Mount Tetnuldi Ascent

About this trip

Tetnuldi, at about 4,858 m, is the most accessible high peak in Svaneti and a good second step after Kazbek. The normal route follows the south-west ridge from the Adishi valley: a grassy first camp, a second camp on the lower glacier and a third camp on the ridge about 500 m below the summit, with a graded PD+ ridge to the top. Summit day is about eight hours up and four to five down. Good fitness and basic crampon skills help; we revise them on the way.

Where we go

1. Day 1
   Mestia → camp 1

   Gear check in Mestia, 4x4 toward the start of the route, and a walk of a few hours to the first camp on the grassy slopes below the moraine, around 2,900 m.

2. Day 2
   Camp 1 → camp 2 on the glacier

   Up the moraine and onto the lower glacier. Rope and crampon revision, then camp on the ice-free edge.

3. Day 3
   Camp 2 → camp 3 on the ridge

   Steeper ground up to the south-west ridge, where the route joins it. Camp about 500 m below the summit. Early dinner and bed.

4. Day 4
   Summit day

   Start in the dark, about eight hours to the summit by the PD+ ridge, and four to five hours back down to the camp or lower.

5. Day 5
   Descent → Mestia

   Back down to the 4x4 and the drive to Mestia. A reserve day is not built in, so a weather delay is taken from this day.

What's included