Glacier · Mestia Municipality, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Chalaadi Glacier
ჭალაათის მყინვარი · Chalaati Glacier
A valley glacier at the source of the Mestiachala river north of Mestia, in Upper Svaneti, reached on foot through forest and moraine from a drive out of town.
Where it is
43.1282, 42.7131
Why go
Chalaadi, also written Chalaati, is a complex valley glacier on the southern slope of the main Caucasus range. The national tourism administration (GNTA) lists Ushba, Chatini, Caucasus and Bzhedukhi among the summits above 4,000 metres that feed it, describes it as two flows, and counts three icefalls on the main one, the largest 300 metres high and 700 across. GNTA gives the ice tongue's altitude as 1,850 metres, a figure that moves as the glacier retreats; the boulders left along the valley, one of them 14 metres tall, are evidence of that shrinking over several centuries. The route starts in Mestia with a short drive to a wooden bridge and continues on foot. GNTA warns that the tongue sheds rock as it melts, and that going onto the ice needs climbing experience and equipment.
Safety
GNTA: the glacier is constantly melting and rocks continuously fall from it, so approaching the ice tongue is dangerous; reaching the tongue needs mountain-climbing experience and proper equipment.
Near Chalaadi Glacier
Lake
Koruldi Lakes
A group of small alpine lakes at about 2,850 metres on the slopes above Mestia, looking across the Enguri valley to Ushba, Tetnuldi, Shkhara and Laila.
5 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Waterfall
Shdugra Waterfall
A waterfall of almost 120 metres on a right-bank tributary of the Dolra above Mazeri in Svaneti's Becho valley, also known as the Ushba Waterfall.
9 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Ienashi Church of the Prophet Jonah
A stone church in the Svan village of Ienashi, nine kilometres from Mestia, with an aisle wrapped round three sides of the nave and 14th-century wall paintings that include Jonah escaping the whale.
15 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Nakipari St George Church
A small hall church on a hill above the hamlet of Nakipari in Upper Svaneti, painted inside in 1130 by the royal painter Tevdore, with frescoes and animal reliefs on its east façade.
16 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ