All four ski resorts carry a 20 December opening date this season

Gudauri, Bakuriani, Mestia and Goderdzi are all scheduled to begin the 2026/27 season on 20 December 2026. That is a plan rather than a promise: individual lifts and pistes open when there is enough snow on them, so the top of a mountain and the bottom of it rarely start on the same day. Closing dates have not been set. In a normal year Bakuriani, Hatsvali and Goderdzi wind up in late March, while Gudauri and Tetnuldi can keep running into April, which is worth knowing if you are planning a late trip.

Lift pass prices for 2026/27 had not been published when this was written, so anyone budgeting now is working from last season. In 2025/26 an adult day pass cost 70 GEL at Gudauri, 55 at Bakuriani, 50 at Mestia and 30 at Goderdzi, with children at roughly half those figures, and the MultiSki season pass covering all four resorts cost 650 GEL. Treat those as a planning baseline, not a quote — and if you let rooms or sell packages, say plainly that the new tariff is pending rather than repeating last year's number as though it were fixed.

Gudauri runs from roughly 2,000 to 3,300 metres and had about 80 km of groomed runs, a figure rising to 86 km for 2026/27 — it is the one that suits confident skiers and the one that holds snow longest. Bakuriani sits at around 1,700 metres with 11 lifts and 26 groomed runs, and is the gentler, more family-shaped option. Mestia's two areas, Hatsvali and Tetnuldi, give 14 lifts and 37 km of trails, with Tetnuldi topping out at 3,168 metres. Goderdzi is the small one, around 8 km of marked pistes, and people go for the snow and the quiet rather than the terrain.

Gudauri is about 120 km from Tbilisi, two to three hours by car, with no coach service from the capital and no direct airport transfer; a direct bus does run from Kutaisi airport, and the Jvari Pass can delay or close the road in bad weather. Bakuriani is about 180 km from Tbilisi or 150 from Kutaisi, under four hours, with minivans from Borjomi in under an hour and a train service expected back this season. Mestia is the long one, roughly 450 km and ten hours from Tbilisi, usually broken at Kutaisi or Zugdidi, and a 4WD is close to essential once snow arrives. Goderdzi is normally reached from Batumi via Khulo in three to four hours. If you host guests, the transfer is the question you will be answering all winter.