Climbing guide
Mount Kazbek, Mkinvartsveri in Georgian, is the 5,054 m peak you see from every window in Stepantsminda. It is not a hike: the top is a glacier climb with crampons, ice axe and rope, and the height is the hard part. This is how the climb works, how long it takes and what you need to bring.
By Jimmy Malania, licensed Georgian guide since 2011 · Updated
The usual route starts in Stepantsminda (Kazbegi), about 3 hours north of Tbilisi on the Georgian Military Highway. From the town you walk up past Gergeti Trinity Church, then on above it to the Bethlemi Hut, an old weather station at about 3,650 m that climbers use as their base.
Summit day starts from the hut in the dark. You cross the glacier roped together, with crampons and ice axe, to the top at 5,054 m, then come back down to the hut. The next day you walk down to Stepantsminda.
Most people who turn back on Kazbek turn back because of the height, not the climbing. So our expedition gives the altitude time:
The full day-by-day plan is on the Premium Private Mount Kazbek Expedition page.
The usual climbing season is July to September. Outside it, deep snow, cold and storms make the climb a different and far more serious undertaking. Even in summer the weather on the upper mountain changes fast, so the summit day is chosen by the forecast and by your guide, and we keep a spare day where we can.
For the rest of your trip, see the best time to visit Georgia.
You need previous mountaineering experience: walking in crampons, using an ice axe and moving on a rope. Your guide goes over glacier travel again on day 4, but it is a refresher, not a first lesson. You should also be fit enough for several long days in a row at altitude.
What to bring:
Kazbek has crevasses, and its weather can turn quickly. Your guide checks the route and the forecast every day and decides when to go up and when to turn round. Reaching the summit cannot be guaranteed, and a bad-weather day can mean an extra night.
Your travel insurance must cover high-altitude mountaineering. Your guide takes care of the paperwork for the climb before you go up.
Nine days from Tbilisi to the summit of Mount Kazbek (5,054 m), with GMGA-certified guides, acclimatisation at Altihut and a weather reserve day. Private: only your group of two or three climbers.
Five days on foot across the Caucasus, from Juta in Kazbegi to Roshka in Khevsureti, with a local mountain guide.
A day trip from Tbilisi to Kazbegi on the Georgian Military Highway, in a private 4x4 with your own guide. About three hours of driving each way.