Altitude (Altihut 3014)

Altihut is the first mountain refuge in the Caucasus located at an altitude of 3,014 meters above sea level with the aim of introducing waste management at alpine altitude,, maintaining a safety system and developing new opportunities for the local community. 

The company started working in 2015 and is still active. 

Altihut is a Swiss-made modern type mountain hut with environmentally friendly materials for 45 people and a small hut for six people where anyone with appropriate needs can spend the night free of charge throughout the year. The cottage is fully equipped and comfortably furnished. The kitchen is equipped with all food safety standards. There is a library and a post office. For fans of extreme sports, a comfortable vacation is possible at any time of the year. The system is completely powered by solar renewable energy for which solar panels have been installed. 

Altihut constantly cleans the camping area. It also installed bio-toilets and maintains them through private and personal investments Which have contributed to the development of adventure tourism. 

In order to comply with safety norms, Altihut installed a safe crossing bridge over the Chkhere River. In 2019, a second bridge was also installed because of increased tourist flow. 

A helicopter landing pad for rescue operations was also created at the site at an altitude of 2,014 meters. Mobile connection is provided and the area is covered with a high-quality cellular signal. These measures are obviously essential for search and rescue operations. 

Altihut actively cooperates with the local community. Horses are provided by local micro-entrepreneurs. Food for tourists is prepared from food supplied by local farmers and local residents are employed in hospitality services. 

Altihut is a social enterprise for which employee care is a main goal. The remuneration of the employees is significantly higher than the average salary in the country. The pension contribution is fully provided by the company. The company also takes care of the professional development of its employees for which Swiss and Italian experts conduct a two-week training every year. This practice was maintained even during the pandemic. 

Since 2019, two international-scale annual sports festivals and a marathon have been organized. The Kazbegi Sky Flight is an annual IATA-certified extreme run which is organized together with  the Travel Lab company. The New Konya Skimo, the first ski tournament in the region, was also founded together with Altihut.

In 2020-2022, 500 kg of waste was collected by the company which is significantly less as compared to the data of 2016-2019 (more than four tons). 

Since 2018, more than 14 accidents have been avoided by the Altihut team through constant telephone communication.

More than 50 foreign tourists were hosted on site.

Required road signs and markings were installed in the territory of Kazbegi National Park. 

In the post-pandemic period in 2021-2022, the number of tourists reached the figure as it was in 2018-2019. 

In 2022, a memorandum of cooperation and partnership was signed with the Swiss company Bali and work is underway on a new mountain rescue hut project which will be located at an altitude of 3,700 meters above sea level. Plans are to open the hut in 2024. The opening presentation will be made by representatives of the Bali Foundation which is contributing to the promotion of the region and the country.