5 Best Ski Slopes in Gudauri

Mount Kudebi rises to 3,006 m on the eastern flank of Gudauri Ski Resort, and the red pistes beneath it are where competent skiers spend most of their day. Two chairlifts serve the sector: Kudebi 2, a six-seat detachable installed in 2018 and 1,279 m long, and the original three-seat Kudebi chair from 1986, a 565 m survivor that still turns. Both start around 2,850 m and climb roughly 290 m.

The gradient here is consistent rather than brutal, which makes the sector good for building speed, but it is not beginner ground. The pitch is steep enough that a lost edge means a long slide across open snow. North-facing aspects hold cold powder far later into the afternoon than the base-area blues do. The west face of Mount Kudebi is the most accessible off-piste at the resort, reachable in a short traverse from the top station, and it tracks out fast after a storm. Gudauri Ski Resort operates no avalanche patrol, so treat that face as backcountry rather than a side-country shortcut.

Pro Tip: Ride Kudebi 2 first thing after a snowfall, before the Gudaura gondola crowd works its way east. The sector is two lifts from the base and usually stays untracked until around 11:00.

The Kobi valley descent hangs off the three-section Poma gondola line that opened in 2018 and connects Gudauri Ski Resort to Kobi village on the Georgian Military Highway. The sections are named Firni (1,992 m), Kobi (2,271 m) and Truso (2,837 m), a shade over 7,100 m of cable in total, crossing the Kobi Pass at roughly 2,900 m and covering 1,217 m of elevation difference in about fifteen minutes. Each of the 213 cabins carries ten people.

Skiing the far side puts you on wide north-facing intermediate terrain that stays quiet even in February half-term, with the Mount Kazbek massif filling the horizon. Kobi village itself sits at 1,970 m, some 20 km from Stepantsminda. Non-skiers can ride the line purely as sightseers: a return ticket cost 45 GEL (about 15 EUR) for adults and 35 GEL (about 12 EUR) for children aged six to twelve in winter 2025/26. The gondola doubles as a public link when snow closes the Jvari Pass road.

Pro Tip: Drop into the Kobi valley before 14:00. The last ride back over the Kobi Pass is tied to the 17:00 lift close, and a taxi from Kobi village back up the Georgian Military Highway to Gudauri costs several times the 45 GEL gondola fare.

Mount Bidara is the freeride objective most Gudauri guides name first. It carries two summits, Didi Bidara at 3,174 m and Patara Bidara at 3,011 m, and the standard approach starts from the Kobi Pass gondola station at roughly 2,900 m. That leaves a short skin or boot-pack to the ridge instead of a full touring day. From the top you can drop east toward the Gudauri Ski Resort lifts or west down to the Georgian Military Highway, with over a kilometre of vertical either way.

The window for it runs January to April. Georgia's national tourism board is blunt about the terms: the Mount Bidara ski tour suits skiers already experienced in untracked snow, and even they are urged to hire a certified guide. Transceiver, shovel, probe and ideally an airbag pack are standard kit. Mount Chrdili and the west face of Mount Kudebi give shorter alternatives on the same lift ticket, with the same absence of any resort avalanche service.

Pro Tip: Book a certified guide before you travel, and save Mount Bidara for a day when the Kobi Pass gondola is confirmed running from 10:00. That lift is what turns a full ski-touring day into a two-hour descent.

The Pirveli chairlift anchors the beginner terrain at Gudauri Ski Resort, in lower Gudauri at around 2,000 m. Installed in 2018, it is a six-seat detachable, 946 m long, rising about 150 m over a broad green slope that is the gentlest pitch on the mountain. This is also where the resort concentrates its snowmaking: 29 cannons cover roughly 15 percent of the ski area, mostly the runs under Pirveli and the neighbouring Soliko chairlift, which keeps the sector skiable through thin Decembers.

Night skiing runs on the Pirveli slope on Friday and Saturday evenings from 20:00 to 22:00, priced separately at 30 GEL (about 10 EUR). Higher up, the three-seat Snow Park chair from 1986 climbs 772 m from a base of 2,700 m and serves the terrain park, where the jumps, boxes and rails are sized for progression rather than competition. Ski school groups work the magic carpets and the short Baby and Alpina bar lifts at the bottom of the slope.

Pro Tip: A full-day adult lift pass at Gudauri Ski Resort costs 70 GEL (about 23 EUR) and juniors aged 6 to 18 pay 35 GEL (about 12 EUR). If your first day is only ever going to be Pirveli, the 30 GEL Friday night session is a cheaper way to test your legs.