Black Pyramid (11/14/2015). Among the Great Pyramids of Giza there was a unique fourth (5 photos) Mountain black pyramid Krasnaya Polyana

It was the fastest and most fantastic trip to the mountains. On my way to work on Monday morning, I did not even suspect that in just seven days, on Sunday night I would be lying "without hind legs" thinking about what happened after all! This is how it was ...

This trip to the mountains came up unexpectedly. On Monday I go to my beloved risk.ru and see a fresh post with pictures of Krasnaya Polyana ... It's a damp autumn in Moscow, and there, in the sunny south, there is a warm sun and peaked mountain peaks. I wanted to visit these mountains so many times in the fall, and then again I was late ... Or not? We must hurry !!! On Gismeteo, starting from Thursday, all days are adorned with the sun and the nights with stars. Previously read reports emerge from my memory, in which it was told about the periods of good weather in the fall! If you take a day off on Thursday-Friday, then you have four whole days at your disposal! My heart beat a hundred per minute. Chugush, Achishkho, Mzymta ... Familiar names of mountains and rivers emerge from the memory.

On Tuesday morning I call Natasha in Sochi. “Hello, Natalka, hello! If I arrive the day after tomorrow, will you go with me to the mountains for four days? " Natasha is "our man", but I managed to surprise her too. The boss Katya (I grade in mountaineering, climbing the five-thousanders of the Pamirs) cannot help but let go, and the persuasions of my colleagues leave her no chance. At lunchtime I call Natasha in Sochi and just say that I bought tickets. She says she comes with me. Fine!!! In the second half, I create a post on the Kuban tourist forum. Topic: "where you can go for four days." At the same time I am sending Natasha a list of equipment.

Climbing Achishkho (2391 m)

I'm in the mountains again. Let's leave the bustle of the Moscow rhythm, empty chatter and unnecessary words. Exhale and relax. Now only photos ...


Beech forest at the beginning of the trail on the Khmelevskie lakes




After spending the night in a tent at an altitude of 1800, at dawn the next day we went to the ascent to Achishkho!



The first of the three peaks of Achishkho appeared

Quite unexpectedly, after another turn of the path, Chugush appeared. The same mountain before which we retreated two years ago, during our multi-hike across the Caucasus and Abkhazia!


Chugush (3238 m.)


Not a bad place for bouldering!

Less than an hour later, having crossed a small spur, we find ourselves in the Achishkho circus. Waterfalls are rustling, the summit is already close!



The weather whispers, time is running out. Why not have a full lunch break? =)


Famous Krasnaya Polyana tea! =)))


Fresh snow at 2100!


Fantastic sea view opens from the Achishkho ridge !!!



Along the wide ridge to the top!


Ruined rocks - the last meters of the ascent to Achishkho


At the top of Achishkho. Behind below - the village of Krasnaya Polyana.


From the last, third, summit we go down straight down the slope ...


North view. In the distance, on the far left, are the peaks of the Fisht-Oshtenovsky massif, in the center is Chugush.


East view. It's a pity, but Elbrus is not visible = (((


Small lake in the eastern circus of Achishkho

The day turned out to be beautiful and very eventful. Lakes, waterfalls, snow, a beautiful summit ridge, four-thousanders of the Greater Caucasus ... Last hour they walked along the path at dusk, and came to the camp in complete darkness. In such cases, GPS helps a lot - a backpack with a tent hidden in a dense forest was found without any problems!

P.S. Exactly five years later, in November 2012, I went to Achishkho in one day!

Day 3

Today we have a difficult day. First you need to go down to the village of Krasnaya Polyana, and this is a little, a lot minus 1200 meters, which is already good for your beloved knees. But this is only half the trouble! Next, we need to get to the Alpiki Service cable car, jump on it to the top of the second stage (it does not work further, prevention is before the start of the winter season) and then, from a height of 1100 meters, climb as high as possible in order to climb the Black Pyramid the next day !



Morning exercises before the start of a difficult day



The descent went without problems, although it took a lot of strength. In the first part of it there is a very sharp drop in altitude. The trail is excellent, but our knees were cracking at the seams :) We go down to the village, have lunch in a cafe at a Lukoil gas station and start the second part of our program !!!

Climbing the Black Pyramid (2375 m)

ATTENTION! Unfortunately, a few years after this hike, a cable car was laid across the spur of the Black Pyramid and the route lost its former attractiveness. Now it remains to look at these photos and remember what Polyana was like before the Olympic construction .. (Note from 2012)


Famous Krasnaya Polyana peaks. The Black Pyramid is in the center!


Freeride and Salomon stores in Krasnaya Polyana (now closed. Approx. 2016). But we have everything and we pass by :)


Cable car Alpika Service

The system of lifts and ski slopes, as well as the entire infrastructure at the Gorki Gorod resort was built for the 2014 Winter Olympics. After the Winter Olympics, the resort did not cease to be popular, transforming into an all-season one. All facilities of the Gorki Gorod resort are located on four levels: Lower town"At an altitude of 540 meters above sea level," Upper Town "at an altitude of 960 meters, at an altitude of 1500 meters and 2200 meters - viewing platforms, ski slopes, eco-routes and restaurants.

Of 13 lifts cable car 9 is open in excursion mode in summer. If you have planned a day trip to Gorki Gorod, it is better to arrive early in the morning in order to have time to visit more attractions in the resort.

The Gorki Gorod resort is located in the village of Esto-Sadok in the valley of the Mzymta River, 40 kilometers from international airport Sochi. You can get to the resort by bus, taxi or the Lastochka train. It is worth noting that car sharing is very popular in Sochi.

The main attraction of the resort during the summer season is undoubtedly the cable car. The cost of a walking ticket for the Gorki Gorod cable car in the summer of 2019:

  • one ascent / descent from 540 meters to 960 meters ("Upper Town")
    • adult - 300 rubles,
    • children - 200 rubles;
  • one ascent / descent from 540 meters to 2200 meters ("Panorama")
    • adult - 1400 rubles,
    • children - 850 rubles.

The excursion ascent on the Gorki Gorod cable car to the Black Pyramid peak takes place with transfers at the stations. To get to the goal, you need to make several transfers between the gondola and chair cable cars: K1 - K2 - K3 - K4 - K5. So, let's go! Into the mountains!



Important! If you decide to visit the resorts of Krasnaya Polyana, be sure to take warm clothes with you, because the air temperature in the mountains is lower than on the Black Sea coast. The temperature in the alpine zone, at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level, does not rise above 15 ° C in summer.





Observation deck at an altitude of 960 meters - "Upper Town"

The first lift K1 lifts from the "Lower City" from a height of 540 meters to 960 meters above sea level to the "Upper City". Gondola-type cable car cabins, some with special mounts for mountain bikes. This was done because at the station "Verkhniy Gorod" there is a "Gorki Bike Park" with tracks of varying complexity for downhill - downhill mountain biking. You can also take a cable car from the Verkhniy Gorod station to the Polikarya waterfall eco-route if you have purchased a walking ticket for all the lifts.

There is a large observation deck, many restaurants and cafes. Here is a zone of the forest mountain belt, so it is worthwhile to linger and walk a little around the station to enjoy the views and clean air.

Important! If you are a guest of one of the hotels in the "Upper Town", then the ascent to K1 will be free for you.

Observation deck at an altitude of 1460 meters

The second lift K2 is part of the main excursion route on the way to the top of the Aibga ridge. Already from the cabins of this lift one can see the mountain range Pseashkho, which is located opposite the Aibga ridge, together they form the gorge of the Mzymta river. You can see the snow-covered peak in the center - Sakharny peak, 3189 meters high, the peak to the left of the peak is Pseashkho Yuzhny, 3251 meters high, and to the right of Sakharny peak, Kozhevnikov peak 3070 meters. And in front of these peaks there is Bzerpinsky cornice, on which a popular tourist walking route in the summer season.







The station is located at an altitude of 1460 meters above sea level. In just a few minutes, from the zone of the forest mountain belt, you find yourself in the subalpine belt. The landscape and the ambient temperature change. It is cooler here than at the stations "Nizhniy Gorod" and "Verkhniy Gorod". In summer, the temperature in the subalpine belt does not rise above +24 ° C. Not far from the station there is a rope park and an ecological route called "Relic Forest". A visit to the rope park is paid, and the entrance to the "Relic Forest" eco-trail is free. If you have time, then you should definitely take a walk along the trail of the eco-route among the majestic fir trees.



Observation deck at an altitude of 2200 meters - Black Pyramid peak

The third lift K3 raises to an altitude of 2200 meters above sea level into the zone of alpine meadows. Here, at the top of the Aibga ridge, the most colorful ecological route called "Alpine Meadows" is laid. The length of the route is 3 kilometers with a vertical drop of up to 150 meters, so it will take a lot of time to complete it. As a reward for decisiveness, the tourist will find stunning viewpoints on the eco-route along the mountain circus.









But at the upper station, it is not only the Alpine Meadows eco-route that is interesting. On the K4 and K5 chairlifts, you can make a dizzying descent to the nearby mountain circus, and an equally exciting climb to the foot of the Black Pyramid. A real attraction with a height of 150 meters awaits tourists on the K4 cable car. After a short gentle ride, the seats of the K4 lift rush almost vertically downward, exciting emotions are provided for everyone, especially those who are sensitive to altitude. Before changing to the last cable car, you can walk to the "Bear Falls" or the "Valley of the Rhododendrons".





The last ascent on the K5 cable car leads to the foot of the Black Pyramid - the very high peak resort "Gorki Gorod". The height of the peak is 2375 meters above sea level. An excursion climbing route has been laid to the top of the Black Pyramid, which can be walked with insurance under the supervision of an instructor.

From the upper station of the K5 lift, amazing views of another mountain circus open. And also from here you can see the Mountain Olympic Village on the "Rosa Plateau", built at an altitude of 1170 meters above sea level in the resort "Rosa Khutor".







An excursion ascent on the Gorki Gorod cable car and a walk along some of the resort's eco-routes can take a whole day. It will be quite difficult to manage to visit all the natural attractions of the resort in one visit. But this is a good reason to come back to the resort again.

Once we got together with a friend to go to the top of the Black Pyramid mountain, which is on the Aibga ridge. We went there more than once.
Gathered spontaneously. Although the Aibga ridge is part of the border zone, they did not make passes, knowing that the border guards walk from Alpiki-Service towards the Turi Mountains and practically do not look into the Aibga circuses. They decided to climb the ridge using a cable car. GLK "Alpika-Service" was not even considered, because they climbed there many times. I wanted to climb the Mountain Carousel.
We collected our backpacks, bought food, and arrived at the foot of Aibga. They did not test fate, they turned to the head of the "security service", with the question: - "... what about the border guards?" A man with a military bearing asked: - "... for what purpose are we interested?" We explained everything to him, and about the desire to rise, and about the "health of the nation", and about the Constitution of the Russian Federation, about photography of landscapes ... and so on. To which we were told: "... go up, but you cannot go outside the fences at the upper bypass station, otherwise we will be in trouble." This option did not suit us, we wanted to continue, especially since we were going with an overnight stay…. As a result, when they saw us in backpacks larger in size than a camera bag, they were not even allowed on the lift. They said that: - "... you can't carry backpacks." Although at this time, Downhill competitions were held and athletes climbed with bicycles.
Why am I telling this? Probably, once again convince yourself and warn others that in connection with the status of the "Olympic capital" it is necessary to take a lot of passes and permits. This applies not only to Aibga, but to all other regions (Pseashkho, Aishkho, Kardyvach, etc.). Or maybe they are hiding something from us?
Literally a week later, after the described incident, I climbed the Black Pyramid with children aged 8-10 years (then a video was filmed, which I already posted in the topic "Aibga-2"). Pograntsov did not meet, but he found on the top, a lot of people willing to wander along the ridge. I doubt very much that they had passes to the border zone or even to the territory of the SNP.
In the late afternoon, after long "negotiations", we decided to climb, at least somewhere ... The choice fell on the Achishkho ridge. They went up and down. And what to do, the time remains night, but day. On the "UAZ" we went up to the lakes of Khmelevskoe. On the same day we reached the Achipse river (Brat'ya vp.). We spent the night, the next day we climbed to the top. On the same day we went down to Krasnaya Polyana.
We were lucky, we did not meet anyone on our way, although Achishkho is also divided between the SNP, the Sochi Reserve and the KGPBZ.
A question for travel lovers:
1. Do you take passes to protected areas?
2. If you walk without passes, what do you do when you meet with employees of the same nature protection zones?
3. The same about the border zone?
Below is a small photo report about the trip.

Khmelevsky lakes - " Big lake". The lakes are named after the landowner V.F. Khmelevsky, a member of the Caucasian Mountain Club, a researcher of the flora and climate of Krasnaya Polyana at the beginning of the last century.



There are many lakes on the ridge, from swamps to normal lakes.


Another of the overgrown lakes.


Achishkho in the clouds.


There are many well-packed paths along the ridge.


The area of ​​the former meteorological station. The Achishkho weather station was founded in September 1929 and was closed in 1988. For several years, the two-story building of the weather station was used by tourists as a shelter, then it was destroyed, only the foundation of the building remained. Before the meteorological station, there was a booth of the Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club here.


Lake Mirror. One of the most famous and beautiful. A place of pilgrimage for tourists and so-called "mushroom pickers" (by the way, they will soon have a climbing season).


The village of Krasnaya Polyana from one of the horizons. In the area of ​​Lake Zerkalnoye, there are many horizons with beautiful views.


The source of the Achipse river is the Brothers waterfall. Achipse flows into the Mzymta.


First circus. Cows graze without a shepherd.


Chugush massif. One of the three-thousanders. Is an highest point Republic of Adygea.


In the second circus.


Snowfields hang almost all summer.


Such a structure was found in the second circus. Who knows what it is? and who built it? Is it not "mushroom pickers"?


Second circus. Assar is in the background.


Rhododendron. In Russia, in natural conditions, it is found mainly in the Caucasus.


Aibga - all the peaks are visible.


Drying lake on one of the spurs.


View from the Achishkho pass (in the classifier of passes Krasnodar Territory marked as pass - 1A). Mount Green, in the distance the Lago-naki plateau. In the circus, the Rybny stream twists like a snake - one of the tributaries of the Berezovaya.


The top of Achishkho is 2391 meters above sea level. View from the pass.


Also a peak, but from the ridge. There is another lake of the same name under the summit.


Valley of the Mzymta River. And the "scars on the body" of the mountains.


It's almost always addictive after dinner at the top. Achishkho is one of the wettest places in Russia.


Almost the entire ridge is visible, the second circus, the top of the "Rock Castle", a drying lake.


Snowball.


This is the way back. From the Medvezhyi Vorota pass.


Krasnaya Polyana with a scree. The talus itself can be seen from the village.


"Rock Castle".


Dolmen on the Beshenka river. There are many of them here.


The Beshenka river. The Malaya Krasnopolyanskaya HPP is located downstream.

Finally. Photo from the tower on Mount Akhun.


This is what Achishkho and Chugush look like from the shore. There is a cloud over the top of Chugush.

Well here's a walk through mountain ranges The Caucasus has finally led us to the Black Pyramid.
For reference: The Black Pyramid is a summit in the Aibga Ridge, located in the South Front Ridge. The mountain from the side of Krasnaya Polyana stands out for its forms, looks like a triangular pyramid, which is why it got its name.

The height of the summit is 2375 m. Northern slopes steep and steep. On the northern slope is one of the most high waterfalls the city of Sochi - the Polikarya waterfall. The top offers a view of the entire valley of the Mzymta River from bottom station cable car Rosa Khutor to the village of Krasnaya Polyana. The peaks of the Main Caucasian ridge are clearly visible: Chugush, Pseashkho.

On the south-western slopes of the peak there are ski slopes of the Gornaya Karusel complex.

Having walked heartily through the open spaces of Circus-2, we figured that we still have half an hour before the cable car closes and we manage to climb the Pyramid. No sooner said than done.
Go))

For tourists like us, on the Pyramid, we fenced off a small "wolf" (step left-step right) with a net and, unfortunately, it was possible to admire the mountains only from it. As they explained to us, there are still too many miles in the mountains and some movements along the top are unsafe.

There is really enough snow, even if you can ski.
Here in front of us is Circus-3 and a cable car goes further beyond the pass to a height of 2340. As I understand it, these cable cars do not work in summer.

Clouds are crawling over the mountains. A little more and we will "drown" in a cloudy fog

Here is the larger station Circus-3. It's a pity you can't go down there. Although, in comparison with Circus-2, where spring has already begun in full swing, here winter does not even think to retreat

And this is the last section of the cable car "Gorki Gorod"

Lodges for lifeguards and avalanche service. Local people say that this piece of mountains is very avalanche a large number of avalanches per season.

Of course, we did not manage to get to the very top of the Pyramid, perhaps by the end of summer the "wolf" is removed and you can walk more. But our 15 minutes quickly ended and with the last seat we leave back to Circus-2 in order to get out from there to the big cable car.
The last piece of the path is practically floating in "milk".

For two days of riding on an open cable car, I almost ceased to be afraid (although, of course, I'm lying, I was driving halfway with my eyes closed anyway). I can't imagine one thing - how to ride this one with skis too? And most importantly, how to get off with skis and not damage yourself?

In the next episode we will take a ride on the Gazprom cable car, do not switch))