Backcountry Skiing Georgia | Ialakha | adidas TERREX x EOFT

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Dropping in three, two, one... So you have, “I can’t make it, but I’m going to do it anyway. It’ll be fine.” And, “If I do it, it won’t work out anyway.” Hey, I’m so done! The mountains, we have some kind of idea how they will look.’ But in the end, they will be so huge.

It’ll be pretty amazing, to just walk through this skyline there. And that’s the reason why I'm doing this. Not just for riding, but also the adventure.

We’re trying a ski traverse. 60 km, 4000 m altitude. We don’t know if anyone's tried the route in winter.

The route has lots of Spinewalls that we want to ski. Heli came up with the idea. In summer, I was at home and looking at the map. Both at Georgia and the area we were in...

last winter... Well, then... I took a closer look and thought so many cool mountains... You leave this village. You could only go one way, from one village to another, from Ghebi to Ushguli, and connect the mountains on this route, and well, ski all of them.

And this then Colouir, this spine wall, mountaineering... My goal was for us to make it, to get through this tour and to have great runs. But for me, that wasn’t the important thing, the motivation was simply to try something you don’t know will work. Heli isn’t the only one driven by this. There are six of us. Five in front of the camera, and me behind it.

While none of us would take on such an ambitious project just to test out our limits... Still, there seems to be some reason we are all here. We, so first and foremost Heli, the taciturn mountaineer. It’s thanks to his planning that we are actually starting on the day we planned to. Don’t take that for granted in Georgia! Levi is usually in a good mood and full of energy. He really knows how to express his love of the mountains.

Look at this spine wall! Then there’s Eva, the silent observer. She captures her impressions with her camera. Excellent. Thank you! Yessica is probably the best skier of all of us, but she has never skied outside the Alps.

Bold. Because besides that, she is new to the group and only knows me yet. Zura is a good friend of ours. He’s at home here in the Georgian Caucasus, and skis almost every day.

So that leaves me. My goal: I want to make a documentary, in the hope that I know what I’ve let myself in for. Our journey to Ghebi is starting. And from there we plan to make our way to Ushfuli, first on horseback, then on foot. We’ve been waiting for our taxi driver Irakli for two hours now. He’s driving us to Oni, the last place with tarmac roads.

We’ll find out how to go about the journey once we get there. Ok, no problem. This is safe... Irakli does what he promises with his car. He doesn’t drive fast. I check the kit again on the backseat, wedged between the baggage. head torch, batteries, memory cards, tents, food...

I hope we’ve got all we need. Our initial high has given way to strain. we just want to get there. Zura’s been waiting in Oni for three hours. I’m so sorry! How are you all? I mean...

-Yeah! -It’s a long time. -How are you? -Nice to meet you. Now our team is all together, ready for an adventure into the unknown. We are nervous, check our backpacks for the last time.

You can feel the anticipation for what's ahead of us. One last sh** before we head off in the wilderness. The horses are already loaded up, then we head towards the snow. The horses save us 15 km on foot in unsettled conditions.

Our motley crew makes me feel safe and sound. And then it's there, the unavoidable moment: So here we are. The horses cannot go anymore. The snow is too deep.

I think three or four km left to our first camping spot. Now we have to carry our stuff between the forest. From now on, we’re on our own.

This is quite horse-hairy. So we hoist on our backpacks. Sobering. We have everything we need, but the backpacks weigh around 35 kilos. I think of the power banks I’ve packed.

Once you’ve got your backpack on, it’s fine as long as you’re upright. So, the plan is, no breaks... just keep moving. And now run. -Hurry up! -Can we go now? Loaded like pack horses, we take our first steps into the unknown. The first few kilometers are a lot harder than we thought.

We have to cross rivers that aren’t on the map. At least, the abandoned hut on the map is still there. We made it.

We made it, yeah first day. The mood in the group ranges from buoyant to completely exhausted. Hey, I’m so done! Suffer-Fest at its best! and that was just four km. Not really. It was actually 15 km. Even more, but we had the horses. Oh well, we’ll manage somehow.

But now, something hot to eat and drink. Now there are eight of us. Two street dogs have joined us. We’ve named them Geronimo and Eugen.

I hope they turn back soon. We can’t feed them. The wilderness at its finest. Suffer finish. Now enjoy. The warm meal and company help combat the exhaustion and the walls around us soon feel like home. Our goal today: to follow the ridge up to around 3000 meters altitude. I don’t know if it’s a good sleep or the sun, but everyone’s cheerful.

Shall we make some bets how long we need for this? -No! -1 1/2 hours for the first 200 meters. We take day two as a challange. Although I’m exhausted from yesterday, I'm optimistic for this day. Ok Levi, this looks like lines! Then I fall in the snow. It’s not the first time today either.

I tried to fight, but in vain. Instead I’m on the ground, and Zura is taking my baggage off me. Yes, I’ve thought about that, but it’s not an option right now. Laying down was the only option.

But we've got a dog who’s looking after me. Clouds and fog are coming from the south. As we get closer to the pass, we’re in a whiteout already. We can’t ski in these conditions. So we have to set up camp here. I’ve never camped in winter before.

There is an endless expanse all around. Theoretically. I can’t actually see anything in this fog. It’s an unsettling feeling. All I can see is Heli’s torchlight.

Good I have so many batteries. I’ve forgotten my head torch. I really need sleep. I hardly got any. Diarrhea and a flat air mattress kept me up all night. But the scenery we’re waking up in is just breathtaking.

Snow-covered peaks for miles. Good morning. From here we can see the spine wall perfectly Time to ski big lines. - Which big lines? Right there. You can see some nice spines. Majestic ridges slope from the peaks into the valley below. Here we have to rely on our judgement.

There is no avalanche report. Rescue isn’t guaranteed in an emergency. I still indecicive which line to choose...

Shall we play it safe or shall we go big? Heli’s gaze keeps drifting to the right of the wall. His line looks scary from a distance. Behind the camera, I realize he doesn’t want any pressure. We aren’t pros, we’re learning by doing. That’s the only run for today and his line is definitely not the warm-up.

He needs to stay calm, to think about the turns. Go steady on the right-hand cliff. - Do your best! - You too! Let’s hope that the snow is good for skiing. Damn! The snow conditions are absolutely awful. It’s both ice and slush.

Now he just needs to focus on getting down in one piece. I respect Heli and how he masters everything and fights. We talk over the radio.

The southern slopes seem to have got too much sun. The snowfall overnight is pretty superficial. Maybe the northern slopes will be better. It wasn’t the powder we were hoping for, but still...

And to be honest, being able to ski on those slopes, far from civilisation, that’s crazy enough. To ski such a line with style, that’s my aim. Whether they’re satisfied or not, everyone is happy, we’re overjoyed about what we’ve achieved together. That was just the start, it could be like this all week.

I wish we could camp here for four days. But the weather’s going bad, so... We have to leave this beautiful spine wall. It’s amazing, take a look. Yes, we’d like to stay longer. But the weather has other plans.

Bad weather is arriving from the west. - Let's dry all our things. I wanted to do it yesterday, but we ended up in the snowstorm and we camped on the ridge.

Everything was wet. Tomorrow we are crossing the pass that’s been worrying Heli from the get-go. The only dangerous passage on the route. We hope the snow freezes overnight. We saw the wetslide... On the climb to the pass, there’s a constant risk of the snow layer sliding downhill with us on top.

So we have to reach the top of the pass quickly. At the end, the track gives way all the time the snow is already heavy and wet. Our descent on the other side will be also steep. At least we’re faster here, we" just" have to descend.

-I would go down one by one. -Yeah, for sure. -Nobody comes before my sign. -For sure. After our ascent, the descent will cost us our last energy. Eugen, that’s not good. We reach our camp as the rain starts. Our cabin has a log-burner.

A good place for new plans. I guess this is some old military base. Our camp looks out on impressive 4000 m mountains. But they’re currently veiled in heavy clouds.

In the warm cabin we need to decide. Wait for good weather or carry on. If we’re lucky the weather is better than forecast and we can ski some more lines. The weather forecast for today is clear: The day after tomorrow it will snow, and at that point we shouldn’t be 30 km away from civilization. Also these mountains will have to wait until next time. Now it will get easier.

We can feel how warm winter has been. The rain has almost melted the remaining snow. We strap our skis to our backpacks early on.

We soon start to feel the extra 4 kg. We still make remarkably good progress and are joined by two dogs. Levi names them Jesper and Henning. Around the campfire we realise it’s almost time to say goodbye. We’ve all missed home at one point.

Some more, some less. And now that the end is fast approaching, nobody wants to go. It’s snowing.

No one wants to go outside, because it’s snowing. Good morning. Good morning. Freedom! -You’ve got a lot of water on your camera. -I know. You can’t see shit in this. No, you can’t really see shit.

Heli, how is it? Powder, powder. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Apart from everything being wet, it’s perfect. That's how I like it.

The first sign of civilisation. are some ski tracks. We’re coming at the right time i guess. And that was last meter of vertical of the traverse.

Yeh, we did it! We are 4 km from Ushguli, and we are getting back to civilisation. For me that’s always the hard part, because when you spend so much time in a remote place, without any contact with the outer world, at some point it feels like this is the only reality that exists, like these people are the only people left in the world. And a little part of me always wants to stay forever, in nature, and not come back at all. But the civilisation has a shower.

Well, let’s go, it has to be done. -Very well. -Oh yeh. -Well done everyone. - That was awesome! We did it, right? Thank you. After six days, 60 km, over 4500 meters altitude, we reach Ushguli, a place we weren’t sure we could reach. On a route nobody has ever taken in winter.

All due to a map online and an idea, dreamed up on a sofa. -We planned eight days, but we finished it in six days. Look at this strong boy. Because of this machine here, and this machine. What did we learn? That it’s worth giving things a go.

Whether the dream is big or small, however possible or impossible it seems. We're all sure, that this project is just a beginning... there are more to come. And to qoute Levi: "We've created something beautiful here."

- You have to tell me something: - are you happy? - what do you think about the conditions? - Is it gonna rain? - What do you wanna ski today? - What do you wann send? - That colouir? He is not really talkative today - Yeah Geronimo - You are super serious. - Maybe he knows something, that we don't know...

2023-11-08 22:56

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Backcountry Skiing Georgia | Ialakha | adidas TERREX x EOFT​

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Backcountry Skiing Georgia | Ialakha | adidas TERREX x EOFT