How did somewhere so disorganised and lacking in customer focus run a World Championship event? It beggars belief how poor I (and many others I met) found Bakuriani to be. During the event only one run & lift were open to the public. Nothing else. Zero, nada, nothing. One couldn’t even take a lift to go up and be a spectator. What the fark? As an advertisement for Georgian skiing, it certainly sent the correct message. The message being that the ski lift operators in Georgia don’t care about the paying guests….. at all! They haven’t even got a functioning website, instead posting occasional ‘updates’ via Facebook. They seem to be of the view that we have put in modern lifts, groomed a trail or two and so think that is a ski resort. NO IT IS NOT. Actually, reliably running the lifts would be a good start. Having reliable natural snow cover would be another. Never mind the complete lack of anything approaching a reasonable integrated resort management. Terrible roads; crumbling, poor to non-existent car parking; disinterested/unhelpful and indeed rude lift staff with zero consideration for the guest experience (not that most guests were much joy either - possibly a bit of reflection of feeling between the staff & the awful guests!); gross overdevelopment, but most of it not even near the skiing (hah!); a private, separately ticketed ski area (Crystal Resort) separating the two disparate sectors of the main resort (Didveli & Kokhta); overflowing rubbish bins everywhere; a mysterious, incoherent bus transport system; no lift/piste status boards; ticketing staff that are not updated on status so are almost fearful to sell you a lift pass. The list goes on.

Whilst on one day after snowfall I did find some nice snow and had a few good turns skinning up in the Kokhta sector of this ‘ski resort’ during my visit in early March, it would be a miracle if I ever come back to Bakuriani. The awful, disjointed town, poorly run ski area, and lack of natural snow are more than enough to ensure I never come back. Even the beautiful high-end hotel I stayed in had some hugely disappointing elements.

However as with everywhere, there are some positives about Bakuriani that should be stated. The Rooms Kokhta Hotel is perfectly located, well designed and has superb rooms and food. It is not cheap (other than lift passes, not many things in Georgian ski resorts are cheap any more), and many of the clientele tend to be on the incredibly rude & inconsiderate side of the ledger, but with the good comes the bad.

And Bakuriani has a huge potential for some great off-piste skiing (in the Kokhta sector), but that requires quality & quantity of snow. Something that appears to be rare. Even the piste trails in the Kokhta sector looked to be fun. Shame they weren’t open.

Food wise, its Georgia, so the food is quite good, but perhaps not as generous as elsewhere. I found the Restaurant Kokhta a far more pleasant place to eat and drink the Rooms Kokhta Hotel restaurant where I was staying. Liberal shots of free cha-cha probably helped, but that's what hospitality is all about. Up on Didveli, the mid-mountain cafe had pleasant, professional staff serving good coffee and food.

In a season where Adjara (Goderdzi, Bakhmaro) & Svaneti (Tetnuldi, Hatsvali, Mestia) were getting pounded with too much snow, Bakuriani spend much of the winter as bare, windswept rock and grass. And when there was snow, hardly any lifts ran, or the wind quickly stripped the slopes back to practically nothing. Now that shouldn’t be a problem because the resort has an enviable snow-making system that covers much of the best bits in the two sectors. Sadly though, it appears the system had been used on the World Cup courses and the dam was dry before anything could be put onto the runs ……… that’d be right!

Powderhounds should avoid this shambolic excuse for a ski resort until it visibly improves its standards AND there is a ton of snow on the ground. Note that with snow comes road chaos. Another Georgian skiing trait that is amusingly quaint at first, then steadily becomes more frustrating & gobsmacking as time goes on.

Only come here at the last minute if you live within one flight of Tbilisi (i.e. UK, Europe, Middle east), and when snow conditions are good, the gold-plated lift infrastructure is functioning, or if you are into earning your own turns. Novices new to the snow may also find staying the Rooms Kokhta and skiing the sheltered lower chairlift a more than adequate ski holiday experience. Otherwise, stay away ….