Svaneti Region, Georgia – Construction is underway on a new US$52 million ski resort in the Svaneti region of northwestern Georgia, southeast of Mt. Elbrus and 170 miles east of the 2014 Olympic venue of Sochi, Russia, officials with Georgia’s Regional Development and Infrastructure Ministry report.

Situated high in the Caucasus Mountains on the lower slopes of the 15,938-foot peak after which it’s named, Tetnuldi ski resort’s first phase will open with six quad and six-pack chairlifts manufactured by Poma, two of which have already been built. After site preparation wraps up this December, construction of the remaining four lifts is scheduled to ramp up in spring of 2014, with a resort opening set for late 2014 or 2015. The deal to construct the lifts was struck between the government and Poma in October 2011.

The total vertical drop spanned by the six lifts will be 775 meters (2,543 feet), topping out at an elevation of 3,045 meters (9,990 feet). Uphill capacity of the first phase lifts is said to total 3,200 riders per hour. The resort’s northwest-facing aspect and proximity to the mountain’s Adish (Lardaad), Nageb and Tsanner glaciers is expected to deliver nearly seven months of skiing annually, from November to the end of May.

Tetnuldi will join three other open ski resorts in Georgia – Gudauri (the country’s largest), Bakuriani and Mestia, which opened in 2010 just a few miles from Tetnuldi – that meet current international standards.