... or only mountains can be better than mountains... and skiing

There are strikingly beautiful mountains here... And the sky. I didn't see a blue sky dome taxi anywhere else. In the midst of this irrepressible beauty, a person is reborn. Even the most notorious realist or skeptic becomes a romantic, poet, and philosopher. Among the mighty rocks of the Elbrus region, you somehow understand in a special way how petty your everyday problems, worries, and worries are before his Majesty Eternity...

From Realist to Romantic

Our bus had already been "climbing" the Baksan Gorge for a good two hours to the foot of Elbrus. Somewhere ahead, at an altitude of 2125 meters above sea level, we were waiting (according to my colleague Sergey) for a cozy sleeping building of the central camp site of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation "Terskol", in the existence of which among these stone piles it was hard to believe.

The central military tourist base "Terskol" is located in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic at the foot of the highest peak in Europe, Elbrus, in a pine forest, at an altitude of 2125 m above sea level. The campsite has an 8-storey residential building with 2-and 3-bed private rooms, junior suites and suites, a well-equipped dining room. In addition, there is a sports and cultural center, which includes an indoor swimming pool (length 25 m), sauna, billiards, table tennis, indoor volleyball hall, indoor tennis court.

In general, the whole idea of a two-week vacation at a ski campsite on a ticket worth 980 rubles was doubtful. A cheap vacation means a cheap vacation. Apparently, the quality of service can only be dreamed of, not to mention everything else. But an officer with his salary as a cleaner in a run-down central office doesn't have to choose. And I, having succumbed to the persuasions of a fellow skier, decided to join the ski fraternity. It was relatively easy to buy a ticket. Without any problems, Sergey and I made our way from the Mother See to the Ministry of Water Supply. The All-Union health resort greeted us with a dry platform that had long forgotten about snow and a temperature of +15 degrees Celsius. Our winter "outfit", obviously not for the weather, looked strange here.

But no one had any questions. But I was surprised when a Turbaz bus came up behind us, covered in snow.

- On the Purga Pass. We almost flew off the road, " the tanned driver told the novices of Dochain. "But never mind, God willing, we'll get there in the evening."

And indeed, in the evening we were in Terskol. During this time, summer turned into spring, then autumn, and finally, after passing through Tyrnyauz, which was not yet affected by a summer mudflow, we entered the real winter.

Through the thick snow, I couldn't immediately see what I was looking for.

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It is represented by the central tourist base of the Russian Defense Ministry. The reception hall was cozy and beautifully decorated. After completing the necessary formalities, we received the room keys. As I had expected, the number was still the same. When we were there, the workers took out some old batteries, wiped the acid stains to no avail,and boarded up the "siphoning" windows. Yes, it means a cheap vacation... Sergei cursed and ran off somewhere. As it turned out later, they decided to sell us one of the rooms that had not yet been renovated. The administration considered it unwise to settle officers in rooms decorated according to European standards and empty rooms. The market, gentlemen. But whatever it was, we still spent the night in a normal room, although without amenities. Then there will be some more problems with the instructor - don't care, with the bus, the driver of which disappeared somewhere (or simply put-gave fellow countrymen - cabs to earn extra money), and many skiers had to return from the place of skiing to the camp site on foot or on "private traders". But we no longer paid any attention to all this. After all, Elbrus was nearby.

The Elbrus region is a land of tourism and skiing. Three kilometers from the campsite is the Elbrus cable car complex with two stages of the pendulum and one stage of the chairlift, which takes you to an altitude of 3800 m above sea level. Then you can use snowmobiles to climb to an altitude of 4800m.

And at a distance of 1.5 km from the camp site there is a complex of cable cars "Cheget", which has two stages of chairlift, the maximum ascent of which is 3050 m above sea level.

The ski slopes range in length from 6 to 18 km. Transportation to the cable cars is carried out by transport of the campsite.

- You understand that all these are small things, - Sergey will say then. - Are we here for the service or to go skiing?

And he will be right. The nature, the mountains, the air, the pleasure that we got from the descents from the Azau, Cheget mountains, from the foot of Elbrus, thousands of times covered minor shortcomings in service and living conditions. And the regulars of Terskol simply did not notice them. Speaking of regulars.

Kalinkin, Gorodelsky and others

We met them at the evening of the bard's song at the Cheget Hotel. It was from here that the Terskol-2000 festival started its march to end with a beautiful costumed carnival at the end of the ski season in the Ai cafe on the top of Cheget. The fact is that in addition to skiing from the mountains and contemplating the wonderful nature, military tourists have the opportunity to have a cultural rest here. Well, anyone who gets to the end of the season, he can also become a participant in the traditional song festival, which takes place in all tourist centers of the Elbrus region. The organizers of this wonderful show are officers Mikhail Kalinkin, Vladimir Gorodelsky and Valery Mikhryukov. It is thanks to their enthusiasm and the enthusiasm of the instructor of the campsite Nadezhda Belilovskaya that the stay in Terskol turns into a real holiday.

Unfortunately, this is not the merit of those who should be engaged in organizing leisure activities. As the officer on the organization of this very leisure Igor Pushkarev admitted:

- We try not to interfere. Our task is to set a time, place and open the door.

Maybe that's why the same cultural and sports events are repeated from year to year, from check-in to check-in. And if for beginners

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this 12-day cycle is still interesting, but regular visitors of the campsite, in addition to competitions between groups in volleyball, table tennis, swimming, kettlebells, checkers and chess, would like to participate in other, more interesting events. And the traditional literary and musical evening by candlelight in the library is not an option here.

But the campsite is located in the most interesting places. Once there was even a museum there. But it, like the club, has been under restoration for many years. But the employees are still there. And what people! Our magazine has already written about Evgeny Kruten and his search engines. But after all, many tourists would be interested to learn about the rare finds of the group firsthand. Or Abidat Gazayeva. Entire family dynasties have passed through her hardworking hands. Our stay at the campsite coincided with the celebration of the Day of rehabilitation of the Balkar people in these places. Many tourists asked what kind of holiday it was. Unfortunately, Igor Pushkarev did not think to invite the same Abidat to the library and ask her to tell us about this holiday. And she has a lot to tell about the Cherek tragedy.

Abidat

"My parents lived in Upper Balkaria, in the Cherek district," Abidat says. - Father Aznaur Bakuyev was a blacksmith, mother Rakhimat Bakuyeva was a housewife. We had our own house and farm. When the war started, many men were taken into the army. Then they came back. Their 115th Kabardino-Balkar Cavalry division was then completely defeated. And many deserted home. The NKVD began to crack down on deserters and their families. Then the men stood up to defend their villages. They were declared bandits, and terror was unleashed against the Balkars.

In a book that my daughter Abidat, a law student, gave me to read, I found a document illustrating her story:"...I take hostages, act mercilessly, destroy the entire population, and burn buildings...

During the period from 27.11.42 to 30.11.42, five settlements were destroyed: Upper Balkaria, Sautu, Kutom, V. Cheget and Glashevo. Of these, the first three were burned. Up to 1,500 people were killed... "(From the report of the commander of the combined detachment of the 11th NKVD Rifle Division, Captain N. F. Nankin).

"The tragedy in the Cherek Gorge turned out to be the tragedy of the entire nation for us," Abidat continues. - In 1943, the forced resettlement of the Balkar people to Kazakhstan took place. They were taken out in warm cars. We drove for a whole month. They were brought to the Jalambek gold mine. They lived in barracks. My father got a job as a blacksmith in a mine. I was born in 1950. And in 1952, my father died. The family had seven children. Two died before being deported, and two more died in Kazakhstan. In 1957, my mother and her three children returned here. They settled in the Cherek gorge, the village of Babuen. I graduated from high school there. Then she entered medical school. In 1981, she moved to Terskol.

Abidat worked as a medical worker at the camp site, and then worked in other responsible positions. We met her at a ski rental shop. For those who are not familiar with alpine skiing, choosing the right skis and boots depends on whether your skiing will be a rest or a torment. Abidat is responsible for your mood for the next 12 days.

I must say that visitors to the Elbrus region are treated very well. Whether the local laws work (according to the Balkar custom, a child born is called by the name of a guest, and they only ask him where he comes from and how long he will stay. All other problems are taken care of by the owners. If the guest is unclean before the law, the host's duty is to protect him), or the current difficult economic conditions teach Terskol residents to respect the tourists who give them jobs and earnings.

Although, as the head of the Central military tourist base "Terskol" Polkov admits-

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nick Musa Makhov, there was a time when it seemed that the campsite had come to an end.

Musa

- You won't believe it, 3-4 years ago we were on the verge of collapse, - says the head of the camp site. - I woke up from heavy thoughts. Fuel oil for the boiler room remained for 1.5 days. And where to find it, it was unknown. But I pulled through. They helped. And today, Colonel-General Vladimir Isakov, Lieutenant-General Viktor Storov, and Colonel-General Viktor Vlasov are helping.

At the Musa Sultanovich camp site since 1973. I worked my way up from instructor to supervisor. He can spend hours talking about the history of the camp site, how a simple tent city for mountaineering training of red commanders turned out to be a tourist military base. How the Alpeniad was restored after the war. As he watched, a whole tourist complex with sports and tennis halls, a swimming pool, and a separate dining room grew out of a barracks and a club for lieutenants and cadets. How there were residential buildings for service personnel, a kindergarten, a garage, a boiler room.

Makhov recalls with regret the times when the Union republics did not yet share state borders and tourists could walk through the pass to neighboring Svaneti, in Sukhumi. And now most of the tourist routes have been preserved, but there is no contingent. Tourism has turned into a complete vacation.

It is difficult for a ski base to survive in such conditions, but the team does not sit still, looking for ways to attract more people in the summer. For this purpose, vouchers are offered that allow tourists to spend 3 days at the base, and the rest of the time at sea.

Last year, the central military tourist base returned to the Elbrusiad races.

- This is the merit of the head of the Department of Tourism of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Colonel Mikhail Darin, - says Musa Sultanovich. - What does this race include? We fully prepare the tourist for the ascent to Elbrus. Radial hikes, familiarization classes with snow and ice, overnight stay at a shelter. And then - the ascent to Elbrus.

But Makhov also has other plans:

- As practice says, we don't learn from our mistakes. Afghanistan also showed that officers ' mountain training is lame. Chechnya has confirmed this. But there is an instruction on the creation of special mining training centers for the Armed Forces. "Terskol" in this regard-you can't think of a better one. You just need to organize everything. Officers would come here, get certain skills in mountaineering, do ascents. Of course, we need a different estimate. After all, instead of vacationers, there would be specialists. You can connect schools and cadets. But it all comes down to money...

Yes, now the issue of financing is acute. But Colonel Makhov understands that if he doesn't, no one will help him.

Many things are being done here to improve the campsite. During the conversation, Makhov speaks well of the leadership of the Rear of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, GlavKEU. They significantly mitigate some of the material problems. For example, Terskol receives fuel oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel at below-market prices.

For the rest, Musa Sultanovich relies on his own strength and good relations with people. Only in the last two years, more than half of the rooms of the former hostel at the camp site have been turned into separate rooms due to major repairs. More than 200 of them are fully equipped. 25 rooms have been renovated in the Euroclass, and they are transferred to the category of "luxury". The facade has been updated, Musa Sultanovich says that if it were not for Lieutenant General Storks and his help, all this would not have happened. But the campsite itself earns money. Many travel packages are sold at commercial prices. A considerable income is provided by paid services - visiting the pool, using vehicles, numerous bars and cafes. If for "their" prices are minimal, then for tourists from neighboring tourist centers these prices are 2-3 times higher. I must say that, despite the seasonal nature of the camp site, despite the financial difficulties, Makhov managed to keep the team. Because he's the boss. Even in difficult economic times, he did not give a residential building or kindergarten to the municipal administration, and thus preserved the integrity of the complex and utility systems.

Makhov has a high authority among the population of Terskol. It is not for nothing that residents have been electing him as a People's deputy for several years in a row.

I remember that a man sat down at a table in the cafe, I don't even know if it was a campsite employee or just a local resident:

"Musa," he said, and smiled. "No, not Mahov. I am far from Musa Sultanovich.

And he told us for a long time about what a good person the head of the camp site is, flavoring his story with Caucasian hospitality...

You can tell a lot about the campsite. As well as about the extraordinary nature surrounding "Terskol", the life-giving springs "Small Narzany", the only difficult ski track on Mount Cheget (if you conquered Cheget, you don't mind other tracks) and much more. But our advice to you: after reading this material, do not postpone the trip for a long time. Buy a ticket - and go ahead. You won't regret it...

Lieutenant Colonel Oleg SKIRA.

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