Three-thousander France, Austria, and Italy have many hundreds of Alpine peaks over 3,000 metres. Germany's Zugspitze, at , just falls below the line, whilst Slovenia's Triglav is well under it. Liechtenstein, despite being the only country lying entirely within the Alps, has no 3,000ers on its territory. Apart from the Alps, the dominant range in Europe – if one excludes the Caucasus, which otherwise, in Mount Elbrus (5,642 m), would have the highest mountain in the continent – only the following ranges have three-thousanders: Musala at 2,925 m, the highest mountain in southern Europe (i.e. excluding the Iberian Peninsula), does not
Mount Elbrus longer ascent "Kiukurtliu Route" starts from below the cable-way Mir station and heads west over glacier slopes towards the Khotiutau pass. The ascent of Elbrus from the south takes about 6–9 hours, with a total height difference of between the Barrels Huts and the west summit of Elbrus. From Terskol village one can walk to the first elevation, Azau (). A cable car service is available from Azau to the normal starting location for the Elbrus climb, known as Barrels Hut or Garabashi Station (). The next destination – the Diesel Hut at – is located south from the Barrels