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Thread: Georgia

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Whistler/Niseko
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    1,674

    Georgia

    Catching up w some more TR's from previous trips

    Went to Georgia and then Norway last year. Ill start w Georgia.

    Flew into Tbilisi and rented a vehicle from these guys. 1 - an SUV is beyond mandatory. 2 - cheap as chips (at least compared w Norway) 3 - you will be terrified at least once whilst driving in this country

    super happy with the vehicle, this button right here pretty much set the tone for the trip

    At some point in the trip we wandered around the city




    First destination was Gudauri, hoping to do some wicked high peaks, assuming the ski resort was just alright. Well, the ski resort was re-god-damn-diculuos and had some pretty mental terrain accessible from the lifts. There were 2 brand new gondola's not even on the trail maps yet. Aaaand, the place was empty.

    No photos from the morning pow sesh bc everyone was chomping at the bit on some ridiculous in-bounds spine skiing (way to go on some of those lines ladies, if you are on here).
    Some entrances were spicier than others and stayed fresh late into the day

    Pretty great snow for spring

    Lots of stuff to huck, although we 3 were all on a semi injury train and kept er on the ground (for the most part)
    Huge amounts of terrain, making skiers look tiny

    Dropping cornices over an inversion is always awesome

    Sun and pow for a few days

    Day 2 got a wee bit too warm, but the morning was gangbusters



    One last lap before pointing at stuff we would love to attempt if a window allowed it.

    Peaks over 16,500. Not this time.


    Weather got reeeal warm followed by a storm so we packed up and headed to the next destination.....

  2. #2
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    Mar 2006
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    Whistler/Niseko
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    Mestia - not too bad of a drive.
    Tetnuldi - not sure how the road up there is legally open. Our vehicle barely made it, with a few serious tokyo drift/slide/backwards/holy shit moments on the way up. The lifted Delicas were killing it though

    Pretty sure I mixed the ski resort photos in with the Guduari photos, oops. So here are some touring photos from Mestia.
    Roads in Georgia will have an animal on them. Cows even graze on medians around the cities. Insane to see. But here is what most roads were like in Mestia, that were passable.

    Dogs are literally everywhere as well. Most of them are pretty cool. But not as cool as this guy. He was super friendly and decided to follow us, bag some peaks, drop a cornice or two, and shred all the way with us. Not sure how long or how much vertical we logged, but holy shit this guy could give it. Would have gladly taken him home with me......

    Skin track stoke. These towers are old. And badass. Such a cool backdrop. Feels just like Vail, haha.

    Vast

    Long skins = long decents. Lines in every direction as well.

    Doggo would always eventually catch up

    Going way out there - can barely see the 2 specs

    Reaping the rewards. One of the best pics of the trip

    Trying to tire this guy out

    Id like to think we gave him a run for his money, but he could have been humouring us to think he was beat

    Back to the car

    Time to head down and have another ho-hum Georgian meal. JK, every meal was a feast. These people know how to eat, and could not be more generous and kind. Typical spread, with more on the way

    Expecting some more weather we headed back towards Guduari.

  3. #3
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    Mar 2006
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    Whistler/Niseko
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    Went up to a monestary on a down day. Brought the skis but it wasnt worth a ski

    Apparently this place is old or something

    If you get here before the roads are passable you can deliver goods to the monks who live here and they reward you with booze. We were too late for that, but sweet spot nonetheless

    The mountains here are huge. Kazbeck is behind us, towering over 16,500. So these little guys pale in comparison

    Snowed some more, so we skied some more around Guduari area.

    Considered setting up camp out here, but never had the window of consistent weather we were looking for. Could easily spend a week here smashing lines

    Some more random photos
    Top of ski resort again

    Georgian bath houses, DO IT!

    Cant tell its snowy down here

    One of our many humble abodes

    Thats a wrap

    After Norway closed this year due to corona we tried to go back to Georgia but our boots on the ground there convinced us otherwise. It is an amazing place that I will love to go back to. Lift tickets were around $15 for pretty insane playgrounds. Food was cheap, beer was cheaper, and the people amazing. If she is on your list of destinations, do it.

  4. #4
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    Mar 2006
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    Oh yeah, heres a video of the trip. Japan and Norway are also included.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIXbFQdE8Nc

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Squaw valley
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    What a great trip.

    I climbed kazbek with my wife 10 years ago, in June, unfortunately without skis.
    Would've made a great descent.

    I loved georgia, my favorite country during that year long trip around the world.

    I would like to go ski there, but logistics are tough with two kids, 8 and, 11.
    In a few years.

    Btw, I'm in the French Pyrenees now and skiing is fantastic. Tons of steep couloirs and nobody skiing them.

    Sent from my Redmi Note 8 Pro using Tapatalk

  6. #6
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    Jan 2019
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    Fantastic pictures.

  7. #7
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    Sep 2009
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    PNW -> MSO
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    7,889
    excellent, thanks for sharing.

  8. #8
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    Oct 2009
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    seatown
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    4,117
    got damn, amazing. good photog work

  9. #9
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    Mar 2006
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    Whistler/Niseko
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    I climbed kazbek with my wife 10 years ago, in June, unfortunately without skis.
    Would've made a great descent.
    Nice work! Shes a beast. Did you start from the church? And out of curiosity how many days did you do it in? Stability was downright terrifying when we were there. Pretty much shut down all plans to head up and even check out the approach and ski some lower surrounding lines. You consider Ushba as well?

  10. #10
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    Sep 2008
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    Not Brooklyn
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    That was great. Thanks.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    Squaw valley
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    Quote Originally Posted by brannen View Post
    Nice work! Shes a beast. Did you start from the church? And out of curiosity how many days did you do it in? Stability was downright terrifying when we were there. Pretty much shut down all plans to head up and even check out the approach and ski some lower surrounding lines. You consider Ushba as well?
    We started right in the village, did it in two days.

    Sent from my Redmi Note 8 Pro using Tapatalk

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    1,414
    Beautiful..!!
    what's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?

  13. #13
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    Oct 2003
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    写道
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    Nice! I'm supposed to visit Georgia in September. Will depend on how the current hCov-19 situation pans out, I suppose.
    Daniel Ortega eats here.

  14. #14
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    Jan 2008
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    Paper St. Soap Co.
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    Awesome, I would love to do a Georgia ski trip.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    670
    Very awesome. Georgia is on top of my places to visit in the near future. Have some in-laws that live a short flight away from there, so hopefully can earn some family kudos by visiting them and Georgia in the same trip.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Bozeman
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    14
    Spent three weeks in Georgia this February. Incredible country! Favorite place that I have traveled to. We managed 13 days of great skiing, mostly touring (self-guided), despite the nearly record-low and super sketchy snowpack this year. Planning on returning before long

    Skied with the same dog in your video (pretty sure)...and many many others across the country!
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  17. #17
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    Mar 2006
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    haha, thats Awesome!

  18. #18
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    Apr 2005
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    The land of Genesee Cream Ale and homemade pierogies!
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    Great pics, nice report.

    Have to ask about the dogs 'causer I've heard this described before. Any thoughts why they cling to people, ... food, companionship, activity? Where they go for the night, sleep in the streets, and how do they stay (in whats looks to be) healthy, not emancipated or sickly or under feed?

    Have heard stories form people hiking in other eastern your up mountain regions and stories about the local dogs sounds very similar.
    “The best argument in favour of a 90% tax rate on the rich is a five-minute chat with the average rich person.”

    - Winston Churchill, paraphrased.

  19. #19
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    Mar 2006
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    Whistler/Niseko
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    this guy was highly motivated by food, which we found out only after one monster lap.

    they seem to be cattle dogs where we were. lots of cows and chickens and a few goats and sheep roaming around. the lil guy followed us for 3 peaks up and down and then all the way back to the little village. when we got to the car and packed up he walked up the road a few hundred meters and plopped himself down in front of a house. the locals seem pretty warm to the dogs, not shooeing them away with sticks like in other places ive been.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    Between a rock and a soft place. Aberdare and The Brecon Beacons, Wales
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    3,208
    Great TR, great country.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
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    541
    Awesome TR. I’ve been two Georgia a couple of times, but never managed to ski. Love the place.

    Props to the pups too...


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    3,711
    This is an outstandingly good TR. Thank you.

  23. #23
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    Sep 2008
    Location
    Geopolis
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    16,084
    very cool, thanks for putting in the time. that video is outstanding.
    j'ai des grands instants de lucididididididididi

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Posts
    551
    That is a great video. The exotic places that some of you peeps go to and the photos and edits you make are what I love best about this forum.

    Sorry about that injury though. Curious at one point within the video, you captioned that you love your new bindings and showed a couple of crash's. Was it a pre-release that lead to a crash that caused your foot break?

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Whistler/Niseko
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    Biking broke my foot. Overshot a landing by a hair, didnt really crash, just the impact exploded my foot. Lisfranc injury, Kelly Slater did the same thing and helped me learn about the type of injury since I never heard of it.

    The pre-releases never led to an injury thank christ. Just very frustrating. Any sideslipping through serious chatter and those things pop off. Ended up LOCKING them out b/c of this and that is when I re-injured my foot and had to end my trip a few days early in Norway. Skis didnt pop off on an icy road ski out and twisted my leg really bad. Knees stayed in tact but brought me back to the emergency room in Tromso to make sure I didnt totally fuck my hardware.

    Before

    After


    Not 100% positive the crash broke both screws, but it felt like it.

    Lesson learned, only lock out my Dynafit Rotations in fall and die situations.

    Sorry for the lengthy response, corona has me pretty bored ha

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