In the whole of this distance there is only one driving road, that of the Mamison Pass (9280 feet), the highest road in Europe. All other routes across the range, except one or two grass passes, must be made over glacier passes, the lowest about 10,500 feet above sea-level.
3. West and north of the Klukhor Pass lies a tangled group of somewhat lower glaciated summits, some of which are still unascended.
Records and Literature.
If we pass over the ancient traditions and tales of the Arabians, Greeks and Jews, mountaineering in the Caucasus is of very modern growth.
The Arabian Kaf, the Jewish Ararat and the great mountain celebrated by Æschylus as the prison of Prometheus, are all situated in or near the Caucasus range; whether it be true or not that the Tower of Babel was built not far from the borders, this mountain land remains a Tower of Babel to this day.
In the city of Baku there are even now said to be one hundred different languages and dialects spoken. The Caucasus Mountains themselves give homes to as many tribes and dialects as there are rivers.
These tribes were almost always more or less at enmity amongst themselves. This lack of nationality rendered the task of absorption by Russia an easy one. It should not be forgotten that a good part of the Caucasus proper was not conquered by Russia. The nominal sovereignty possessed by the kings of Georgia over many of the mountain tribes only began to be made real when the last king placed himself under Russian protection.
This great diversity of peoples, languages, religions and customs renders travel in the Caucasus, if more interesting, much more difficult. Most of the people know nothing of Russian, and it is therefore necessary for a climbing party to have an interpreter with them who has knowledge of as many of the different languages as possible. Apart from the fabulous, the earliest effort of mountaineering in the Caucasus appears to have been an attempt to ascend Elbrus by a party of four savants, attached to the politico-geographical expedition of General Emanuel, in 1829.
The first writer to draw attention to the Caucasus as a field for mountain exploration was the Rev. H. B. George, in a paper read before the Alpine Club on 2 May 1865. The pioneer expedition was that of Messrs. Freshfield, Moore and Tucker, with François Devouassoud, in 1868. Mr. Grove’s party followed, in 1874, and his book, The Frosty Caucasus, is now a valuable alpine classic. During the ’80’s British mountaineers, with Swiss guides, conquered the majority of the highest peaks. Mr. Cockin was the most successful: three of the greatest peaks fell to him and his guides in one season. Messrs. Dent, Woolley and Holder were also very successful.
My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus, by Mr. A. F. Mummery, describes his expedition in 1888, when the great peak of Dykh-Tau was ascended.