Ilia

Local guide Misha was excellent. Explore Share did not pay for sleeping bags as advertised, we had to rent these at location, not compensated, the sleeping bags and food were advertised to be transported by horse, this did not happen, also not compensated. One meal at mountain hut consisted only of one bowel of soup following 7 hour hike. Mountain it's self was great. Money also deducted from my credit card without prior authorisation by Explore Share. Disconnect apparent between Explore Share and guide regarding what trip consisted of.

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.

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.

Thanks for an extraordinary glimpse into the world of mountaineering in Caucasus Georgia. Guide Ramez was a perfect match for our family group of four to the summit of Kazbek.

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.