Some of you may be familiar with the Oak app (app for finding partners for outdoor activities). They have teamed up with a local community based tourism project in Kyrgyzstan to offer a heavily discounted trip for next year.
TLDR: €750 for; 6 nights accomodation with meals, 5 days guided ski touring, and transfers in probably the best ski touring base in kyrgyzstan.
Full info:
Jyrgalan is arguably the best base for backcountry ski touring in Kyrgyzstan. The village sits at 2200m at the base of the Tian Shan mountains, and offers 360° touring directly from the guesthouse doorstep. There is a good variety of terrain from big open bowls and ridges to trees for low visibility days. Generally at this time of year there is fantastic untracked deep powder skiing, but snow stability can be an issue, so probably best not to expect to ski anything too steep.
Guiding will be provided by local KMGA guide Muhammet Giden. He is an experienced guide and very familiar with the Jyrgalan area.
Accomodation will be provided by Ala Kol Guesthouse. It is a nice family run modern guesthouse providing twin ensuite rooms. There is WiFi, hot water, 24/7 tea and coffee etc. There is also a nice traditional sauna (additional cost to use).
Logistics are being taken care of by a Jyrgalan Community Based Tourism Group - Destination Jyrgalan. They have been organising ski trips in the area for over 10 years, and have very kindly offered a special price to Oak for this trip.
Itinerary:
15th February. Arrive in Bishkek. Guide will meet you at the airport and you will be transferred to Jyrgalan.
16th February - Primary ski tour. Some time will be spent going over avalanche rescue and digging a pit to assess snow stability.
17th to 20th February - Ski touring in Jyrgalan area. Guide will pick routes each day based on conditions and where offers best skiing. Expect to skin up 600-1000m per day depending on conditions. Potential routes include; Heli Peak, Spider Peak, Robber's Canyon, Middle Bowl, МЧС peak, Topol Trees.
21st February - Transfer back to Bishkek. You can be dropped off at any hotel or the airport, whichever you prefer.
Cost: €750 per person (this is based on 6 people). Includes; 5 days ski guiding, 6 nights accomodation, all meals from dinner on day 1 to lunch on day 7, transfers between Bishkek and Jyrgalan.
Not included; lunch on day 1 (driver will stop at a restaurant/cafe where you can buy lunch for around €3.
Use of sauna and alcoholic drinks are available for an additional cost.
For anyone interested in visiting but not the group trip, they are willing to offer snowheads a promotional discount. Just email them; destination.jyrgalan@gmail.com to organise. They can do custom trips with snowmobile uplift, backcountry yurts etc.
Actually bumped into a kitesurfing mate who does a lot of trips, Greenland / Svarlbard etc and he's off there next year for a trip, a SplitBoarder too !!!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Weathercam, guessing he's on the rider social trip in march? They bought a group out last year and are running some trips again this year. Destination Jyrgalan organise for them too.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Ooh that looks tempting!
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.
That’s a really solid deal for Jyrgalan. The terrain variety there is fantastic, and having a local KMGA guide like Muhammet makes a big difference. €750 all-in for 6 nights with guiding and meals is excellent value compared to most ski touring trips in Europe. If anyone’s been curious about Kyrgyzstan, this looks like one of the easier ways to try it
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Poster: A snowHead
