three-day trip that includes a visit to the Baksan Neutrino Observatory and the Terskol Peak Astronomical Observatory. Both facilities belong to the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Neutrino facility is the first and one of only two large-scale underground laboratories in the world for research at the intersection of fundamental physics, astrophysics, and geophysics.

Andrey Yumshanov, CEO of Kavkaz.RF, will discuss the creation of unique tourism products around familiar mountain landscapes at the Forum's plenary session, "Time to Travel: A Diversity of Experiences Accessible to Everyone."

"Tourism development cannot be built indefinitely on infrastructure alone. This approach has its limits. At a certain point, high-quality infrastructure alone is no longer enough for tourists. To attract new people to the North Caucasus, the tourism product must evolve—through new meanings, emotions, and a reassessment of the values ​​that bring people to the region," notes Andrey Yumshanov.

The concept of the Kavkaz.RF stand envisions an open space combining a Caucasus fair and a fashion store. Just like from a real trip, visitors to the exhibition will be able to take home gifts for loved ones and themselves: Ingush ceramics, silk stoles from Chechnya, and designer jewelry from various regions. You can also try on and purchase summer clothing and accessories from the Kavkaz.RF mountain resorts—the legendary Elbrus and the new Mamison. Among the exhibitors will be Slavyanovskaya mineral water, a holder of the "Made in the Caucasus" quality seal.

"This year, we tried to create a vibrant and multifaceted tourist image of the region through graphics, textiles, and ceramics—to give tangible expression to the Caucasian cultural code as we see it, and to remind visitors that the Caucasus is fashionable. The exhibition's main focus is on the works of Nalchik artist Lena Romanovskaya, in which she explores, with good humor, the theme of summer vacations in the native mountains and stereotypical notions of the Caucasus. "We'll be immersing tourists in large macrame string bags designed by Dagestani artist Leyla Babaeva, filled with the most alluring symbols of the Caucasus. A shelf of cups by artist Mila Khatsuk symbolizes Caucasian hospitality with a modern twist," said Tatyana Baeva, Communications Director for Kavkaz.RF.

A mini-lecture session at the stand will bring together ambassadors of the North Caucasus mountain resorts, including guides, photographers, filmmakers, and scientists. At the stand, visitors will be able to listen to lectures by glaciologists about the glaciers of Mount Elbrus, meet Nikolai Piotrovsky, director of the extreme sports film "The Mountains Are Calling," and blogger Daria Sirotina, author of a guidebook to North Ossetia.

Guests will also be able to enjoy a raffle, quizzes, workshops on creating custom notebooks, and plenty of gifts.

Elbrus has launched a loyalty program for resort guests.

Now, every purchase on the website or in the mobile app earns points that can be used to pay for future purchases.

The number of points earned depends on the total amount spent since registering for the program. The more a guest purchases at the resort, the more points they earn. These points can be used to pay for the entire purchase; there are no restrictions, such as only half the purchase being covered with points and the remainder being paid in rubles.

"Based on a tourist experience study we conducted last season, more than 10% of guests noted a discount system or loyalty program as one of the changes they would like to see at the resort," commented Rustam Tapayev, Deputy General Director of Kavkaz.RF.

On December 1, 2025, Elbrus became the first ski resort in the Caucasus to introduce cashback for payments made through the SBP. The promotion was run in conjunction with the National Payment Card System: when purchasing a ski pass on the resort's official website and paying through the Fast Payment System, guests received a 10% refund to their card.

"The launch of the lifetime loyalty program is a continuation of our more flexible pricing policy and another step toward encouraging guests to return to Elbrus more often: after all, vacationing at the resort is becoming not only interesting but also profitable. This is especially true given that points are valid for a long time, over a year: even if a guest only visits the resort once a season, they can use their points without them expiring," explains Marketing Director Olga Kravchenko.

Currently, the program is only available for online purchases of ski passes and walking tickets. Future plans include incorporating services from SEZ residents (instructors, rental shops, cafes, and hotels), as well as expanding the program to other resorts managed by Kavkaz.RF.

The design for eight new trails in the eastern sector of Elbrus has passed Main State Expertise.

This area will be the next step in the development of the resort's eastern sector, which began in December 2025, when the company launched two new cable cars and 5 kilometers of trails. Following a review of Kavkaz.RF's design and estimate documentation, Main State Expertise of Russia issued a positive assessment for an additional 12 kilometers of trails. These include one green, two blue, two red, and three black trails.

The green trail is 2.4 kilometers long and ideal for beginners and those learning. It runs along the ridge where the astronomical observatory is located, just a few dozen meters away. The trail offers views of the Main Caucasus Range, Mount Cheget, and the peaks of Ushba, Shkhelda, and Donguzorun.

Another trail suitable for beginners is the blue one, almost 3.6 km long and up to 43 meters wide. The descent from the trail runs through a cirque, a circular valley-amphitheater, and an observatory is also visible on the left side of the ridge.

The new trails will be serviced by four cable cars, for which Kavkaz.RF received a positive conclusion from the State Geological Inspection (GGE) in the fall of 2024. They will relieve the load on the lifts from the Azau glade and improve skiing logistics: the resort will become a closed, circular area.

The contract for the supply of cable cars was signed with Ruslet, a Russian company that developed the first domestically produced detachable clamp at the request of Kavkaz.RF and other resorts. The development took several years, and now all new Kavkaz.RF cable cars are equipped with domestically produced equipment and software.

The eastern sector is the next major stage of Elbrus' development since 2015, when the third stage of the cable car from Mir station to Garabashi was launched and guests first skied the country's highest slopes. The resort then grew in altitude and is now actively expanding eastward.

The Arkhyz mountain resort is entering its second phase of infrastructure development.

The ski resort, built by Kavkaz.RF, welcomes approximately one million tourists annually, has virtually equalized winter and summer tourist flows, and is now preparing for a major new infrastructure project. Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Sergey Nazarov and CEO of Kavkaz.RF, Andrey Yumshanov, arrived to inspect the contractors and the team's readiness.

Sergey Nazarov chaired a meeting of the working group on the development of the Arkhyz resort in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Participants discussed the construction of a new airport complex, the development of utility infrastructure, the implementation of investment projects, and measures to legalize the tourism industry.

Arkhyz is one of the largest tourism projects in the North Caucasus. Forty-three residents are registered within the resort's special economic zone. The total announced investment volume is 119.2 billion rubles, with the creation of 4,200 jobs. Further development of the resort includes the creation of an additional 30 km of ski slopes and six cable cars.

Now it's necessary to "open" the logistical bottleneck. Currently, tourists reach the gorge via the Mineralnye Vody air hub, a journey that takes several hours. Therefore, special attention was paid during the meeting to the construction of the new Arkhyz airport complex. The project is being implemented under a concession agreement. The new airport will be built in the Zelenchuksky District of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, a half-hour drive from the resort. Its capacity will be up to 1,000 passengers per hour. Estimated passenger traffic by 2032 is up to two million people per year.

"Today, we face the task of synchronizing the implementation of all projects that affect the development of Arkhyz. This concerns not only the construction of new resort facilities, but also the development of transport and engineering infrastructure, the creation of accommodations, and the improvement of the quality of tourist services. The expansion of the resort and the construction of the airport must proceed in parallel—these are interconnected projects that will determine the further growth of tourism and investment activity in the region," noted Sergey Nazarov.

The resort is preparing for the second phase of large-scale infrastructure construction, including cable cars and trails. The general contractor and equipment suppliers have been selected, and financing agreements have been signed. Construction, installation, and preparatory work are already underway on site. The Russian company Ruslet will supply the cable car equipment, as it did at Elbrus.

Arkhyz is important to us as a model resort, where the government's idea of ​​attracting investors to established basic infrastructure in a completely different quality and quantity than to a "blank field" was first realized. The resort is actively developing and has become a vibrant part of Mantera's ecosystem of experiences, where new tourism trends, such as astronomy, are emerging. As we embark on yet another challenging construction project of a new resort from scratch, Arkhyz's example motivates us to overcome all the challenges so that more such integral, beautiful places can emerge," shared Andrey Yumshanov.

A separate section of the meeting was devoted to the legalization of accommodation facilities within the resort and adjacent communities. This work is aimed at increasing the transparency of the tourism market, improving service quality, and ensuring fair competition. Sixty inspections were conducted in the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, identifying 41 accommodation facilities that were not included in the register of classified accommodation facilities. The owners were issued notices to rectify the violations.

Furthermore, Kavkaz.RF developed master plans for the Arkhyz and Dombay resorts and adjacent areas last year. These proposals are for the integrated development of the area. According to the Arkhyz subcluster's master plan, 10 tourist routes are to be created between the resort, the village of Arkhyz, and Sofiyskaya Polyana, along with landscaping. In Dombay, it is also proposed to implement integrated landscaping, 72 km of tourist routes, and expand the ski area. Seven routes covering 46 km have already been upgraded and certified. The master plans themselves are currently being developed by the Government of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

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.

Kavkaz.RF is preparing over 250 kilometers of eco-trails, six festivals, and high-altitude concerts for the summer season.

The main offerings of the upcoming summer at the Elbrus, Mamison, and Veduchi mountain resorts will be eco-trails in the mid- and highlands. Nearly 100 kilometers of the 250 kilometers of equipped eco-trails will be open to guests for the first time. Encounters with the mountains will be complemented by the "Chistaya Gora" eco-tourism festival, the "Mamison" art festival, and concerts ranging from high-end music and neoclassical music to ethno-folk, rock, and popular performers. Traditional trail runs, trekking weekends, and botanical excursions will be held at all resorts.

In total, the Kavkaz.RF development institute, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, has already laid out and developed over 250 kilometers of hiking trails in the North Caucasus mountains. 112 kilometers of trails run through the Elbrus region of Kabardino-Balkaria, 110 kilometers connect Chechnya's main resorts of Veduchi and Kezenoy-Am, and 32.5 kilometers of scenic routes have been constructed near the new Mamison resort in North Ossetia. All of these trails are part of the large-scale National Caucasus Trail project, which will eventually connect the region with a network of eco-trails totaling nearly 2,000 kilometers.

"The North Caucasus is consistently developing its year-round tourism infrastructure. New tourist routes, cultural and sporting events help attract tourists, creating demand for small businesses, hospitality, food service, and transportation services. Such projects create new economic growth opportunities and enhance the investment attractiveness of the regions," noted Sergey Nazarov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

A "digital twin" of the trails will be responsible for navigation and safety for visitors—a new mobile app with comprehensive information about tourist routes, including security alerts, rest and food spots, and points of interest along the way—all data will be available even without internet access.

The Elbrus summer festival program will open with the "Rocks of Russia" rock climbing competition from June 9 to 15, followed by the Alpindustria Elbrus Race running festival from August 1 to 3 and the Elbrus Wild Trail from August 8 to 9, with Kavkaz.RF serving as the main partner. The Elbrus Prize competition from July 1 to 6 will conclude the summer training season for the Russian alpine skiing team. The main environmental event of the summer on Elbrus will traditionally be the "Clean Mountain" ecotourism festival, scheduled for August 28-29.

"The summer season will be marked by the Kavkaz.RF team exploring new directions in promoting the tourist appeal of the Elbrus region, Mamison, and Veduchi. We have already begun research on the Soviet architectural and scientific heritage of Elbrus and the surrounding area, and the first expedition has already left for the mountains. The result will be an exhibition that we will display in Moscow, Nalchik, and Elbrus. At Mamison, and later at other resorts, we plan to launch a series of excursions through the Alpine highlands, accompanied by botanists," said Andrey Yumshanov, General Director of Kavkaz.RF.

The development of the Mamison resort's art program will continue with the opening of an exhibition space and weekend meetings as part of the "Slow Life Workshops." The main cultural event of the season will be the second art festival in Lisri, where the resort's nature, historical monuments, and infrastructure will become a venue for contemporary monumental and light-and-music art. The festival will feature an exhibition of sculptures by Vladimir Soskiev, an academician of the Russian Academy of Arts and a monumental sculptor from North Ossetia. The resort's summer program will also include trekking weekends, a yoga week, mountain runs, and hikes. The season will conclude with the Alania Film Festival, with Mamison once again serving as a venue.

In addition to a well-developed network of eco-trails, trekking, and sports weekends, Veduchi in Chechnya will offer guests the chance to witness a historic construction project: the resort will be completing the final stages of installation of a giant 3S-type cable car, which will connect the southern and northern slopes of the resort. Plans for the winter include rope tensioning, installation of electrical equipment and automation, installation of cabins, and testing.

Mikhail Mishustin approved a list of instructions for the development of the North Caucasus Federal District.

The list of instructions following a meeting with members of the Government Commission for the Development of the North Caucasus Federal District, held in Mineralnye Vody on April 30, 2026, included provisions related to the implementation of investment projects in tourism, support for the agro-industrial complex, and disaster response in the region. These included instructions to relevant ministries, jointly with the Kavkaz.RF team:

Development of the all-season Mamison complex and attraction of a strategic investor for the implementation of the second phase of the project.

Development of a plan for the phased development of the National Caucasus Trail tourist route and identification of funding sources.

Creation of conditions for training athletes in Olympic and Paralympic sports – alpine skiing, snowboarding, freestyle skiing, and ski mountaineering – on Mount Elbrus.

Identifying investment sites for the construction of greenhouse complexes for flower growing and attracting investors, taking into account existing government support measures.

As a reminder, Kavkaz.RF CEO Andrey Yumshanov presented a report to members of the government commission on the company's role in the economic development of the macroregion at KIF 2026. Furthermore, the Prime Minister was presented with the results of the first ski season at Mamison and achievements in import substitution in the ski industry.

Vladimir Lapukhin, Deputy General Director of Kavkaz.RF, participated in the discussion "Ski Sovereignty of the Country: Mission Accomplished" at the Caucasus Investment Forum and spoke about resort construction under the new conditions: what worked, and what had to be rebuilt on the fly.

In recent years, Kavkaz.RF has transformed from a developer into a hub for engineering, logistics, and technological adaptation. Sanctions hit European equipment suppliers, changing the planning framework, the choice of work solutions, and deadlines. The implementation model had to be redesigned to ensure construction remained manageable.

Mamison is the first major ski resort in the country built from scratch after supplies of equipment and technology from Europe ceased. Several years ago, the share of equipment localization at North Caucasus resorts was 25%. By 2025, it exceeded 70%. Elbrus and Arkhyz are planning to reach ~100% capacity by 2028. The key equipment supplier for the new facilities is the Russian company Ruslet. In other words, the sanctions have become not only a challenge but also a real driver of transformation for the entire industry.

Elbrus is one of the most complex high-altitude construction sites in the country. In 2024, 5.7 km of pistes and two cable cars—a chairlift and a gondola—were built. This immediately increased the resort's transport and service capacity and provided the foundation for the development of the eastern skiing sector.

Russian solutions have been selected for the eastern zone and the resort's further development. The project is being implemented in partnership with Ruslet, and the new cable cars themselves are positioned as fully localized, Russian-made cable cars.

The unique feature of Elbrus is that all construction there takes place at altitude, within a very short seasonal window, and with a constant flow of visitors. Under these conditions, a change in supplier creates a fundamentally more sustainable development model.

Veduchi is home to one of the most complex infrastructure projects in the industry—a 3S cableway across a gorge. It's 4.4 km long and has cabins for 28 passengers. The technology itself is among the most complex and rare in the world; such projects are virtually unheard of.

After a break with the French supplier, the engineering and production chain had to be rebuilt virtually from scratch. Today, the project is at an advanced stage of readiness: the equipment has been delivered, the station technological equipment has been assembled, electrical installation work is underway, and the rolling stock garage is ready. One of the most challenging stages lies ahead: tensioning the cables on the 4.4 km long-span line across the gorge.

The Caspian Coastal Cluster in Dagestan is the first seaside resort in Kavkaz.RF. Experience in ski construction is useful here for project management and infrastructure assembly, but the environment is different, and so is the product logic. This is an important point: accumulated experience can be transferred, but it cannot be mechanically copied. The site covers over 300 hectares. The design of the main facilities has already been completed: all engineering infrastructure, coastal protection, landscaping, parking, and service centers.

It can be concluded that it wasn't one-time heroic efforts that paid off, but rather systematic management decisions—experience that has evolved into expertise. The main result of recent years is that the Kavkaz.RF team has learned not only to build but also to maintain momentum when the environment changes faster than the project itself.

Nikolai Goncharov: "The number of residents in the SEZ managed by Kavkaz.RF has increased by a third in one year."

Nikolai Goncharov, Deputy General Director of Kavkaz.RF, discussed the development of mountainous regions in the North Caucasus, the state's support measures, and the impact of such support on the economies of the North Caucasus Federal District regions at the Caucasus Investment Forum.

For 16 years, Kavkaz.RF, as a state development institution and management company, has been building and maintaining cable cars, ski slopes, artificial snowmaking systems, and other related resort infrastructure. Such "heavy" work is beyond the capabilities of private investors, but it is essential for the development of resorts of the scale of Elbrus, Arkhyz, Mamison, and Veduchi. The resorts have become magnets for both tourists and investors.

"The constructed facilities attract investment in commercial infrastructure, and interest from private investors is growing every year. "Currently, 112 residents are operating in our tourism and recreation special economic zones. Of these, 38—more than a third of the total—have attracted investment in 2025 and early 2026. Residents have announced investments in hotels, restaurants, and amusement parks totaling 210 billion rubles. More than 2,200 rooms have already been opened, creating 1,284 jobs," said Nikolai Goncharov.

According to Nikolai Goncharov, Kavkaz.RF's performance is measured not only and not so much by the number of infrastructure facilities built and private investors attracted, but, to a greater extent, by the volume of tourist flow, the resorts' contribution to tourism, and, ultimately, the GRP of the respective regions of the North Caucasus Federal District.

Over the past five years, the number of tourist trips to Kavkaz.RF resorts has increased by an average of 20% per year. Last year, despite a slight slowdown, tourist flow increased by 11% (higher than the national average of 5%). Kavkaz.RF is now approaching 2 million trips. The contribution of resorts managed by the development institute to the North Caucasus Federal District's tourism sector is estimated at 35-36%. Tourism's contribution to the North Caucasus Federal District's gross regional product (GRP) is approximately 5%.

"In collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, we have developed a comprehensive system of measures to support and support the activities of residents. In addition to tax incentives, residents have received subsidized financing totaling 23.3 billion rubles, and another 662 million rubles have been approved for projects under the program to support modular, non-permanent accommodation facilities. Furthermore, all residents have free access to the utility infrastructure we are creating, which collectively provides savings of up to 25% on capital expenditures," noted Nikolai Goncharov.