On Sunday, December 27, in the vicinity of Mount Elbrus, Kabardino-Balkaria, there was held the opening ceremony of the third stage of the ropeway on Mount Elbrus fr om Mir station to Gara-Bashi station, which became the highest ropeway in Europe. The Minister of North Caucasus Affairs of the Russian Federation, Lev Kuznetsov, the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Dmitry Livanov, the head of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic YuryKokov, Deputy Authorized Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North Caucasus Federal District Valery Popkovand Director General of JSC NCR Oleg Gorchev took part in the ceremony.

After seeing the new ski equipment and snowboard equipment rental with sportswear store and service center, located on Azau meadow, honoured guests were lifted to Mir station, wh ere they welcomed the visitors of the year-round resort Elbrus and solemnly cut the red ribbon at the bottom landing station of the new ropeway.

"Today we open the ski season on the highest mountain in Europe, Elbrus, and it is very remarkable that the unique lift and the unique track will be associated with this unique mountain for us," said the Minister of the North Caucasus Affairs of the Russian Federation Lev Kuznetsov at the opening ceremony. "First of all, I would like to thank the builders who in such a short period of time, being in such complex climatic conditions, managed to create this unique facility. I invite everybody to the Caucasus, known for many unique things, and this ropeway will be one of the contributions that will help us learn more about the Caucasus and love it. The Caucasus will open for us a variety of attractions which it is famous for," he said. "This project helps us provide the citizens of Russian an opportunity to pay more attention to local resorts and understand that today we are competitive here and can provide high-quality services," explained Lev Kuznetsov.

The Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Dmitry Livanov, an honoured guest of the ceremony, pointed out that opening of a new lift is a perfect gift for everyone who enjoys downhill skiing. "It's great that our country has created all conditions for people to do their favourite kinds of sport. I believe that the tourist flow here will increase many times," said the Minister.

The head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic Yuri Kokov pointed out: "Today we have a real chance to create a world-class resort in Russia. The government of Kabardino-Balkaria, as well as relevant sectoral ministries, and company Northern Caucasus Resorts made great efforts to start such a project. But we understand that this is only the first step. We need modern conditions, the infrastructure should meet international standards. Apart from that we need to improve our service and raise it at the high level, so to say as high as the ropeway is, 3,847 metres.”

Director General of JSC NCR Oleg Gorchev thanked all honoured guests of the ceremony and "people who participated in the construction; because it was very difficult to build such a facility in such a short period of time and under such conditions”. "I want to say that Northern Caucasus Resorts will not stop construction at the third stage of the ropeway construction from Mir station to Gara-Bashi station. Next year we are planning to build a system of artificial snowmaking on the first and the second stages, to seriously expand skiing area, and every effort will be made to make the resort more and more attractive to guests,“ told the head of JSC NCR.

Guests of Elbrus resort were the first to raise by ropeway, examined an outrun area and started the first ceremonial descents down the new slope Gara-Bashi-Mir, which was attended by students of the youth sports school of the Elbrus district, and thus opened the new ski season 2015/2016.

During the day, entertainment and contests were held at Azau meadow, and celebration ended with an evening laser show and a musical set from the popular DJ.