Pure Georgien

Svaneti and the village of Mazeri

Svaneti is a mountainous region in north-western Georgia, and part of the Caucasus mountain range. It’s one of the highest regions of Europe, and is home to more than 300 glaciers. Upper Svaneti and its unique buildings are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The population of Svaneti makes up its own ethnic group with its own unique and distinct language, Svanuri, although most also speak Georgian. Mazeri (1,600m asl) is a village situated in Upper Svaneti, around 20km from Mestia in the Dolra valley, and is surrounded by snow-covered peaks.

Accommodation

Our lodge/hotel, Grand Hotel Ushba, is close to the village Mazeri, at the foot of one of the highest mountains in Europe, Mount Ushba (4,710m asl). The building itself was turned into a hotel during 2009/2010 and has always been owned by the Argvliani family. The Argvliani family are ethnic Svaneti, and it’s the family matriarch who’s responsible for the well regarded food served in the restaurant. The hotel is a perfect base for around 10 guests, and we have the whole hotel to ourselves. The hospitality is both genuine and warm. The hotel is situated about 10km from the Russian border as the crow flies, and about 25km from Europe’s highest peak, Mount Elbrus (5,642m asl). Sotchi, host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics, is about 250 km away.

Travel

We fly out of Arlanda, early morning, to Batumi, via Istanbul. We’ll arrive at Batumi Airport the following afternoon and from there we have our own bus transfer to our village, Mazeri, and onwards to our hotel. It’s a 6 hour bus journey through the varied Georgian landscape — everything from the traffic chaos of Batumi itself, through suburbs and agricultural areas with pretty stone buildings. We’ll take a break after about 2.5h for some food and drink. The return leg follows the same route. Following breakfast we’ll board our bus towards Batumi Airport. We fly out in the afternoon, and after changing planes in Istanbul we’ll arrive back in Stockholm around midnight. We can also arrange flights from Gothenburg and Malmö. Please contact us on info@pureskitouring.se for more details. 

The whole journey takes pretty much a full day borth there and back, but it’s well worth it. We’ve chosen to stay well beyond the beaten track in northern Georgia, in the amazing mountain region, Svaneti. We fly to Batumi, with an overnight stop in Istanbul, with our ski luggage going direct to Batumi. The bus journey through the Georgian landscape is both surprising and beautiful, and whilst it’s a 6 hour transfer, we can stop whenever we choose.

Itinerary

TK1796 January, Sthlm, Arlanda – Istanbul xx:xx – xx:xx
TK392   January, Istanbul – Batumi xx:xx – xx:xx

We’ll ascend around 1000-1500 vertical meters per day. The terrain will be a mixture of forests and high alpine.

• Very good fitness is required, capable of sustaining an ascent rate of 400m/h
• Off-piste skiing in all conditions, on slopes up to 35-40 degrees
• Well practiced ski touring technique and equipment, how to walk and kick-turn with climbing skins
• Age limit 18 years old (16 years old if accompanied by legal guardian)

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