I come from Guria, for the entirety of my childhood my mother blamed my hot-headed attitude and temper on that. A couple dozen years before my birth, my grandfather sold his house, moved with his parents to Tbilisi and bought a holiday home in the Borjomi Valley. Because of that, I have only been to the seabank villages of Guria and even those I’ve only passed through on my way to Batumi. The mountains of Guria – Nabeghlavi and Bakhmaro, I knew only from bottle labels and photos.
In the 26th year of my life I realized that I had to visit where I hail from, where not a lot of tourists visit at all. We planned a trip at the beginning of October when the tourist season was at its end. The route was Surami – Nabeghlavi – Bakhmaro.
The amazing charm of Guria is in it’s greenery and boundless space. Being used to the mountains of Georgia, the lush green fields and valleys were a strangely joyful sight. It was also pleasant that Autumn was nowhere to be felt. Across the entire journey up until Bakhmaro, we had the Summer heat behind our backs.
Meeting with the favorite writer from my childhood was unnerving – the characters of Nodar Dumbadze, real people; wandering around in the house he drafted, interacting with the day-to-day of Guria…
It’s said that Bakhmaro is a uniquely microclimactic zone. There’s even a legend about a shepherd, who, right as winter was coming, had his way home sealed off by the snow and had to fend off the winter along his flock. He was diseased by what is known today as Tuberculosis and didn’t think he’d last through the winter, but not only did he survive, he arrived back in Spring completely healthy.
A few years ago, German and Czech skiers discovered Bakhmaro with its potential and fantastic snow. They even filmed a video and spread in around social media. The video garned huge interest with both professionals and amateurs.
After that, Bakhmaro started developing. We also made our way towards Bakhmaro and were met with lots of construction work in the village. In hopes of an influx of tourists, locals are flocking back to where they are from, whereas newer residents are building cottages to be ready for the skiers this season.
There’s about 30 kilometers from Nabeghlavi to Bakhmaro. The nature around the pass is indescribably beautiful. Mineral waters are plentiful and there’s always a spot to stop, rest and make amazing shots. Even this road is an adventure in and of itself. Small, cozy wooden houses are dotted on the slopes of Bakhmaro, while the coniferous woods give it a natural curtain of sorts.
Do you know the leading country for the quality of skiing snow in the world? – Japan. And Bakhmaro is promising snow of the same quality to its arrivals.
Since there are no cable car systems in place yet, you’ll have to enjoy Bakhmaro via Ski Tours or Catskiing. Speaking of, Catskiing originated in Canada, in the resorts that offered high quality snow and lacked infrastructure. We are millennials believing that it’s all about tech and information, but having searched the web deeply we didn’t find much in Georgian sources. Offers for tours in Bakhmaro can be found on German sites where they endlessly praise Georgian snow.