It already feels like we never left. We made some changes, but some things stay the same: deep powder, views for days, quality mountain guides and super cool people. It’s time to kick off our cat ski season in Georgia.
Winter is here
Our first Catskiing Georgia guests rolled into Bakhmaro last week; they arrived to perfect conditions. Recent snow dumps promised us fresh deep powder, with blue skies overhead. The Terrace Bakhmaro team have been extremely busy over summer, and our base is even better than before. The lounge area has grown so we have more space for dining, chilling out and socialising. The most exciting addition though – well, certainly according to our Scandinavian visitors – is the new sauna with the chill-out deck and mountain views. So what else is new? We have way more kit and equipment for hire, and we added snowboards to the rental collection due to popular demand. There’s a top floor balcony, catching the sun, and we have another PistenBully snowcat. Having an extra snowcat means that we can team up for breaking new trails – which means more time skiing and snowboarding for everyone.
Our first week was full of variety. Long open runs through deep powder under blue skies, then snow days in the forest. We’ve played on Papara, Buksieti, Gadrekili and Sakornia’s peaks. From Sakornia, we looked down to the Black Sea, and up to Mount Tetnuldi and its 5000m+ neighbouring peaks of Mount Elbrus and Shkhara on the horizon. Our gang of snowboarders, skiers and our first powdersurfer were mixing it up in the mountains. They’ve been hitting drops, throwing backflips off roofs, cruising down flow lines and ski touring all over the local ranges. It’s been a real mix and keeps things interesting for everyone, including our IFMGA guides and driver team. Cat ski season in Georgia is on!
Professional mountain guides
Speaking of our Georgian mountain guides and snowcat drivers: they’ve been as amazing as ever. The guides are all IFMGA-qualified Georgian mountain guides, so they have the same international qualification and high standards that you’ll be familiar with from your mountain guides back home. They’ve been assessing the massive snowfall, the effect of a couple of windy nights and changing temperatures, to find the best lines and snow each day. They always keep it professional and fun, with a cheeky Georgian twist. And our snowcat drivers have given us safe, easy passage to these beautiful, remote lines – these guys got mad skills behind the plough.
And back at base, the Terrace Bakhmaro crew have kept the vibe high. We’ve had saunas, traditional music, drunk chacha and homemade wine, and eaten incredible food (wow, the food!) Georgians and international guests have been chatting, eating, laughing and drinking together into the nights. Randomly, there’s even been some magic tricks; you never know what you’re going to get 🙂 In fact, even the Georgians don’t always know what they’re getting, like when a Brit introduced them to Marmite.
Farewells and welcomes
But week one wrapped up and so we say goodbye to the Austrian Lake Boys (bags of trouble!) and our British beekeeper – they’re off to spend a day discovering Kutaisi city before heading home. And it’s farewell to our beautiful Swiss-Italian family and the Swiss catski-skitour gang who are now exploring our capital, Tbilisi. We’ll miss you all and can’t wait to welcome you back to visit us again ❤️ 🇬🇪
And now we welcome new guests. It’s early days but it looks like things could get rowdy! UAE, Thailand, India, USA, Portugal, Norway, Belgium – represent. The après game is strong in this team. Let’s see what their catskiing game is like! It’s going to be a fun week.
In fact, it looks like a fun season ahead – a lot of returning guests and some new people to meet and enjoy good times with. It’s pretty much booked up but there are still a few spaces, so get in touch if you’re interested in finding out more or booking a trip out with us.
Time for us to give our new guests a proper Bakhmaro welcome. Our cat ski season in Georgia keeps rolling on. Follow us on Instagram to see what we get up to and check out conditions!
