Georgia - Again!





Big smiles a result of free wine from the Georgian Immigration Department.
Better than a body cavity search from TSA!



I had the good fortune of a ski trip to Georgia last year with my nephew Tom and Kate and Ada were both jealous that they were not able to join us. This year the girls were not going to miss out so a week after returning from Sri Lanka we packed our ski gear for Georgia.
















A couple of local up from Tbilis complete
with homemade Cognac in the coke bottle!
I am no Cognac drinker but it tasted ok to me









Given I had been there a few times before most things went relatively smoothly.  One surprise on arrival was that the immigration officer at the border gave two bottles of complementary red wine! You know a country is civilised when Government official hands out good (yes it was) red wine!



















On our last visit we stayed exclusively at Rooms Kazbegi, which was great but we were caught in the town when the road closed due to avalanche risk and we needed to helicopter out to get our flight.  This time we planned for three days at Hotel Monte in Gulmarg followed by three days in Kazbegi.


The spectacular view from the balcony at Hotel Monte




Hotel Monte was clean and functional with a very good breakfast and good customer service.  It was a 10 minute walk to a lift and they offered a shuttle service the upper Gudauri. It was not the same level of luxury as Rooms Kazbegi but we avoided the 45 minute drive each way.






Mt Kazbegi and the village of Stepantsminda from Rooms Kazbegi





Gudauri had a new 6-seat chair but the lift tickets were still cheap, 50 USD for 5 days! Even better, Ada was still able to get good quality private lessons for under 35 USD for 2 hours!






















Ada contemplating Khinkali, Georgian dumplings
at Vitamin Cafe







The best lunch on offer is still at Vitamin Cafe (higher up the mountain) where for me it is a toss-up between the Georgian dumplings and the bowl of beans. We also had a great evening meal at Hotel Truso, hearty Georgian fare!



























Georigian Military Highway from a peak just out of Gudauri.
A solid skin up and a nice ski down.





I was even able to sneak out of bounds for a couple of half days and find some skiable off-piste on the peaks adjacent to the ski area.  I had changed over my old broken Hammerhead bindings to some bright and shiny Axl bindings with the free pivot.  I must say that the free pivots, while not making skinning up a hill effortless, certainly reduced the required effort.  Even better you maintained the same control as a Hammerhead on the descent. 











The joys of travelling with a 12yo!




After a few days we move down to Kazbegi and, as there had been no snow, there was no problems with avalanche risk.  It was as we had remembered great facilities and food although the service seemed to have dropped off since our last visit.

















A qvevri which is buried in the ground and filled
with wine for the fermentation process









A swim and sauna after skiing seems very decadent, even more so when Kate combined it with a massage.  The best ever according to her. An evening spent sitting in the library, after a great meal, drinking local wine while Kate, Ada and I played Scrabble on an iPhone was a great way to finish an active day.
























Looking all Scott of the Antarctic at Gergeti Monestary






Kate and I finished off the stay with a walk to the Gergeti Monastery.  Two hours of solid walking rewarded by the flash of black robes as the monk whisked past up to quickly close the inner sanctum of the fire lit chapel - several minutes before the 'advertised' close time of 5pm!


















The view across the final plateau









Happy to have made the walk and crossed the very windy tundra though as the evening light back across Stepantsminda to Rooms Kazbegi was spectacular.



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