Ski Touring in Georgia: Logistics, Costs and Gear. A Practical Guide

This guide is the hard data behind the trip you can read about in our trip report: 11 days, two bases (Stepantsminda and Gudauri) and a lot of small logistical decisions that make or break a trip. We've put together everything we would have wanted to know before setting off, from flights, through transport and lodging, to budget and gear. Let's start with the most important part: how to get there in the first place.

Flights and getting there

We flew with LOT, direct from Warsaw (WAW) to Tbilisi. We left on a Friday evening on a night flight, without having to take any days off work. By Saturday morning we were already there. The return worked out even better: an early-morning departure and, thanks to the time difference, landing at home the same day, also in the morning. The only downside: plan the first day on the ground to be a relaxed one, because a night flight takes its toll.

Cost: approx. PLN 2,300 for two tickets. The price included carry-on and two checked bags of 23 kg each. On top of that, we bought one sports baggage allowance for the two of us, for the skis.

Watch out for LOT's sports baggage limit: it's only 23 kg, which is a hard limit when you're carrying two ski touring setups. Leaving Warsaw nobody made a fuss, even though ours weighed 30 kg. On the way back from Tbilisi there was no leniency. We had to repack at the airport to get under the limit. Don't count on overweight being waved through both ways. Plan for 23 kg from the start, or leave room for the excess in your checked bags.

From the airport, instead of renting a car, we booked a driver with a car through GoTrip: a popular platform in Georgia for booking private transfers, where the price and route are agreed in advance and a specific driver is waiting for you at the airport. After a night flight we had no energy to fight with navigation and the local driving style. We got in and simply arrived. The transfer from Tbilisi to Stepantsminda cost approx. USD 80 (we took a large car, because our quiver with skis simply wouldn't have fit in a smaller one).

The level of service pleasantly surprised us: European standard, in places even better. Clean car, water provided for passengers, and the driver didn't smoke while driving, which is far from a given in Georgia. With skis and gear in tow and after a night flight, it was a really convenient option.

Travel time: allow about 4 hours from Tbilisi to Stepantsminda, but that's only a rough estimate. The route follows the Georgian Military Road, which gets closed for safety reasons (avalanches, icing) when there's heavy snowfall. Don't plan that day too tightly: a time buffer for delays or a detour is a necessity, not a luxury.

Transport between bases and on site

For the trip from Stepantsminda to Gudauri, the guesthouse owner's neighbor drove us, privately, with no middleman. Cost: approx. 60 GEL.

An important point if you're based in Stepantsminda: it's worth having your own car. Most of the interesting valleys for touring require a drive to the trailhead, and without a car you depend on arranging rides with local drivers in their trusty Mitsubishi Delicas. It works, but it's neither cheap nor convenient: you have to agree on a specific pickup time in advance for after your tour, and in the mountains timing can be unpredictable (weather, group pace, unforeseen situations). Having your own car gives you much more independence: you can change the plan on the fly instead of watching the clock for a driver you've arranged.

When to go

We went in March. Snow conditions ranged from great powder to treacherous, frozen firn (sometimes within a single day, depending on the slope's exposure to the sun). This isn't a destination where you can count on one predictable seasonal window.

The best timing is late February to early March. There's still plenty of snow in the mountains then, but because of Georgia's southern latitude the spring sun can already be strong. Combined with a cold wind or a cold night, it leaves a hard ice crust on the surface instead of pleasant, still nicely skiable firn. In practice, that means shorter windows of good conditions during the day and a need to plan your start time carefully.

Practical tip: check the forecast and the snowpack right before you fly, not only while planning; conditions in the Caucasus can change from one day to the next.

Two bases

Stepantsminda (below Kazbek) is practically deserted outside the summer season: few restaurants open, empty hotels, silence. That's a plus if you're after solitude on the skin track, but it also means you shouldn't expect much tourist infrastructure in town.

Gudauri is a completely different mode: ski-in, ski-out, lifts, snowmobiles as the local "taxi" up to the higher freeride terrain. The infrastructure looks modern, but it can be rough around the edges (makeshift fixes, glitches, poor internet). It's worth mentally preparing for that.

We booked lodging in both places through Booking:

Stepantsminda: Hotel Horizon Kazbegi, 4 nights, PLN 470 for the whole stay (for two people).
Gudauri: New Gudauri Atrium 240, 6 nights, PLN 1,750 for the whole stay (for two people).

Payment for lodging, like most things on site, was always in cash, in GEL.

The way back: Gudauri – Tbilisi – Warsaw

The return flight from Tbilisi leaves early in the morning, and you realistically need to be at the airport by around 4:00. Instead of driving straight from Gudauri in the middle of the night, we planned it differently: a transfer to Tbilisi the day before, the afternoon and evening for sightseeing, a night in a hotel near the airport, and in the morning just a short ride and a relaxed check-in.

The transfer from Gudauri to Tbilisi cost approx. USD 70. A night near the airport: approx. PLN 300. It's by far the most comfortable option: no rushing in the night, with a time buffer in case something goes wrong on the road, and an extra full day of sightseeing in Tbilisi at the end of the trip.

Safety and gear

This is not a destination for your first ski tour ever. The key difference compared to the Alps or the Tatras: there is no equivalent of TOPR in Georgia. A helicopter won't show up in ten minutes. This means that:

in most of Georgia you assess avalanche risk yourself, on the go, practically without support from local bulletins,
standard avalanche safety gear (transceiver, probe, shovel) is not optional, it's a must,
experience in independent navigation and reading terrain matters more than in places with a dense network of marked routes.

Avalanche bulletins: the only area for which we found official, regularly updated bulletins is Gudauri: avalanche.ge. For the other regions (including Stepantsminda and the Kazbek area) we didn't come across any published bulletins. That means that outside Gudauri you need solid avalanche assessment skills of your own, or you should hire a guide.

Guides: we didn't use any ourselves. We skied easy terrain that we knew well. You can find local guides at gmga.info/guides, but prices are European, not budget. If you don't have your own experience in assessing terrain and avalanche risk outside Gudauri, this is not an expense worth skimping on.

Communication on site

WhatsApp is the main way to contact lodging hosts and local "fixers": transport, small repairs, advice, everything gets sorted by phone and word of mouth. Knowing Russian makes life much easier. English works mainly in heavily touristed places; outside them it can get tricky.

Payments: for lodging, private transfers and small services we always paid in cash, in GEL. It's worth carrying a decent supply of local currency; you can't count on cards everywhere.

Budget in numbers

All amounts are for two people, paid in cash in local currency (except for the flight tickets):

Flights (carry-on + 2× checked bag + sports baggage): approx. PLN 2,300
GoTrip transfer, Tbilisi–Stepantsminda: approx. USD 80 (approx. PLN 300)
Transfer, Stepantsminda–Gudauri: approx. 60 GEL (approx. PLN 85)
Transfer, Gudauri–Tbilisi: approx. 70 USD (approx. 265 PLN)
Accommodation in Tbilisi before the flight home: approx. 300 PLN
Accommodation, Stepantsminda (Hotel Horizon Kazbegi, 4 nights): 470 PLN
Accommodation, Gudauri (New Gudauri Atrium 240, 6 nights): 1,750 PLN
Lift passes in Gudauri (5 days): 800 PLN
Food: depends on where you eat, see below
Total (excluding food): approx. 6,270 PLN

We've converted the USD and GEL amounts roughly, at about 3.80 PLN/USD and about 1.40 PLN/GEL (July 2026 rates). Check the current exchange rate when you're planning your trip.

Food: in restaurants aimed at tourists (and Stepantsminda and Gudauri have plenty of those), prices are close to what you'd pay in Poland, so don't expect Caucasus bargains. Local eateries can be noticeably cheaper, but they're hard to find in popular tourist towns; you have to go looking for them off the main street.

Gear checklist

Gear for Georgia is nothing exotic: it's the standard kit you'd take on any other ski touring trip. We didn't need any special extras for local conditions.

Avalanche safety gear (mandatory, no exceptions):

avalanche transceiver
probe
shovel

It's also worth having an avalanche airbag backpack: it's not essential, but with no rescue services nearby, it's definitely worth considering.

Skis and bindings:

touring skis / splitboard
touring bindings + skins
ski touring boots
poles (preferably collapsible/adjustable)
ski crampons (useful on hard, icy snow; in Georgia, as we mentioned, that's a realistic scenario)

Clothing for variable conditions (from powder to ice crust):

layering system: thermal base layer, insulation (Primaloft/down), shell (jacket and pants)
gloves: a thinner pair for the ascent, a thicker pair for the descent
hat/buff, sunglasses with a high UV filter (the mountain sun in March can catch you off guard) and goggles for bad weather
high-SPF sunscreen: with this much sun on the slopes, it's not optional

Other:

ski touring backpack with room for your avalanche safety gear (transceiver, probe, shovel)
map/GPS with offline navigation: reception outside Gudauri can be poor
power bank: on long days out in the cold, phone batteries drain faster