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Published: March 11th 2010
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View from Dombay
View of the mountains from Dombay. Arrival
Getting here is a challenge in itself, the nearest train stations are Mineralnye Vody and Nevinnomyssk which are a 4 hour and 3.5 hour drive respectively. Once at the train station you can start bartering for the cost of the taxi fare to Dombay, if you're lucky there will be some other people on your train going in the same direction and you'll be able to share the cost. Or you may be even luckier and meet an Armenian driver who went to English school, Victor's English wasn't great but with our Russian and his English we had a good chat for the four drive. We agreed on 3000R for the drive eventually but expect to pay 3,500R, Victor started by charging us 4,000R.
We chose to go to Mineralnye Vody because from our research we thought we might be able to get a bus. In the end it was a good choice because the road is amazing. From leaving Mineralyne Vody you head south to Kislovodsk (there is a train station there too) and from there you cross the border into the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic. On the border the police are active stopping cars and checking papers. We had
Drive to Dombay
Driving down the Kichkinekol Pass into Cherkessk. Cows occupied the sides and centre of the roads throughout the republic. to go into the police station while all of our papers were checked throughly. Once past the police check you start heading up to the Kichkinekol Pass, on a clear day the views from up here a spectacular of the whole Caucasus Range including a close up view of Elbrus. Over the pass you drop down into Cherkessk, the capital of the republic. Throughout the republic the Karachay and Cheressk people have been busy building lots of new Mosques, other than these very little seems to have changed here. From Cherkessk you head up the valley to Dombay with the mountains slowly creeping into view.
Dombay
It isn't pretty, it's a ski resort. It does have its charms though. The views of the mountains from the village are amazing, the people are lovely and the air is clean and fresh. To actually do any proper walks around Dombay you need a border permit (see Lonely Planet on how to get one) but there are plenty of short one hours strolls you can do up the valleys.
There is an abundance of hotels in Dombay but most of them are quite expensive. We stayed in Snezhinka (snowflake) which cost
Drive to Dombay
Driving up the valley to Dombay and the mountains start to come into view. 2600R per night - it was fine, the room was nice and it included a buffet style (not so great) breakfast. There are also a lot of cafes and restaurants and most of them sell Shashlik (grilled meat) so it can be a little hard to find alternatives. Mostly the food was good but avoid Cafe Kristall, we found the staff rude and the food not very good. Our favourite place was a cheesy looking cafe called "Taverna" which had excellent food and the women who ran it were very friendly.
The locals were always very friendly to us and gave us excellent service. Once people realised that we weren't Russian they usually became a lot friendlier and a lot more interested in us.
The locals are the mountain people of the republic and are the Karachay. They speak a Turkic language and are Muslims.
Skiing
The skiing was very good with spectacular views. You ski in a big mountain bowl between 3,000 and 2,000 metres. From the mountain you can see up and down the neighbouring valleys with the pointy mountains and hanging glaciers. From the top of the slopes you can even see Elbrus.
Top of the Slopes
From the top of the slopes looking at the surrounding mountains. There are only three long high up runs which are between blue or red. There are a few short sections of black on the mountain. There are two small beginners slopes for practicing but the easiest long slope is quite challenging for anyone who hasn't got at least a weeks skiing under their belt.
There is a new lift built from Dombay to the top in three stages. The first stage will get you to the old lifts and the bottom of the skiing. It costs 300R on the first stage. For a one day pass on the new lift it costs 1200R. The old lifts work but are interesting, some are missing safety clips to keep you in your chair and some drag you through the snow for the first 3 or 4 metres. The old lifts cost between 100 and 150R per ride. We always used the old lifts because they gave us access to our two favourite runs.
On the other side of the big blue bridge from the new ski lift there are various containers which house ski hire places. Ski hire seems to be quite informal with no documents required and it being
Skiing in Dombay
Skiing in Dombay with the amazing surrounding mountains. done on trust. We hired our skis from a lovely Karachay man whose cabin overlooks the car park. He charged us 300R per day for 4 days. He was happy to change our boots when they became uncomfortable and always greeted us in the mornings and evenings with a big smile.
Conclusion
I guess it's a new way to look at "adventure skiing", the adventure isn't in the skiing but in the place and getting to the place. I would love to go back in the summer and do some summer hikes in the region. I would also love to see more of the Karachay Republic but at the moment Russian politics is likely to make that difficult.
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