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Georgia - Powder Dreams on the Goderdzi Pass

Some of the best catskiing and freeriding on the edge of Europe – land of snow…

Price: 2750 EUR

A skiing resort with only a handful of visitors

The Goderdzi Pass is located on the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Low-pressure areas form over the Black Sea and help deliver huge amounts snow to the Lesser Caucasus. A normal winter can have around 3-4 metres of snow in January. The valley station of a newly built cable car and some newly built hotel complexes, which are still waiting for their visitors, are located on a large, snow-covered alpine meadow. For some of the hotels, the construction phase is a little longer, and maybe they will never be completed. These lift facilities and a snowcat allow us to access to some amazing untouched areas. Our accommodation is located directly on top of the Goderdzipass and in winter is only accessible by snowcat.

The next 5 1/2 days will be all yours to discover unknown terrain between 1600 to 2600 metres with incredible runs over treeless slopes or even through gladed forests. We share this great terrain with only a vew others skiers. If you are looking for an unforgettable freeriding adventure right on the edge of Europe, then this trip to the Goderdzi Pass is the ideal.

Itinerary

We will reach Tiblisi, the so-called Rome of the East, either with a direct flight with Lufthansa or via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines. Turkish airlines offers flights from most of the larger cities in central Europe. From Istanbul, you will have a short flight of 1 hour 40 minutes to Tiblisi. In the beautiful and scenic capital of Georgia, we will board a shuttlebus and travel approximately 4 hours to Adigeni. We’ll grab a quick bite to eat at a restaurant on our way. Just past Adigeni, we will change into a snowcat and reach our hotel directly on the pass in roughly 45 minutes. During dinner we will go through all of the need-to-knows for this trip. The next morning, after a generous breakfast, our first run will lead us right from the hotel to bottom station. The gondola then will take us back half way up the mountain, where our snowcat driver is already waiting for us.

Let’s go!

The snowcat takes us the surrounding peaks and ridges. From up here we will be able to enjoy a huge range of runs over some amazing terrain, with many runs ending at the bottom station. We will be able to enjoy up to 10 runs on a good day. Above 2000 meters only some individual trees adorn the landscape, and below we find beautiful gladed slopes. By the time the sun starts get lower, we will head one more time to the summit to make a final run back to the hotel. Arriving back at the hotel, we will already smell the freshly prepared food. Over the following days we have plenty of time to draw our lines in the Goderdzi powder. On Friday we will be skiing roughly until 1 pm, then it will be time to say goodbye. We will travel back to Tiflis and spend the night in the old town. We will fly back to our respective airports on Saturday morning.

Snow and Terrain

The terrain, that we are able to reach by lift and snow cat, is about 120 square kilometers all along the western and northern slopes of the well stretched Goderdzi ridge. We mainly ski in quite mellow, but perfect ski terrain. Above 2000 meters we find wide and open slopes, while below we ski on gladed slopes that give good visibility even in bad weather. The snowpack is fortunately dominated by maritime weather influences. With western winds huge amounts of snowfall are rather common in the months between December and April.

Snowcat and lift system

The hourly capacity of the newly installed gondola and chairlift is about 5000 persons per hour, but even on a busy weekend you will never count more than 250 skiers on the whole mountain. Most of them are pure beginners and only a handful will be skiing off the groomed slopes. A good mixture of using lifts and the snowcat gives us privileged access to a lot very nice terrain. Riding up in the cat is comfortable, it has a heated box fixed on the back of it that protects us even in harshest weather.

Our hotel

Since winter 2020 we are accomodated in a newly build hotel right at the pass. Due to it´s generous architecture it offers a lot of space for a week far away from the hustle and bustle. All rooms are with own bathroom. The dining room, with its west facing panorama windows, offers great views at sunset almost all the way down to the Black Sea. 

The hotel is family run by the Shantazes, who are part of our catskiing operations at Goderdzipass from the very start. They have become our friends over time. Their warm friendliness as well as the good local cuisine helps us to look over the one or other little thing, that does not work as perfect as we are used to it.

The Most Important Details at a Glance

Requirements and Skiing Equipment

  • Good skiing technique in all types of terrain and in off-piste areas. Experience in freeriding.
  • As the snowcat cannot reach all pick-up areas, short ascents on ski may be necessary. Skins or a splitboard for boarders therefore are necessary.

Outward Journey and Hotel

  • You will fly to Tiflis and travel to Adigeni, the last village before the Goderdzi Pass. From there on, the roads will be in poor condition, especially in winter. 10km further past Adigeni, the road will be covered in snow and we will have to switch to the snowcat. After 45 minutes we will reach our destination, the Hotel Arsiani at the Goderdzi Pass.
  • The Hotel Arisiani is located directly on the pass and is an ideal starting point. The warm hospitality and great cuisine help to overlook the somewhat futuristic charme.

Additional Information

Should you wish to discover more about the development project of the Goderdzi Pass, see this website for information. While we remain somewhat sceptical about whether this area will truly become a well-visited skiing and holiday resort as described, we are thankful that we are able to offer you an incomparably beautiful skiing adventure, thanks to our contacts in Georgia.

Number of Participants

We offer this trip to a minimum number of 5 and maximum of 8 participants.

Included in the price of 2750 EUR

  • 6 nights in a double room with full board at the Hotel Arsiani
  • 1 night in a middle-class hotel, double room with breakfast, in the centre of Tiflis
  • 7 days accompanied by a UIAGM certified mountain guide
  • 5 1/2 days of skiing accompanied by a UIAGM certified mountain guide
  • 5 hours of travel by snowcat each day, or 30 hours a week
  • Transfer via snowcat to the hotel and back
  • 6 day pass for the gondola and chair lift
  • Transfer from Tiflis to Goderdzi Pass and back 
  • The hire of safety equipment (Avalanche beacon, shovel, probe)

Not Included

  • Travel from central Europe to Tiflis with Turkish Airlines (from 450 EUR)
  • Beverages alcoholic and non alcoholic
  • Extra hours of travel via snowcat. Should we need more than 30 hours, each extra hour will cost 160 EUR / hour, divided by the number of riders.
  • 60 EUR surcharge for a single room per night
  • Evening meal in Tiflis on the last evening (approximately 20 EUR)
  • Travel and cancellation insurance

Travel Preparations

Requirements and Fitness Level

A realistic self-assessment and an appropriate fitness level is required to join our trips. In order to enjoy a long day of skiing and to reduce the risk of injury, it is important to get in shape and possess a good level of fitness.

Travel Requirements

EU citizens, as well as Swiss nationals, do not require a visa. A valid passport is sufficient.

Current Country-Specific Information, Vaccines and Health

Please contact your own ministry of foreign affairs for current information about your destination.

 

Travel Insurance

Please note that there is a potential risk of injury on skiing trips. In addition to travel cancellation insurance, comprehensive medical and accident insurance that cover the costs of search and rescue, as well as transport costs, are imperative. It is your own responsibility to ensure that you are insured before departure.

Comprehensive medical and accident insurance that covers potential costs of search and rescue operations as well as any medical costs is mandatory for all of our trips abroad.

It is required that you state this information during registration in our registration form in order to ensure 24h emergency assistance. 

Links to Insurance Companies:

Please also check your credit card policies as it is possible that these already include insurance.

Booking

To sign up for a trip, please click on your preferred date and fill out the booking form carefully.

Please also note our terms and conditions .

Any Questions?