Mount Elbrus Khillar Khachirov, and the west summit in 1874 by a British expedition led by F. Crauford Grove and including Frederick Gardner, Horace Walker, and the Swiss guide of St. Niklaus. Khachirov's nationality is claimed both by Kabardians and Karachay and used by nationalists of both sides. He was a guide for an Imperial Russian army scientific expedition led by General Georgi Emmanuel. While authorities differ on how the Caucasus are distributed between Europe and Asia, most relevant modern authorities define the continental boundary as the Caucasus watershed, placing Elbrus in Europe due to its position on the north side in
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