Today, on May 3rd, the festival of winter extreme sports, the 2016 Red Fox Elbrus Race officially began for the eighth time! More than 300 athletes from 14 countries all over the world are spending the first beautiful days of May the snow covered Mt. Elbrus in the Caucasus mountains challenging themselves in various alpine competitions.

General Director of Red Fox, Alexander Glushkovsky and representatives of the government of Kabardino-Balkaria welcomed participants on the Opening ceremony. Sunny blue skies and sparkling snow decorated this amazing event.

The results are in for the first competition! Ski-mountaineering team race was held today with two prizes at stake: the Elbrus Open Ski-Mountaineering Cup and Victory Cup.

35 teams registered for the Elbrus Open Ski-Mountaineering Cup including five Catalonian and two Swiss teams; four all-female teams. 26 teams registered for the Victory Cup including three women's teams.

Teams from Catalonia and Switzerland earned the title of the strongest and fastest athletes according to the final results of the Elbrus Open Ski-Mountaineering Cup:

Men
1st place – Cardona Oriol, Sola Pastoret Marc (Catalonia) – 02:07:24;
2nd place – Pervangher Mirco, Morelli Luca Davide (Switzerland) – 02:17:00;
3rd place – Sadurni Roque Xavier, Gaston Puyo Jose Alfonso (Catalonia) – 02:19:09.

Russian athletes became the best among women in the Elbrus Open Ski-Mountaineering Cup, as well as in the Victory Cup.

The next breathtaking competition will be the Vertical Kilometer® - Mt Elbrus, 2450-3450 m, to be held on May, 5! Follow the news!

Photo: Aigul Lotfullina and Elena Malysheva