Ski & Snowboard Georgia
Everyone knows that the skiing in Georgia is awesome, right? "Is there skiing in Georgia" you ask? Of course, we aren't talking about the state of Georgia in the US! We are talking about the country of Georgia located in the Caucasus west of the Black Sea and south of Russia. Georgia is a land of high adventure, an ancient culture, more than a few challenges, and wonderful food & wine, but more than anything else, it has high mountains & loads of snow.
Skiing & snowboarding in Georgia is going through a period of rapid expansion. Entirely new ski resorts, lifts & piste infrastructure are creating new opportunities for powder hounds to explore this fascinating part of the planet. But the ski resorts are only a minor part of the ski Georgia equation and are in reality so poorly run they are probably best avoided! To get a world-class Georgian ski experience it is the backcountry ski touring & cat skiing that will provide it. Replete with remote mountains, there are still a multitude of places that will never have been skied before. Reason enough to find out what it is like for ourselves, and so we did......
What we found was a mix of incredibly deep snow in the south-west, chaos on the roads, higher prices than anticipated, amazing food & wine, a fantastic capital city, badly managed & integrated ski 'resorts', stellar ski touring, amazing backcountry terrain, and some incredible people making their way in a challenging land. It is certainly an 'eyes wide open' destination. Whilst we travelled largely independently, if coming to Georgia for a short ski holiday experience, we highly recommend doing it with a guided tour group as it smooths out as many 'creases' as possible.
[AdListings collection="Europe" category="Georgia Categories" subcategory="Georgia Tours"]
Georgian Ski Resorts
Located in the Caucasus ranges (the Lesser & Greater) south of Europe's highest mountain, Mt Elbrus (5,642m), ski resorts in Georgia have some impressive statistics. Georgia's largest & most popular ski resort is Gudauri in the Greater Caucasus, just north Tbilisi. Gudauri ski resort has a top elevation of 3,250m & a 1,250m skiable vertical. A modern lift infrastructure, 60km(ish) of piste, longest piste trail of 7km, massive side & backcountry freeride terrain & a reasonable lift ticket price make it a seemingly reasonable prospect. The reality is slightly different! Gudauri accommodation development is expanding exponentially but unfortunately with very poor integration with the already badly managed ski area.
Georgia can boast about having some of the newest ski areas in the world. One of them is a 6hr drive north of Kutaisi near the historic town of Mestia in the remote Svaneti region. Below the 4,858m Mount Tetnuldi, the Tetnuldi ski resort has long piste trails, brand new lifts, 950m of skiable vertical in high alpine terrain, a top elevation of 3,160m, abundant freeride powder & very few people skiing it. Whilst its remote location presents a variety of logistics issues to overcome (including of all things electricity interruptions due to cryptocurrency mining!), the main reason to come here is the backcountry ski touring from the resort & into surrounding valleys - it is epic & includes amazing villages with fortified tower houses like Ushguli. However the road to Tetnuldi is a shocker, lift operation is variable, and there is no accommodation near the ski lifts. Opposite Mestia is a tasty ski resort morsel called Hatsvali with fun tree skiing possibilities too, and often overlooked by visitors. The region seems to be a perfect recipe for an epic ski adventure.
To the south of the country in the incredibly snowy 'Lesser' (or 'Little') Caucasus, the resort of Goderdzi has new lifts servicing mellow (but luscious, alpine terrain and forests, plus a low-key cat-skiing venture too. Also in the south, Georgia's resorts are rounded out by the countries best kept secret, Bakuriani. Located more or less mid-way between Tbilisi & Kutaisi, it has modern lifts serving nearly 30km of trails on a decent 1,060m vertical coupled with superb powder riding in steep trees, the country's best 'learn to ski' slopes and a typically cheap ski lift pass. There is some awesome terrain here for anyone that takes the time to explore, but the actual ski 'resort' is so disgracefully managed that we recommend most people should avoid it. Bakuriani is also undergoing a massive spurt of over-development, with hotel & apartment construction already beyond the capacity of the ski infrastructure to cope.
Cat Skiing in Georgia
Way more exciting than the ski resort developments, is the cat ski operation that has established itself in the Lesser Caucasus mountains at Bakhmaro. Run by a professional crew utilising fabulous local talent, Powderproject's Cat Skiing Bakhmaro delivers an exceptional experience for more adventurous skiers & snowboarders. Having run its first season in 2016/17, it has quickly come to terms with its superb terrain & is expanding every year. The sites are in the snowiest part of Georgia, almost guaranteeing untracked powder from late December to early March.
In season 19/20 a more remote cat-ski offering, perfect for expert riders, opened at a new high mountain base in nearby Adjara. The mountain hut is gorgeous and sits high on a mountain ridge with freeride powder direct from the door.
And just for the adventurous that want to be the first to ski in a new part of the world, for season 22/23 a new catski area called Project X opened. Come and discover its secrets and perhaps get to name your own ski run in the coming seasons as the terrain is further explored!
Heli-skiing in Georgia
Heli-skiing is undertaken in Georgia at two main locations in the Greater Caucasus in the country's north. In the remote north-west the remote heliskiing in Svaneti above Mestia provides a vast, almost limitless playground on peaks nearing 5,000m altitude. In the north-east, the Kazbegi area has several well-established heliskiing operations that are able to be experienced as day trips from Gudauri ski resort.
Where is Georgia?
Georgia is in the Caucasus region on the east coast of the Black Sea, wedged between Russia to the north and Turkey & Armenia to the south. It is about 3,000km east of Munich!
Main gateway airports are the capital Tbilisi (TBS) & the second largest city of Kutaisi (KUT). The airports are at opposite sides of the country, nearly 4hr drive apart (270km). Your final destination will dictate your choice of airport. For Gudauri & Bakuriani, Tbilisi is your best entry. For Bakhmaro & Adjara or Tetnuldi & the Svaneti, Kutaisi is the most convenient. Tbilisi is far & away the easier of the airports to fly to, with regular flights from most major European origins, but the drive west to go catskiing or visit Mestia will be tortuous until the highway upgrade to Kutaisi is finished. Flying to Kutaisi is somewhat more problematic. Flights are 2 to 3 times a week from a handful of major & several secondary European airports. Working the flights into a short duration itinerary is difficult, but certainly not impossible. We don’t recommend using the airport at Batumi (BUS) as flights are too often cancelled or delayed. If you do use Batumi, flights will likely come via Istanbul (IST), and require at least one overnight. Why not just stay in Turkey and explore Cappadocia in winter & ski Erciyes?
Once in Georgia, getting around the country is not as easy as one would hope either. Buses, marshrutkas (minibuses), taxis, rental cars & even trains can be utilised in the country. Unless you are a sadist, trying to catch an overcrowded marshrutka whilst laden with ski gear & trying to decipher signs in the local language is a task best left to travel professionals and permanent residents. For the moment, the easiest mode of travel for mere mortals is with an organised tour or via a pre-arranged private transfer direct to a ski resort or town. It’s no surprise that all the listed tours for Georgia on Powderhounds have transfers included!
[AdListings collection="Europe" category="Georgia Gudauri" subcategory="Gudauri Transfers"]
For more information on getting there, see the Getting To & Around Georgia page.
Accommodation in Georgia
Away from the big cities & towns (and parts of the largest ski resort at Gudauri),the most popular, accessible form of accommodation in Georgia is in guesthouses. Generally run by local families, the experience of staying in a rural guesthouse (or even one in a city!) adds layers to a journey through Georgia that one simply cannot get when staying in a hotel. And of course they are affordable & can present the most fabulous dining experiences imaginable.
For anyone looking to stay in hotels, they are certainly available and in places like Gudauri, can be great or abysmal depending on the location. Most travel into Georgia starts or finishes in either Tbilisi or Kutaisi and at some point requires an overnight stay in either city. We thoroughly recommend staying a few nights in and around the old town of Tbilisi. There is alot to see, do, eat & drink! You can play it safe & stay in one of the high-end major hotels along Rustaveli Avenue (like the Biltmore or Radisson Blu), but the better options (and more affordable) are the vast number of smaller boutique hotels, guesthouses & apartments. One of our favourites is the Hotel British House set in a quiet, but fun, area in the old town. Search & book Tbilisi accommodation or Kutaisi accommodation.
[AdListings collection="Europe" category="Georgia Categories" subcategory="Georgia Packages"]
When to Go
The best times to ski Georgia are dependent on the region. For cat skiing in the southwest at Adjara, Bakhmaro & Goderdzi, any time from mid-December to mid-March can be awesome. For the backcountry ski touring & off-piste at Gudauri, March to mid-April are best. for Mestia (Svaneti, Tetnuldi etc) February to mid-April should provide the goods. For Bakuriani, if are a beginner, late December to mid-March, for everyone else avoid it unless the snow is deep, and you are prepared to skin up for the best turns!
Reasons to Ski & Snowboard Georgia
For something completely different, ski and snowboard Georgia. It has great snow & terrain, is culturally intriguing, has awesome food, is still relatively cheap & retains that whiff of chaotic, high adventure that many of us crave.
More Information & Reviews
The Powderhounds visited Georgia in February/March 2023. Yeh ok, we should have gone there years ago, but events have conspired against it ....... better late than never, right? Our opinion on the skiing is very mixed. In general, the ski resorts are poor, and the backcountry, ski-touring & cat skiing is awesome! Read the individual ski resort reviews for more.
See how the Georgian ski resorts compare on the Georgia ski resort ratings page or compare them to the European ski resorts on the Europe ski resort ratings page.
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