Archil Badriashvili perishes on Mt Shkhelda in Georgia

Georgian mountaineer Archil Badriashvili has lost his life climbing Mt Shkhelda, a 4388 mountain in the Caucasus, on the border between Georgia and Russia. The 34-year-old fell to his death during the descent with three other climbing partners, who immediately raised the alarm. According to initial reports, the weather had worsened significantly and a lightening strike close to Badriashvili caused him to lose his balance. A rescue operation was launched immediately, to no avail, and his body was recovered the next day at 3800m.

Badriashvili was a charismatic member of the small, close-knit Georgian climbing community and well-known within his country. His ascents during the last two decades had pushed the envelope not only of Georgian alpinism, and in 2017 he and his country exalted when together with Giorgi Tepnadze and Bakar Gelashvili he established the first Georgian climb in the Himalaya, on Larkya Main. Badriashvili was, quite rightly, proud of this achievement and as he explained to planetmountain at the time, it had come after the Himalayas had been "hidden to us behind the Iron curtain, then it was followed by the first decades of independency and hard times…" The new route on the mountain's SE Face was climbed in 6 long days, but the successful outcome on this "stunning wall" was never in doubt. This was a "rare chance to travel to Himalaya" and the trio was not going to miss out on this golden opportunity.

The 13-day experience on Larkya Main vastly boosted their self-confidence and the climbers were now "ready to attempt longest technical route of our lives, this time in the Caucasus." In February 2018 Badriashvili and Tepnadze made an impressive, 8-day alpine style first ascent on Mt. Shkhara, the highest mountain in Georgia and one of the highest mountains in the entire Caucasus. In doing so, the pair also made the first winter ascent of the mountain’s 2300m high South Face; the ascent didn't go by unnoticed, and was mentioned in the Piolets d'Or preliminary "big list" of the most significant and innovative ascents of the year.

In 2019 Badriashvili returned to the Himalaya with habitual climbing partners Gelashvili and Tepnadze where they made the first ascent, not without difficulties, of Panpoche I (6,620m) via the North Ridge. Badriashvili's main love were his home mountainw though, and in 2020 he brought Georgia to international attention once again, with new routes on the stunning SW Face of Ailama (4,547m) and the beautiful NW Face of Ushba. Both these climbs, just like Panpoche I, were standout achievements and mentioned in the Piolets d'Or big list.

In September 2021 Badriashvili, Gelashvili an Tepnadze traveled to Pakistan Hindu Kush to make the first ascent of the NW Face of Saraghrar Northwest. This committing climb in pure alpine style, on a high unclimbed peak in a less well-known area by small team, was rewarded with the Piolets d'Or 2022, mountaineering's most prestigious international prize. In less than two decades Badriashvili and his climbing partners had placed Georgia firmly placed on the international map of mountaineering. His devotion to alpine style ascents, and ability to smile despite the hardships, will be sorely missed.