About Us

Read our story

For the founders of Heliksir, the idea to introduce quality heli-skiing with European standards, in the Caucasus Mountains, first came to mind in March 2009, during a holiday in the French Alps.

The impeccable service and well-developed infrastructure found at European resorts allow the visitor to fully relax and enjoy their holiday. However, true adventure seekers often want more; they are looking to experience something unique and truly exciting, like exploring remote mountains and vast snowfields, setting foot on a high isolated peak and riding down a spectacular slope of virgin snow, getting “face shots” while soaring through deep powder…

It is impossible to live such an adventure at a popular and crowded ski resort. To get away from the crowd and reach the remote areas of untouched snow, one needs to hike and climb for hours, with special gear and in a mountain environment of numerous hazards. For many skiers and snowboarders, this is too demanding and impractical. This is why helicopter skiing (and snowcat skiing) has developed with such a success. The use of a helicopter (or of a snowcat) allows thrill seekers to access a fabulous environment of remote mountains and untouched snow in a very convenient way.

However, this kind of “mechanized” activity needs not to disturb other mountain users and cannot take place anywhere. Nowadays, it is difficult to find isolated places for this kind of activity in Western Europe, and strict regulations prevent helicopter skiing to develop there.

Fortunately it still exists, in other parts of the world, remote mountains and vast fields of untouched snow where snow thrillers and freeriders can live the adventure they are looking for. Such an opportunity is waiting for them in the Caucasus Mountains, in the fascinating country of Georgia which is just a few hours away by plane, from anywhere in Europe.

The Greater Caucasus Range rises up as a majestic mountain landscape, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. In its central part, ten peaks outrival the famous Mont Blanc in height. In the remote valleys of Georgia, tourism infrastructure is developing, as the wonders of the Caucasus Mountains start to attract tourist and adventure seekers from around the world.

All these observations led the founders of Heliksir to create a Georgian Travel Agency, which mission was to facilitate the activity of helicopter skiing, organise a heli-ski operation and provide an experience of high quality in the Caucasus Mountains.

Heliksir’s commitment to safety and professionalism is paramount. We have chosen leading European helicopter companies to conduct our flights; they provide us with lightweight, powerful helicopters, and highly qualified pilots with extensive mountain flying experience. Our guides are internationally certified mountain guides with years of experience in heli-skiing. Last but not least, we have an extensive heli-ski area which encompasses over 2000 square kilometres on the south slopes of the Greater Caucasus range.
What more did we need to make our operation stand out of the crowd… a catchy name perhaps? The company’s name is somewhat mysterious and its origin needs to be explained:

if we extrapolate the exhilarating, stimulating experience heli-skiing brings to one’s life , we can associate it with some kind of “elixir”; from there, add the word “heli” from helicopter, then throw the word “ski” in a jumbled way into the mix… and you obtain “Heliksir”! This leads to our famous company motto: “Heliksir – Elixir of life”!

In September 2009, Heliksir Ltd. was officially registered in Tbilisi (Georgia) with a permanent office located on Pekini St. (Saburtalo district). A flurry of activity began in order to organise the company and prepare its first ski season. The village of Gudauri, in the magnificent area of Mt Kasbegi, was chosen to establish the operation’s base. Crucial tasks of planning and developing had to be done in a short period of time: construction of a helicopter hangar, installation of fuel tanks and pump system for storage of our jet fuel, purchase of powder skis and safety equipment, negotiating of hotel arrangement, and a lot more…

In January 2010, our Gudauri base opened, and the “Heliksir – Heliski Caucasus” adventure started. Today, with several successful seasons behind us, we can say with confidence that all of our extravagant ideas and dreams have come true! Hundred of skiers and snowboarders, have had the opportunity to heli-ski with us and have enjoyed our services. From guests, they became our friends; while heli-skiing with us, they lived a truly unique adventure, flying over the majestic Caucasus Mountains, exploring remote summits, putting tracks on amazing slopes of virgin powder, enjoying the great hospitality of the Georgian people…

Despite this success, we endeavour and keep working hard to bring our heli-ski operation to the highest level; with every passing year, the quality of our services improves, our heli-ski area expands, the number of helicopters increases, our team staffing and training becomes more significant. Our plan for the future is to build our own lodge and helipad complex at the base of the Gudauri ski resort, with the goal of operating a unique – and first class – base for adventure sports. We also envision developing heli-skiing in other regions of the Caucasus Mountains, such as the Svaneti and Tusheti regions.

If you’d like to find out more about Heliksir, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be delighted to answer any questions you might have; as well, we welcome your feedback, special requests or partnership proposals. Contact information as well as banking information is listed in the Contacts page. You can also find us on Facebook.