What to pack for a week in Gudauri

Pack for altitude, strong sun and real cold at the same time: that combination is what catches people out in Gudauri, not the temperature on its own. The three things visitors most often wish they had brought are a second pair of gloves, a low-light goggle lens and serious sun protection; the things they most often bring and never use are towels, bed linen and their own skis.

Gudauri sits at 2,200 metres, above the treeline, with a lot of clear days and very little shelter. The sun is stronger than the thermometer suggests and the wind is colder than the forecast suggests, sometimes within the same hour. Here is what actually earns its place in the bag.

What makes this different from an Alpine packing list?

Three things, and they all push in the same direction.

• The skiing is above the treeline. Open bowls, no forest, nothing to break the wind and nothing to give the light definition when cloud comes in
• The sun is severe. High altitude plus snow reflecting light back at you burns faces on days that feel cold
• The resort is compact. A large ski area, but a small village. You can buy food and you can hire skis; you cannot count on finding a specific replacement for a specific technical item on a Tuesday

The layers that matter

Layering is not a slogan here, it is the mechanism that makes the day work. Still and sunny at the base can be severe at the top of the lifts on the same morning.

• A proper base layer, merino or synthetic, top and bottom. Not cotton, which holds moisture and then chills you
• A mid layer fleece or a light insulated jacket
• A waterproof, windproof shell jacket and salopettes
• One warm layer you can add or take off without undressing on a chairlift

The point of layering is adjustment. If you have to strip to your base layer to change anything, the system is not working.

Extremities, where the day is won or lost

• Two pairs of gloves. The single most useful line in this list: one dries while you wear the other
• Ski socks, thin and technical rather than thick and woolly. Thick socks make boots colder, not warmer, because they cut circulation
• A neck gaiter or buff, more useful than a scarf and it fits under a helmet
• A warm hat for the evening, when the helmet comes off
• Boots with grip for walking around the resort. Compacted snow goes icy, and smooth soles are a genuine hazard

Sun and eyes, the thing visitors get most wrong

At 2,200 metres with snow underneath you, sun exposure is serious on a day that feels cold. This is consistently the thing people underestimate, and it is the cheapest to fix.

• High-factor sunscreen, and actually reapply it at lunch
• Lip balm with a sun factor. Wind and reflected light destroy lips faster than anything else on the mountain
• Goggles, plus a low-light or spare lens. Above the treeline in cloud there is no tree line to give you contrast, and a dark lens makes it genuinely difficult to read the terrain
• Sunglasses for the walk and the terrace

What can you buy or hire in Gudauri?

You do not need to arrive self-sufficient.

• Skis, boards, boots and helmets. Several rental shops operate in the resort. Ski Gudauri, one of them, also rents snow-wear in all sizes, which is worth knowing if you ski once every few years and would rather not buy a jacket for one week
• Groceries. There are shops in the resort and every apartment has a full kitchen, so cooking a few evenings is realistic rather than theoretical
• Ski lessons and guiding, in English and Russian among other languages

Those are all independent businesses, listed with their own phone numbers and websites in the Gudauri directory. You book with them directly: the price and the terms are between you and them, and Altimera is not an agent for any of them.

What you should not rely on finding here: a specific prescription, a specific goggle lens, or a wide choice of anything technical. Tbilisi is about two and a half hours away, which is not a shopping trip you will make mid-week.

What does the apartment already have?

Every Altimera studio comes with a fully equipped kitchen, an electric stove and microwave, a washing machine, underfloor heating, high-speed Wi-Fi, a smart TV, an in-room safe and self check-in. Bed linen and towels are provided, and there is a dedicated locker in the ski depot on the first floor, so wet equipment stays downstairs.

So leave these at home:

• Towels and bed linen
• Basic kitchen equipment
• A travel adapter, if you are coming from Europe. Georgia runs at 220V and 50Hz on the standard European round two-pin socket, so EU plugs fit. Visitors from the UK, the US or Australia do need one
• Roughly half the clothes you were going to bring. There is a washing machine in the apartment, which is why a pair of ski socks per day is unnecessary and three pairs are plenty

The things people forget

Roughly ranked by how often it comes up.

• A second pair of gloves. Wet gloves on day two ruins day three
• A low-light goggle lens. The most useful small item you can put in a bag for this resort
• Lip protection with a sun factor. Cheap, tiny, and the omission everybody regrets
• Personal medication, in the quantity you need. Bring it with you rather than planning to find it here
• A power bank. Cold flattens phone batteries quickly, and your phone is your camera, your map and the way you find the rest of the group
• Cash in lari. Cards are widely accepted, but small purchases and tips are simply easier with cash

Packing for the storm day

Every week here has at least one day when the cloud is down and nobody is going anywhere. It is worth packing for on purpose: something to read, cards, a downloaded film, and swimwear if you might use a spa. Keep a day's food in the apartment as well, so a bad-weather morning does not begin with a walk to the shop.

The short version

Layers you can adjust, two pairs of gloves, serious sun protection, a spare goggle lens and grippy boots for walking around the resort. Hire the skis here. Leave the towels, the linen and half the socks at home.

Once the bag is sorted, the winter page has the season dates and availability. For the mountain, read skiing Gudauri for the first time; for picking your week, when to ski Gudauri, month by month; and for what the walk to the lift actually involves, what ski-in, ski-out really means in New Gudauri.