Gudauri-Kobi Ropeway Opens
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, January 22
A 7.5km long Gudauri-Kobi ropeway opened on Saturday.
At the opening ceremony Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze spoke about the importance of the new cable cars and noted that apart from tourists, residents of the mountainous area will be able to travel by the new ropeway during heavy snowfall or avalanche danger.
“I congratulate everybody on the opening of the Kobi-Gudauri ropeway. This is really a unique project, I would like to sincerely congratulate tourists. I would like to congratulate the residents of Kobi, Gudauri and Kazbegi because in my opinion, they understand the potential, possibilities and vital importance of this route.
“A few days ago, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the resort Gudauri. In the past six years, the number of tourists in Gudauri increased by 500 percent. This is really a great success, but it is not enough. We would like to have the best mountain ski resorts in Georgia. Gudauri met the new season with a lot of novelties, but this project is really unique,” Bakhtadze said.
He said that it is a historic project that will develop Kobi, Gudauri and Stepantsminda as one cluster.
“Apart from the growth of tourism potential, this project will help us to cope with a very important challenge that we face every winter when the Kobi-Gudauri motor road is closed.
“From now on, each citizen will be able to travel by this ropeway during heavy snowfall or avalanche danger. Consequently, it will be a very important step to resolve this problem once and for all. Of course, it will to be solved systematically in 2023 when we complete the construction of a nine-kilometer tunnel, but this project will help us cope with this challenge during these years,” Bakhtadze said.
The Kobi-Gudauri road leads to the Russia-Georgia border and is often closed in winter due to avalanche threats.
