Yana Vinetskaya exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
“If one has health, strength, energy,” a representative of the British Mountain Club wrote a century ago, “go to the wonderful country; giant mountains silently call for you, dignified nature calls for you: Welcome! It will show you its wonders and tell you: come, I will show you something that few people can see. The beauty is yours – take it! Only a dream can compare with it; you will never forget my charms. If you want it, go to the Caucasus.”
In the late 19th century many mountain areas of the Caucasus were terra incognita not only for common people, but also for people of science. But soon travelers from various countries began to arrive to the Caucasus for serious scientific studies.
Russian climbers followed foreigners only in a few years. Grigory Moskvich wrote in his guidebook on the Caucasus in 1913: “Recently a tourist who decided to climb a peak of the Caucasian Mountains or go for an excursion, scientific or entertaining, would find himself in a hopeless situation, as nobody would help him. The Caucasus and whole Russia had no society or any other institute where a tourist could get necessary information on an excursion or find special books on the question which was interesting to him.”
European climbers began to establish special associations in the mid of the 19th century. In 1857 the London Mountain Club was founded; in 1862 – the Italian Mountain Club in Torino and the Austrian in Vienna; in 1863 – the Swiss; in 1869 – the German in Munich which grew into the Alpine Society in 1872, by the beginning of the 20th century it involved almost 50 000 people.
The first society of climbers, the Crimean Mountain Club, was founded in the Russian Empire only in 1890. The Club extended its geography and in 1904 was rebranded into the Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club. However, the Russian club couldn’t compete with its European colleagues – only 700 people were its members in the early 20th century.
Moreover, in 1901 the Russian Mountain Society was established in Moscow; in 1902 – the Caucasian Mountain Club in Sochi, in 1903 – the Caucasian Mountain Society in Pyatigorsk, but the number of members in the clubs didn’t surpass 300 people. The clubs undertook climbing on Kazbek, organized excursions to Chegem, the Tseisk glacier, Kutaisi, gave consultations to climbers and build shelters for them in mountains.
Climbing was a hobby of rather wealthy people. The point was not only in the huge amount of time and financial spending on organization of a travelling to the Caucasus. A hundred years ago even the simplest climbing equipment was rare; it could be bought only in St. Petersburg or Moscow at great cost; some things had to be brought from Austria, Switzerland, or Germany.
The Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club recommended to climbers who wanted to climb the Caucasus: “A woolen costume which is specially used for such travelling could be found in St. Petersburg or Moscow. The most comfortable style is a closed jacket with a belt, a turn-down collar and folds in the front and a lot of pockets. A waistcoat should be single-breasted. Midi or maxi length pants are with buttons. A short should be flannel with long sleeves and a turn-down collar. Long woolen socks. A hat with a peak or wide flaps.”
