Cat = snow groomer. Cat-skiing uses snow groomers to get freeriders up the mountain as efficiently and quickly as possible. The cats are powerful and equipped with heated passenger cabins. Cat - Skiing is becoming increasingly popular in Canada, the United States and Japan. Many large heliski providers have also discovered cat skiing for themselves and offer combi packages, or switch to the snow groomers on the down days. There are hardly any offers in Europe because it is difficult to obtain permits and the effort is rather big. There are some key differences to heliskiing. First the points where we think the snow groomer is ahead:

1. A cat skiing day is less stressful than a heli day. The background noise is much more pleasant, and what could be better than discussing the run you just drove with like-minded people and friends on the next ascent
2. Cat skiing is largely weather independent. No worries about down days ...
3. The price: Depending on different countries and companies, you can get about 3 to 4 days with the Cat, ... or one day with the helicopter.
4. We do not count minutes or vertical meters, for us the day ends when the sun goes down. The snow groomer and guides are at your disposal all day, driving until it gets dark or the strength is exhausted ...
5. As far as the ecological fingerprint is concerned, neither cat nor heliskiing is ideal. Nevertheless, in our opinion, the snow groomer is ahead. We have not created any paths ourselves, but use forest roads that are needed for the management of forest and alpine pastures in summer. We try everything to keep both, noise and pollution, to a minimum, do without plastic and leave nothing but the fresh tracks on the mountain.

We had great powder days in 2023! Despite a difficult start with the war in Ukraine and the dryest December and January in 30 years, we made the most of it and had tons of days with finest Georgian powder. But the most important thing: We have again gained a lot of priceless experience for the coming years in order to be able to offer you the best service in the future.

Our new, second snow groomer has started service and, after a few initial difficulties, everything has settled and we are well positioned for 2024. On days with snowfall and/or bad visibility our original spot is perfect and offers fantastic tree skiing and open glades. As soon as the sun shows up, we use the new site. The difference couldn't be bigger. The terrain is huge and we start at over 2200m, no trees and endless space for lines in untracked terrain. The snow groomers are just as different as the areas in which we operate. For our first area we have exactly the right device with the small, manoeuvrable cat. The roads leading to the powder are narrow, the big cats are too wide to operate up there.  In the new area there are no trees or bottlenecks , so we have found a real monster, almost 500 hp ensure that we can reach our starting points quickly and diligently climb. We will take the experiences from 2023 with us and are already planning intensively for the upcoming one. See you in 2024!

New from 2023! In order to be able to offer you alternatives for days with sunshine and warmer temperatures, we have found a second spot with infinitely large terrain and different exposures. Our Cat is at the bottom station of the Tednuldi ski area at 2260 meters above sea level, about 15 km from our partner hotel in Mestia. The ski area does not open before 10 a.m., so we can start our cat skiing day undisturbed around 9 a.m. For the first (up) ride we use the slopes of the ski area and spend the day in untracked terrain between 2260 and 3100m. If the conditions are right, the day ends in the wonderful town of Adishi (picture left) at 2040 meters, where you will be picked up after a cup of tea or a beer and the adventurous journey back to the hotel begins. You can expect open terrain, freeriding at its best and lots of space for your lines.

Cat skiing days are long and can be exhausting.  We take care of (almost) everything. You don't have to worry about the transfer to the starting point, lunch, or anything else that might keep you from enjoying your powder day. The daily routine is primarily determined by sunrise and sunset: From Dawn to Dusk! We do not count vertical meters or limit the time that our snow groomer is on the move. Like everything we do and offer, we always try to stay as flexible as possible.

A "normal" powder day:

08:00 

You will be picked up at your accommodation (the exact pick-up time depends on daylight, earlier in March than in January)

08:30  - 09:00 

Safety training and instruction (no longer necessary from day 2)

09:00 - 12:00

Powdertime: Depending on the weather and snow conditions, the guides will find the best possible runs for you.

12:00 - 12:45 

Lunch on the mountain. When the sun is shining you can eat at over 2200 meters, a wonderful picnic high above Mestia.

12:45 - 16:00

Powdertime: more powder, new runs!

4:00 p.m.

With tea, mulled wine or beer there is certainly a lot to talk about before heading back to the hotel for dinner.

Safety

Even though our first season is coming up this year and a lot is new for us too, safety comes first and is anything but new territory for us. We will provide you with the complete avalanche safety equipment for the Cat Skiing Days. This consists of: avalanche backpack + shovel + avalanche transceiver + probe.

All of this is included in the package price. We make sure that everything is perfectly maintained and in good condition. If you prefer to use your own avalanche transceiver because you are used to it, you can of course do so. However, we ask for your understanding that we check the function at the beginning of the day. The same applies to the avalanche backpack. During our cat-skiing days we strongly recommend wearing a helmet and ask you to comply with it. Our guides of course have appropriate first aid packages in their backpacks and in the snow groomer we have additional emergency equipment with us. In the unlikely event of an injury, Mestia has a well-equipped hospital for primary care. The rescue can also go to the bottom of the mountain and takes less than 7 minutes. There is of course a safety briefing on the first day of cat skiing. Most of you are certainly very familiar with the avalanche transceivers, but our guides do a little refresher. It doesn't take long and is an absolute must. If you want to use our equipment during the days we are not traveling with the Cat, you are welcome to rent the safety equipment at moderate prices. We will clarify the modalities with you in the booking and planning process.

Guides

An essential, safety-relevant aspect for a perfect day in the powder are the  guides. Our guides are all from Svaneti, grew up in the mountains around Mestia and know every stone there. All are GMGA (Georgian Mountain Guide Association https://ifmga.info/) certified, some speak English very well, all can communicate security-relevant more than enough. For all mountain activities with a guide, a maximum group size of 6 people per group applies. Our snow groomer can carry a maximum of 12 guests, so there will be 2 guides. With homogeneous groups there is a head and a tail guide, with different levels of performance and / or condition we can split the group with one guide each.

Equipment

For a cat skiing day you need everything you would take with you on a "normal" day of freeriding. The passenger cabin of our snow groomer is heated, so you are exposed to not insignificant temperature differences. At almost 3000m, it gets very cold, even on the sunniest day. An additional jacket and an extra shirt should be included and easily fit into the avalanche backpacks we provide. We recommend skis with a middle width of at least 100mm. Since we are not just about cat skiing, it is always a combination of ski tours or freeriding AND cat skiing. We know that it is difficult to pack the right ski or the right snowboard. A ski  you climb 1000 verticals with, is rarely suitable for a day of powder using the snow groomer. You don't have to make any compromises here, we have powder slats in 3 different lengths, which we would be happy to provide, at a very moderate price. On request, we will clarify the modalities with you in the booking and planning process.