Awesome New Things We Did In 2016

Our friend and filmmaker Dave Katz said in a summary of his latest video on the Transcaucasian Expedition (https://vimeo.com/192392143): “Can you imagine a mountain range as big as the Alps and the Pyrenees combined, without an established trekking route? In 2016, a team of idealistic outdoor enthusiasts in the Caucasus decided to build one…”.

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So I believe it is worth summarising, on the last day of 2016, what we actually did this year. We have just applied for an annual Adventure Tourism award, category: “2016 Innovation” (wish us luck!), because pretty much everything we did in 2016 was “new”, “first”, “innovative”. New trail, new organisation, new partnerships, new way of working with local communities, new maps and new data, new marketing, and lots of new friendships.

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Here we go – let us know if you think we should win!

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• TCT is the first world-class, long-distance hiking trail that will go through Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, across the Greater and Lesser Caucasus. It is the first and the biggest tourism project of this kind in the Caucasus region.

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• The proper work on the TCT started at the beginning of 2016 with setting up a new non-profit, the TransCaucasian Trail Association, and a new strategy for the TCT project.

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• We have established partnerships with the National Hiking Federation (Georgia), the Georgian National Tourism Administration, the Caucasus Nature Fund (Armenia), Armenian Mountaineering & Hiking Federation, WWF Armenia, the Royal Geographical Society (UK).

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• In June, we delivered first ever community consultation for a tourism project in Georgia. We visited nine mountainous villages on the proposed TCT route in Svaneti region to discuss the planned route and got the community’s blessing for the TCT development. Community engagement has also been high on the agenda of our team in Armenia, scouting the southern route of the TCT. Our Chief Explorer Tom Allen even thinks we have started a new TCT movement in Armenia (look at his last blogs).

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• We organised volunteer camps for local and international volunteers that again was innovative for the Caucasus, and started building the TCT in July-August 2016 in Svaneti. We listened to the local people and focused on building new trail and improving the existing trails west of Mestia where there is no tourism. We have improved a 60 km section of trail in western Svaneti, making it possible to hike west from Mestia to Chuberi. This is the beginning of the first trail in the Caucasus that can be hiked-through (hiked continuously) for 10-12 days: Chuberi to Mestia – 3-4 days [new section added by our work], continuing on established trails for 3-4 days to Ushguli. An additional 4-day crossing to Racha is possible by experienced hikers – we plan to improve that section and make it accessible to everyone in summer 2017.

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• Supported by the 2016 RGS-IBG Land Rover Bursary, the TCT team in Armenia started the Transcaucasian Expedition that scouted and mapped out the Lesser Caucasus, from Batumi in Georgia to Meghri in southern Armenia (the southern TCT corridor). In six months of 2016, we have identified approximately 75% of the southern route. We’ve identified dozens of 4×4-accessible dirt tracks from main roads to the trail corridor as well as side trails and multi-day alternative routes linking the main route with sites of cultural, historical or natural significance. Nobody has ever done that in Armenia.

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• We have mapped it all in detail, along with the locations of water sources, temporary settlements and other infrastructure, and will add the data to OpenStreetMap gradually, making it available to everyone to use. This is our innovative and tangible solution to the lack of reliable mapping in the Caucasus.

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• And last but not least – a pretty innovative way of promoting the TCT through the awesome Transcaucasian Expedition. The team’s route and progress was easily trackable on the newly-created Transcaucasian Expedition website with a live map and links to numerous social media channels and videos.

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Thanks to all our friends, partners, volunteers, community leaders and the locals who have been supporting us throughout 2016. Here is to an even better 2017. Happy New Year!

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