Racha Backcountry Ski or Splitboard Week, Georgia

Spend 8 days exploring the amazing Racha backcountry, and enjoy skiing or splitboarding in Georgia! This exciting program combines camping and skiing, with some local culture and rest in lovely Georgian villages, plus you will learn Avalanche safety and have exceptional IFMGA guides making sure you are at all times cared for in the mountains!

Group

Caucase

8 Days

Jan - Mar

High

Intermediate

Highlights

* Discover the gorgeous Racha backcountry in Georgia.

* Join a great program that balances exciting runs and rest.

* Explore historical Georgian villages and enjoy the warm local culture.

Description

Join a unique ski or splitboard week in the amazing Racha backcountry! We will visit amazing ski spots and lovely local villages on this comprehensive winter tour in Georgia.

The fun begins with an airport pickup at Tbilisi or Kutaisi airport. From there, we will travel by 4×4 van to the city of Oni, in the Racha region. We will check into a local guesthouse where we will have dinner and a safety briefing and gear check. The next day, we will depart to our first campsite in the Racha backcountry.

Once we set off, we will enjoy eight days of amazing skiing or splitboarding in the beautiful Caucasus mountains. On your 8 day trip, you will visit 3 camping/skiing locations on overnight trips, and also visit 3 historic Georgian mountain villages for rest and recovery. You can find a day-by-day itinerary below.

Additionally, we will also spend a half-day on avalanche training. We will cover topics including why and where avalanches happen, how to approach risk management in the backcountry, and other important considerations. You will learn from highly qualified IFMGA guides. We will discuss theory and do practice drills. Burial and recovery, search patterns, multiple burials, and communication are all part of the training.

When the trip is over, we will deliver you to any airport or city in the country after a fun farewell party. If you would like to continue skiing somewhere else in Georgia, we can make arrangements for you, we have a great extended program with amazing options in the Racha backcountry. Finally, we will edit a short video from the footage we took during the trip and give it to you.

Are you ready for this exciting adventure in the Caucasus mountains? Then contact us today and let’s start planning your ski/splitboard week with us!

Price includes

- Accommodation included

- Guiding fee

- Breakfast

- Dinner

- Transport during the trip

- Transportation start and back

- Luggage transfer

Price details

Price also includes:

All accommodations and basecamp logistics

IFMGA certified guiding and avalanche forecast services

Itinerary

Day 1: TOUR TO BASECAMP ABOVE GLOLA

Approximately 800 m vertical

Day 2: SKI FROM GLOLA BASECAMP

Approximately 800m vertical maximum, terrain varying from easy to very challenging.
After a full day of skiing, we plan to descend to the village for a rest.

Day 3: ASCENT TO NEXT BASECAMP

Minimum 1000 m vertical, ending with a ski run to the basecamp. Climbing higher on the ridge above the camp during approach can add another 300m vertical for a longer run if you feel up to it.

Day 4: SKI SECOND AREA

Vertical from 500 — 1000 m possible, with terrain ranging from very easy tree runs above the camp to very challenging steep lines.

Day 5: ASCENT TO CHIORA RIDGE, DESCENT TO CHIORA VILLAGE

Approximately 500 m vertical.
Option for an extra 250 m vertical and a ride on the spine wall (challenging).
Very easy skiing down the ridge to the village.

Day 6: GHEBI BASECAMP ASCENT

Approximately 800 m vertical.

Day 7: SKI GHEBI BASECAMP AREA

Vertical from 800 — 1200 m, terrain from easy to very challenging

Day 8: WEATHER DAY / REST DAY / CULTURAL EXPERIENCE / GOODBYE PARTY

This day can be placed anywhere in the schedule to have an extra day of rest with some more time to explore the villages or more time to ski in a particular area.

Details

More info

The team manages all the tents, food, and other logistics so you can avoid carrying a heavy backpack to the basecamps. We can choose terrain that suits any experience level without any problem.

Meeting point

Airport pickup at Tbilisi or Kutaisi airport.

About the guide

Snow Vigil

Guide Agency

We specialise in wild backcountry ski touring trips. We choose our guides based mainly on their proficiency in avalanche safety as we operate in remote areas without a regular avalanche forecast. Usually for each trip we try to have one IFMGA guide plus one avalanche forecaster with high levels of qualifications in that area.

Our clients are mainly two types: People who are learning to skitour but have not taken the step to try winter camping and overnight tours, and would like to have that kind of adventure, and very independent groups who would like the chance to ride big, unridden lines or who are just wanting to totally escape crowds.

Languages

Russian | Italian | English | Czech

Certificates

IFMGA

Request more information

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