The decision on the revival of the Resorts of the North Caucasus was taken at the federal level, even before the return of Crimea, economic sanctions and the fall of the ruble. It was based on the fact that tourists would be better spending money in the country, and the Caucasus received another incentive for development. In accordance with the decisions of the government, nine resorts were included in the tourism cluster of the North Caucasus Federal District, Krasnodar Territory and Adygea – Arkhyz, Veduchi, Elbrus-Bezengi, Mamison, Armkhi, Matlas, Lagonaki and the Caspian coastal cluster and spa resorts.
Vestnik Kavkaza describes the resorts which have already been discovered by tourists and those which have just started to be constructed.
In North Ossetia, the Tseyskoye and Digorskoye Gorges are thought to be the most attractive for tourists. The resorts of the Kurtatinskoye Gorge are more popular among local tourists from the republic. “Everything depends on infrastructure; and there is infrastructure in Tsey and Digoria. Moreover, it is connected with tourist flow facilities. They are also situated in the Tseyskoye and Digorskoye Gorges. Even if you want to visit Mamison today, you won’t find accommodation facilities there,” the head of the Department of Tourism and Resorts of the Ministry of Tourism and Investments, William Gagiyev, admits.
They began to build infrastructure in the Mamisonskoye Gorge in 2007. Today the territory is almost completely connected to the gas network and has electricity power supply. Providing water supply and construction of a road are being finished at the moment. 1.5 billion rubles were spent on building communications.
Mamison is situated 102 km from Vladikavkaz International Airport and 85 km from the railway station of Vladikavkaz. The area of the resort is more than 84 square ha. The area of slopes will be up to 19.5 million meters. The level difference is 2042-4038 m A.S.L.
The resort-to-be
At the moment, the project and key technical decisions on the resort are being developed. Its master-plan is ready. Architects are assessing the prospects for development and plans for urbanization of the Gorge. Corrections of schemes of territorial planning of the District and the region in general are being made.
The building plan requires a shift of the skiing zone toward Zrug. The North Caucasus Resorts are responsible for development of infrastructure and creation of a favorable investment climate. 5 stages of the project’s implementation are planned. Each of them will last up to 10 years. They say it is impossible to develop the territory in a shorter period.
The resort-to-be
Recently, the Asteros Group has developed conceptual decisions on providing security and anti-terrorist defense of the Mamison Complex. Experts say that implementation of the ideas will enable to reduce a possibility of incidents on the whole territory of the resort to minimum. “The project is a bright example of modern technologies protecting humans, infrastructure, environment,” the Director of the Department of Complex Security of the Asteros Group, Vladimir Shelepov, explains. “I should note such an important aspect as absence of excessive intrusiveness of security measures: our proposed organizational and technical decisions won’t change a common way of life of the resort’s guests.”
The concept considers natural, man-caused, terrorist and environmental risks.
However, there is no concept against corruption risks. This summer the FSB and the Interior Ministry discovered an instance of embezzlement of federal public funds during construction of two electricity power lines for Mamison. The initiators of the scheme used materials which were bought for much lower prices than was quoted in their reports. A criminal case was initiated against the head of the contracting organization.
The resort-to-be
Nevertheless, the Mamison resort will be built. According to the initiators’ plans, it will strategically change the economy of the region. The problem is that the perfect landscape for a mountain resort is difficult to develop; the distant gorge had neither roads nor infrastructure. Mamison is unique with its natural mountain skiing lines, which are rare in the world. Glaciers prolong exploitation of the lines for 1.5-2 months. The Zaramag Glacier will provide an opportunity to organize conditions for mountain skiers even in summer.
In winter, the resort will be a mountain skiing facility; in summer, tourists can go in for mountain climbing, rafting, jeeping, paragliding. Routes for horse riding and backpacking trips will be developed.
