#VisitJyrgalan – Backcountry Skiing in the Tien Shan

There’s something special, I daresay sacred, in the quiet of a bright winter morning. A silence that seems to stretch for miles, disturbed only by the faraway call of a lone bird or melting ice crashing to the ground. It’s a feeling that stretches across all the remote backcountries of the world, whether wintry Ala Archa or the canyons of Wadi Numeira on the Dead Sea coast.

“Give me the splendid, silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling.”

– Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

It’s the kind of beauty, that is to say, worth working hard to find.

There are any number of bases to go skiing in Kyrgyzstan, from the top-class resort at Karakol to the many mini bases that dot the hills surrounding Bishkek. They have solid snow, decent facilities (sometimes), and are packed on weekends with Bishkekers out for a day on the slopes. The one they’ve always felt lacking, however, was that snow-blanketed silence of the wild outdoors.

Enter, Jyrgalan (Жыргалан).

Opened as Kyrgyzstan’s (and to my knowledge Central Asia’s) first dedicated off-piste ski base, this is where the real skiers go (or where, on occasion, they invite me along to take photos!), for untouched powder equally likely to swallow the inexperienced and delight the experts. This isn’t the sort of place where you line up and wait on the lift, mind, but the kind where you strap on skins to the bottom of your skis and walk up the mountain you’re about to ski back down. A place where, if you hope to climb under anything but your own power, you better be prepared to wave down the nearest snowmobile and ask kindly for a ride.

My visit, as a guest of the #JyrgalanTourismFest to celebrate the opening of the season for backcountry skiing in the Tien Shan Mountains that cut across Kyrgyzstan, was a weekend focused on freeride. I didn’t ski, of course, because I fall a lot and embarrass easily even in the best of manicured slopes. On puffy powder as deep as I am tall? I don’t even stand a chance.

I did manage, me being me and mountains being mountains, to wonder off for a bit of a walk through knee-deep snow; and the results were stunningly photogenic. Mountain panoramas, stretching nearly to the Kazakh border to the north and tapering off towards Issyk-Kol Lake to the south, all of it blanketed in the first real snows of winter. The type of scene that demands you sit and contemplate… just long enough to remember your pants aren’t waterproof.

I didn’t have snowshoes along, because frankly I am often not well-prepared. (Much the same reason I’d show up to a weekend celebrating backcountry skiing in the Tien Shan without having strapped on skis in over a year… but I digress.) With these, or a pair of cross-country skis, the opportunities for off-piste exploration would be glorious.

In the summer, when the snow is melted and the waterfalls flowing and that big pointy peak a few hours’ walk from the village is just begging to be hiked up and around? I think it’ll be even more of a hit, for the thousands of foreigner trekkers and tourists that are descending on Kygyzstan in greater numbers every year.

Jyrgalan probably won’t have that ‘fairy tale Christmas village’ feel without all the snow, but I suppose ‘mountain valley eco-resort’ doesn’t have a bad ring to it either.

If you need me in July, I’ll be off in a tent somewhere in the mountains behind Jyrgalan. Till then, I suppose, I’ll just be practicing my on-piste ski skills somewhere more ‘strong drinks on hand for when I get p***** off at skiing and decide to quit for the day’. Free-ride in the backcountry will, I’m sure, be very soon to follow.

Practical Details

Transport

To reach the village of Jyrgalan (Жыргалан), catch a marshrutka for 60 Som/person from Karakol at 8:30, 11:00, 13:00, and 16:30. Alternatively, a taxi from the city should cost around 2000 Som total.

If you’re the kind of maniac that drives your own car in the winter in Kyrgyzstan, take the road from Karakol towards Ak-Suu village (marked A363 on Google Maps) and keep on going straight through past the road to Altyn Arashan. Once you start wondering whether you’re lost or not, stop and ask for directions in the next village and they’ll point you the rest of the way.

Costs

A homestay bed in Jyrgalan runs 600 Som per person, and the EcoCenter guesthouse starts from 1500 Som for half-board or 2500 Som for full-board. These do vary seasonally, however, so be sure to verify prices beforehand.

Contact

For more information or to reserve a room in Jyrgalan, contact Gulmira at +996 (0)551 91 69 24 or by email at alakol2009@gmail.com.

Gear Rental

For the moment, equipment rental is not available within the village of Jyrgalan itself. If you’re coming from Bishkek, the best bet is to ask at the Trekking Union of Kyrygzstan (TUK), who should be able to get you kitted out whether your plans include deep backcountry skiing in the Tien Shan or just a quick snowshoe trip outside the village. If you’re already in Karakol, check out either the TUK or EcoTrek offices there or, in a pinch, the Karakol ski base.

So, time to book a ticket to Kyrgyzstan and see what winter tourism is all about in Central Asia? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!