Ridder Altai Ski Touring
Ski touring or splitboarding with Rock'n'Snow in the Western Altai Mountains near the town of Ridder offers the opportunity to enjoy northeastern Kazakhstan. The Kazakh Altai are renowned for the cold dry snow conditions, with pristine snow as early as November, so it’s a good pick for an early season trip.
This is a ski touring or splitboarding trip with a difference and a chance to experience the melting pot of cultures in the region. Expect warm local hospitality, cosy mountain lodges and relaxing après ski, along with plenty of ski terrain that includes lightly forested zones and wide-open alpine lines.
Highlights
- Visit the unique country of Kazakhstan.
- Guided ski touring and splitboarding in amongst widely spaced trees and open alpine zones
- The weather patterns come from nearby Siberia, so the snow is cold and dry.
- Ridder gets lots of early season snow which makes it high on the snow sure stakes.
- The terrain is not at high elevation so it’s easy ski touring without the need for altitude acclimatisation.
- Stay in rustic ski-in ski-out mountain lodges so you can minimise the uphill for approaches to the best terrain or customise the program to stay in town.
- All meals included and enjoy evening feasts around the dastarkhān.
Group
Solos or duos can join others on the mixed group fixed date trips. The group size is a minimum of 2 people and a maximum of 8.
Or alternatively you can pull together your own crew for a private trip and customize the trip to some degree.
Please get in contact to discuss options.
Standard Program & Customisation
In the standard program the lodging is in 2 mountain huts or houses, with a ski day in the middle of the trip to transition between the two bases. Expect rustic mountain lodging, plenty of homestyle cooking, shared rooms with up to 6 beds, shared bathrooms plus traditional bathing with a Russian banya sauna. Sometimes the lodging may be in the Russian village in houses with full bathrooms.
Please get in contact for more information on lodging options for your dates.
Other lodging options are possible in the town of Ridder, including hotel rooms that are single share or twin share, which require the addition of daily transfers to and from the ski touring trailheads. Additional cultural experiences during après ski are also a possibility. If you want to add some snowcat skiing to your private trip, this needs to be booked well in advance.
Location
The town of Ridder is located in the northeastern corner of Kazakhstan in the West Altai Mountains. You can fly to Ust-Kamenogorsk Airport (Oskemen Airpot) via international airports such as Almaty (1:20 hour flight) and Astana (1.5 hour fight). Airport transfers to Ridder are provided and the drive takes about 2 hours. You can look at
flight route options here.
Terrain
The backcountry terrain consists of plenty of tree skiing in amongst widely spaced vegetation along with open meadows, whilst approximately 10% of the terrain is in the true alpine a couple of hundred vertical metres above the treeline. The terrain is generally not super steep and is appropriate for strong intermediate to expert skiers and snowboarders. Similarly, the ski touring and splitboarding is not particularly technical so you don’t have to be a mountaineering expert.
There is a ski resort near Ridder, Stardust Camp, which can be used for sidecountry skiing and lift-assisted ski touring, although this is not part of the standard program as it’s not in close proximity to the mountain lodges.
Equipment
You will require touring equipment for this trip, so a ski touring setup or splitboard with skins and extendable poles.
You will require a backpack with avalanche beacon, shovel and probe.
A detailed gear list will be provided on request.