When Shelter 11 burned down. “Shelter of Eleven” on Elbrus is one of the most “historical” high-altitude hotels in the world. Shelter of the Eleven: from temporary shelter to monumental structure

✪ Elbrus. Shelter 11.

✪ Fire at Shelter 11.

✪ [Blog] Winter ascent to Elbrus. Shelter 11- Lower Pastukhov Rocks #3

✪ SIGNS OF MOUNTAIN SICKNESS AND HOW TO COMBAT. ACCLIMUKHA TO PASTUKHOV ROCK. CAMP SHELTER 11 ON ELBRUS #2

✪ Climbing Elbrus part 4 Mexican, Shelter of Eleven and evening hysteria.

Subtitles

Background

The place where Shelter 11 is located was named in 1909. In 1909, one of the groups of excursionists of the Caucasian Mountain Society (CMS), founded in Pyatigorsk by R. R. Leitzinger, consisting of 11 people, making a planned trip to Elbrus, established a temporary camp in the area of ​​​​the rocky ridge, where the building of the “Shelter of 11” would later be erected " The group had a small supply of paint in order to make a commemorative inscription on the stones at the top of Elbrus, and with this paint the inscription “Shelter 11” was made on the stones where their camp was. 20 years later, in the summer of 1929, the famous Russian climber V. A. Rakovsky built a wooden hut covered with iron on these rocks, and transferred the inscription “Shelter of 11” to it. It was a fairly spacious building, capable of accommodating 40 people.

Construction of a three-story high-mountain hotel

The author of the project and the manager of the construction of a high-altitude three-story hotel, capable of hosting more than 100 people at a time, on the site of this hut was an engineer, builder of the first domestic airships, architect and mountaineer Nikolai Mikhailovich Popov. The site for the construction of the new building was chosen just above the hut that existed at that time. Construction of the hotel began in the early spring of 1938. Between the “Ice Base” (as the end of the road to Elbrus was called) and the old “Shelter of 11”, bridges were built across glacial cracks, through which caravans with various construction cargo passed. Delivery of goods began from the very early morning, until the sun melted the well-worn snow road. By the fall of 1938, the residential building, diesel and boiler rooms were almost ready. The hotel building was shaped like an airship. The top has been rounded to withstand powerful winds and storms. To make it windproof, the walls were covered with sheets of galvanized iron. The main building of the oval-shaped hotel had three floors: the first was made of stone, the second and third were of a frame type made of wooden parts. For insulation, special thermal insulation slabs were laid along the entire perimeter of the building. The finishing of the interior continued until late winter, when with the onset of frost it was necessary to stop work and take all the workers downstairs. The following year, work was resumed and in the fall of 1939 the hotel received its first visitors.

Hotel structure

For many years, the Shelter of Eleven had the status of the highest mountain hotel in Europe. On the ground floor there was a kitchen, shower rooms and storage rooms. There were living quarters on the second and third floors. The rooms were equipped with folding two-tier carriage-type shelves and were designed for 2-8 people. There were chests for storing personal belongings and equipment. The walls and ceilings were finished with linkrust, and the parquet floors were varnished. Chandeliers shone from the ceiling. Central heating was installed, water supply and sewerage were working. There was a Kremlin “turntable” and a bathhouse (destroyed during the Great Patriotic War). On the second floor there was a spacious dining room that could accommodate 50 people at a time. According to experts, the hotel was reminiscent of a first-class hotel in terms of comfort. One of its first visitors jokingly called it “The Hotel Above the Clouds.” Later this name stuck.

During the war and post-war history

Military operations in the Shelter of Eleven area

On August 17, 1942, German mountain riflemen, who penetrated into the Elbrus region through the Hotutau pass, under the command of Captain Grot, occupied Shelter 11 without firing a single shot. On this day, August 17, 1942, the head of the meteorological station A. Kovalev, his wife, meteorologist Z. Kovaleva, and radio operator Y. Kucherenko were at shelter 11. Meteorologists continued to work at the station, since no instructions were received from Pyatigorsk. On the same day, a group of three scouts, sent by the command of the Soviet units located in the Baksan Gorge at that time, rose to them from the Baksan Gorge. At about 10 o'clock, winterers and scouts noticed that a column of German rangers was moving from the Khotyu-Tau pass. Some of them headed to the Old Horizon, the other to the Shelter of Eleven. Given the inequality of forces, they decided to descend into the Baksan Gorge, taking with them the most valuable equipment. Under the cover of clouds, bypassing the "Old Krugozor" they descended unnoticed to Azau. According to the German version of the events of this day, which raises great doubts, the shelter was defended by a detachment of Kyrgyz mountain riflemen with Russian commanders consisting of 45 people. The commander of the German rangers, Captain Grot, with a white scarf in his hand, without a weapon, went up to the shelter and allegedly persuaded the defenders to leave the shelter without a fight. One way or another, shelter 11 was occupied by the Germans without firing a shot.

Having occupied the hotel, German rangers climbed Elbrus and planted Nazi flags there. Hitler's propaganda used this symbolic event as a demonstration of victory in the Caucasus. However, the Caucasus was not actually conquered. Almost all passes of the Main Caucasus Range were successfully defended by Soviet troops, not allowing the enemy to reach the Black Sea. Subsequently, Soviet troops made repeated attempts to drive the Germans out of the Shelter of Eleven. However, favorable terrain conditions for the defenders and well-fortified positions of the German troops did not allow this to be done. In total, about a hundred Soviet soldiers died in the battles for the shelter.

After the defeat of the German troops at Stalingrad, the situation on the Caucasus Front changed greatly. German troops were forced to leave the Caucasus due to the threat of encirclement. On January 10-11, 1943, German mountain rifle units left the upper reaches of the Baksan Gorge and left the Shelter of the Eleven.

A group of 20 Soviet climbers who fought in the Caucasus under the leadership of A. M. Gusev climbed the Shelter of the Eleven on February 9, 1943 to carry out the order of the command of the Transcaucasian Front to remove Nazi banners from the peaks of Elbrus. The shelter building was damaged by bombs, its entire facade was riddled with bullets, distorted by shrapnel, the roof of the diesel station was blown off by the explosion. All these are traces of air strikes. The meteorological station was destroyed by the Germans. The building was partially clogged with snow, as the rangers broke down the frames for firewood. Ammunition and mangled weapons lay scattered in the rocks around the shelter. Numerous dilapidated fortifications and firing points were visible everywhere. Food warehouses were blown up or filled with kerosene.

On February 13, 1943, in bad weather conditions, the remains of the banners erected by the Germans were removed from the Western peak, and on February 17 - from the Eastern peak.

In the post-war years

In 1949, the “Shelter of Eleven” was leased for five years to the USSR Academy of Sciences. In the same year, road workers rebuilt the highway between Terskol and the Ice Base, which had been destroyed during the war by landslides and landslides. At the same time, the restoration of the Ice Base and the Shelter of Eleven began. The repair and reconstruction of the Shelter of Eleven required considerable effort.

In 1950, a stone house was built on Stary Krugozor, which served as an intermediate base during the ascent to the Shelter of the Eleven, and the shelter was restored on the saddle of Elbrus, for the repair of which about two tons of various building materials were delivered.

In the fall of 1951, high-voltage power lines were stretched from Terskol to the Shelter of Eleven. The power line wires were custom made from 8-10mm steel cable to withstand hurricane force winds. Power line supports ran along the glacier. In 1952, the power line was destroyed due to the winter movement of the glacier. Some masts fell into cracks and only their tops were visible on the surface of the glacier. By the winter of 1952

A shelter is a place where you can hide, take refuge, or escape. This concept is used in mountaineering. Such a place allows you to wait out bad weather, warm up, and wait for help. There are several shelters on the slopes of Elbrus. One of the oldest is called “Shelter of the Eleven”. It is located on the southeastern slope of the mountain. It cannot be avoided when climbing the Western and Eastern peaks of Elbrus.

From hut to airship

The name of the shelter itself is intriguing. However, the story of its appearance is quite banal. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Caucasian Mountain Society operated in Pyatigorsk. It united lovers of geography and mountaineering. In 1909, a group of 11 members of the society went on a hike to Elbrus. At an altitude of about 4 thousand meters they set up a temporary camp. Leaving it, the climbers painted the inscription “Shelter 11” on the stone. 20 years later, a hut was built on this site, keeping the name.

Initially it was a building made of planks, covered with iron. It could accommodate about four dozen people. People who are able to lift large amounts of building materials to such a height command respect. Since the shelter was popular and could not accommodate everyone, the question of expanding it inevitably arose. Architect and mountaineer Nikolai Popov developed a project for a three-story mountain hotel for one hundred people.

Construction began in 1938. To deliver construction materials, crossings had to be made through cracks in the ice. Since Popov was also a designer of airships, the building resembled a zeppelin. He had a boiler room and a diesel room, where they installed a generator. In total, construction took about a year. The first guests arrived at the shelter in the second half of 1939. For many years it was the highest mountain hotel in Europe.

Through hardship to the stars

In 1942, Shelter 11 was captured by the Germans. The meteorologists working there managed to descend into the Baksan Gorge. The hotel served as a base for German rangers to climb to the top of Elbrus, where they planted their flag. For Germany, this symbolized victory over the Caucasus. However, after the Battle of Stalingrad, German mountain riflemen were forced to leave the region. In February 1943, about twenty Soviet climbers climbed to the shelter, and then removed Nazi symbols from the top.

Since the building was severely damaged, after the war they began to restore it, and then handed it over to scientists. In 1951, electricity appeared in the shelter. However, the wind knocked down power line supports, and the scientists were forced to leave the building. Climbers immediately settled in it. There was even a museum on the third floor. For a long time, the shelter did not have an official owner. The result was a fire that destroyed the building. This happened in 1998.

Only three years later a project for the reconstruction of the shelter appeared. The remains of the burned building were dismantled, and the former diesel station was converted into a residential complex designed for 70 people. Several residential trailers were placed nearby. Now “Shelter 11” accepts climbers climbing Elbrus along the southern route for rest and acclimatization.

I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I wanted all this to finally happen. And everything that worries me, starting with the fear “what about me without a shower and fast Wi-Fi?!” and ending with the fear of lack of air on the way - let all this happen and even fall on me with all its might. Almost boyish fearlessness and the sobriety of an adult guy started a fight inside me. It was a draw.

We are leaving our hotel for 4 days. 4 long days in the mountains of the Caucasus, which in Moscow fly by instantly.

The day before dinner we received our equipment. Perhaps the most valuable thing on a hike is double mountain boots. Without them, it’s better not to try to conquer Elbrus. Even in the warmest, but ordinary shoes, it won’t take long for your toes to freeze. Equipment rental was located at our hotel, where we stocked up with everything we needed.

The one who goes to the mountains more often had more of his own things for the trip. I had nothing but ski equipment, so I took everything to the maximum.

Sleeping bag, ice axe, trekking poles, boots, crampons, mittens. It is only in films like “Everest,” which premiered this fall, that climbers walk along the summit without hats or wind masks.

In life, everything is much more prosaic, therefore, the warmer, the better.

After we left the hotel, our guide Sasha insisted that we definitely stop by the local emergency department to register.

There are a lot of tourists going to Elbrus. Locals say that even if someone is missing, the Ministry of Emergency Situations is in no hurry to search. Maybe they hope that the travelers will find themselves, and raise the alarm only if someone close to the authorities has disappeared))) the case is really serious. Many people find their death on Elbrus. Someone dies here every year. (Back then I didn’t know that I would be able to see the remains of frozen people with my own eyes.(()

The village of Azau is the final destination of our journey by car. Then we transfer our things to the cable car. All the guys are perfectly prepared, they have mountain backpacks. I’m alone, as if at the airport, with my constant Samsonite suitcase. You can immediately see who is a “hiker” and who is a “tourist”)).

Azau is a famous ski resort in Kabardino-Balkaria; in winter there is an influx of skiers and snowboarders. A few years ago, a second ski lift was built in Azau. Now there is no previous congestion and crowding. We go up on an old cable car with trailers, built back in Soviet times.

The first cable car goes to the Stary Krugozor station at an altitude of 3000 meters, but we need even higher.

The second stage of the funicular lifts us another 500 meters, and we find ourselves at the Mir station.

From here Elbrus with its two snowy peaks is already visible in full view. But this is not the last point of our rise upward.

Bikers from the "first channel" club "Night Wolves" came to honor the memory of those killed in the Great Patriotic War. I really love riding a motorcycle and do it every season from April to October. But such motorized salesmen... knows where, .. knows with whom and.. knows why remain beyond my understanding)).

From the "Mir" station to the "barrels" - our final stop, you can get there in two ways: on the old cable car, which operates with long breaks, or on this Ukrainian miracle of technology. This KRAZ has probably seen a lot in its lifetime. 300 rubles per person - and we are in the “barrels”, that is, in our camp.

Let me finally clarify and tell you what barrels are.

Once upon a time, the first camp appeared here, to which cylindrical living quarters were delivered. By the way, the builders of BAM lived in the same “houses.” Someone once called these houses barrels. The word stuck, and now absolutely all shelters, regardless of shape, are called that, located in the Gara-Bashi place at an altitude of 3,700 meters.

Now at this height there are already about ten different shelters, and there is even a hotel and a restaurant. True, I didn’t quite understand how this hotel differs from the camps. The same beds and a toilet-type bathroom.

Having risen from the plain to an altitude of 3,700 meters, at first you do not feel very good. Movements become a little slower, you want to rest. Then little by little you get used to it.

Having settled in, we went for a walk and inspected “our new home,” and the old KRAZ tirelessly continued to bring new “conquerors” to the place.

As usual, I checked the altitude on the altimeter, in different parts of the camp the readings were different, but on average it was just about 3700 meters.

After lunch, we were supposed to have a third acclimatization trip, this time to the “Shelter of Eleven” at an altitude of 4100 meters.

There are no “civilized” toilets in any of the “barrel” camps. But each shelter has its own restroom. I have never been to such camps, but Kolya argued that these are very decent conditions for the mountains, they are better than in many overseas countries.

On the day of our arrival the weather was excellent and sunny. From Gara-Bashi there was a wonderful view of the observatory, where they made their first acclimatization trip. Now she remained far below.

Recently the “barrels” were repainted in the Russian tricolor.

How beautiful the mountains are when there is not a cloud in the sky. Now I look at this photograph and find on it both the saddle and the Pastukhov rocks, but that day it was just two snowy peaks and rotrucks in the foreground. After the ascent, everything was filled with meaning.

I’ll tell you about our shelter - it’s a small house with four bunk beds for eight beds. We were lucky and only our group lived in the house. True, we had to find two Austrian grandmothers here, but they did not stay long: having conquered the peak just on the day of our arrival, they immediately hurried down.

Hello, our new “hotel” is for four whole nights. Nearby there is a dining room, where they prepared a hearty lunch for us, immediately after which we gathered for our third acclimatization trip.

These outlets are necessary for the body to get used to mountain conditions and lack of oxygen. Each subsequent exit is higher and higher.

In the mountains, the weather is very changeable, and if in the morning there was not a cloud in the sky, then in the afternoon gray clouds covered all the beauty. Despite the possibility of rain, we continue on our way.

Kolya helped me out a lot when it came to mountain hiking, giving me his mountain backpack instead of my “Chinese photo bag”.

A new “Italian” shelter was built a little higher up the slope. They say that the conditions here are the best, but we were not able to explore this part of the space. But that’s what makes Turbine so beautiful: what I didn’t see, Alexander saw, which he wrote about in his note. Read it, I highly recommend it!

We walked in mountain boots with trekking poles, but without crampons. When asked whether to wear crampons during the acclimatization trip, group commander Sasha replied: “If you are able to move without crampons, then we go without crampons, because it’s easier without them.”

This hike was a “relieving” hike - a climb up only 400 meters, and after an hour and a half of travel we saw the Shelter of the Eleven.

In 1909, eleven climbers from Pyatigorsk set up a temporary camp here, which they called the “shelter of the eleven.” Afterwards it was converted into a wooden hotel, and in 1938 the highest mountain hotel in the USSR was built.

This spacious three-story building could accommodate up to 40 people at a time. It would still please climbers and “mountain tourists” if it were not for a tragic accident. According to some reports, in August 1998, a tourist from the Czech Republic violated fire safety requirements, which caused a fire that completely destroyed the hotel.

This is what Shelter of Eleven looked like before the fire in 1998

Now there are many unusual hotels all over the world - they are converted from old factories, lighthouses, airplanes, built from snow and ice, erected on trees or lowered under water. There are much fewer hotels that have a long and interesting history, especially mountain hotels. But there are also a lot of them, since the history of tourism, mountaineering and skiing is long, and travelers always need the most comfortable overnight stay that suits the circumstances. In this sense, the Shelter of Eleven hotel on Elbrus is perhaps the most legendary in our country.

“Shelter” is located on the southeastern slope of Elbrus at an altitude of 4130 meters and is considered one of the highest hotels in the world. Its history is long, eventful and legendary.

Location of the hotel on the plan of Mount Elbrus

In 1909, one of the groups of excursionists from the Caucasian Mountain Society, founded in Pyatigorsk by the Swiss Rudolf Rudolfovich Leitzinger, consisting of 11 people, made a planned trip to Elbrus. The group set up a temporary camp at an altitude of 4130 meters. Large stones protected it from the east and north, like natural walls, and the expedition members built another protective wall. They took with them a small supply of paint to make a commemorative inscription on the top of Elbrus, and with this paint they wrote “Shelter 11” on the stones near their camp.

20 years later, in the summer of 1929, the famous Russian climber V. A. Rakovsky built a wooden hut-box on these rocks, covered it with iron and transferred the inscription “Shelter 11” to its walls.

“Shelter of the Eleven” in the original version of the thirties as a barracks-type premises

In 1932, a barracks for 40 people were built. Due to a lack of space, tents were sometimes placed directly on the flat roof of a building - when packed tightly, exactly four “pamirks” could fit there.

In the 1937-1938 season, geodetic, blasting and construction work on the Shelter of Eleven began. As a result, in 1938, a three-story building was erected on the site of the barracks, which stood for 60 years. The new “Shelter” was erected in one season with the help of the local population - people helped lift materials to the construction site.

The hotel building was shaped like an airship. The main building of the hotel, oval in shape, had three floors. The first is made of wild stone, the second and third are of the frame type, made of wooden parts. For insulation, special heat-insulating slabs were laid under the iron sheets along the entire perimeter of the building.

On the ground floor there was a kitchen, shower rooms and storage rooms. On the second and third floors there are residential premises. The cabin rooms were equipped with folding two-tier carriage-type shelves for 2-8 people. There were lockers for storing personal belongings and equipment. The walls and ceilings were decorated with linkrust (note: linkrust, often called Linkrusta (Lincrusta)- this is wallpaper with a relief applied, which creates the impression of stucco and looks noble and expensive), and parquet floors are varnished. Chandeliers shone from the ceiling. There was central heating, running water supply and sewerage. The Kremlin “turntable” was installed and a bathhouse was built, which was destroyed during the Great Patriotic War.

On the second floor there was a dining room that could accommodate up to 50 people. According to experts, the hotel was reminiscent of a first-class hotel in terms of comfort.

During World War II, the Shelter of Eleven became almost the center of military operations. The Nazis were heading to the Caucasus. The 1st Mountain Infantry Division "Edelweiss" was sent to conquer Elbrus - it consisted of soldiers with extensive experience in combat operations in high mountain areas. Before the war, many of these soldiers came to the Elbrus region to study the area, staying in a shelter while climbing to the top. And on August 17, 1942, German mountain riflemen, who penetrated into the Elbrus region through the Hotyuta pass, occupied the Shelter without firing a single shot.

Having occupied the hotel, German rangers climbed Elbrus and planted fascist flags there. Hitler's propaganda used this symbolic event as a demonstration of victory in the Caucasus. But the Caucasus was not conquered. Almost all passes of the Main Caucasus Range were successfully defended by Soviet troops, not allowing the enemy to reach the Black Sea.

Subsequently, Soviet troops made repeated attempts to drive the Germans out of the Shelter. However, the terrain favorable for defense and the well-fortified positions of the German troops did not allow this to be done. In total, about a hundred Soviet soldiers died in these battles. After the defeat of the German troops at Stalingrad, the situation on the Caucasus Front changed greatly. German troops were forced to leave the Caucasus due to the threat of encirclement.

On January 10-11, 1943, German mountain rifle units left the upper reaches of the Baksan Gorge and left Shelter 11. On February 9, 1943, a group of 20 Soviet climbers climbed to the Shelter to remove Nazi banners from the peaks of Elbrus. The shelter building was damaged by bombs, the façade was damaged, and the roof of the diesel station was blown off by the explosion. The weather station was destroyed. The building was partially clogged with snow, as the rangers broke down the frames for firewood. Ammunition and weapons were scattered in the rocks around the shelter. Food warehouses were blown up or filled with kerosene. On February 13, 1943, in bad weather conditions, the remains of the banners erected by the Germans were removed from the Western peak, and on February 17, from the Eastern peak.

After the war, a small museum was created on the third floor of the shelter. Numerous groups of climbers from different countries stayed at the shelter before climbing Elbrus. Alas, on August 16, 1998, the “Shelter of Eleven” burned down due to non-compliance with fire safety rules. In fact, the Shelter burned down to the moraine.

In 2004, a new shelter was built on the slope of Elbrus at an altitude of 4100 m - converted from the diesel engine of the burned-out “Shelter of Eleven” (Dieselhat). Those who cannot fit there put up tents behind the stone walls of the burnt building.

The construction of the new “Shelter” was undertaken by a private investor and volunteers - they plan to restore the old appearance using new technologies. However, the completion date of construction is unknown.

Everyone who has even the slightest connection to the concepts of mountains, mountaineering and the Elbrus peak knows the meaning of the phrase “Shelter of 11”. For many decades (1939-1998) on the slope of Elbrus at an altitude of 4200 m there was a hotel building, a shelter, a refuge for climbers planning to climb Elbrus or escaping from the “steep” weather of Elbrus. The history of the construction of the building that was at one time the highest mountain hotel, and especially with the author of its project, like much else in the history of domestic mountaineering, is covered in the unknown, entangled in mysteries and simply fiction. The purpose of this publication is an attempt to remove certain dark spots of this history and, most importantly, to show, to the best of our ability and ability, who and how was connected with this extraordinary construction. student excursions. That’s what local tourism was called in those days, very similar to local history. Terrain orientation subjects, rules for conducting campaigns, etc. were introduced into the practice of passing final exams in military schools.

This is what the hut-hotel on Krugozor looked like in 1932.

But even the appearance of several small shelter huts could not solve the problem of solving the ever-increasing demand for “living quarters” from excursionists and climbers to Elbrus. The relevant authorities began to discuss a proposal to build a new, modern hotel on the slopes of Elbrus, capable of hosting more than 100 people at a time. When discussing the candidacy of the author of the future construction project, the majority was in favor of approving Climber N.M. Popov. By this time he had considerable engineering experience, having taken part in the construction of the first Soviet airships, and he was no stranger to the mountains. The date for putting the complex into operation was set - the summer season of 1939. This was a tight deadline, and taking into account the lack of supply routes and problems with lifting cargo to an altitude of more than 4000 meters - all this posed serious questions for the designers. The first to climb the future construction site (4200) were the architect-climber N.M. Popov and the Schutzbund climber F.A. Kropf. Popov had broad powers from the TEU of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions for the final selection of a site for the construction of the hotel. Kropf was invited as a specialist in mining safety issues. The flared passions gradually subsided, and most of the disputants agreed with the chosen location on the rocks just above the existing Shelter of 11 building. In mid-1937, caravans of donkeys loaded with boxes of explosives and the necessary geodetic instruments stretched from the Krugozor sites towards the rocky ridge. After the last climbers left the slopes of Elbrus, drilling of wells and geodetic surveys of the area began. And soon the surrounding area resounded with powerful explosions - the bombers began work on preparing pits for the foundations of future buildings. In the process of transportation work, construction managers faced a serious problem: it would take about five years to provide the construction with everything necessary, only for the delivery of goods. The established deadlines did not provide for this. Engineer N.M. Popov found a solution. Simultaneously with the start of preparatory work at the construction site, it was decided to immediately begin construction of a tractor road from the village of Terskol along the slopes of the Garabashi massif, through the “New Krugozor” (that was the name of the clearing located at approximately the same height as the “Krugozor”) and pass through the middle part of the Terskolsky glacier. The road ended at an altitude of approximately 3800 m. Then its path continued along glaciers and firn slopes. This section was only 4 km long, compared to 7 km if it had been led through Stary Krugozor. And the terrain here was much smoother and flatter.

Now you can easily and quickly climb to Krugozor in a cable car cabin.

In the early spring of 1938, construction of the hotel began. Between the “Ice Base” (as the end of the road was called) and the old “Shelter of 11”, reliable bridges were built across glacial cracks, and caravans with various construction cargo stretched across the eternal snow. They carried loads everywhere, there were ordinary Russian sleighs with sleds, on which horses transported long parts, oxen dragged heavy logs and small donkeys under a pack, and people carried loads that, for various reasons, could not otherwise be delivered upstairs. The traffic schedule was chosen unusual - starting from the very early morning, everything that could move rushed upward until the morning sun dissolved the knurled snowy road. During the day, everyone rested, ate food, waiting for the night frosts, which quickly froze the road, which had become “soggy” during the day, and everything that could move rushed upward again towards the construction site. This schedule turned out to be the most reliable, which made it possible to begin the construction of the buildings themselves very soon. There was an attempt to use a tractor to transport goods, but the first iron “horse” of buses. Their upper part was rounded to reliably withstand powerful winter (and not only winter) winds and storms. To make them windproof, they were covered with sheets of galvanized iron. The main building of the oval-shaped hotel had three floors. The first is made of wild stone, the second and third are of a frame type made of wooden parts. For insulation, special heat-insulating slabs were laid under the iron sheets along the entire perimeter of the buildings. The toboggan road ceased to exist in late autumn after it was covered with autumn snowfalls. The finishing of the interior continued until deep winter, and only severe frosts forced the work to stop and all the workers to be taken down. The following year, work resumed as soon as the snow road was restored. The autumn of 1939 was a joyful event for all the workers who took part in the construction of the complex - the hotel received its first visitors. On the ground floor there was a kitchen, shower rooms and storage rooms. There were living quarters on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The rooms, in their shape and equipment, were very reminiscent of ship cabins; this was emphasized by the folding two-tier carriage-type shelves. The rooms were designed for 2-8 people. There were lockers for storing personal belongings and equipment. The walls and ceilings are finished with linkcrust, the parquet floors are varnished. There were chandeliers shining under the ceiling, running water, central heating and sewerage. On the 2nd floor there was a spacious dining room that could accommodate 50 people at a time. In a word, according to experts, the hotel was reminiscent of a first-class hotel in a big city in terms of comfort. And one of its first visitors jokingly called it “The Hotel Above the Clouds.” Later this apt name stuck. fell into a crack and had to abandon this option for transporting goods. By autumn, the residential building, diesel and boiler houses were almost ready. Their forms caused builders more than simple bewilderment and admiration at the same time. Their shapes resembled a partially inflated airship (N.M. Popov’s experience in the construction of airships was evident) or resembled the body of huge

This is what “Shelter 11” looked like from the slopes along which they climb in the direction of the Pastukhov rocks.

The first residents of the new “Shelter of 11” were employees of the Elbrus expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences, who occupied almost half of the 3rd floor. Scientific laboratories were also equipped there. On the same floor there were rooms for foreign climbers. Since 1939, the ascent to the “Shelter of 11” was carried out through the “New Krugozor”, where a temporary camp site was built and the construction of the main one was planned, as well as along the “Elbrus tract”, shorter and with a shorter length of the glacial path, very tiring for travelers. The former route was used only by lovers of snowy expanses and foreigners who had their own hotel at Stary Krugozor. In 1998 - August 16, the “Shelter of 11” was completely destroyed by fire.

"Shelter of 11" is on fire

Nikolai Mikhailovich Popov is the author of the project and the construction manager of the “Shelter of 11” and the Terskol-Ice Base highway on Elbrus. His father, Moscow State University professor M.N. Popov, instilled in him a love for the mountains. The younger Popov first goes to the mountains at the age of 16. In 1932, a special high-mountain detachment of the Kuban glaciological expedition of the II International Polar Year (IPY) worked on the southwestern slopes of Elbrus. This expedition was organized by the OPTE cell of the Moscow House of Scientists. A detachment led by prof. worked in the upper reaches of the Kuban River. M.N. Popov, and the high-mountain unit of this detachment was headed by his son, N.M. Popov. By this time he had already become a fully trained climber. He became the author of a map of Elbrus, which was included in the reference guide “Caucasus Passes” (Physical Culture and Tourism Publishing House, Moscow, 1935).

On the crest of the peak of the Stalin Constitution. (Photo by N.M. Popov)

For a more detailed exploration of the high-mountainous glaciation areas of Elbrus, N.M. Popov’s team in the same year created the “Western Shelter” on the rocks of the barrier of the Ullukam crater of Elbrus (4047). After a thorough exploration of the southern slopes of the West. On the shoulder of Elbrus, the detachment climbed this shoulder (4911) and from here N.M. Popov and his friend B.I. Rukavishnikov climbed to the West for the first time from this side. The top of Elbrus (5642). N.M. Popov was awarded the title “Master of Soviet Mountaineering.” In the post-war period, NM Popov actively took up the restoration of the mountaineering section of Moscow State University (his father’s home university), focusing on training new instructors and coaching staff. He took part in the organization and conduct of four Alpiniads of Moscow State University.