Gudauri

Gudauri is Georgia's principal ski resort and the reason the country has become a serious winter destination. The slopes sit entirely above the treeline between 2,200 and 3,300 metres, which means wide open terrain, long sightlines and a season that usually runs from December into April.

The resort has built its reputation on off-piste. Ridges drop away on both sides of the lift system, cat-skiing and heliskiing operate from the village, and the snowpack is famously dry for a mountain range this close to the Black Sea.

A few kilometres up the road stands the Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument, a curved concrete arch with a brightly tiled mural, perched on the edge of the Devil's Valley. In summer it becomes one of the country's busiest paragliding launch points.