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Tetnuldi: freerides above ski resort (3380 m)
We chose slopes near Gvibari according to snow conditions in 2018.
Mapping: Peaks and slopes near Gvibari (3014 m)
8.6 h: 19 km 1744 m up over 3014 m (5 h moving)
Mapping the area: finding slopes by conditions.
Powder snow and clear sky.
Best slopes of Gvibari, Ushguli
7.1 h: 14 km 1291 m up over 3090 m (3.7 h moving)
We chose to ski in the area we liked the most the first day after skipping the day before early because of bad weather conditions.
Freezing day, but 40 cm of great powder snow.
Gvibari backcountry (3014 m)
The lack of snow limited our option mostly around the Tetnuldi (4858 m) resort.
On better conditions there are more areas for backcountry around Mestia: check the schematic map in images.
Access
By a car from Mestia. The top part of the road right below the resort is steep and can get icy. We had a problem there with an offorad car that had all-year offroad tires, but not winter tires. One day we were sliding down couple of tens meters there without much of the control.
There is an exceptionally good restauranta in Mestia: Café Laila.
Mid-station – Deputatskij (3378 m) pass below Ldzhira for Tetnuldi views
4 h: 11 km 680 m up over 3380 m 1100 m down (2.8 h moving)
First day to ramp up.
A climb directly to a Deputatskij (3378 m) pass below Ldzhira from a mid-station of the ski resort to see views of Tetnuldi (4858 m) and Nagebi Glacier.
The top lifts did not run.
Top-station Mankanebis Bolo Gasacherebeli (3183 m) – East slopes
4.8 h: 12 km 505 m up over 3310 m (2.1 h moving)
Exploring east slopes from the top lift.
2 rounds
Tetnuldi resort off-piste freerides
over 3180 m
Two days of freerides and skiing in a Tetnuldi resort to get accustomed to the area.
What's nearby:
Village with characteristic stone towers that date back to the ninth century.
Svans practiced blood vengeance (litsvri), a custom of avenging a grave insult by killing either the offender or their male relative, or in which the family members of a person killed seek revenge against the family of the killer, creating a cycle of death that can last for generations..
Disputes resulted in families barricading themselves inside their tower for many months at a time.
Access: offroad car from Mestia or taxi (200 GEL / $80 two ways)
The way from Mestia can get hard to pass according to snow conditions. The car might get stuck and you need showels to get it out. We were lucky with pretty low snow on the way.
Check the rented car has winter tires, not just offroad tires.
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Stone towers of Ushguli base camp in (2100 m)
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Unusual lack of snow on Feb/Mar 2018 limited our options to just a couple of places.
Access
By an offroad car rented from Georgia4you in Tbilisi.
Check that the rented car has winter tires, not just offroad tires, like ours:)
From Tbilisi Airport: a shuttle (near Didube metro station 30 GEL, 8-9 h) or taxi ($200)
Alternatively a small Kutaisi airport with 15 kg luggage limit (100 km)
Fligth with avalanche backpacks wasn't problem with a proper documentation data-sheet of avalanche cartridges provided by a manufacturer. It can differ per airline, we checked it with them up front.
Accommodation
We used just Booking even in Ushguli.
Safety
There's no avalange forecast in the area. We watched snow-forecast.com weather history to understand how the snow layered in time and used avalanche backpacks and performed avalanche block snow tests.
General info
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