Chegem Waterfalls

The Chegem gorge narrows above the village of Khushto-Syrt to a slot where the walls stand only a few dozen metres apart and the road runs along the river with rock overhead. At that point water emerges from the limestone of the left wall - not over the top of a cliff but out of the face itself, through fissures where an underground stream reaches the surface - and falls in a broad curtain of separate threads onto the road and the river below, so that driving through means going under falling water. There are three groups along the gorge, the Su-Auzu falls being the main one. In winter the whole face freezes into columns and is climbed on ice tools, which is a serious local scene. The gorge continues up towards the Elbrus foothills, with Balkar villages, paragliding from the meadows above and the medieval necropolis at Eltyubyu further on.

What you actually see

• The face falls - water emerging from fissures in the cliff, not over its top.
• The narrow slot - a gorge where the walls stand a few dozen metres apart.
• The winter ice - the whole face frozen into columns and climbed on tools.
• The gorge road - a route that passes directly under falling water.

When to go

May to September for water volume from snowmelt; December to March for the ice. Two to four hours including the drive up.

Honest expectations

The road under the falls is wet, narrow and slippery, with rockfall risk. Stalls and pressure selling at the main viewpoint are heavy. Ice climbing here is for equipped parties only. The gorge road is closed at times by rockfall or snow.

Nearby

Eltyubyu and its necropolis are further up the gorge; Nalchik is north.