By Nikola Marinko · Water and wastewater projects in Georgia, 2017-2021 · Updated October 2026 · 8 min read

The road in this story, from the airport through Zugdidi and past the Enguri Dam up to Mestia, ran between two of my own project sites. I was in Georgia from 2017 to 2021 with Ludwig Pfeiffer and finished as Contractor's Executive Director. At the bottom of that road sat STP Zugdidi, a €12.7M sewage treatment plant, and at the top WTP Mestia at 1,400 m. Tetnuldi sits just above the top end of that commute, so for me it was a Friday afternoon decision rather than a holiday.

The page works as a route guide as much as a ski story. Land in Kutaisi for the cheap fares, or in Tbilisi or Batumi, and rent a 4x4 before anything else. Eat at Diaroni in Zugdidi and walk the botanical garden across the road. Stop at the Enguri Dam, a 271.5 m concrete arch holding back a turquoise lake. Sleep in Mestia among the Svan towers, because beds at the resort are scarce, and end the evening at Cafe Laila with live folk music. Then it is an hour to the slopes: more than 30 km of runs on 16 trails between 2,270 and 3,045 m, and off-piste terrain that almost nobody touches.

Tetnuldi asks for more effort than most resorts and pays it back with empty pistes and views you keep for years. Go before everyone else finds it.

STP Zugdidi project · WTP Mestia project · Mestia · Gudauri · Field stories

Tetnuldi, Svaneti - The Road to Georgia's Hidden Ski Mountain

FIELD STORY