Mount Ushba

Attention! Georgia / Svanetia rubbery ALERT 2021

Update for December 2022 - Still no comments nor from Georgian police nor from the officials. No trace of the stolen gear nor personal things. 
That is sad but true - Georgian police system successfuly reformed by Michael Saakashvili, got totally corrupted and came back to its former post soviet condition. While Saakashvili is dying in the prison, the influence of pro-russian politics is getting stronger in Georgia which means critical growing of criminal activity and corruption of the main government structures.

I invested 20 years of my life into that country, building the connections for the safe tourism and climbing - all that efforts got ruined by total indifference and inaction of the people involved into the accident with the rubbery of our group. Think twice considering your trip to the area where you can get robbed of raped or kidnepped - and nobody will care about it afterwards. After the rubbery Georgian police officier said that we shoud deal with the criminal authorities instead of applying to the police help. What else you need to know about safe travelling in Georgia?  

After our climbing team got seriously rubbed in Svanetia in September 2021, we failed to get any support nor from the Georgian police, nor from the local (in Mestia) or even the central (Tbilisi) authorities. The crime was left unsolved and unpunished although the criminals were well known in the area, there were witnesses etc.Very sad fact, but that is a clear sign that the criminal activity in Georgia now is supported by the government and the country has gotten back to its recent very criminal background. After 15 years of our climbing activity in Georgia me and my team came to the hard but only possible decision - we can not expose our clients to the danger to be rubbed/raped/killed. This danger is many times aggravated by the total inaction of the government structures, supposed to protect tourists from any kind of criminal offence. For the first time in the last 15 years we closed Georgia as our mountain climbing direction. All our climbing programs for the season 2022 in Georgia are cancelled or postponed as we are not supposed to feed the thieves and rubbers.    

 Everyone considering going to Georgia for such reasons as backpacking or hiking or mountain climbing, please be advised! 

The wave of crimes in which the tourists are the victims is rising in Georgia. There were at least 4 cases in the region of Becho village in Svaneti during the last two months. Very alarming is the reaction of the Georgian police. Tourism is the only source of income for the whole region (Svaneti do not produce anything except the tourist service). Nevertheless, local police neither investigate crimes, nor inform the new visitors about danger. The information of crimes is concealed by police, and that provokes the new, more serious crimes.

Preparing to climb Mount Ushba our team got into that accident in late September 2021. We were totally robbed right at the base of Ushba route, while sleeping in the Base Camp. The thieves got everything - climbing gear, clothing, cameras, documents, leaving a group almost naked. The total impact of the rubbery exceeds 30.000 Euro. Local authorities said they are sorry -it was all the government support for the victims.  The reaction of the Georgian police was totally surprising - they have literally refused to act. The excuse for them (as the police officially state) was that the tourists provoked the locals by leaving their stuff unprotected outside of the tents (but the most valuable things like cameras, money and laptops were taken from the car). Also the police apply to the fact that such an accident happened in the area for the first time - which was a lie as we found a couple of days later. We were the forth group robbed in the area during the summer season 2021 (also we have got info about two more incidents in which the thieves were spooked by tourists). This could be only the tip of the iceberg as we got info from the open sources and related forums, not from the officials.The conclusion of our story is quite alarming. The Georgian police service revived and reformed by Michael Saakashvili in 2005 was quite effective for the 10 consequent years facilitating the development of the convenient tourist infrastructure. But at the moment, this police structure got corrupted and is getting back to its primary pre-reforming condition — which was a totally useless and corrupted structure.

Such a state of things is absolutely unacceptable and dangerous. Tourism in the country could work only on one main and uncompromising condition of the personal safety of every tourist coming to Georgia.The situation we recently discovered in Georgia in the summer 2021 makes the overview very different from the previous years. Now it becomes dangerous to travel in Svaneti, where the tourists are not protected by the government structures anymore.With a lot of pain, as I really love Georgia, I have to declare the following: until all the crimes against the tourists in Georgia are efficiently investigated and the criminals found and punished, the tourism in Georgia should be reduced to minimum or totally banned.

Overview

If the place of birth of the technical mountain climbing is Matterhorn in the Alps, so concerning Russia and Georgia it can be said without doubts that technical mountain climbing got its beginning from Mount Ushba in Caucasus. The majestic outline of this mountain fascinates, rivets your sight. The geometric accuracy of the forms and tremendous proportions of this world wide famous Caucasian mountain do not leave any place for doubt - here She is, The Queen of Caucasus, majestic, inaccessible, wilful and proud mountain - Ushba.

Ushba - the most beautiful and difficult mountain of Caucasus, the Queen, which is proudly reigning above the Main Caucasian Mountain Range. More than the one hundred years history of ascensions of this mountain keeps many heroic and dramatic episodes. All the history of Russian mountaineering is deeply connected with this strange word - Ushba, the mountain with strange and somehow disturbing name, which even local people - Svanetians, who live at the foot of it, can not explain clearly...

One version of translation of this name from Svanetian language is "The road to nowhere", the others are "The wretched place" or "The place of the witches Sabbath". SP member PeterN added this variant: ush = terrible, ba = mountain.

Climbing Ushba is difficult both technically and psychologically, the mountain gets on the climber, tries to break him, to force him to give up before the Summit. It is impossible to tell, what the climber feels standing on top, among curling clouds there, where two worlds are merging - reality and eternity..

For the long time the Normal North Ushba route (4a Russian Grade) was the most popular and frequently climbed route of Ushba - the approach was normally done via Ushba Icefall from the North (Russia). Now this exceptionally beautiful route became outlawed from the North side - as Ushba is located in the South Spur of the Caucasian Mountain Range and on the territory pf Georgia, climbing this mountain is trespassing the Russian border and violating the Law..... Normally climbing Ushba from Russia took 5-7 days.The same route by the North Ridge is quite frequently climbed at the moment (2018) from Georgia via Ushba glacier - MCS AlexClimb team normally do 2-3 Ushba summit attempts during the summer period and also there are some more international teams climbing same route.

Climbing history

North Summit of Ushba (4690 m) has been climbed first time in 1888 by John Garford Cokkin and mountain guide Ulrich Almer. South Summit (4710 m) has been climbed 15 years after the North One - in 1903 by the joined team of German, Swiss and Austrian climbers under the command of B. Rickmer-Rickmers.

Getting There

Iceclimbing on the Ushba...

In August 2010 Ushba icefall got collapsed from the middle part to the upper plateau and attempting to climb it from the North will surely come to death. There is no longer possible access from the Russian side anymore!!

Until 2010  there was two basic ways to get to the base of Ushba - the first and most popular was from Russia (although it is illegal - doing so you cross the Russian-Georgian border), and the other way is from Georgia.

From Mineralnye Vody (Russia) take a taxi or regular bus to Adyl-Su valley (approx. 200 km). Some camping and hotels are located in the valley from cheap to quite expensive, camping in any other place is free, but you should keep your eye on your bags or tent all the time. The trek begins from the Shkhelda BC. You can get all necessary information on the nearby rescue station but if you inform them of your decision to climb Ushba most likely this information will be passed to the borderguards. The area can be dangerous for foreigners.

From Tbilisi (Georgia) by car or regular bus 400 km to Mestia by a bad road 8-10 hours.

If North Ushba is you goal, take a taxi from Mestia to Maseri village, then by a good marked trail which trekkers use to go to the waterfalls, climb to the Ushba glacier. the last place for bivouac is "Hunting place" 3200m. From this bivouac look for the passing between the crevasses and via the Ushba Pass climb to the upper Ushba plateau.

Another variant if you go for South Ushba is to go by taxi to Chohuldi village, then follow the trail to the "Gul bivouac".

Red Tape

As Ushba is located in the South Spur of the Main Caucasian Mountain Range, by which the Russian - Georgian border is going, formally the climbing Ushba from the North is violating the Russian Law and, consequently, (in case of getting caught and inculpatory evidence) will be punished.

Also keep in mind that Russian border regulations (since 2009) require both from foreigners and Russian visitors getting the border permit for entering the Adyl-Su or Adyr-Su valleys. The time necessary for fixing all the formalities of this permission is 60 days.

When To Climb

To climb Ushba from Georgia is better in the most stable weather period - July - August and September

Winter climbs are possible but are extremely tough.

Camping

No huts, no fees. Camping is free. The best comfortable accommodation at the base of Ushba route you can find at the Grand Ushba Hotel - this site is also great for family vacation https://www.grandhotelushba.co...

Mountain Conditions

Ushba has its own local weather conditions. Normally it is worse than somewhere in the nearby area. Ushba massif is one of the highest and most glaciated parts if the Main Caucasian mountain range and somehow it attracts the bad weather. The area is called by climbers The Rotten Corner because of its unpredictable and difficult weather conditions. The weather is comparable better and stable in full moon periods.

Check the weather conditions on the https://www.mountain-forecast....

External Links

MCS AlexClimb organized climbing programs in Georgia Climbing Ushba with MCS AlexClimb team

Additions and CorrectionsPost an Addition or Correction

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Corax - Jan 26, 2010 1:41 pm - Voted 10/10

Add

I think you should add Cukrik's fantastic Ushba photos to the page. This one for example.

alexclimb - Feb 5, 2010 4:49 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Add

Thanks for your correction, Corax, I attached the great photo you mentioned. Cheers, Alex

mightyboa - Sep 2, 2010 6:55 am - Hasn't voted

August 2010 update

We've been there in the beginning of August from Russian side. The icefall was in awful state, so we had to climb Peak Schurvskiy (the summit left from the ice-fall) first, decent to Ushba plateau and only then we climbed the classic N-S Ushba traverse. And the very same way back, with long rappels over Schurovskiy wall, so it was a long journey.. As we were coming back to the camp in the valley we were stopped by border guards, it appeared that they were watching us and willing to catch for illegal border crossing. We spent a day in their office down in the valley, in the end it all finished with a 5000 rubles (~130 Euro) per person fine, but theoretically things could go much worse (the maximum fine for illegal border crossing is up to 200000 rubles (~5000 Euro, or up to 5 years imprisonment). There were traces from Ushba icefall to the N Ushba summit (as well as traces to Chatyn and Schurovskiy over simple ridges), obviously people came there from Georgian side. We also met 2 guys on S Ushba summit, who climbed G.Hergiani's route from Georgia, they told us that there absolutely no problems at Georgian side, people are friendly, many climbing parties trying to summit Ushba, no formal problems with border guards etc. So it seems that now going from Georgian side is almost the only way to climb Ushba, even for a classic ridge route to a northern summit. As for the Ushba ice-fall from the Russian side, I think it is now possible to go there only in the first part of summer, perhaps in June or early July.

Irinasm - May 23, 2012 1:32 pm - Hasn't voted

Accommodation near Ushba

Dear Alex, We climbed South Ushba on Khergiani route in August last year (2011). We stayed in a homestay in the village Becho, which is the last village before the trailhead. We were very happy with the services in the home where we stayed. Here is the webpage for the homestay: http://www.ushbahomestay.com Many Georgian climbers stay in this home. The owner is not a guide. He provides meals and room in the village and helps arrange for pack horses and the permit. Maybe you can put the link for this homestay, so that it simplifies logistics for other climbers. For example, cell phone reception reception was perfect all the way up till the summit, we were able to check in with Shalva every morning to get the weather forcast for the day.

alexclimb - May 25, 2012 5:23 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Accommodation near Ushba

Thank you a lot for your addition, it is useful and correct! It is really good place to stay. The only incorret thing is your reference to "permit" - there is no such thing in Georgia now and may be you confused it with border pass.. anyway you have not to pay for it - as it is free.

Irinasm - May 27, 2012 9:41 am - Hasn't voted

Re: Accommodation near Ushba

Indeed, I was refering to pass - document you get from the border patrol office. It is not the permit to climb, just the permit (pass) to be on the border for the purpose of climbing. It is free and they give it to you on the spot.

FreeSurf - Aug 3, 2013 6:12 am - Hasn't voted

One more good homestay near Ushba. Peak Mazeri Guest House.

Hello, friends) I'd like to recommend one more nice place in Becho to stay some days before Ushba climbing. I think is much better to stay in Becho than in Mestia. Owners have their own horses. Old Svan house, rooms with Ushba view, local tasty food. This door is always open for climbers and backpackers all over the world. Peak Mazeri Guest House, Mazeri village, Becho - www.hotel-svaneti-mestia.com It is possible to book in advance on a website.

runout - Dec 26, 2018 1:56 pm - Hasn't voted

Ushba was given to Austrian climber in 1903

History tells that Ushba was given to Cenzi von Ficker (1878-1956), a 25 year old Austrian climber in 1903. http://www.batsav.com/pages/mt-ushba-the-property-of-an-austrian-mountaineer.html

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