"Shelter of Eleven" on Elbrus is one of the most "historical" high-altitude hotels in the world. "Shelter of eleven" on Elbrus - one of the most "historical" high-altitude hotels in the world

I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I wished that all of this had finally happened. And everything that worries me, starting with the “how can I be without a shower and fast Wi-Fi ?!” and ending with the fear of lack of air on the way - let all this happen and even fall on me with all its might. The almost boyish fearlessness and sobriety of an adult uncle made a brawl inside me. There was a draw.

We are leaving our hotel for 4 days. 4 long days in the mountains in the Caucasus, which in Moscow fly by instantly.

We received our gear the day before dinner. Perhaps the most valuable thing on a hike is double mountain boots. Without them, Elbrus is better not to try to conquer. Even in the warmest, but ordinary shoes, it will not take long to freeze your fingers. Equipment rental was in our hotel, where we stocked up with everything necessary.

The one who goes to the mountains more often had more of his own things for the trip. I had nothing but ski equipment, so I took everything to the maximum.

Sleeping bag, ice ax, trekking poles, boots, crampons, mittens. It is only in films like "Everest", which premiered this fall, climbers walk along the top without hats and wind masks.

In life, everything is much more prosaic, therefore, the warmer, the better.

After we left the hotel, our guide Sasha insisted that we definitely go to the local emergency department for registration.

There are a lot of tourists going to Elbrus. Locals say that even if someone is missing, the Ministry of Emergency Situations is not in a hurry to look for it. Maybe they expect that the travelers will find themselves, and raise the alarm only if someone close to the authorities has disappeared))) the case is really serious. On Elbrus, many find their death. Every year someone dies here. (Then I did not know that I could see the remains of frozen people with my own eyes. (()

The village of Azau is the final point of our journey by car. Then we transfer things to the cable car. All the guys are perfectly prepared, they have mountain backpacks. I am alone, as if at the airport, with my invariable suitcase "Samsonite". You can immediately see who is a "hiker" and who is a "tourist")).

Azau - famous ski resort Kabardino-Balkaria, in winter there is an influx of skiers and snowboarders. A few years ago, a second ski lift was built in Azau. Now there is no former congestion and crush. We are climbing up the old cable car with wagons, built back in the days of the USSR.

The first cable car goes to the Stary Krugozor station at a height of 3000 meters, but we need even higher.

The second stage of the funicular lifts us another 500 meters, and we find ourselves at the Mir station.

From here, Elbrus with its two snowy peaks is already visible at a glance. But this is not the last point of our rise up.

Bikers from the "first channel" club "Night Wolves" came to honor the memory of those killed in the Great Patriotic War. I love to ride a motorcycle and do it every season from April to October. But such motorcycles ..knows where, ..knows with whom and ..knows why they remain beyond my understanding)).

From the Mir station to the "barrels" - our final stop, there are two ways to get there: on the old cable car, which operates with long breaks, or on this Ukrainian miracle of technology. This KRAZ has probably seen a lot in its lifetime. 300 rubles per person - and we are on "barrels", that is, in our camp.

Let me finally clarify and tell you what barrels are.

Once upon a time, the first camp appeared here, to which cylindrical living quarters were delivered. By the way, the BAM builders lived in the same kind of "houses". Someone once called these houses barrels. The word has become attached, and now absolutely all shelters, regardless of the form, located in the place of Gara-Bashi at an altitude of 3700 meters, are called so.

Now at this height there are already about ten different shelters, and there is even a hotel and a restaurant. True, I did not quite understand how this hotel differs from the camps. The same beds and a bathroom "like a toilet."

Having risen from the plain to a height of 3,700 meters, at first you do not feel very good. Movement becomes a little slow, I want to rest. Then you gradually get used to it.

Having settled in, we went for a walk and inspected "our new house", and the old KRAZ tirelessly continued to bring new "conquerors" to the place.

As usual, I checked the height on the altimeter, in different places of the camp the indicators were different, but on average it was just about 3700 meters.

After lunch, we were supposed to have a third acclimatization hike, this time to the "Shelter of Eleven" at a height of 4100 meters.

There are no "civilized" toilets in any camp "on barrels". But each shelter has its own restroom. I have never been in such camps, but Kolya claimed that these are very decent conditions for the mountains, they are better than in many overseas countries.

On the day of our arrival, the weather was excellent and sunny. From Gara-Bashi, a wonderful view of the observatory opened up, where they made their first acclimatization exit. Now she is far below.

Recently, the "barrels" were repainted in the Russian tricolor.

How beautiful the mountains are when there is not a cloud in the sky. It is now that I look at this photo and find on it both the saddle and the Pastukhov rocks, but on that day it was just two snowy peaks and rotraks in the foreground. After the ascent, everything was filled with meaning.

I'll tell you about our shelter - it's a small house with four bunk beds for eight beds. We were lucky and in the house we lived only with our group. True, we had to catch two Austrian grandmothers here, but they did not stay long: having conquered the summit just on the day of our arrival, they immediately hurried down.

Hello, our new "hotel" for four whole nights. Nearby is a dining house, where a hearty lunch was prepared for us, immediately after which we gathered for our third acclimatization trip.

These exits are necessary in order for the body to get used to the mountain conditions and the lack of oxygen. Each subsequent exit is higher and higher.

In the mountains, the weather is very changeable, and if in the morning there was not a cloud in the sky, then in the afternoon gray clouds covered all the beauty. Despite the possibility of rain, we continue on our way.

Kolya helped me out a lot on mountain hikes, giving me his mountain backpack, instead of my "Chinese photo bag".

A little higher up the slope, a new "Italian" shelter was built. They say that the conditions here are the best, but we did not manage to explore this part of the space. But that’s what makes Turbine beautiful: what I didn’t see, Alexander saw what he wrote about in his note. Read it, I highly recommend it!

We walked in mountain boots with trekking poles, but without crampons. To the question - whether to put crampons on the acclimatization exit - the commander of the group Sasha answered: "If we are able to move around without crampons, then we go without crampons, because it is easier without them."

This hike was "unloading" - climbing up only 400 meters, and after an hour and a half of the way we saw the Shelter of Eleven.

In 1909, eleven climbers from Pyatigorsk set up a temporary camp here, which they called "the shelter of eleven." After it was converted into a wooden hotel, and in 1938 the highest mountain hotel in the USSR was built.

This spacious three-story building could accommodate up to 40 people at a time. It would still please climbers and "mountain tourists", if not for a tragic accident. According to some reports, in August 1998, a tourist from the Czech Republic violated fire safety requirements, which caused a fire that completely destroyed the hotel.

Battle for Shelter 11 on Elbrus April 26th, 2018

How much information about the Second World War has already been distributed, filmed and has become a legend. However, many still find for themselves previously unknown events of this war. Here's how, for example, I just got acquainted with the events of the Great Patriotic War on Elbrus.

It happened almost like Vysotsky. He led his detachment up into the clouds - and did not return from the battle. Gone. But this time a miracle happened. Lieutenant Guren Grigoryants, the defender of Elbrus, returned after 70 years.

In the song of Vladimir Vysotsky, the battle was between two groups of climbers. But in the summer of 1942 things turned out differently.

Guren Grigoryants was not a climber. The head of a hairdressing salon at a bath and laundry plant - it is difficult to come up with a profession more distant from the mountains. But it so happened that his fate was inseparable from the ice of Elbrus. In the truest sense of the word.

"Shelter 11" ... the height is a little more than four thousand meters. For many years it was the highest mountain hotel in the USSR and Russia.

In August 1942, it was occupied by German mountain rangers. After that, they installed Nazi flags on Elbrus and actively used this fact in propaganda, "confirming" the successes in the Caucasus. However, in fact mountain passes firmly held by the Soviet troops, who repeatedly tried to dislodge the enemy from Shelter 11 and from the adjacent heights.

At the end of September 1942, soldiers of the 242nd Mountain Division were thrown into the attack against the elite fighters of the Edelweiss division. The defenders successfully repulsed the first attempt of the rangers to break through the Baksan Gorge. Then the command of the task force decided to try to attack. Parts of the 63rd Cavalry Division were replaced at the passes by fighters from the 242nd Mountain Rifle Division.

A German soldier guards Shelter 11

According to the plan, the Soviet forces were to drive the Germans out of the Chiper-Azau, Chviberi, Hotyu-Tau passes and Elbrus itself: the Krugozor base and the Shelter 11 hotel.

In addition to mountain riflemen, fighters of a special group of NKVD detachments, which included experienced climbing instructors, were supposed to operate on Elbrus.

On the evening of September 26, on the slopes of the high mountain Europe's fight broke out. On September 27, observers noticed: the enemy, numbering up to 40 people, moved from the Krugozor base to the Chiper Azau pass.

Yes, and our gunners were encouraging: in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bShelter 11, they covered two enemy heavy machine guns and a mortar, which facilitated the upcoming assault.

The next day, the mountain riflemen were to attack the Germans at the Chviveri and Chiper-azau passes. And a separate detachment, formed from the best fighters of the 897th mountain rifle regiment, was given the task of advancing on Shelter 11 and capturing it.

Guren Grigoryants

There were 102 of them in total, including the commander, Lieutenant Guren Grigoryants.

The officer himself was from the 214th cavalry regiment. Therefore, it is often written that the entire company was cavalry. But the cavalrymen were only scouts and the commander, who had already fought on Elbrus.

Fog is usually considered one of the main dangers on Elbrus. Here you are admiring the piercing blue sky and the peaks around - and after a few minutes everything around is already covered in darkness. And every step is like a minefield. God forbid to stray from the path and fall into an ice crack.

The dissipated haze, which could facilitate the advance of the group, found the fighters. A fight ensued.

From operational summary No. 23 of tripod 242:

“A group of Grigoryants in the amount of 102 people on the outskirts of the SHELTER OF ELEVEN was met by the enemy’s machine-gun and mortar fire, suffered heavy losses, got into an encirclement, from which 4 people left. Grigoryants was wounded in both legs, remained on the battlefield, his fate is unknown.

German huntsman division "Edelweiss" at the "Shelter 11"

The main battles in those days were for the Chviveri pass. On the evening of September 30, mountain riflemen knocked out rangers from him. But a day later, the Germans pulled up additional forces and recaptured the pass back.

And the details about the battle for "Shelter 11" in the division learned from the wounded who went out to their own.

From the report of the chief of staff of the 242nd mountain rifle division, it follows that the fighters of Grigoryants, despite the superiority of the enemy in numbers and equipment, continued to move forward. They did not give up, even when about a third of the detachment remained alive.

“The remnants of the fighters lay down and fought until 14.00 on September 28, 1942.
Taking advantage of the superiority in manpower and the high intensity of fire, the enemy managed to surround the remnants of the detachment. Only one wounded commissar (political instructor Eliseev) and three wounded soldiers left the detachment. The detachment sent to help was met by enemy fire on the way and could not provide assistance to the group of Lieutenant Grigoryants.

Usually they write that the lieutenant was presented for the award posthumously. But in fact, the submission to the Order of the Red Star was signed two weeks before his death. "Continues to carry out combat reconnaissance", "acts decisively and boldly." There, in these lines, the officer is still alive. But he did not have time to receive the order.

For a long time, the only evidence of the future fate of Grigoryants was considered the story of the German commander of the Elbrus defense sector, Major Hans Mayer. In his memoirs, he told about the battle with a group of experienced climbers who climbed Elbrus along the northern slope for three days. The German also mentioned the captured commander - a wounded lieutenant. And about the commissar who allegedly shot himself.

It was believed that the wounded officer mentioned by Mayer was Lieutenant Grigoryants. But, most likely, for the German commander, the attacks of two groups merged into one battle - the mountain riflemen and the NKVD detachment under the command of Senior Lieutenant Maksimov. After all, the mountain rifle commander remained on the battlefield.

Return

In 2014, the melted Elbrus glacier gave away what it had kept for more than 70 years. The mountaineering reconnaissance company of the special forces of the 34th reconnaissance battalion of the Southern Military District (SMD) and local search engines found the bodies of the soldiers killed in the 42nd.

There were no documents with him, but tattoos on his hands and forearm were preserved, clearly indicating a criminal past. How many officers were previously convicted?

After digging through the archives, the search engines found out: Guren Agadzhanovich Grigoryants spent four years in prison in the late 20s, after which he was released with the removal of a criminal record.

Monument to the defenders of Elbrus

There was no doubt that he had been found.

He returned from combat after 70+ years. And again he lay down next to his fighters - in a mass grave near the monument to the defenders of the Elbrus region in the village of Terskol.

sources

Posts from This Journal by “War” Tag

This is what blog traffic looks like for 2019 by month. And here are the statistics for the days of one of the months of 2019: Report for ONE month of 2019 on Google Analytics: The reason for the growth of these indicators is that the blog's IQ has grown quite well and is now 4000 points and articles ...

In general, no offense either, but for me personally, this whole banking system is x .... (I clicked on the Latin dot in the Russian register and it turned out so smoothly, but I won’t :)) Ever since the moment when she robbed us in 90-91, but to the point of tears I feel sorry for the shelter. A part of life burned down, and one that is very pleasant to remember, realizing that there is more of this NEVER and ANYWHERE will not be.

This (IMHO) is hard to understand looking at this hangar from the five stars of Chamonix, but for many this is the place where you first understood what mountains, skis, a teammate or teammates are. It’s hard to understand how you can go to the toilet with a view of Itkol (through a point) at -20 C and even a snowstorm, fastening yourself to a cable so as not to get lost or getting out of the fog, going down from the top and perceiving it as the height of civilization and receiving from this supreme pleasure.

And the banks, they burned and will burn both figuratively and in the literal sense of the word, but nothing will happen to them and will not change, unfortunately (IMHO), but there will be no shelter 11, just as there are no alpine camps and ski camps !!!

That's when we figeli from the number of people who wanted to get there, ran crosses (in summer and winter) for 15 km. for a ticket for a shift of 15 days and considered it lucky to get there during student holidays. They settled where it was possible and impossible, worked for housing and food without asking about money, and the highest happiness was to become an instructor and get to work at the base. And there was no thought of poor service and a shower across the road every 2-3 days (and sometimes the name of Karbyshev :)). And now ... of course, for money you can do a lot, and a turntable, and a snowcat, and a bathhouse with girls ... and they will put you on skis, but there will never be that atmosphere when you sit with your squad in the evening in a cramped room with a bottle of Mashuk or Smiles, a can of stew and tea - and it's not that we were younger, in my departments there were squads from 18 to 65 at the same time, we just perceived everything, maybe more difficult, or maybe easier ... And the Baksan initiations into skiers - Tom Musinyants (father of the current director Ertsog - Misha, by the way, also a Baksan instructor) as Baksanskaya B ... - the sister of the god Baksan - it was like a calling card for us: (((

The message about the shelter for me was like the news of the death of a friend, a partner in a bunch, whom I had not seen for a long time, but lived with him will never be forgotten. I would like to remember, because the shelter was probably one of the last threads connecting with that real life, where nothing was bought or sold. Now she broke off new shelter maybe they will build it, there are many sponsors and there will be a proud inscription Russobank or Menatep or ..., but this will never be the shelter I was talking about.

And from the present life, there’s nothing to fuck with, if our team left a person to die on the route (I’m talking about Bashkirov) and live quietly with it or the turntable from Tyrnyauz didn’t fly after the crashed Kirghiz (Sheinov) without prepayment, then what else can you fuck with - you’ve arrived ...

Shelter 11. Associations that come to mind with this word: mountains, skis, canvas storm suits, which were given out in the alpine camps to "participants", "... Hello, fellow participants...", Vizbor, a guitar, a stove, a funeral at the local cemetery of a girl who crashed while climbing in Tsey, night gatherings and tea from a 3-liter jar, training and crosses, home-made puffs, tents and backpacks, ... and a dazzling sky above and around , around - everything is just down. We're getting old "As our children have grown up, here is a true counter to our common times..." it's getting harder for us to take a backpack... - read the original - Y. Vizbor "Breakfast with a view of Elbrus"- we, the instructors of Adyl-Su, begged this book for one night from someone from Cheget and read it at night, aloud, in turn ... And then silently dispersed - there was nothing to talk about. Everything was written by Vizbor. Those who were there then know this atmosphere inherent in any alpine camp. Adyl-Su, Alibek, Torpedo - everywhere had their own flavor, but the brotherhood of people who came there - it was everywhere.

The shelter will be rebuilt, but what was before cannot be rebuilt. We have grown old (matured - no longer suitable), our children have different values, and we ourselves sometimes seem ridiculous with our "mothballed" values. But this is our youth, our strength, our loves and our friends, victories and defeats, it's just a piece of our life, when I applied for a vacation and the boss asked "And if I don't let me go?" - I said: "then I'll resign because I'm going TO THE MOUNTAINS..." Alex - you are 200% right, and at the same time, those who came to skiing and generally in the mountains as in "a place where they drink bad vodka and cheat on their wives"(Yu. Vizbor) I can't understand you. And crises - have we survived them and devaluations, and robberies by the state of old people and miners? And what is happening now, whatever you call it, we will survive anyway. It's just that everything in the country depends on this situation - including well-being, and the possibility of a trip to the mountains for many of us. But I think that just those who were going to Chamonix (for example) will go to Cheget. Someone will not be able to buy new equipment for themselves, someone will save on food ... Everyone understands this very well, just someone who has never risen at 3 o’clock in the morning from a tent at an altitude of 3500 and has not met the dawn on the ascent does not lived in alpine camps in 8-bed rooms with beds in two tiers and a shower every 2 weeks in a neighboring house - he probably will not understand what Shelter 11 is, and why a fire in it is capable of such to respond with pain in the souls of balding and graying people.

The shelter was built, if I'm not mistaken, in 1934 or 38. When ours retreated into the war, they tried to blow it up, for some reason it didn't work. When the Germans from the famous Edelweiss group retreated, they tried to do the same and with the same result. Ours and the Germans bombed it repeatedly, but it stood as if bewitched and not a single bomb hit it, although the building nearby was bombed (Who was there saw the ruins a little lower).

All ascents to Elbrus passed through the Shelter. All those whose lives were taken by Elbrus did not pass him by either.

This one story of his made me treat him not just as an old hut, but as a kind of symbol. It is not for nothing that always, coming to the mountains, people went to the Shelter. It is not clear why? And then, why do newlyweds put flowers to the Eternal Flame.

Tradition, you know.

Now we have lost it and, it seems, forever, because not a single bank or other sponsor will fork out for such money. At least it's sad.:-(Although, for those who have never been there, this is, of course, an empty phrase. Therefore, gentlemen and ladies, although we are all damn worried about the financial crisis, let's respect what is very expensive MOST Russian skiers.

I am also extremely sorry for Shelter 11. Although I also have not very pleasant associations with it. I first got there back in 1989, as a green beginner - a climber, well, our whole group ran into - after all, the situation "You are not supposed to be here, this is only for foreigners (we are talking about the upper dining room, the one where "Breakfast with a view of Elbrus"), and you - there (This is about the lower hmm, dining room, the one where" No windows, no doors ...")"

And in the Caucasus I was this year (Terskol) by chance and after all Chamonix my impressions are the most unpleasant. I don’t know about other veterans (Zhora, ay), but if it’s not possible to go to the Alps, I personally hang my skis on a hook. (Neighborhoods of Moscow - do not count)

A few days ago I returned from the Elbrus region. Apparently, I was the last of the RASK who saw Shelter-11 alive. So I decided to write a short report.

The main purpose of the trip was to ski down Elbrus - ideally from the top, otherwise where we can go, well, just ride. However, due to the illness of two participants, they had to return after 4 days. The result - I managed to go down from the Pastukhov rocks once and once from the Shelter.

We lived in barrels at the top station of Gara-bashi (3800). The owner is Ishak, it costs 30 rubles per person a day, the conditions are normal, there is a heating element in each barrel, so it's warm. Cooked on primus.

There is catastrophically little snow this year (as the natives say). In the morning the ice is bare, after lunch below (near the upper station of Gara-bashi) everything becomes limp so that the streams run, and at the top, because of the wind, the ice continues to hold. As a result, between the Shelter and the barrels, the glacier opened up in many places, so that going down on skis sometimes had to jump through the cracks. The main trouble is that due to the strongest wind, ice sastrugi are not formed, i.e. in some places the slope is a set of ice bumps 15-20 cm high and spaced 30-50 cm apart (a kind of washboard). Managing skis on this disgrace, and even at an altitude of 4800, is quite problematic. I fell once, so much so that when I hit the slope (sorry) with my ass (thank God !!!), the feeling was such that now the brains will fly out of my ears. The result of this was a drop dead bruise (20 centimeters in diameter) and as a result problems with the sitting position for the next 3-4 days. I saw a couple more guys with skis and after the very first descent from the rocks they all said, "Fuck him!". Friends saw Czechs who brought their skis to the saddle and then descended from there with the same skis in their hands. Near the barrels, the slope turns into just puddles and I finished spewing clouds of spray to the joyful cries of foreigners "Water ski! Water ski!" So skating (if you can call it that) is quite specific.

Relations with the locals are normal, I met a man who in the film about the Elbrus region ("White Curse" is called something - I don’t remember) jumped through the Ai cafe. Hichiny, kebabs and beer are available. Ratraks are broken. Getting from Nalchik is no problem (taxi drivers lowered the price for a car from 300 to 150 rubles (for three), but still left by bus for 35 rubles). The situation is much worse on the way back. It is best to do this on weekends, when there are many tourist buses from KavMinVod, otherwise taxi drivers charge 500 rubles per car to Min Vody.

And about the Shelter... It's a pity. He was, probably, one of the symbols of the Elbrus region. We went there to warm ourselves, people played guitars, drank tea. There were a lot of people there, they even slept on the floor in the corridors. Foreigners (damn, their mother) walked in herds ... True, there was a steady smell of human excrement around the Shelter. Also specific.

Perhaps everything. Now, when everything no longer seems as bad as immediately after the descent, I'm thinking of going there again next year with the same goal, but in June-July. If you have a desire, let's join. You need a little - health (after all, you need to carry the extra 12 kg upstairs), acclimatization - we immediately climbed to 3800 and I’m still nothing (alpinism probably affects), but the mountaineer greatly tormented the guys; Well, desire, which is the main thing.

Moskovsky Komsomolets No. 184 - A (38) dated September 27.
HIGH-MOUNTAIN HOTEL "SHELTER OF ELEVEN" WILL BE RESTORED

A special commission created under the government of Kabardino-Balkaria has recently come to the conclusion that the highest mountain hotel, the Shelter of Eleven, has been restored.

This unique building was built on the slopes of Elbrus in 1939 at an altitude of 4200 meters. For many years it was the highest mountain in the world and was the only refuge on the way to the two-headed peak. However, this summer the climbers were left homeless. As a result of a safety violation during the use of stoves, the shelter caught fire. At such a height, the hotel could not be extinguished.

Now it is already known that the shelter will be built in its former form, but with the use of modern refractory materials, although it is not clear at what cost.

✪ Elbrus. Shelter 11.

✪ Fire at Shelter 11.

✪ [Blog] Winter climbing Elbrus. Shelter 11 - Pastukhov Lower Rocks #3

✪ SIGNS OF MOUNTAIN SICKNESS AND HOW TO FIGHT. AKKLIMUKHA ON PASTUKHOV ROCKS. CAMP SHELTER 11 ON ELBRUS #2

✪ Climbing Elbrus Part 4 Mexican, Shelter of Eleven and evening tantrum.

Subtitles

background

The place where Shelter 11 is located was named in 1909. In 1909, one of the groups of sightseers of the Caucasian Mountain Society (KGO), founded in Pyatigorsk by R. R. Leitzinger, consisting of 11 people, making a planned trip to Elbrus, set up a temporary camp in the region of a rocky ridge, where the building of the “Shelter of 11 ". The group had a small supply of paint in order to make a commemorative inscription on the stones on the top of Elbrus, and with this paint the inscription “Shelter 11” was made on the stones where their camp was. After 20 years, in the summer of 1929, the famous Russian climber V. A. Rakovsky built a wooden, iron-covered hut on these rocks, and transferred the inscription “Shelter of 11” to it. It was a fairly spacious building, capable of accommodating 40 people.

Construction of a three-story high-mountain hotel

The author of the project and the construction manager of a high-altitude three-story hotel, capable of accommodating more than 100 people at a time, on the site of this hut was an engineer, builder of the first domestic airships, architect and climber Nikolai Mikhailovich Popov. The site for the construction of the new building was chosen just above the hut that existed at that time. Hotel construction started in early spring 1938. Bridges were built between the Ice Base (as the place where the road to Elbrus ended) and the old glacial cracks through which caravans with various construction cargo passed. Delivery of goods began from the very early morning, until the sun melted the snowy road. By the autumn of 1938, the building of the residential building, diesel and boiler rooms were almost ready. The hotel building was shaped like an airship. The top has been rounded to withstand powerful winds and storms. For windproofing, the walls were upholstered with sheets of galvanized iron. The main building of the oval-shaped hotel had three floors: the first was made of stone, the second and third were of a frame type made of wooden parts. For insulation, special heat-insulating plates were laid around the entire perimeter of the building. Interior decoration continued until deep winter, when, with the onset of frost, it was necessary to stop work and take all the workers downstairs. The following year, work was resumed and in the autumn of 1939 the hotel received its first visitors.

Hotel device

Shelter Eleven for many years had the status of the highest mountain hotel in Europe. On the ground floor were the kitchen, shower rooms and storage rooms. Living quarters were on the second and third floors. The rooms were equipped with folding two-tier carriage-type shelves and were designed for 2-8 people. There were chests for storing personal belongings and equipment. The walls and ceilings were finished with linkrust, and the parquet floors were varnished. Chandeliers shone from the ceiling. Central heating was done, running water and sewerage. There was a Kremlin "turntable" and a bathhouse (destroyed during the Great Patriotic War). On the second floor, a spacious dining room was equipped, which simultaneously hosted 50 people. According to experts, the hotel was reminiscent of a first-class hotel in terms of comfort. One of its first visitors jokingly called it "Hotel Above the Clouds". In the future, this name stuck.

During the war and post-war history

Military operations in the Shelter of Eleven area

On August 17, 1942, the German mountain riflemen, who penetrated the Elbrus region through the Khotutau pass, under the command of Captain Grotto, occupied Shelter 11 without firing a shot. On this day, August 17, 1942, the head of the meteorological station A. Kovalev, his wife, meteorologist Z. Kovaleva and radio operator Ya. Kucherenko, were at shelter 11. Meteorologists continued to work at the station, since no instructions were received from Pyatigorsk. On the same day, a group of scouts consisting of three people, sent by the command of the Soviet units that were at that time in the Baksan Gorge, rose to them from the Baksan Gorge. At about 10 o'clock, winterers and scouts noticed that a column of German rangers was moving from the Hotyu-Tau pass. Some of them went to the Old Horizon, the other - to the Shelter of Eleven. Considering the inequality of forces, they decided to descend into the Baksan Gorge, taking with them the most valuable equipment. Under the cover of clouds, bypassing the "Old Outlook", they descended unnoticed to Azau. According to the German version of the events of that day, which is very doubtful, the shelter was defended by a detachment of Kyrgyz mountain shooters with Russian commanders consisting of 45 people. The commander of the German rangers, Captain Grot, with a white handkerchief in his hand, without weapons, went up to the shelter and allegedly persuaded the defenders to leave the shelter without a fight. One way or another, Shelter 11 was occupied by the Germans without a single shot being fired.

Having occupied the hotel, the German huntsmen climbed Elbrus and planted Nazi flags there. Hitler's propaganda used this symbolic event as a demonstration of victory in the Caucasus. However, in fact, the Caucasus was not conquered. Almost all the passes of the Main Caucasian Range were successfully defended by the Soviet troops, not allowing the enemy to reach the Black Sea. Subsequently, Soviet troops made repeated attempts to drive the Germans out of Shelter Eleven. However, favorable terrain conditions for the defenders and well-fortified positions of the German troops did not allow this to be done. In total, about a hundred Soviet soldiers died in the battles for the shelter.

After the defeat of the German troops near Stalingrad, the situation on the Caucasian front changed dramatically. German troops were forced to leave the Caucasus because of the threat of encirclement. On January 10-11, 1943, the German mountain rifle units left the upper reaches of the Baksan Gorge and left the Shelter of Eleven.

A group of Soviet climbers who fought in the Caucasus, consisting of 20 people under the leadership of A. M. Gusev, climbed the Shelter of Eleven on February 9, 1943 to fulfill the order of the command of the Transcaucasian Front to remove Nazi banners from the tops of Elbrus. The building of the shelter was damaged by bombs, its facade was riddled with bullets, mangled by fragments, the roof from the diesel station was demolished by an explosion. All these are traces of air strikes. The meteorological station was destroyed by the Germans. The building was partially clogged with snow, as the huntsmen broke the frames for firewood. Ammunition and mangled weapons littered the rocks around the shelter. Numerous dilapidated fortifications and firing points were visible everywhere. Food warehouses were blown up or were flooded with kerosene.

On February 13, 1943, in bad weather, the remnants of the banners set by the Germans were removed from the Western Summit, and on February 17 - from the Eastern Summit.

In the postwar years

In 1949, the Shelter of Eleven was leased for five years to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In the same year, the road builders rebuilt the road between Terskol and the Ice Base, which had been destroyed by landslides and landslides during the war years. At the same time, she began to restore the Ice Base and the Shelter of Eleven. The repair and reconstruction of the Shelter of Eleven required considerable efforts.

In 1950, a stone house was built on the Stary Krugozor, which served as an intermediate base when climbing the Shelter of the Eleven, and the shelter was restored on the Elbrus saddle, for the repair of which about two tons of various building materials were delivered.

In the fall of 1951, high-voltage power lines were laid from Terskol to Shelter Eleven. The power line wires were custom-made from 8-10mm steel cable to withstand hurricane-force winds. Power transmission towers passed through the glacier. In 1952, the power line was destroyed due to the winter movement of the glacier. Separate masts fell into cracks and only their tops were visible on the surface of the glacier. By the winter of 1952

This is what Shelter of Eleven looked like before the fire in 1998

Now there are many unusual hotels around the world - they are being converted from old factories, lighthouses, airplanes, built from snow and ice, erected on trees or lowered under water. There are far fewer hotels that have a long and interesting story especially mountain hotels. But there are also many of them, since the history of tourism, mountaineering and skiing is long, and travelers always need the most comfortable and appropriate accommodation for the night. In this sense, the Shelter of Eleven Hotel on Elbrus is perhaps the most legendary in our country.

"Shelter" is located on the southeastern slope of Elbrus at an altitude of 4130 meters and is considered one of the highest mountain hotels in the world. Its history is long, full of events and legends.

Location of the hotel on the plan of Mount Elbrus

In 1909, one of the groups of excursionists of the Caucasian Mountain Society, founded in Pyatigorsk by the Swiss Rudolf Rudolfovich Leitzinger, consisting of 11 people, made a planned trip to Elbrus. The group set up a temporary camp at an altitude of 4130 meters. Large stones protected it from the east and north, like natural walls, and the expedition members built another protective wall. They took a small supply of paint with them to make a commemorative inscription on the top of Elbrus, and with this paint they wrote “Shelter 11” on the stones near their camp.

After 20 years, in the summer of 1929, the famous Russian climber V. A. Rakovsky built a wooden hut-booth on these rocks, upholstered it with iron and transferred the inscription “Shelter 11” to its walls.

"Shelter of Eleven" in the original version of the thirties as a barrack-type room

In 1932, a barrack for 40 people was built. Due to the lack of places, tents were sometimes set up directly on the flat roof of the building - with dense placement, exactly four “pamirs” were placed there.

In the 1937-1938 season, geodetic, explosive and construction work began on the Shelter of Eleven. As a result, in 1938, a three-story building was erected on the site of the barracks, which stood for 60 years. The new "Shelter" was erected in one season with the help of the local population - people helped to raise materials to the construction site.

The hotel building was shaped like an airship. The main building of the hotel, oval, had three floors. The first is made of wild stone, the second and third are frame type, made of wooden parts. For insulation around the entire perimeter of the building, special heat-insulating plates were laid under sheets of iron.

On the ground floor were the kitchen, shower rooms and storage rooms. On the second and third floors - living quarters. Cabin rooms were equipped with folding two-tier carriage-type shelves for 2-8 people. There were lockers for storing personal belongings and equipment. The walls and ceilings were finished with linkrusta (note: linkrust, often called Linkrusta (Lincrusta)- this is wallpaper with applied relief, which gives the impression of stucco and looks noble and expensive), and the parquet floors are varnished. Chandeliers shone from the ceiling. There was central heating, running water and sewerage. The Kremlin "turntable" was installed and a bathhouse was built, which was destroyed during the Great Patriotic War.

On the second floor, a dining room was equipped, accommodating up to 50 people. According to experts, the hotel was reminiscent of a first-class hotel in terms of comfort.

During the Second World War, the Shelter of Eleven became almost the center of hostilities. The Nazis aspired to the Caucasus. The 1st mountain rifle division "Edelweiss" was thrown to conquer Elbrus - it consisted of soldiers with extensive experience in combat operations in high mountainous regions. Many of these soldiers before the war came to the Elbrus region to study the area, stayed at the shelter, climbing to the top. And on August 17, 1942, the German mountain shooters, who penetrated the Elbrus region through the Hotyuta pass, occupied the Shelter without a single shot.

Having occupied the hotel, the German rangers climbed Elbrus and planted fascist flags there. Hitler's propaganda used this symbolic event as a demonstration of victory in the Caucasus. But the Caucasus was not conquered. Almost all the passes of the Main Caucasian ridge successfully defended the Soviet troops, not letting the enemy pass to the Black Sea.

Subsequently, Soviet troops made repeated attempts to dislodge the Germans from the Shelter. However, the terrain favorable for defense and the well-fortified positions of the German troops did not allow this. In total, about a hundred Soviet soldiers died in these battles. After the defeat of the German troops near Stalingrad, the situation on the Caucasian front changed dramatically. German troops were forced to leave the Caucasus because of the threat of encirclement.

On January 10-11, 1943, German mountain rifle units left the upper reaches of the Baksan Gorge and left Shelter 11. On February 9, 1943, a group of 20 Soviet climbers climbed to the Shelter to remove Nazi banners from the tops of Elbrus. The building of the shelter was damaged by bombs, the facade was distorted, the roof from the diesel station was demolished by an explosion. The meteorological station is destroyed. The building was partially clogged with snow, as the huntsmen broke the frames for firewood. Ammunition and weapons lay in the rocks around the shelter. Food warehouses were blown up or were flooded with kerosene. On February 13, 1943, in bad weather, the remnants of the banners established by the Germans were removed from the Western peak, and on February 17 from the Eastern.

After the war, a small museum was created on the third floor of the shelter. Numerous groups of climbers from different countries stayed at the shelter before climbing Elbrus. Alas, on August 16, 1998, the Shelter of Eleven burned down due to non-compliance with fire safety rules. In fact, "Shelter" burned to the moraine.

In 2004, a new shelter was built on the slope of Elbrus at an altitude of 4100 m - converted from a burned-out diesel "Shelter of Eleven" (Dieselhat). Those who do not fit there set up tents behind the stone walls of the burnt building.

The construction of the new "Shelter" was undertaken by a private investor and volunteers - they plan to restore the old look using new technologies. However, the construction completion date is unknown.