Mount Elbrus Russia. The name "Elbrus" is a metathesis of "Alborz", which is also the name of a long mountain range in northern Iran. It is derived from Avestan "Harā Bərəzaitī", which is a legendary mountain in Iranian mythology. "Harā Bərəzaitī" reflects Proto-Iranian *"Harā Bṛzatī", which was reformed into Middle Persian as "Harborz", and into Modern Persian as "Alborz". "Bṛzatī" is the feminine form of the adjective *"bṛzant" ("high"), the reconstructed ancestor of Modern Ossetian "bærzond" ("high", "peak"), Modern Persian "barz" ("high"), "berāzande" ("elegant"), and "boland" ("high", "tall"), and Modern Kurdish "barz" ("high"). "Harā" may be interpreted as "watch" or "guard", from
Mount Elbrus Huts and up the slopes of Elbrus. From the Diesel Hut the route heads straight up towards the east summit of Elbrus, continuing south up the slopes. The slopes surrounding the classical route to Elbrus from the South contain large crevasses. Heading towards Pashtuhova Rocks (at elevation), the classical route up Elbrus becomes steeper after passing between two linear rock bands. After leaving this section, the Elbrus route heads on – first northward, to the east summit of Elbrus, or rather the saddle between the east and west summits of Elbrus (), but soon turns left to the west summit