Kazakhstan Powder Sessions - New for 2024
The Kazakhstan Powder Sessions is an 11-day trip exploring the skiing in the Tien Shan Mountains in southern Kazakhstan with an experienced local guide (Kazakhstan Mountain Guide plus TAP guide).
This is a brand-new and extremely exciting program to an area rarely visited by Western skiers and boarders. It will be a truly diverse program, with a mixture of resort skiing, private cat skiing and backcountry touring, to a very remote part of the world led by an experienced local guide. If you really want to try a unique and diverse program, to a very exotic part of the world, then this is the program for you.
You will have 9 days of skiing (2 ski resort days, two ski touring days, 3 private cat skiing days and 2 sidecountry days) plus plenty of time to see beautiful scenery and immerse yourself in the Kazakh way of life during this diverse tour. You will also visit the Charyn Canyon, Chundzha hot springs and a traditional SPA in Almaty.
The exciting part about this program is that you will encounter the best of Kazakhstan without having to travel intensively. You will experience the global city of Almaty, ski the biggest ski resorts of Central Asia, ski tour in remote areas, and do cat skiing on the border of Kyrgyzstan. Also, we you see the endless steppe landscapes, deep canyons and hot springs. You will get a great taste of Kazakhstan in only a short amount of time.
Ski Resorts
You will get to explore up to four different ski areas in the Almaty area, surrounded by 4,500m peaks with glaciers and jagged peaks (plus a touring day). You will visit the best resort for the conditions of the day and explore inbounds, sidecountry and backountry areas. Here is an overview of the different resorts you can visit.
Shymbulak – this is a 20-minute drive from the hotel and you will be dropped off at the ice-skating stadium where you can take the new gondola from there up to the mountain. Shymbulak is Kazakhstan’s largest ski are with 8 ski lifts, 20 km of runs and 920m vertical (2,260m – 3,180m). There are several zones for freeriding and ski touring, with amazing views of the Togar Glacier on a clear day.
Ak Bulak – the furthest ski area from the hotel, this will be a 1-hour drive. The ski area has 11 lifts, 10 kms of runs and 1032m of vertical (1632 m - 2664 m). The upper section has a chairlift that accesses a fun freeride area that is all ungroomed and then there is tree skiing in a forest area, lower down the mountain. Ak Bulak has long runs and wide-open trees and some of the steepest runs in Kazakhstan. It also has amazing views.
Medeu Couloir – this will be an all-day adventure, starting close to the Shymbulak ski area, but starting from a valley on the other side of the ice-skating stadium. The skin will take 4 to 5 hours along a ridgeline and is not too technical, with only a few spots requiring any kick turns. Then you get a 900m vertical run down an open 30 to 35 degree, north-facing couloir with amazing views.
Oi Qaragai – this is Kazakhstan’s newest ski area, built in 2018/19. It has 11 ski lifts; 13 km of ski runs and 270m of vertical (1,550m – 1,820m). This is a fun resort where there is little competition for powder and the sidecountry areas stay untracked for days. There is a big open bowl and short and steep runs in the forest. Lunch will be taken in yurts.
Cat Skiing
You will have 3 days of private cat skiing in the Karkara area, close to the southern border with Kyrgyzstan. This area is the snowiest area of Kazakhstan as it receives ample snowfalls from lake effect snow from nearby Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. This is a brand-new operation that only started in 2022 and the group might have the opportunity to open some new zones and lines which you could then name. That is an amazing opportunity! The operation has a modern Pisten Bully cat with an enclosed cabin on the back. The group will have the cat privately for 3 days.
Ability & Equipment
Guests should be advanced to expert skiers and boarders, with touring gear and avalanche safety equipment. You should bring all your own gear as new/top quality gear is not available to rent in Kazakhstan.
If you have any questions or want to check availability you can
make a booking request.