First lift
The morning is the whole point
Season opens 19 December
On the Mountain
Four resorts, a little over 100 km of marked piste, and a Caucasus winter that runs from December into April.
Four mountains, four winters
Georgia's lift-served skiing sits on four mountains, and they are not four versions of the same idea. Gudauri is high, open and treeless. Bakuriani is a pine-forest resort split across three linked sectors. Mestia holds two separate ski areas under the highest peaks in the country. Goderdzi is a single snowy pass in Adjara that stands in the path of Black Sea weather.
Between them they hold about 106 km of marked piste, spread between 1,627 m and 3,246 m — and a great deal of terrain that was never marked at all.
What kind of skiing?
Find your mountain
I have never skied before.+
Bakuriani. The lower Didveli and Kokhta runs are wide, gentle and forgiving, the village is walkable, and the resort has been teaching people to ski since long before the lifts were modernised. Didveli also lights its slope after dark, which makes for a short, cheap second session.
I want the biggest mountain and the longest descents.+
Gudauri. Lift-served skiing runs from 1,974 m to 3,246 m across 44.5 km of piste — the largest and highest of the four — with the north-facing Kobi side reached over the Cross Pass by gondola.
I am here for powder.+
Goderdzi. It is small — three lifts and roughly 7 km of piste between 1,700 m and 2,338 m — but the pass sits in the path of storms coming off the Black Sea, and the tree skiing beyond the marked runs is why people make the four-hour drive inland from Batumi.
I want big peaks and somewhere that still feels remote.+
Mestia, in Svaneti. Two separate ski areas above the town: Hatsvali in the trees, reached by gondola from the edge of Mestia, and Tetnuldi to the east, topping out at 3,154 m with the Greater Caucasus in every direction.
By the numbers
The terrain
What the four mountains actually hold
Gudauri — 1,974 to 3,246 m, 44.5 km of piste
Bakuriani — 1,627 to 2,677 m, 38.5 km across Didveli, Kokhta-Mitarbi and Crystal
Mestia — 1,867 to 3,154 m, 16.3 km across Hatsvali and Tetnuldi
Goderdzi — 1,700 to 2,338 m, 7 km of piste
Those figures are marked, lift-served piste. None of them count the freeride terrain, which at Tetnuldi alone adds around 7.5 km of marked but ungroomed descent, and at Gudauri and Goderdzi is effectively unbounded.
Gudauri is treeless from the base up, which is a gift in good visibility and a problem in a whiteout. Bakuriani and Goderdzi are the opposite: trees to the top station, and somewhere to ski when the cloud sits down on the ridge.
Mid-morning
Up to the top station
3,246 m at Gudauri's high point
Middle of the day
An hour off the mountain
1,627 m at Bakuriani's village base
Afternoon
Last laps, then the lights
Night skiing at Didveli
Live snow and conditions
Lift and slope status for each resort, taken from our own lift and trail records rather than from resort marketing figures. Outside the season everything below reads closed, which is accurate.
Gudauri
Mestia
Goderdzi
Mountain stories
All articles
Know before you go
When does the season run?+
Gudauri and Bakuriani open around 19 December. Mestia follows a few days later, on 23 December. Closing dates spread out again at the other end: Bakuriani at the end of March, Goderdzi in early April, Mestia mid-April, and Gudauri last, around 19 April. Dates move with the snow every year — treat them as the shape of the season, not a promise.
How high is it, and does the altitude matter?+
The highest lift-served point in the country is 3,246 m at Gudauri; Tetnuldi reaches 3,154 m. That is high enough to feel on the first day if you have flown in from sea level, and high enough that the weather at the top station bears no relation to the weather in the village. Carry more layers than you think you need.
Is the off-piste patrolled?+
No. Beyond the marked runs you are in avalanche terrain, with rescue that is thinner and slower than in the Alps. Georgia's freeride skiing is the reason many people come, and it is worth the trip — with a transceiver, shovel and probe, the training to use them, and a local guide the first time on any of these mountains.
How do I get to each one?+
Gudauri is about two hours north of Tbilisi on the Georgian Military Road. Bakuriani sits above Borjomi in Samtskhe-Javakheti. Mestia is a long way west into Svaneti, and is the one worth flying to. Goderdzi is roughly four hours inland from Batumi over a pass that needs winter tyres and, often, a 4x4.
Do I need a separate pass for each resort?+
Yes. There is no single Georgian lift pass. Each resort sells its own, and within Bakuriani the three sectors are linked on one ticket. Gudauri's pass covers the Kobi side over the Cross Pass.
Choose your mountain
Pick a mountain, then plan the rest
Every resort page carries its own lifts, trails, live status and the places worth knowing about at the base — and once you have chosen, the planning pages cover getting there, staying and hiring gear.