Discover the Caucasus on this 7-day ski safety and avalanche awareness course, designed for beginner and intermediate skiers who want to build real backcountry skills in one of the most dramatic mountain regions in the world. Each day, we leverage the lift systems at Tetnuldi or Hatsvali to gain elevation quickly, maximizing your time for hands-on learning and high-altitude skiing. Unlike a purely technical expedition, this program blends daily skiing around Mestia with hands-on training in reading snowpack and weather bulletins, using an avalanche beacon, probe, and shovel, and practicing companion rescue scenarios - all delivered on the move, not in a classroom. Your certified mountain guide leads both the skiing and the safety instruction, adjusting terrain and pace to the group's level and daily conditions.
The week begins with an equipment check and avalanche basics at Tetnuldi or Hatsvali, then progresses through snowpack reading, companion rescue drills, group-led route finding, and a final day consolidating everything learned.
By the end, you will have skied five full days while building genuine, transferable knowledge of avalanche risk assessment and rescue. Beyond the skiing, the week offers a taste of Svaneti's rich culture, with optional evening visits to the Svaneti History and Ethnography Museum, Dede cinema, and Mestia's medieval Svan defensive towers. This is a course for people who want to leave as safer, more capable backcountry skiers—not just survivors of a hard week in the mountains, but confident, knowledgeable ones.

What will I learn from this course?

By the end of this course, you will be able to confidently ski tour in off-piste terrain, developing essential skills such as efficient skinning, kick turns, transitions, pacing, and controlled descents in variable snow conditions. You will also gain a solid introduction to avalanche awareness and safety, including the basic use of a transceiver, probe, and shovel, helping you make more informed and responsible decisions in the backcountry.