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Mount Kazbek guided 11-day ski tour

Mount Kazbek guided 11-day ski tour
Mount Kazbek guided 11-day ski tour
Mount Kazbek guided 11-day ski tour
Mount Kazbek guided 11-day ski tour

Enjoy an incredible 11-day ski tour in and around Mount Kazbek, one of the highest mountains in the Caucasus, together with Ilia, a local GMGA certified mountain guide.

Private

Caucasus

11 Days

Mar, Apr, May

Fit

Intermediate


Highlights

  • Enjoy ski touring in Mount Kazbek surroundings.
  • Discover local villages and cultural spots.
  • Reach the summit o Mount Kazbek and contemplate incredible views.

Description

I invite you to an 11-day amazing ski tour in the surroundings of Mount Kazbek (5047 m), the third highest mountain in Georgia and the seventh major summit in the Caucasus mountain range.

The first spot of this trip will be Gudauri, a traditional ski resort that is two hours away from Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital city. The plan is to spend a few days there, in order to check the equipment and start our training by going to ski down the slope.

Another important location in this itinerary is the small town of Stepantsminda, in northeast Georgia. This is an ideal place for doing some classic ski mountaineering. In addition to that, there’s a historical spot along the way: the beautiful Trinity Church, an orthodox and apostolic church from the 14th century, lying in the top of a mountain.

You will also have the experience of crossing the beautiful Gergeti glacier and finally arrive to Bethlemi Hut, at 3670m.

And of course, the main attraction of this trip is getting to the summit of Mount Kazbek, where you will get some stunning views of the Caucasus mountains.

If you are interested in the details of this 11-day ski touring trip, please check the information below.

Please contact me if you are planning a ski touring in the Caucasus mountains. I will be glad to provide you all the information you need and guide you around some of the most beautiful places near Mount Kazbek.

If I'm not available to guide you, one of my 3 teammates, all of them GMGA mountain guides, will be happy to do so.

You can also take a look at my Gudauri 7-day guided freeride and ski touring trip.

Price includes

- Guiding fee

- Accommodation included

- Transport during the trip

- Breakfast

- Lunch

- Dinner


Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival and warm up

Arrival to Tbilisi and transfer to Gudauri (2000m), which is three hours away. Once there, we have a rest, warm up and go skiing on the slope using ski lifts. We spend the night in Gudauri.

Day 2: Mount Bidara and Kobi Pass

First we use the ski lifts to go as high as possible. Then we hike for half an hour to Mount Bidara (3100m) and Kobi Pass. We return to the hotel in Gudauri, which is about 15-20 minutes away.

Day 3: Cross Pass

Short ride to Cross Pass (3000 m). Then, we hike to the saddle between mountains Deda Ena and Gogebashvili. According to snow conditions, we decide the better way to go downhill. Finally, we go back to the hotel in Gudauri.

Day 4: Gergeti glacier

Early in the morning, a transfer takes us to Stepantsminda (Kazbegi). We start the ascent towards Bethlemi Hut. We pass Trinity Church at 2000 m. Four or five hours later, we reach the Gergeti glacier. We spend two hours to cross the glacier and finally, we reach Bethlemi Hut (3670m) after a short but steep climb. We spend the night at the hut.

Day 5: Acclimatization day

Hiking with skis on Mount Orcveri (4300 m). There’s a wonderful view of Mount Kazbek and the glacier. After that, we ski down to Bethlemi Hut.

Day 6: Summit day

On this day we try to reach the summit of Mount Kazbek. We take the normal route along the glacier until we arrive to the plateau, at 4400m. Then we go up to the saddle (4900m) on skis or using crampons, depending on the conditions. Finally, we do a little ice-climbing to the summit (5047 m). We descent to Bethlemi Hut.

Day 7: Extra day

This day is reserved in case of bad weather.

Day 8: Return to Gudauri

We return to Stepantsminda (1700 m). Then, a transfer takes us back to Gudauri.

Day 9: Relax Day

We do some easy skiing around Mount Chrdilebi and Mount Miliona, using ski lifts and hiking for a short while.

Day 10: Sightseeing at Tibilisi

A transfer takes us back to Tbilisi, where we go sightseeing.

Day 11: Departure

Departure.

 

Details

Accommodation

- Bethlemi Hut - Gudauri hotel

Meeting point

Airport of Tbilisi (Georgia)

About the guide

I'm a fully certified IFMGA / UIAGM mountain guide from Tbilisi, Georgia. I have the GMGA (Georgian Mountain Guides Association) certificate and I'm a member of the Austrian Mountain Guide Association.

I'm a professional mountaineer, national team member of Georgian Mountain Federation. I am actively climbing in the Caucasus mountain range.

The programs I guide more often are:
- Mountaineering = Mt. Kazbek, Mt. Tetnuldi, Mt. Ushba, Chaukhi region.
- Ski Touring = Gudauri, Svaneti, Kazbegi regions.
I also manage large expeditions and base camps for Caucasus Mountains.

Please get in touch with me if you plan to come to Georgia. It will be my great pleasure to help you and to guide you in our awesome mountains.

I am leading a Guide Office in Georgia, and work together with my colleagues George, Lasha and Leri (National certified Mountain Guides). In case I'm not available, one of them will be your guide.

Languages

Russian | Georgian | English

Certificates

GMGA | IFMGA


What people are saying about Ilia Berulava Guiding Team

Kaspar Kazil

5.00

September, 2023

We had a great week in Gudauri! We did have a replacement for Ilia (Vano), but Vano was really great. Skied some awesome slopes and made it back safe every time. The hotel and food were great as well. We also liked that we didn't just ski but also met some of the locals on the way, for example the caretaker of an old church on top of the mountain we walked up. So we can recommend this one!

Angelos Kasapakis

5.00

August, 2023

Both explore share and Ilia have been super helpful into making this trip. Explore share team has been super friendly and helpful and Ilia team has been very supportive and skilled. Highly recommended.

Robert Tamara

5.00

April, 2023

Due to the weather we had to break off our trip half way. Too bad. The response time of Explore-Share could be improved. Apart from that, good service. Ilia couldn't come last minute, but send Bekar as replacement guide. He was an excellent guide and very pleasant person to be with.

Erin Griffith

5.00

March, 2023

Snow conditions were challenging and our guide did an excellent job finding the local powder! I would recommend this trip to anyone and I would highly recommend a LOCAL guide. They know the lay of the land and I think our trip was very successful due to their local knowledge compared to some of the other groups we saw with non-local guides.

Karolína Krupauerová

5.00

March, 2023

Ilia together with his colleague Giorgi were the best guides we could have wished for. Not only showing us great skiing and ski touring spots but also introducing us to the Georgian life.

Conor Moloney

5.00

February, 2023

Excellent trip with Ilia. Found us some great snow, even though conditions in the area weren't the best. Svaneti is beautiful. Also provided a great cultural experience with great food and telling us all about Georgia. Highly recommended.

Michel lahaye

5.00

February, 2023

Le service Explorer fonctionne à merveille et me servira peut-être une autre fois. J'en parle également autour de moi

Koos van Sittert

5.00

April, 2022

Svaneti is a great place. We had an excellent trip

Erin Sanborn

5.00

March, 2022

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!

David Schlaepfer

5.00

February, 2022

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.

Max E

5.00

August, 2021

The traveller did not leave a comment.

Chris Dale

4.00

April, 2020

Pre-Trip: Service from Explore-Share could have been better. What should have been a simple request with payments was badly dealt with. Taking automatic payments is a strange and unusual way of booking a guide. This was eventually dealt with though I had to argue for some time. Pre-trip support from guide could also have been better - getting an E-mail response on queries about the trip was not easy. I suggest a shared E-mail between the guide team would enable a better response capability if some guides are on the mountain etc. Although saying that, once in Svaneti we found even the most remote villages have Wi-Fi.... During the trip: Guide service was brilliant. Airport pick up was spot-on. Accommodation and food was great. There were two challenging aspects - the weather and the start of the Coronavirus issue. Guide team dealt well with both curve-balls (E.g. restaurants closing, and arranging slightly earlier return transport to Tbilisi). We had a great week, I would strongly recommend these guys to anyone visiting Georgia.

Thomas Behrendt

2.00

March, 2020

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.

Jonas Englund

5.00

March, 2020

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

William Wolf

5.00

March, 2020

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 !


 

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