Mount Elbrus (5642 m) (Эльбру́с) Caucasus, Russia

Mount Elbrus (Russian: Эльбру́с) is a dormant volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay–Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. The peak is the highest in the Caucasus, in Russia. While there are differing authorities on how the Caucasus are distributed between Europe and Asia, many sources agree that Elbrus is also the highest mountain in all of Europe, or the highest in western Asia, narrowly exceeding (by 32 meters) another volcano, Mount Damavand in the Alborz range in Iran.

Mount Elbrus (west summit) stands at 5642 m; the east summit is slightly lower at 5621 m. Elbrus stands 20 km north of the main range of the Greater Caucasus and 65 km south-southwest of the Russian town of Kislovodsk. Its permanent icecap feeds 22 glaciers, which in turn give rise to the Baksan, Kuban, and Malka Rivers. Elbrus sits on a moving tectonic area, and has been linked to a fault. A supply of magma lies deep beneath the dormant volcano. Myth held that here Zeus had chained Prometheus, the Titan who had stolen fire from the gods and given it to ancient man - likely a reference to historic volcanic activity.
From 1959 through 1976, a cable car system was built in stages that can take visitors as high as 3800 m. There is a wide variety of routes up the mountain, but the normal route, which is free of crevasses, continues more or less straight up the slope from the end of the cable car system. During the summer, it is not uncommon for 100 people to be attempting the summit via this route each day. In 1997, a Land Rover Defender was driven to the summit, breaking into the Guinness Book of Records. Three permits are required for climbing. Foreigners need a Border Zone Permit to be in any area south of Baksan. Prielbrusie National Park Permit is required for access to the park. Foreigners also must be registered in OVIR (Visa and Registration department) in Tyrnyauz.

/Wikipedia.org/

more