The story
Five Peaks Night Trail Festival in Lermontov
Five Peaks is a mountain sports festival in Lermontov, part of the Caucasus Mineral Waters region, built around a KAVKAZ.RUN night trail race across the volcanic laccolith peaks surrounding the city, most notably Mount Beshtau. Routes range from a shorter loop covering three of Beshtau's summits to a longer night trail, with runners typically greeted by sunrise views once the course reaches its higher sections.
Beshtau rises out of the Caucasus Mineral Waters plain the way few mountains do anywhere else in Russia, a volcanic laccolith that never quite became a full volcano, standing apart from any connected range rather than blending into a continuous ridge line.