Splitboard Georgia

Join us on a unique splitboard trip and explore the remote RACHA region of Georgia.  8th -15th March 2025

If you like the sound of a remote winterised basecamp location in a lesser explored corner of western Asia then read on….

 

After having arrived at Tbilisi International airport we’ll transfer you in a private mini-coach to a small village called Oni situated in the highlands of the Racha region in Georgia.  The upper Rioni river runs by and it’s hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains.  In Oni is an amazing 200 year old guesthouse surrounded by grapevines from which Nika and his family make their own wine (a lot of it) and a local brandy known as ‘ChaCha’.

Nika and his family will out-do themselves in welcoming you to their family home.  Here we’ll also have lunch and dinner – brace yourselves, this is Georgia and the food hospitality is next level.
Having experienced a hit of authentic Georgian culture, we’ll spend the night there before making the onward journey to camp.  Early on Sunday morning we’ll jump into their super cool vintage military jeeps and head off.
“Where’s that?”
We’ll be returning to the Racha region and our remote basecamp accommodation situated at 1850m in the stunning Caucasus mountains. The unique camp set-up allows us to start splitboarding from the tent door to access the varied freeride terrain that this zone boasts.
The camp is only accessible on foot or by skidoo.  There is no road.  Did we mention that it’s remote?  On arrival at the camp trailhead we’ll use the camp skidoo to transport our main bags up to it  and make the 600m ascent ourselves on splits.   When we get there we’ll unpack, have lunch, fire up the wood burners in the tents and go for a small skin to practice with transceivers and refresh on search & rescue techniques.
“But, but – tents?” 
Yup, Russian made, surprisingly spacious winterised sleeping modules that have been designed for extreme weather conditions.  Each tent sleeps two people on surprisingly comfortable single beds (thanks to memory foam toppers) with lots of space for bags and for drying clothes and kit.  LED lights provide night time visibility and there are drawers for your ‘stuff’.  For warmth, each tent is fitted with a custom made wood burning stove, keeping things toasty at night.  It really is a serene way to spend time in the mountains – night times are very special there, with zero light pollution you’ll never have seen the moon and stars shine so brightly.
“I’m hungry now”
The dining tent is where you’ll spend most of your time whilst in the camp.  It’s large, warm and serves the most delicious homemade Georgian food.  Breakfast is a feast  – pancakes, omelettes, fresh bread from the stove and other delights await.  There is an apres ride soup served at 4pm before dinner at 7pm which is again a huge array of traditional cuisine.  It really is some of the best food we’ve ever had on a trip away – the fact they knock it out in a tent at altitude is nothing short of incredible.
Oh, Georgian wine and beer are on tap throughout the trip.
The camp also has a good Wi-Fi – satellite connection and 220v generator charging for your phones and other devices.  It also has a super hot sauna and a shower too, a delight after a day of riding powder.
“Who else is going?”
The Rider Social books the whole camp out for its private use.  The camp has room for 10 clients but we will only take 5 on this trip.  We also start the group chat / comms early so you can get to know one another before we get there and after living together in close proximity for a week you’ll make new lifelong mountain friends.
“What’s the riding like?”
It really does have it all, steep alpine pitches and insane views await for the sunny days and some of the best and most open forest tree runs we’ve ever ridden that are on hand for poor visibility days.  The East forest features large, open glades and West has fluffy pillow lines for the more adventurous rider.
Long, fun undulating powder fields serve as the home run back to camp.  We can guarantee you’ll not ride the same line twice, even in the trees.
The other cool thing is that none of the terrain is difficult to access in split mode.  You’ll not need any boot crampons, harness or axe on this trip – in fact you’ll be hard pressed to make a kickturn or use splitboard crampons.  It’s the perfect week for folks wanting easy access to powder – this isn’t a technical splitting trip ( if technical alpinist splitboarding is your jam then you should be looking at our 5-day Trip and Split sessions that run in the Alps).
That said, you should be physically prepared to make ascents of approx 1200m + vertical per day.  This could be one single 1200m walk up into the alpine where we’d make one transition at the top before riding down.  In the forest zones, it could be that we make 3 or 4 ascents of 350m each time that require multiple split transitions.
“Is everyone going to be better than me?”
You’ll all have the ability to float linked turns in deep snow and have the confidence to navigate and tack your way down through the (very well spaced) trees.  We don’t race up on the ascents and we’ll also ensure the descents are suitable for your individual level.
Racha is a special place and while there are bigger mountains in the Upper Svaneti range you’ll be hard pressed to find a better playground than this.

“I rode more powder here in 2 days than I have living in Switzerland over the past 2 years”  – Diego Bersini, Lausanne Switzerland.

“Whose in charge?”
Paul and Polo.
Polo is a French born UIAGM splitboard guide from Evian Les Bains. He is supported by Jones and Spark R&D, and along with his best mates  (Jones team riders Pica Herry and Laurent Bibollet) helps coach the Jones European Team athletes on their early season safety days here in the Alps.
Polo graduated from ENSA in Chamonix in 2013 and has been leading our splitboard crews since 2016 on worldwide adventures.  He’ll find you the best snow in the best place, every time.  Polo is in charge of your safety on the mountain and helping you to get the best out of your splitboarding, he’ll dispense splitboard technique and general touring wisdom, help you with equipment and occasionally shout ‘ALLEZ ALLEZ’ at you really loudly.
Paul is from the UK but has been resident in France for nearly 18 years, he lives just 10 minutes from Polo in the same valley. He’s in charge of finding new and special worldwide splitboard destinations, the ensuing trip logistics and clients comms.  A distinctly average splitboarder for the past 12 years, he’s also found at the back of the skintrack on these trips muttering about being a back marker or something.
“How do we get home?”
After five and a half days of splitboarding we’ll make the descent back down from camp (by snowboard) on Friday afternoon.  At the bottom we’ll be picked up in the jeeps and taken back to Oni and the guesthouse for a farewell lunch and dinner.  Expect the food, wine and chacha (Georgian brandy) to flow while the entertainment is provided by a very talented group of local girls who’ll sing and dance.  Expect to join in the dancing and throw it down, Georgian style.
Another comfy night in the guesthouse follows and we’ll be picked up by the mini-coach on Saturday morning for the trip back to Tbilisi where the trip ends.  Polo and I tend to stay in the city for the Saturday night, travelling home on the Sunday.  It is worth considering doing the same to check out this quite incredible city, a beautiful, cultural melting pot of East meeting West boasting architecture that will inspire and amaze.  It really is worth exploring while you’re there.
“Got any video of the place?”

 

 

Course dates & times

8th Mar 2025 – 15th Mar 2025