 Poster: A snowHead
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Skiing in Kazakhstan gained a little prominence in the UK after Prince Harry's visit to Shymbulak earlier this year.
I've just returned form a visit to this extraordinary country, and I went up to Shymbulak which is the resort at the centre of their bid for the 2022 Olypmic games. It been intensively developed in the last few years, and although small by european standards is extremely well equipped and organised. Possibilities for off-piste skiing in the Tien Shan mountains by helicopter are limitless.... (the Kazakh's don't give a toss about the environment, sadly).
The Kazakhstan government is aiming to open 10 new ski areas before 2020. In 2011 Shymbulak successfully hosted the Aisian Winter Games. It's only 30 mins from Almaty (KZ's nicest city).
See more about my trip on my blog: http://grangedalice.blogspot.fr/
More on Prince Harry's trip:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-harry/10721393/Prince-Harry-given-use-of-government-helicopter-by-Kazakhstan-on-ski-trip.html
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I expect they will be the only ones willing to pay for it. Although I gather the IOC are keen on Oslo, Norway is not so keen
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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There are currently only 3 hats in the ring, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Oslo, Norway and Beijing, China.
Sweden, Poland and Ukraine all withdrew their bids citing either a lack of local support or civil war (Guess which one that is)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Scotland? Must be on Alex Salmand's radar?!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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araird, Thanks for yet another excellent blog.
10 years ago I had a research student from Kazakhstan working with me developing a spatial information system for the Ile-Alatau National Park. I still have all the scanned maps, digital elevation models etc. I thought there were strict rules about development in the park. A small ski area lay on the border of the national park and if I have been informed correctly you are supposed to stick to the designated trails in the park. Guides will take you looking for snow leopard which is the major attraction of the park.
Hopefully someday I will actually be able to visit and do some "ground truthing"
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I imagine considering the recent problems on international sporting events with Sochi, Brazil, Qatar and Russia, Kazakhstan has not got much chance of hosting this. The IOC went for the safe option in Tokyo in 2020 and Oslo is surely a lock.
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Great TR. Thanks.
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| madlondoner wrote: |
| I imagine considering the recent problems on international sporting events with Sochi, Brazil, Qatar and Russia, Kazakhstan has not got much chance of hosting this. The IOC went for the safe option in Tokyo in 2020 and Oslo is surely a lock. |
Eh !? Sochi Olympics and Brazil WC were both clearly great events.
As were the Olympics in China and South Africa World Cup before.
Rule 1 - don't mix politics and sport.
Good luck to Kazakhstan!!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| araird wrote: |
| Possibilities for off-piste skiing in the Tien Shan mountains by helicopter are limitless.... (the Kazakh's don't give a toss about the environment, sadly). |
The argument against heliskiing in France is that the Alps are densely populated with a lot of ski tourers. Heliskiing would have a significant noise impact on a large population of mountain users for the benefit of the few. Places like the Kazakh mountains might be better served by heliskiing than building a load of lift infrastructure.
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davidof, I always thought the French ban on heli drops was purely a political knee jerk reaction to Green outcry over ? Mitterand getting a lift up Mont Blanc? and there's insufficient economic demand to repeal the ban...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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under a new name, interesting possibility but I think it was the more mundane campaign by the club alpin against the noise pollution that swung it.
Is Kz safe then, these old soviet states have a reputation as being a bit gangster?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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albinomountainbadger, could be.
Although if you believe Nuno, I'm more correct. http://www.chamonix.net/english/winter-activities/heliskiing
And you'd have to have quite a lot of it going on (unlikely given the economics - i.e. Canada is a special case) to rival the constant buzz in the Chamonix valley.
That said, there's been a constant buzz over Morzine with some odd construction happening below Nantaux.
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| under a new name wrote: |
And you'd have to have quite a lot of it going on (unlikely given the economics - i.e. Canada is a special case) to rival the constant buzz in the Chamonix valley.
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don't kid yourself. Chamonix is infernal and it is just a little pissant village. Imagine if heliskiing was legal, you'd have non stop helicopter rotations from Annecy, Chambery, Geneva (well they do some illegal drops anyways) and Grenoble into the nearby mountain ranges. The "sillon alpin" has a population of 2 million+; many of them quite able to afford a helidrop.
The savoyards tried to sneak a repeal of the ban on skidoos into the last parliamentary session but fortunately it appears to have been blocked. If there were not pressure groups active and vigilant the whole time the rest of the Alps would be a dump like Chamonix.
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You know it makes sense.
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davidof, that's why I referred to Canada's special case.
As it has been explained to me, there's a very large population of helicopters there that are heavily (over?) used in Spring-Autumn but would otherwise largely lie dormant in Winter. So operating costs of a helicopter in a heli operation are reduced to pilot salaries and hours flown and more or less don't contribute to the capital and general maintenance costs of the vehicle. If that wasn't the case the prices would not become prohibitively expensive to some, but certainly wouldn't support the industry that it has become. I might be totally wrong.
I don't believe that the same situation exists in France and cite Italy as example where there are plenty of wealthy people but you don't have hordes of 212s scooting all over Monterosa, for example.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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P.s. I would also not be surprised if my analysis was flawed due local restrictions in Italy natural parks, although as you can heli ski Monterosa/Cervinia/Courmayeur/Valgrisenche, etc. ... I don't think I'm too far off.
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