A group of specialists from the Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center, visited the representative office of the Krasnodar Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society in Krasnaya Polyana. It was led by the Hero of Russia, pilot-cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. Together with researchers of the RGS, they will select mountain tourist routes for regular training of future cosmonauts.
The visit of the center team took place within the framework of training camps in the Imeretinskaya Valley in Sochi. Specialists of the Krasnodar Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society presented to them a list of hiking trails that are unique in the beauty of the natural landscape and are suitable for the desired elevation difference. One of the routes was tested on the day of the meeting, - “On Efremov's horizon”. Its way stretches across the territory of the Caucasus State Natural Biosphere Reserve.
img_1332.jpg
In the near future, experts will test the second route, passing along the branches of the Achishkho mountain range. This tourist destination has been popular since the beginning of the twentieth century - the time of the existence of the Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club. The main highlight of this trail is a fantastic view of the Main Caucasus Range, which opens from the spine of Achishkho.
Hero of Russia, Russian Pilot-Cosmonaut Anton Nikolaevich Shkaplerov flew three times into space and returned to Earth for the third time in June 2018. On the flight to the ISS, he worked with the American and Japanese astronauts Scot Tingle and Norishige Kanai. On the same expedition, Anton Shkaplerov broke the former Russian record for the duration of a spacewalk, having been left behind for 8 hours and 13 minutes.