Krasnaya Polyana and Rosa Khutor: Mzymta River Valley, Town Hall Clock Tower and Aibga Slopes

Forty kilometres inland from the Black Sea coast at Adler, the 89-kilometre Mzymta River (Russia's largest river emptying into the Black Sea, rising at Lake Verkhny Kardyvach at 2,980 metres) carves a deep valley between the spurs of Mount Achishkho to the northwest and the Aibga Ridge to the southeast. Here, 65 kilometres by road from central Sochi, the urban-type settlement of Krasnaya Polyana (about 550 metres above sea level) and neighbouring Esto-Sadok form a year-round mountain cluster of three interconnected alpine resorts: Rosa Khutor, Krasnaya Polyana Resort (formerly Gorki Gorod), and Gazprom Alpika.

Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort and Elevation Zones

Constructed between 2003 and 2011 across roughly 1,820 hectares of the northern, northeastern, and southern slopes of the Aibga Ridge, Rosa Khutor hosted all alpine skiing, snowboarding, and freestyle events during the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, with racing courses designed by 1972 Olympic downhill champion Bernhard Russi. Today the resort operates more than 20 lifts serving about 100 kilometres of ski pistes:

• Roza Dolina (560 metres above sea level): Straddling both stone-walled banks of the Mzymta River, the pedestrian lower village is anchored by the Rosa Khutor Town Hall (Ratusha), whose clock tower is an architectural homage to Alexey Dushkin's 1952 tower at Sochi Railway Station. Footbridges link riverside hotels, cafés, and the My Russia cultural park.
• Roza Plateau and Olympic Village (1,170 metres): Reached via the first gondola stage (Olympia, climbing from 560 to 1,150 metres), this sunny mid-mountain shelf housed the 2014 Mountain Olympic Village and offers year-round panoramic terraces and family trails.
• Besedka (1,350 metres) and Roza Peak (2,320 metres): A second gondola stage (Zapovedny Les) ascends to Besedka, where riders transfer to the Caucasus Express gondola via Roza-1600 to reach the summit station of Roza Peak at 2,320 metres. From the ridge-top boardwalks and suspension bridge, trails lead along the Aibga crest toward Kamenny Stolb (2,509.7 metres), looking directly across the valley to the snowfields of the Caucasus State Nature Biosphere Reserve.

Krasnaya Polyana Settlement and Krasnaya Polyana Resort (Gorki Gorod)

Before the end of the Caucasian War in May 1864 (proclaimed by Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich at the Qbaada tract), the valley was inhabited by the Sadz-Abkhaz Akhchipsou (Medovey) mountain community. In 1878 Greek settlers from Stavropol Governorate named the meadow Krasnaya Polyana ("Red Meadow" after the autumn bracken fern), and in 1886 thirty-six Estonian families founded nearby Esto-Sadok ("Estonian Garden").

Just downstream from Roza Dolina in Esto-Sadok stands Krasnaya Polyana Resort (built as Gorki Gorod), whose cableways climb from 540 metres through Level 960 to peaks at 2,200 metres beneath Black Pyramid (2,375 metres) and the Bear Waterfall (Vodopad Medvezhy), where Caucasian rhododendrons (Rhododendron caucasicum) bloom in early summer. Combine your mountain day with a stop on the return drive at Skypark and Akhshtyr Gorge or sample mountain dishes from our Sochi food guide.