Hotels near Sadzele Black Runs

Mount Sadzele tops out at 3,307 m, and the black pistes falling from the upper station of the Sadzele chairlift are the steepest lift-served snow in Georgia. The chairlift is a four-seat fixed-grip unit built in 2008, 1,410 m long, carrying you from about 2,770 m to just under 3,280 m in ten exposed minutes. There is no bubble and no shelter at the top.

What waits up there is a wide open shoulder with sustained pitch, scattered rock bands and wind-scoured sections that can go hard by early afternoon. Link the black runs into the pistes below and you can ride roughly 1,280 vertical metres down to the base of Gudauri Ski Resort, one of the longest continuous descents in the Caucasus. February is the most dependable month up here; earlier and later the Sadzele chairlift often sits idle in high wind. The whole of Gudauri Ski Resort lies above the treeline, so flat light rather than gradient is usually what turns people back. Background on the resort's layout and history sits on Wikipedia.

Pro Tip: Ask at the Gudaura gondola top station whether the Sadzele chairlift is turning before you traverse across. It is the first lift at Gudauri Ski Resort to shut in wind, and the walk back costs you twenty minutes of daylight.