On the evening of 20 September 2002, a hanging glacier high above the Genaldon valley broke away and came down the gorge as a torrent of ice, rock and mud, burying everything in its path for kilometres. Among the dead was the actor and director Sergei Bodrov Jr., who was filming here with his crew, and his loss turned the disaster into a national tragedy. Today the Karmadon Gorge is quiet again, but the scars of the Kolka glacier collapse are still visible in the shape of the valley floor, and there is a memorial by the road.
The gorge cuts deep into the northern flank of the Caucasus south of Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, with Mount Kazbek and its glaciers hidden in the clouds above. Steep grass slopes rise to grey rock walls, the river runs milky with glacial silt, and old Ossetian stone towers stand on the spurs. Karmadon was once known for its hot springs, which bubbled up in the valley floor and fed a small resort that the 2002 flow destroyed. Some springs still steam here and there, and locals come to bathe. In the neighbouring valley lies Dargavs, the medieval city of the dead, a hillside of stone crypts that is one of the strangest sights in the Caucasus.
The riding in from Gizel and the Vladikavkaz side is short but scenic, climbing up through the foothills on a road that is paved for much of its length, then narrows and roughens as the gorge closes in. Expect potholes, loose stones and occasional rockfall, as well as livestock wandering across the road. Late spring to early autumn is the window; snow and ice make the upper reaches tricky in winter, and summer thunderstorms can bring mudslides.
There are few services in the gorge itself, apart from small guesthouses and perhaps a roadside stall selling cheese or honey. Gizel, about twenty kilometres away, has a shop and fuel, and Vladikavkaz has everything. Bring food and water. Try the Ossetian pies if you see them, round flatbreads filled with cheese, potato or meat, which are eaten everywhere in the republic and are a perfect riding lunch. Pause by the memorial and look up the valley; the mountains here are beautiful, and they demand respect.