Winter Holiday in Georgia

Georgia has a short list of winter resorts and two of them carry almost everything. Gudauri sits on the Military Highway about two hours north of Tbilisi, high enough that its lifts run above three thousand metres, and it is the one skiers come for: long open slopes, reliable snow into spring and enough off-piste to draw freeriders. Bakuriani is lower and older, a pine-forest resort near Borjomi that has been a winter destination since imperial times, and it works better for families and for anyone learning.

What is sold here is the winter week rather than a lift pass. Transfers run from Tbilisi and from Kutaisi airport, lessons are arranged separately for adults and children, and equipment is hired at the base of both resorts. Days off the snow usually mean Kazbegi from Gudauri, with the Gergeti Trinity church under the mountain, or Borjomi from Bakuriani, where the mineral water park and the old spa town sit half an hour away. Both pair naturally with a night or two in Tbilisi at either end.

Practical. The season runs from December to April and is at its most reliable in February. Gudauri is reached by the one road north, and that road closes in storms — sometimes for several hours, occasionally for a day — so a flight home the same evening as the last ski day is a bad plan. Altitude is worth respecting: the base at Gudauri is already above most European resorts, and the first day is easier taken slowly. Rental prices are low by Alpine standards and so is instruction, which is a large part of why people come. Cash is still useful in the villages below both resorts.