Bakhmaro, Georgia

A snowHead

I've just got back from a week of catskiing in Bakhmaro in the Georgian Lesser Caucuses with 3 friends. We went with https://www.georgia-trip.com/catski and had 6 days of catskiing in groups of around 8, costing ~€2400 for the week including transfers and food. We organised our own flights to Batumi (via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, around £450 return), but travel to and from Batumi was included.

Friday 27th January

Our flight landed in Batumi around 4pm, and during the descent we were treated to our first sight of the snowy Lesser Caucus mountains. We arrived at a sunny Batumi airport and eventually ended up at our hotel. Right next door we were surprised to discover a cable car! but it didn't go very far, just to a small hill above the city.

It was a beautiful evening

Saturday 28th January

We had a few hours to kill in Batumi so we had a wander around, got some lunch (accidentally ordered tripe soup which came with a shot of some strong spirit Laughing

), and went to a market.

Eventually we got picked up by our taxi, which was comically small.

We just about got ourselves and our skis in, and despite almost hitting 2 cows, made it to Chkhakoura where we swapped for a snowcat for the last hour of the journey. We arrived in Bakhmaro and went straight to dinner, then beers and bed. It hadn't snowed for nearly 3 weeks before we arrived, but started almost the moment we got there snowHead

.

A snowHead

Sunday 29th January

It snowed off and on throughout the night, but not a significant amount, maybe 3cm. We started the day with some avalanche training that covered the provided equipment (airbags, transceiver, probe etc), before heading out in the cat for our first runs.

The skiing was pleasant - a decent dusting on top of firm flat snow made for very confident skiing.

It started snowing, and we went back to the accommodation for lunch. In the afternoon we headed out to a different area with more trees, and the snow got heavier and heavier.

In the evening we learned there was a pub in the village (which is otherwise deserted during the winter!). So after a few beers we set off on supposed "400m" walk in heavy snow (it was actually 1200m) and eventually found a delightfully rustic old building with 2 enormous dogs and a roaring fire.

5 minutes later we were being plied with shots of "chacha" and beer, and the place went wild and turned into a nightclub.

Eventually we found our way home, which took even longer as it was all uphill....

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Monday 30th January

By the morning we'd had about 15cm of snow. The skiing was great - no wind and good visibility, and a nice dose of snow. Fresh tracks all day - as it was all week!

As soon as we got home it started snowing again snowHead

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@ArseCaptain, thanks for the reports. Love the pics. Looks interesting.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Wow, so close to the sea. Snow wasn't heavy?

You were lucky, colleague of mine has left for Georgia yesterday, he was supposed to fly via Istanbul but we can all guess what happened there Sad

Apparently he's been rerouted via Lufthansa.

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Sounds like a good trip! Which operator were you with?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Tuesday 31st January

Another sunny day. There was a little snow over night, and the wind had picked up so there were some wind loaded slopes. We started in the forests.

Then moved higher where we had views of the Black Sea. The snow was great, particularly on sheltered slopes where the wind had dropped it.

It started snowing again in the evening.

After all it is free

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@ArseCaptain, thanks! I'm keen for a georgia cat ski or cat-assisted touring trip next year so will check out catski.EU

Love your photos

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Wednesday 1st Feburary

Snow didn't last too long and we awoke to clear skies. We skied in a different area, further south of Bakhmaro. There didn't seem to be quite as much fresh snow, but it was heavenly - so light on a smooth base with glorious sunshine, you could let rip with endless confidence and space. We had simultaneous views south to Turkey and north to Russia (Mt Elbrus), with lots of fun cornices to jump off of.

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Thursday 2nd February

It started snowing at some point in the night, and there had been around 10cm by the time we woke up. It snowed heavily all day, so we skied in a forest area north-west of Bakhmaro. There seemed to have been a lot more snow here, as it was already quite deep by the time we arrived and got deeper and deeper as the day went on. The top half of these runs were a delight - deep light snow in well spaced out forests. The bottom half were just as deep, but required navigating gullies, branches and tighter trees - apparently much of this would normally be buried but there hadn't been as much snow as usual this year!

Finally, we skied down and happened to end up at the pub...

Friday 3rd February

It snowed heavily all night, until around 8am when the sun came out for our final day, and it was definitely the best day, one of my best ever. The snow was perfectly light and dry, and it was faceshots all day, sometimes it was so deep it was going over my head and I ended up inhaling it!

You know it makes sense.

Concluding Remarks

The skiing was great fun, particularly with good snow, and whilst I think we were lucky to get lots of fresh and good weather, it's not at all unusual to get good snow. The terrain is not the most challenging - there's not much steep stuff, and the most challenging skiing was navigating awkward stuff in the forest area.

The food was delicious, and mostly very different from anything I've had before. Included in our package was all food - breakfast (eggs, bread, muesli, pizza, sausages etc), lunch (hot soup, sandwich, sausages, fruit and nuts, chocolate from the snow cat), afternoon tea and dinner. We had to pay for beer.

The staff were very friendly, and were mostly Georgian and Czech.

It was an adventure, and I'd definitely go again Very Happy

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@ArseCaptain, Brilliant report thanks. Have been thinking about cat skiing in Georgia ... perhaps next year. Did you find you got 'enough' skiing / vertical?

A snowHead

I would say so, was pretty tired by the end of each day! we did around 4000m a day, 8-10 runs. I could imagine doing more, but it's so vast and so little competition every run was untouched snow, it was very high-value vertical. And the cultural / adventure side of it meant that it was more than just a ski trip.

A snowHead

Super report... have been looking at going...

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Made a video

http://youtube.com/v/bm2V2TSiuAU

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Fantastic vid and pics

Great to see you got the goods

Who were your guides?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

With the Hokkaido thread in mind, what are the rescue facilities like in the wilds of Georgia?

Lovely pictures! snowHead

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@ArseCaptain, looks great. So good to get off the beaten track.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

great review, pics and vid. Thanks for sharing. Added to bucket list!

snow reports

Fantastic trip report! Thanks...may have to put that on "the list".

Thanks for sharing, love hearing about places I previously onew nothing about!

Help!!

Bakhmaro, Georgia

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