You visit the Caucasus Mountains in the winter for the perfect snow. Mount Elbrus is the Holy Grail for those who want to ski the tallest peak in Europe, but the Krasnaya Polyana resort offers equally good powder with less fear factor. The spas of Mineralnye Vody and Kislovodsk have their Soviet-era charms, if you like stern women drawing your bath and complimentary dental "inspections." To get there, you fly from Moscow to Sochi, then take trains and taxis to the slopes and spas. Since little English is spoken, you will probably need a travel agent to make your bookings. In Russia, waitresses, receptionists, and guides can be downright hostile. There's a reason for this: You are the customer, and the customer means work. Work is not yet wildly popular in post-Soviet society. It may be one day, but probably not in this century. This is why Russians generally tip no more than ten percent.

Mount Elbrus

Getting to Elbrus takes time. The closest train station is in Nalchik, but the town has little to offer travelers, and its relative proximity to war-torn Chechnya makes it more unstable than most Russian backwaters. It's best to travel to Elbrus via Mineralnye Vody, which has a train station and an airport.

It's possible to spend the night at the base of the mountain, in Terskol. But Cheget, no more than a mile or two up the road, is (slightly) more developed and has its own mountain, meaning skiers can try Elbrus one day and Cheget the next. Do not stay in the village of Elbrus, which is farther from the mountain. At Cheget's open-air market, vendors sell woolen goods—gloves, hats, socks, sweaters. No prices are fixed, and you shouldn't spend more than $10 to $15 on any item.

The coziest, cleanest place to stay in Cheget is the Hotel Ozon Cheget. Come downstairs for a warm breakfast, then descend one more flight to the ski rental shop, head out through a side door, and walk three minutes, and get on the lift (7-86638-71345; doubles, $78). If you want to ski Elbrus, one of the cabbies hanging around outside the inn will cram your skis into the back of a tiny Lada and get you there for $4 to $6.

Mineralnye Vody and Kislovodsk

The town of Mineralnye Vody has little to offer except for the alpine air and spas. The Tselebny Narzan hotel includes mineral baths, "figure correction" and "men only" programs, and a week of "natural beauty." Lots of serious people who have never been to medical school walk around in lab coats (7-879-376-6197; doubles, $100–$150). The Grand Hotel, on Kislovodsk's main drag, is decidedly post-Soviet, and the rooms are clean and well lit (7-87937-331-19; doubles, $100–$120). Zamok, outside of town at the end of Ozernaya Ulitsa, feels a bit like a miniature golf course, with its faux-mahogany brides and Olde England turrets. The main dining room and the café serve top-of-the-line Caucasian cuisine (Ozernaya Ulitsa; 7-879-3464; entées, $25–$50).

Krasnaya Polyana and Sochi

Lodging is limited in Krasnaya Polyana, but there are lots of hotels under construction, many of which sport neon signs that scream Billiards. For now, the Radisson SAS Lazurnaya Peak Hotel is the best in town. It offers Western-style rooms, and the nightly buffet at its Twin Peaks restaurant has solid fare. (The salmon-perch soup, served with a shot of vodka and black bread, is particularly good.) The Lazurnaya Peak sells lift tickets, rents ski equipment, and offers a reliable shuttle to and from mountain base (7-8622-66-36-00; radisson.com; doubles, $238–$322).

Helicopter skiing is popular in the Caucasus, and Heliski.ru is probably the best in town, charging about $455 to ski virgin snow on mountains you cannot get to any other way. Guides speak English, have first aid kits and stay in radio contact with an emergency center that monitors avalanches. It's easy to buy tickets at most hotels in Krasnaya Polyana (no phone; heliski.ru/en).

Many hotels are going up in Sochi ahead of the Olympics, too, but the Grand Hotel & Spa Rodina, nestled along the pebbly shore of the Black Sea, offers the height of Russian elegance. The Rodina, which means "motherland," has been around since the 1950s, when it was known as the Rossia ("Russia") and hosted the Soviet elite. (Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, according the hotel, stayed here after his historic 1961 space orbit.) The hotel has been renovated and has modern rooms, five-star restaurants, indoor and outdoor pools, and a private beach, and a library that's better known for its stock of cigars than its books (7-8622-539-000; doubles, $516–$672).

Iveria offers some of the best Georgian food in Sochi, including khachapuri (thick bread coated in feta cheese), lamb dumplings, veal stew, and marinated sturgeon (3 Chermonskaya St.; 7-8622-668-491; entrées, $25–$30).


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