Backcountry Skiing in Georgia

Svaneti is a great place. We had an excellent trip

I did a backcountry ski trip in Georgia last month; your site connected me to a local guide there, Ilia. His guiding service in Mestia was absolutely wonderful. They were organized, responsive, and passionate about their beautiful home country which they generously shared with us. Ilia connected us to one of his colleagues, Gio, who was top notch. We had a remarkable time and have them (and you!) to thank for this!

Absolutely stunning trip with Ilia as a great guide. We had a very authentic experience - a perfect mix of great powder tours and cultural insights. The organisation was flexibly adjusted to the conditions, but seamlessly. We always felt safe and well taken care of. We'll come back and can highly recommend a trip with Ilia, especially if you are looking for some adventures. Ilia, thank you for this outstanding experience.

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Last year, it was our first time we did a ski tour and Mikheil Nadiradze was a guide, who made our experience fascinating and memorable. He made sure to equieped us with proper equipment and he explained all details that helped us to raise awareness regarding ski touring and feel the all benefits of this process. I do recommend Mikheil as a great guide who can lead the tour in a fantastic maner.

Very friendly guy!

Misho is a great guide and very knowledgeable about the area. He always focuses on safety and having a great experience!

It was an awesome trip thanks to the expertise of the guide we where on the most amazing places.

All in all we had a really great time with perfect weather and snow conditions. However, we had some „problems“ with the organization of Georgia Guide Office. It started when we arrived: The driver was obviously expecting 6 instead of 7 people. Seemed like Ilia got the booking wrong, as we initially booked 6 to start with the booking and then added the 7th person later. So apparently he booked a car and accommodation for 6. The driver was a bit confused and we followed him to his car. It was way too small for all of us and all the luggage. He somehow managed to put everything on the roof and in the trunk. It was super small and uncomfortable with our backpacks on our laps. We could only go max. 80 km/h on the highway due to the overweight. It took about 12h until we finally arrived in Mestia. Next, we specifically asked for a hotel with sauna, which Ilia confirmed beforehand (Grand Hotel Ushba). Except one night in Ushguli (which was great), we stayed all nights in Guesthouse Ushba. When we asked our guide about sauna, he referred us to a sauna that we had to pay for. It was really nice, but also quite expensive with 20€ per person for 2h. We used it 3 times during the week. Our guide was a nice guy but couldn’t meet our expectations at all. He was doing his „normal“ ski touring program, which for him included 1000-1200m a day. Every day we had discussions with him about the program as we wanted to get the maximum out of our trip and the day. For him it was take it or leave it. We had the impression that he wanted to return early afternoon to drink beers with his colleagues. One time we left him behind and kept on by ourselves. Another day he also left us after 800m and we followed another guide to the peak. Turned out our guide had severe physical problems, so it seemed like he couldn’t make more than that. The last day they gave us a different guide which was fine. After two days we talked to Ilia about the situation and he said they will try to meet our expectations but nothing much changed really, except the different guide for the last day. For us it was quite unfortunate as we specifically asked for alpine tours and 1500-1800m per day. All in all we still had a great time. We just didn’t get what we asked and payed for. The service and contact through Explore-Share was really good, Lupe was very supportive and answered really quickly.

Excellent week! Ilia and his local guide Bequ did a fantastic job.

We spent a week organised by Illia and his team between Mestia, Ushguli, in Februar 2020. Our guide was Gogi. He was also driving us from Tbilisi to Mestia and in Mestia for the daily ski tours. We spent a fantastic week. Everything was very well organised. Gogi found very nice ski tours, that matched what we wanted, i.e. between 1000 and 2000m climbing per day in nice landscapes with good powder. Gogi was also always concerned with our security (avalanches) and we had always the impression to be in good hands. Thank you for this very nice week !

Communication was easy with Explore share And I particularly thank the agent Lupe. She was able to give me extra details and information when needed. As for the Georgian team, it was a real pleasure to meet them and spend time with them. It was a great experience to enjoy fresh powder and virgin slopes. A big thank to this team.

Ilia is a very calm, considerate and helpful guide who goes the extra mile to provide his clients with exceptional and unique experiences in his stunning Georgian mountains. His calm authority is exactly what's needed when the going gets tough or plans need to change unexpectedly. Humble yet more than competent I strongly recommend Ilia for any Georgian adventure.

Wonderful people with precise knowledge of the wild nature of Georgia, I recommend you go whenever you want to enjoy the deep snow, hospitable people and virgin snow where you can see as much as you can see with your own eyes.

Very professional and fun

A day before arrival Ilia appeared to be unavailable. He arranged national certified guide Tato Nadiradze for us. Ilia did not manage to arrange the trip well and much was not clear, also due to change of plans because of the weather after a few days. We were very lucky with Tato who arranged everything well and got the very best out of it for us. We used his Landcruiser to drive where ever we went. Tato is a bery good mountainguide with lots of experience, especially in the Gudauri and Kasbegi area. He is also a good and enthousiastic free-rider. Gudairi hut is a fine hotel.

We had a great week in Gudauri. Illia and David are great guides and organized a perfekt week for us. We can really recommend this trip and also the guides.

We had a amazing days in Gudauri. Ilia and David are great guides and made this trip unforgetable.

We spent an exceptional week in Svaneti. Ilia guided us safely all around the valley. The place is wonderful and exceptionally well preserved. Villages are just out of time and still protected from mass tourism. they should definitly be visited soon... We enjoyed extraordinary views and gigantic landscapes, followed by endless descents in superb snow... Ilia's reputation clearly precedes him among all the guides who consider him as a reference. One recommendation : Get there soon and enjoy this beautiful region!

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Mestia in the Svaneti region will not remain an idem gem for long. It's got it all: alpine descents, all-you-can-ski powder and remote villages charged with history. Illia was a great guide both in and out of the slopes; safe, fun and knowledgeable. And do not worry about the food, it is amazing!

Mestia and in particular Ushguli provided for a remarkable context to this amazing, off the beaten track skiing trip. The pictures speak for themselves: it is developing quickly but is nevertheless a place frozen in time, where cows and donkeys far outnumber cars and the Caucasus provides for an imposing backdrop. Georgian hospitality was fantastic and Ilia made sure we were well looked after at all times, on and off the slope. We felt very safe enjoying the copious amounts of powder that was falling the week we were there. We kept on bumping into groups of people who had been guided by him in prior seasons and felt compelled to visit again - and something tells me we might join those ranks soon too...

Very poor english is reason to poor guide rating. Not showing up at meeting location in the morning is reason to poor guide rating. ( lost 2h of guiding, with still full price charged) 2 start for trip rating also connected with poor english and late arrival. 2 start for trip rating also connected to additional cost for taxi when being brought back to resort. That was expected to be included. In general very slow responses from the guide during booking procedure, and also when being on the resort. All in all; did not meet our expectations. You can't sell guide services with guides not being even a little bit fluent in English, Best regards OIa

Absolutely loved our trip to Georgia. In short: incredibly pittoresque villages, wonderful people, amazing food, stunning scenaries, ridiculous powder (some of the best snow ever!), and a very friendly, professional and experienced ski guide. You will always feel safe with Ilia. What more does one need? I highly recommend a trip to the beautiful Svaneti region.

Misho is one of the best guides I ever rode with! A true professional, patient, calm but firm, with huge knowhow on safety, terrain & techique. Can't wait to ride with him again!

We loved the great professional work of our guide Tato, his smile, his big cooperation with the Italian guide and the group. Bravo!

We loved the great professional work of our guide Tato, his smile, his big cooperation with the Italian guide and the group. Bravo!

Would have been difficult To find those places without a good guide. Recommend.

Mikheil is as exelent as on can be high on the top of the mountain. He is calm, but always aware of the circumstances, he's friendly but always ready to kick your ass if you stop respecting the mountain or other colleagues.

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Poor weather but nice guide

Funny guy, excellent tour choices

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Very great and save Skitouringdays in due consideration to snow- and weather conditions. Many thanks to your guide Giorgi!!

We spent a very enjoyable time in the snów with Misho and he will be the first to contact as soon as I go back to Georgia. I felt safe all the time, great guide.

Misha was very friendly, always willing to answer questions about regional topography, stories, other routes etc. He adapted to changing weather conditions to find decent pow. It felt like having a riding buddy

Febuary 2018: We had a great time skiing the pist and offpist in and around Gudauri ski resort. We had a bit of change of plans and the guide (Lasha) was really flexible and accommodating to our wishes and needs. Lasha our guide from explore-share was highly competent ski guide and great companion.

My goal was to go powder snowboarding. Due to weather we could not move up to higher ground and therefor main part of the time was spent in the actual pist. I guess that was a very expensive way of experience the normal pists (since mountain guide was the most expensive part on location). This is how it can be and no blame on your organisation. I did however, experienced a couple of really nice off pist/powder rides without the guide later that week so I am satisfied with the total experience.

Ilia is a great guide at every level you would expect from a guide when you are traveling abroad. He is very cautious, He takes time to explain and emphasis what are the safety requirements. He is young but knows already deeply the Caucasus mountains. He is friendly and fluent in English but most of all he consistently tries to find the best for his customers and to make them enjoy their stay. Long story short, I deeply recommend him to anyone expecting an unforgettable trip.

With a constant eye for safety, he made us enjoy the purest snow of the domain thanks to his knowledge of the mountains. His communication skills are very good and his sense of humour only gets better with a glass of chacha. I highly recommend Ilia for any group of people wanting to combine great ski and safety.

Ilia is a great guide both on a professional and on a personal level. He knows the Caucasus region like no one else. Very safe and committed to find great virgin slopes at the same time. He is friendly, dynamic and attentive to his clients wishes/desires. I warmly recommend him to anyone looking for a safe and groundbreaking adventure.

Ilia is a great guide! He took into account our expectations and managed to fulfil them completely. He speaks English fluently. At the beginning of our trip, he gave us a nice training on how to react in case of avalanches. I had a few similar training before, but this one was much better and practical

Dear Ilia, we had a great time with you and although the snow conditions were far from perfect, you planned some great trips, took us for some sight seeing and made sure we had a good time. We had a good laugh together and were surprised by our delicious cave-dinner the last evening. Thanks so much, we'll be back! Vera, David, Marlous and Gilbert

This January we were a group of 12 people coming to Gudauri for some touring and skiing and Ilia made sure we had the BEST OF TIMES! He was very flexible and listened to our every concern, and when he unfortunately had to deal with some other work stuff two of the days we were there, he set us up with two of his other guiding friends that also took wonderful care of us - Tato and Gio. The ski touring was great, the guides really took safety into concern and were both service-minded and had a lot of humour. In just the short time of a week we got invited into their culture and had an amazing time in Georgia, thanks to Ilia and his guides. I can not recommend them enough. Book now!!!

Very professional guides, good organised staff, and they really have awareness of the local avalanche situations. I really felt safe at all the flights and endless powder runs .

Best Heliboarding company ever! Top service, very professional and lovely people! Very recommendable!

Heliskir organizes the best heliskiing in the Caucasus. Good luck to them and all guests!

We went heli-skiing with the HELIKSIR PRO TEAM, it was just perfect, from the first minute we arrived, we felt the magic... Perfect welcome, perfect security briefing, perfect material (ABS, Bieper), very clean chopper, perfect runs....we came back with a huge smile on our faces ! I can warmly recommend the Heliski Caucasus - Heliksir Ltd team if you are in Georgia and want to discover the powder of the great Caucasus. Despite the lack of snow in the resort, we rode only pow !! You will go home with a beautiful experience !

The best heliski company in the world. Recommend to everyone.

2012 was very good, 2014 awesome, looking forward to the next season adventure?

Extremely professional! Only the best equipment, best helicopters, best avalanche gear, very experienced guides - everything perfect! though this winter was the toughest since ages (too much wind, not enough snow) they found good runs for us for every day!! I can highly recommend it!

Great service!!! I had one of the most marvelous days of my life. The whole TheFreerideCrew thanks you. Especially Daniel and Tamara. Hope you enjoy our chocolate

Top service. Very professional and friendly attitude. We will be back next year for sure!

Unreal cool. I recommend to all

A great getaway with some friends!