According to the standards of international guides, ice climbing costs an average of 800 EUR. As Niko Erkomaishvili, the head of the Association of Mountain Guides notes, one guide does not have the right to pick up more than two guests on the mountain, because there are risks of falling or cracking and one guide has no right to take responsibility for more than one person.
"Remuneration of a guide for a 5-day expedition, which includes physical training, safety and also the acclimatization period, costs about 600-700 EUR. Added to this is a stay at the meteorological station, or "Bethlehem hut", which costs 50 GEL per night. Meals and horse service are also included. Ice climbing is not cheap for a Georgian citizen, but for Europeans and Americans it is a completely acceptable price, especially compared to the Alps or Everest, "- said the head of the Association of Mountain Guides.
According to him, the price increase is not considered in the post-pandemic situation, and the interest from international tourists is slowly increasing.
"A couple of weeks ago, a group of Germans climbed on the glacier, now the Ukrainians are preparing. It is true that there are not as many tourists as there were before the pandemic, but there is interest and this is also a positive story. Before the pandemic, there were actually queues and we deeply hope to get back to the pre-pandemic level in a few years, because ice climbing has never lacked tourists. I think this number will double if the infrastructure and sanitary norms are regulated,” Niko Erkomaishvili said.
