Road conditions during season opening

Anybody knows how are the road conditions around 13-15 of Dec? Is loose snow removed from the road and it is possible to reach Gudauri with a regular car with winter tires or 4x4 is a must? Thanks!

Hi.

4x4 with winter tires - it's OK. Chains on tires in your car is highly recommended! 

Regular car - with winter tires and chains on tires in your car... And with a great winter riding experience in the mountains! We would not recommend driving in winter to Gudauri in a regular car. Perhaps the road police will not let this car in Gudauri. The road can be very slippery and dangerous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o431MJPeQrI

In winter, there can be many different situations on the road. Sometimes asphalt can be dry. In this case, you can drive any car, for example the Ford Model A from the 1920s. But before you leave Gudauri, heavy snow may fall - and you are a loser))
Snowfall can be so strong that NO ONE car can travel to / from Gudauri for 2-3 days. It happens every year.
We recommend to provide this opportunity. Keep in stock a few days. Watch the weather forecast.

Thanks a lot for detailed post!

I took a regular car with winter tires there last year many times and never had a problem because the roads were maintained, loose snow was removed, so no problem driving there with a regular car. 

How are the road conditionas right now on side roads? For example the road to main condola? Is it cleaned and passable with a regular car with snow tires?

Thanks a lot for information!

цитата: KRL

How are the road conditionas right now on side roads? For example the road to main condola? Is it cleaned and passable with a regular car with snow tires?

Right now its all right. But Gudauri is waiting for a lot of snow tomorrow, 12.12 )) 40 cm... Perhaps there will be problems.

https://ru.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Gudauri/6day/mid

quote: o_gon

цитата: KRL

How are the road conditionas right now on side roads? For example the road to main condola? Is it cleaned and passable with a regular car with snow tires?

Right now its all right. But Gudauri is waiting for a lot of snow tomorrow, 12.12 )) 40 cm... Perhaps there will be problems.

https://ru.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Gudauri/6day/mid

 

 

Lot of snow is good, but only on mountains not roads :)

My question is, if there's lot of snow coming on Wednesday for example, then are the snowblower machines / road cleaner machines ready and also operated to clean the roads quickly or they are still sleeping and waiting for first big road closure to start working? :) 

Also, thanks o_gon for lot of insights!

After a big snowfall, we will not talk about the road to the new gondola and other places in Gudauri. We will think about whether it is possible to drive to Gudauri from Tbilisi within 2-3 days)) and whether it is possible to leave for Tbilisi from Gudauri.

Road cleaning equipment and cars in Georgia work well. They respond quickly to incidents. But there is no avalanche service. Road workers are waiting for the snow to descend from the mountain slopes onto the road on their own. And only after that they begin to clean the road.

Welcome to Gudauri now)) https://www.facebook.com/snowsurftime/videos/1610404929061167/

According to the video, I guess you would not reccomend to drive tomorrow to Gudauri with a regular car with winter tires? :) Or there is a change that the roads will be cleaned? 

Forecasts show us that that big snowfall has stopped and there should not come anything extra before season opening. 

Yes, the forecast is good. I think that by 15.12 everything will be fine. Ask the authors of the video about this:

https://www.facebook.com/snowsurftime/

They will give the most accurate answer.

Snow news) https://www.gudauri.ru/blog/snezhnye_novosti_84/

I can report back for future references. Driving a front-wheel drive car with good winter tyres to Gudauri is not a problem. It's good to have snow chains with you, but IMO not even needed if you have studded winter tyres. 

Thank you for your experience!