Mountain·Russia

Koshtan-Tau

5,144m

Bokovoy Range

3D view drawn from Copernicus WorldDEM-30 (© DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA) and Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH, CC BY 4.0

Elevation: 5,144m
Prominence: 812m
Isolation: 6.5km
Relief: 2,476mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 60°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
First ascent: 1889
Summit: 43.0500°N, 43.2128°E

Mountain

Koshtan-Tau is a mountain in the Bokovoy Range (Russia). Its summit stands 5,144 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 812 m, and the nearest higher ground is 6.5 km away. It was first climbed in 1889.

From the lowest point within 5 km (2,668 m), it rises 2,476 m. The steepest side is the north-west face: 47° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 60° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Verkhnyaya Balkariya, 22 km away at 1,116 m: 4,028 m below the summit.

Koshtan-Tau for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

5.9/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T6 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

1.0/2.50 waymarked routes and 31 path sections nearby
0.0/1.50 huts and shelters
2.0/24,028 m of ascent from the valley
1.3/1.5812 m of prominence
1.0/1.54 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
0.6/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

—

No ski runs within 12 km in OpenStreetMap.

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Koshtan-Tau

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit5,144 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up3,130 msnow from October to June	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Verkhnyaya Balkariya1,116 msnow from December to March	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Koshtan-Tau, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average August afternoon the summit reaches about 0 °C; on January nights it falls to about -35 °C. In 10 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In August the 0 °C line climbs to about 5,210 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (49 mm) and June the wettest (88 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Verkhnyaya Balkariya high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-24	-35	2	1,420	64	12	4.0
February	-23	-34	3	1,620	49	11	4.7
March	-20	-30	7	2,150	80	12	3.9
April	-15	-24	11	2,840	68	13	5.4
May	-8	-17	18	3,920	88	15	6.3
June	-3	-13	24	4,730	88	16	7.2
July	0	-10	26	5,190	72	12	7.5
August	0	-10	27	5,210	61	11	7.5
September	-4	-15	22	4,530	76	10	6.2
October	-10	-20	16	3,610	81	10	4.8
November	-17	-27	9	2,470	76	10	3.7
December	-22	-33	4	1,720	61	11	3.6

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 2,638 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Koshtan-Tau

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

Koshtan-Tau seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 5 km

ViewpointsOther summitsGlaciersCampsites

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

—mountain huts and shelters
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
—ski areas
—waymarked hiking routes
—via ferratas
1climbing crags and routes
18named glaciers
მყინვარი შხარა, Уллуауз, Селлы, Коштан and 14 more
1viewpoints
36campsites
под Укю-кошем, Под шлемом, Укю-кош, Стоянки 3900 and 32 more
10hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Тёплый угол, приют Уштулу, Сакля, Спальный корпус Nº1 and 6 more
6restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

31 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T2T4T5T6

T2 mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Verkhnyaya Balkariya22 km · 1,116 m

Car hire at KUT airport (Kopitnari)Discover Cars · Affiliate link

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-24	-23	-20	-15	-8	-3	0	0	-4	-10	-17	-22
2020	+0.1	+0.2	+3.0	−0.2	+0.7	+0.7	+0.6	−1.2	+3.0	+3.7	+0.8	+1.6
2021	+2.5	+1.3	−2.6	+0.7	+2.0	+0.8	+0.4	+0.4	−1.6	−1.1	+2.9	+1.3
2022	−1.5	+1.2	−4.7	+1.9	−0.5	+0.4	±0.0	+2.6	+1.0	−0.4	+2.1	+2.4
2023	+2.0	−2.2	+2.7	+1.9	+0.3	−0.1	±0.0	+2.5	+0.5	+0.4	+2.2	+2.9
2024	+0.6	+1.9	+0.4	+4.4	−1.3	+2.2	−0.5	+0.8	+1.0	−1.5	+0.1	+0.7
2025	+3.0	−3.1	+2.3	+0.9	+1.3	−0.1	+1.6	+2.7	−0.8	−1.0	+5.6	+0.8

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

4,960 mShota Rustaveli Peak

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q925592) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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