Ai-Petri mountain is a white limestone sentinel (actually the remains of a onetime coral bed beneath the Black Sea) towering over the surrounding countryside and town of Alupka at an elevation of 1,234 meters. That’s nearly 4,000 feet, and while 4,000 feet elevation may not sound all that impressive, what makes it memorable is how Ai-Petri rises to this height directly from sea level in a very abrupt manner. Taking the cable car ride to the top will prove this to you in short order, though I have to warn you this is not a trek for the faint of heart.
All I could think of as the gondola soared skyward was “I sure hope the cable has been inspected occasionally since the end of the Soviet Union and doesn’t snap like a dry twig when we’re halfway up and send us plummeting onto the jagged rocks below.” But it’s hard not to have such thoughts when you’re riding up the sheer face of this mountain that looms above you. On the other hand, if you can relax and put thoughts of imminent doom out of mind, the view is breathtaking and the ride is fun in a scary amusement park kind of way. I can’t even say for sure how long the ride lasts as one tends to lose track of time when your life passes before your eyes in a blur. Probably more than five and less than ten minutes.
(Start of tram ride, Ai-Petri looming above)
