 Poster: A snowHead
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Apologies this is so late - lockdown, redundancy, retraining etc took priority. I LOVED THIS TRIP and this was too good to not share, even though it was 18 months ago. I went off to Kyrgyzstan solo as a treat to myself after a rough patch in Feb/Mar 2020. I found a local guide, Anastasia (a "snow leopard")
Bishkek is a frighteningly Soviet looking city and I enjoy floating around these sorts of places being stared at by curious locals.
 IMG_1617 by ed, on Flickr
Off we go with all our gear and food for the week up the Ala Archa valley, with snow appearing around 1,800m
 IMG_1634 by ed, on Flickr
Snow deepens as we get closer to the dilapidated ex-Soviet ski race team training hut that we are staying. The hike was pretty physically demanding - probably around 1,600m elevation gain with 30-35kg packs.
REAL SNOW LEOPARD paw prints in front of our tracks - Anastasia tells me they are fresh prints - the leopard is close by, probably watching us, but we will never see it due to its camouflage.
 IMG_1631 by ed, on Flickr
Here is our home for the next 6 days in all its ex-soviet glory, with toilet (long drop) to match.
 IMG_1719 by ed, on Flickr
 IMG_1717 by ed, on Flickr
Snow inside betrays the cosy feel!
 IMG_1815 by ed, on Flickr
Five days touring in -10deg, little wind, high pressure systems sat on top of us, glorious sunshine.
 IMG_1739 by ed, on Flickr
First few lines warming up nicely
 IMG_1751 by ed, on Flickr
Anastasia and I checking the snow pack. Slow snow and consistent cold weather over the season had led to the base being well compacted and stable, with a single weak layer around 20cm below the surface.
 IMG_1683 by ed, on Flickr
 IMG-20200305-WA0063 by ed, on Flickr
Top layer was 15cm 2-week old snow of large-flake crunchy dry powder, with a compacted base underneath. We were careful to avoid gulleys and bowls as a significant weak layer heightened risks
 IMG_1791 by ed, on Flickr
We ascended around 1,200m vert each day returning to the hut. It's a funny feeling being that far from home, and in the company of a single person, exploring this incredibly beautiful glacier and bowl
 IMG_1688 by ed, on Flickr
A steeper ascent on a NE facing slope. I wasn't so comfortable with being under this cornice, but Anastasia had been there a lot of the season so I opted for trust.
 IMG_1854 by ed, on Flickr
Daily ritual of about 1kg of barley porridge made with condensed milk for good calorific measure!
 IMG_1736 by ed, on Flickr
Trying to match my own lines. Interestingly Anastasia was an amazingly strong tourer but not the most graceful on skis! She said she always preferred the climbing / mountaineering side.
 IMG-20200305-WA0075 by ed, on Flickr
When Anastasia had gained confidence in my abilities we roped up and she took me up the tongue of the glacier. Note the slide on the right, NW aspect.
 IMG_1880 by ed, on Flickr
 IMG_1835 by ed, on Flickr
Sometimes it's fun just to let rip fast big turns, the two of you together
 IMG_1874 by ed, on Flickr
Nighttime was part of the experience. Being a man over the age of 30 I have to pee at night - I walked outside to take a pee and a Pallas' cat comes out of nowhere and hisses at me territorially. I leg it. I had rats running over my sleeping bag in the night. YUM. But, the starscapes were something else. Unbelievably beautiful.
 IMG_1790 by ed, on Flickr
Anastasia and I reaching the highest tourable point - around 4,100m.
 IMG_1858 by ed, on Flickr
The skiing and touring was on the whole pretty straightforward but really fun. I'd recommend a high level of physical fitness though, and some emotional resilience for rats, siberian cat attacks etc. I can thoroughly recommend Anastasia though, in case anyone wants her contact details to explore Kyrg. Whilst she was a little cold at the beginning of my trip (she cracked a smile when I knocked something off the supermarket shelf and made a mess). She warmed up once she knew I wasn't going to kill her in an avalanche.
If you're feeling adventurous, please do go to Kyrgyzstan, the locals need the tourism money really badly. The dirty secret about this trip is that 10 days away in total cost me around £800. Yes I was working for an airline so that helped bring down the cost, but nevertheless you'd be hard pressed to get five days of touring with your own guide for that sort of money almost anywhere. One of my 'bigger' purchases was stocking up on saffron at the local market (which is relatively filthy cheap) and gave packets to my foodie friends as gifts when I got back. A nice change from the usual saucisson.
На здоровье! Fermented camel's milk anyone?
 IMG-20200305-WA0102 by ed, on Flickr
Goodnight!! Shout out to my canon g7x mk ii, my favourite piece of non-mountain mountain gear.
 IMG_1767 by ed, on Flickr
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 15-10-21 15:00; edited 5 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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oh ffs someone please help with my img tags 
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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Much gratitude @pieman666 for bearing with newb
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@giantsquid, great pics! Looks like a proper adventure. Thanks for sharing. Heading a bit further East touring in a few weeks.
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@giantsquid, what an interesting destination that was, and great trip report too. What gave you the idea to go there, and how did you find your guide ?
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@giantsquid, no problem, glad I could help as the pictures are fantastic.
Looks like a cracking trip, are you going to write more of a report or just let the pictures do the talking 
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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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@moffatross, the author of this article is a friend of a friend, so Kyrgyzstan went right up the list when the article came out. Then in 2019 I had a bit of tough break up and I wanted something to work towards to get fit. So I explored these trips. I booked through explore-share but that fell through due to guide availability, but kept the contacts and booked directly. A certain amount of trust involved!
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@pieman666, I think I'll probably leave it at that before I mess something else up haha. thanks again
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Wow this is fantastic, thanks for sharing! I am a bit fixated on travelling around central asia some day. Its amazing to hear you can do it in 10 days and so costly!
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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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Thanks for sharing looks like a great experience but I'm not sure who was braver, you or Anastascia. 
How big was the rucksack for 30 to 35kg (or did you means lbs). Did you have to carry food up? How did you heat the hut?
Take it there's no avy resuce out there and you are on your own in the event of a slide.
It would probably be even cheaper for a group or does it have to be 1 on 1 guiding?
Do you know if it was a good/bad/typical snow base at the time you were there?
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Mad Devs sticker (on the bunk) anything to do with you?
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You know it makes sense.
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Looks amazing! I always mistimed my trips to the other K-stan (Kazakh) and arrived too late to ski. Didnt manage to avoid the fermented milk though, in this case horse milk....god awful.
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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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Thanks for sharing with us GS, I was looking at Kyrgyzstan too but never pulled the trigger.
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Poster: A snowHead
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As said above its much more likely you were drinking kumys which is fermented horse milk and extremely popular - I've never heard of anyone there fermenting or even drinking camel milk.
Kyrgyzstan is extremely cheap and there's some great potential for ski touring. It's a cheap country although some of the backcountry yurts are pretty pricey (relative to the country, probably still decent value compared to Europe). Snow quality and depth are reasonable, but tends to suffer from burried PWL.
@BobinCH, Where are you heading? I should be in Jyrgalan sometime next Jan/Feb time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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EPIC response to a break-up!
Great report 
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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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Thanks so much for the write up @giantsquid. Really good write up so interesting
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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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@DB, rucksack was 45 litres I think - I did not take the airbag (planes) so that probably bagged me an extra 5 litres or so. the hut was unheated hence the snow inside the room. we actually slept in a smaller room to the one pictured, because there were only two of us, just to keep the place warm. my marmot -5deg rated sleeping bag was unsuitable on its own but with a blanket and fully clothed underneath I slept just fine. and yes, we carried all our food up - we definitely could have made it lighter by buying more dried goods but condensed milk on your porridge gives you a great kick start to the day
There was no avy rescue or even any phone signal so yes it was just the two of us. The guide was extremely meticulous in making sure that I was avalanche trained (I have been on several courses and performed a rescue before this trip, but she wanted to check my skills regardless - very ok with that). We did about 3 hours of avalanche drills on day 1 to make sure that my skills were on point.
@alice8217, you must travel central asia! it has so much to offer. **brag warning** I've been to turkmen, uzbek, kazakh, kyrg and Mongolia, **brag apologies**, not to ski but just to travel. the registan in samarqand is a particular highlight. it's cheap, they're friendly and there are so few tourists!! what's not to love??
@Val Desire, nope I don't know what mad devs is!
@boarder2020 very possibly a mistranslation and it's mare's yes. but in turkmen I **definitely** encountered fermented camels milk and it was as gross as the above shot. it's definitely a thing in central asia.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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By "a bit further east" you mean just the 2700km then 
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Brill, great pics. That night sky must have been amazing too.
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FAQ
