Ground Hog Day! I've been back in Denver for 4 days and tomorrow I'm off to Georgia. This has been quite the whirlwind season! I'm still very jet-lagged from India but it's time to hit the road again. This time I'm heading to somewhere completely new, to Georgia, to ski the Caucasus Mountains. This is going to be a 2 week research trip to look at the potential for starting tours there in 2020. I have a couple of friends coming along for the ride. I'm stoked that my wife is coming too! It's great to be traveling again with her and this is our first overseas ski trip together (first of many I hope!).
We fly out of Denver tomorrow night just before midnight to JFK, then fly to Doha and then onto Tbilisi. We are flying with Qatar Airlines and it's costing about $850 USD per person, for a return flight. That's quite an amazing deal. We'll be stopping in Doha for about 10 hours and we have a quick 2.5 hour city tour scheduled in to check out the city. I have been to Doha before, but I was 6. I still remember it though, seeing the gold souk and then the dows (boats) that they build. I'm excited to go back to the Middle East with my wife who has never been there before. I wonder what she will think of it all?
We arrive in Tbilisi around 8pm on the 27th. We have 1 night staying in the Old City of Tbilisi (we'll stay there for 2 nights at the end of the trip, so we can explore more). So this first night will just be to catch up on some rest. We then drive about 3.5 hours into the mountains and our first stop, Gudauri ski resort. We hope to do some site-seeing on the way to break up the drives. We'll ski the resort the first day and get a feel for the place, before meeting up with some local guides and exploring the backcountry. I can't wait to see it as Gudauri has some great terrain. We have 5 nights and 4 days skiing here.
Then we have an 8 hour drive north to get to Mestia. Mestia is an old town with two ski areas closeby. We have another local guide to show us around and explore. There is a lot of history and culture on display in this area. Again we have 5 nights and 4 days skiing to get the feel for this place. Then we do the long 8 hour drive back to Tbilisi to finish off the trip, with 2 nights in the Old City staying at the first hotel.
I'm genuinely excited about this trip. I know it's late in the season, but I'm not bothered about the conditions. As long as we get some turns in and get a feel for the terrain, please meet the locals and get to experience their culture, then I'll be really happy. It does look like an amazing place, under the right conditions. I'm going to be doing a lot of social media on this trip (more than my other trips this season), so please do follow along! Speak to you all soon.....
- Matt
We fly out of Denver tomorrow night just before midnight to JFK, then fly to Doha and then onto Tbilisi. We are flying with Qatar Airlines and it's costing about $850 USD per person, for a return flight. That's quite an amazing deal. We'll be stopping in Doha for about 10 hours and we have a quick 2.5 hour city tour scheduled in to check out the city. I have been to Doha before, but I was 6. I still remember it though, seeing the gold souk and then the dows (boats) that they build. I'm excited to go back to the Middle East with my wife who has never been there before. I wonder what she will think of it all?
We arrive in Tbilisi around 8pm on the 27th. We have 1 night staying in the Old City of Tbilisi (we'll stay there for 2 nights at the end of the trip, so we can explore more). So this first night will just be to catch up on some rest. We then drive about 3.5 hours into the mountains and our first stop, Gudauri ski resort. We hope to do some site-seeing on the way to break up the drives. We'll ski the resort the first day and get a feel for the place, before meeting up with some local guides and exploring the backcountry. I can't wait to see it as Gudauri has some great terrain. We have 5 nights and 4 days skiing here.
Then we have an 8 hour drive north to get to Mestia. Mestia is an old town with two ski areas closeby. We have another local guide to show us around and explore. There is a lot of history and culture on display in this area. Again we have 5 nights and 4 days skiing to get the feel for this place. Then we do the long 8 hour drive back to Tbilisi to finish off the trip, with 2 nights in the Old City staying at the first hotel.
I'm genuinely excited about this trip. I know it's late in the season, but I'm not bothered about the conditions. As long as we get some turns in and get a feel for the terrain, please meet the locals and get to experience their culture, then I'll be really happy. It does look like an amazing place, under the right conditions. I'm going to be doing a lot of social media on this trip (more than my other trips this season), so please do follow along! Speak to you all soon.....
- Matt