I’d been really looking forward to this tour in Kazakhstan and despite my high expectations, the trip didn’t disappoint. The skiing at the ski resorts was predominantly on-piste as the snow base was at low tide even though it was late January, yet it didn’t really matter because there was plenty of snow at the cat skiing destination, and one of the main objectives of the trip was to ski in a country with a very different culture, and it ticked all the requisite boxes.

DESTINATIONS
It was great that the trip started with city experiences and Almaty ski resorts, then moved regionally, and then really remote where the culture that I’d been anticipating felt the most apparent.

Almaty was a reasonably modern city and I didn’t find it particularly wow worthy as far as attractions went (especially compared to cities such as Tashkent and Samarkand) yet I really enjoyed going to the market, people watching, and the diverse cuisine at the restaurants. The Almaty ski resorts are on the cusp of major development, and it was nice that there were still plenty of laid-back aspects to the ski resorts that you’d expect for Central Asia. You can see my reviews of Almaty, Shymbulak Ski Resort and Oi Qaragai Ski Resort.

The drive out east was enjoyable, watching the regional towns pass by and the landscapes change. The Valley of Castles of the Charyn Canyon was a beautiful spot to get out for a long stretch of the legs for the 4km return walk to view the dramatic red rocks either side of the gorge. It was snowing lightly during most of the walk which added to the experience. A bit more of a drive towards the China border where I’d been hoping to see some camels, but alas it was not to be. We arrived at the hot springs resort which felt like a collision of Thailand and Kazakhstan. The natural hot springs were “natural” with respect to the water and were essentially swimming pools of different temperatures. The pool with the volleyball net didn’t seem in keeping with the relaxation theme, whilst a couple of the hotter pools were perfect, and being just a stone’s throw from my room for a post-soak shower made it all very convenient.

The next day we headed to the cat skiing destination, which not surprisingly was the highlight of the trip. It was delightfully raw and rustic – it’s not called the Ski Adventure Kazakhstan for nothing. I loved it! You can see my cat skiing review here and a little video. 

I skipped the last day of the trip that headed back to Almaty, as I was dovetailing into the Ski Adventure Kyrgyzstan tour and went across the border from the cat skiing to Karakol.

GUIDING
Our guide was a local from Kyrgyzstan with Russian ethnicity. I wasn’t too familiar with the typical style of hosts with a Russian background which others explained to me during my time in Central Asia. He didn’t provide much information regarding the plans for the day or during the day, and the expectation was that we’d ask questions if we wanted more information. This is all good and well unless you don’t know what you don’t know. For example, it would have been handy to know how days worth of bottled water we’d need for the regional part of the trip, and when we’d next be visiting a shop to buy more. We relaxed more further into the trip and got into the culture and became more used to the laissez-faire approach to guiding (and asked more questions).

At the ski resorts, it was more hosting than guiding, so there was plenty of flexibility to ski with the whole group or break off into smaller units, which worked well considering the diversity in ability levels in the group. At the cat skiing our host became an extra guide, whilst the main guiding came from the local mountain guides.

All pre-trip communication was incredibly professional and organised, and the establishment of the WhatsApp group was key for group communication.

ACCOMMODATION & MEALS
We stayed at the Renion Park Hotel in Almaty. Firstly, it was lovely that on the first day we were able to do a very early check-in, so after travelling from Zurich to Munich to Istanbul and arriving in Almaty in the morning, it was divine to have a shower and change of clothes before embarking on the city tour.

The hotel was quite nice and probably better than my expectations for such a well-priced tour. The hotel room was decent sized and the bathroom massive. The buffet breakfast was reasonably good and it had a good choice of fare. Some of the other tour guests used the pool and sauna for some relaxation, without going the full hog with the massage services.

We visited a couple of Almaty restaurants that were walking distance from the hotel, whilst another we visited on the way home from one of the ski resorts. The restaurants were modern Kazakh, Georgian and Chinese, and each had plenty of dish options and there was flexibility for the guide to take the lead with ordering and guests to also put some requests in. We could buy alcoholic beverages at a couple of restaurants, whilst another was alcohol free.

The one night stay at the hot springs was very relaxing, and some of my fellow group members did partake in a massage whilst there. The guest room was very simple but functional, and it was decadent to be so close to the hot springs. We had meals in the dining room. There wasn’t the same diversity of cuisine compared to the city because we had set dishes, including some traditional Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan fare such as plov and 5 Fingers. A beer would have topped off the relaxation of the hot spring resort, but alas we weren’t aware that the restaurant didn’t serve alcoholic drinks.

The lodge near the cat skiing was rustic as expected, and it provided a nice authentic Kazakhstan mountain experience. The rooms were small yet warm and comfortable, and it was a bit of a shame that the drop toilets were a decent walk away. The sauna was used to warm up in between splashing a bit of snow around to bathe, and luckily it wasn’t really necessary to bother washing the hair when a beanie or ski helmet sufficed. A couple of the staff spoke great English and whilst others didn’t, the service was incredibly attentive in a range of ways. The home cooked dishes for breakfast and dinner provided more insight into the local foods, and there was ready access to vodka.

Overall I really enjoyed this tour, which provided a taste of both city and rural Kazakhstan culture. I was travelling solo, but I was so fortunate that the others in the group were good fun, like-minded and up for an adventure. I’d give the Fun Factor rating a 10 if that was possible. Thanks crew and Ryce for an awesome time!
See our video here

GENERAL REVIEW
Pros
- The Ski Adventure Kyrgyzstan offers a ski or snowboard holiday with a difference, far away from the mainstream ski resorts of Europe and North America. You can feed your adventurous spirit and experience the culture of this charming country.
- Riding a horse up the hill and skiing or snowboarding down is a rather unique experience.
- Similarly, staying in a yurt probably isn’t something you do very often and it’s more like glamping than having to rough it.
- It’s an inexpensive ski trip, especially considering it includes snowcat skiing, lodging, half-board and all transportation.
- Having the support of a host makes the trip completely stress-free, including interpreting services at restaurants and transport to the various activities.
- You’re likely to meet other like-minded people with an adventurous spirit.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- Even though you have a driver and can just sit back and relax, it’s a long trip between Bishkek and Karakol (and then a shorter drive to and from Jyrgalan). Some of the views of the lake, mountains and desert landscapes are nice, and as you pass through towns you can do some good people watching. Nevertheless, it’s a long time to sit in a van (which was made longer for us with extensive roads). The upside of the many roadworks is that drive times in the future should be shorter.

OUR EXPERIENCE
It was hard to my put finger on it and how it happened, but Kyrgyzstan captured my heart. I’d been on the Ski Adventure Kazakhstan the week prior and arrived in Kyrgyzstan via the remote Karkyra – Kegen border crossing after cat skiing near Karkara. What an experience! From that moment of crossing the border, the feeling of being in a beautiful distant land hit. We passed through little towns with simple housing and big mountain scenes ever present in the background, and livestock just wandered around freely. There seemed to be more people riding horses along the side of the road than cars on the road. The pace and simplicity of life in rural Kyrgyzstan felt delightfully peaceful.

DAY EXPERIENCES
Like much of regional Kyrgyzstan there was nothing too fancy about the town of Karakol or the Karakol Ski Resort, and this was a nice warm-up for the tour. The ski area had some good freeriding terrain that would be fun on a powder day. The snow was just OK off-piste and the grooming on-piste was sub-par, although naturally we weren’t expecting swanky manicured slopes or high speed lifts. One day we had lunch at the newish base lodge which was ideal to people watch the out-of-control beginners careening down the slope, Russians enjoying a hookah, and a DJ pumping out loud tunes on a repeat playlist (so the presence of a DJ was superfluous). It was a restaurant bar trying to emulate an Austrian après ski bar minus the alcoholic beverages, so it felt peculiar, but I guess that’s sort of the point of travelling to foreign lands. See review of Karakol here.

The horse accessed skiing/riding was fantastic and a classic activity for a country where horses form part of the national identify. Perhaps there are as many horses in Kyrgyzstan as there are sheep in New Zealand? The 2 to 2.5 hour horse ride up the hill was enjoyable yet appropriately sedate considering the knee deep snow and that not everyone in the group was adept at horse riding. The ski down had a little pitch initially along with some vegetation and not all group members managed this proficiently. In the absence of a tail guide, it was thankful that there was plenty of teamwork to get everyone down the hill safely. Overall, it was a great experience – you can checkout the video.

The 2 days of cat skiing was plenty of fun, and many of our group were newbies to cat skiing, so that added to the enjoyment. You can see our review of the cat skiing for more info.

After skiing one day we visited some lovely hot springs near Karakol in a quiet valley. Unlike some hot springs I visited in Kazakhstan which were more akin to swimming pools, the rock pools fit in with the natural environment next to a snow covered stream. In addition to being aesthetically lovely, the hot soak was welcomed for tired bodies.

On the return trip to Bishkek, we stopped in at the FairyTale Canyon. For some reason our host didn’t join us on the return trip and with a pretty crappy map at the base area and unmarked trails that broke off in lots of directions, not all in the group saw the best of the area. Nevertheless it was striking and a nice way to stretch the legs on the road trip.

For the city of Bishkek, see the Bishkek reviews here.

GUIDING
It takes a little time to get used to the style of guiding or hosting in Central Asia where things might be more laidback than you’re used to, or where guides have a laissez-faire approach to communication. We got into the groove and knew that if we wanted more information then we needed to ask questions. Sometimes things got lost in translation, such as some disorganisation associated with trying to plan and communicate the horse riding day, but that’s to be expected in a foreign land where we don’t speak the language. Having a local guide to provide cultural insights and someone to interpret for us was invaluable, especially at dinner, and having the guide coordinate many aspects of the trip was instrumental in an easy trip.

At the ski resort the guiding was more like “hosting” which was ideal. Those who wanted to ski around with the guide could, and others peeled off to explore further afield. This was necessary as we had a lot of ability disparity in the group, ranging from experts to intermediates with possibly no off-piste experience. Kudos to the adventurous spirits of the latter who gave it a good crack.

As mentioned above, the guiding with the horse riding would have been improved with a tail guide and thankfully group cohesion was excellent.

For the cat skiing, there was a combination of our trip guide/host plus the cat skiing guides, which worked really well.

All pre-trip communication was very professional and organised, and the establishment of the WhatsApp group was key for group communication.

ACCOMMODATION
The main lodging for the tour was the Mongu Hotel in Karakol. This was a relatively new hotel so the rooms were modern, had adequate space and a decent ensuite bathroom. Upstairs on the enclosed terrace was the breakfast room which offered nice views of the mountains. The small breakfast buffet included cereal, yoghurt, meat, cheese, crepes, simple pastries, tea and instant coffee. This was a nice space to congregate and there were also 2 other small lounges, although it wasn’t possible to chill with an après ski beverage as alcohol was not permitted onsite. Luckily the best bar in town, The Hut, was just 40 metres away.

We spent one night in a yurt in Jyrgalan for the 2 days of cat skiing. The communal yurts were located on a property with a guesthouse where meals were served. Overall the experience was very enjoyable and more on this is outlined on the cat skiing review.

The Bishkek hotel was perfect for a pitstop. Modern rooms, good wifi, and a comprehensive buffet breakfast covered all our needs.

FOOD
I’d been a little apprehensive about the food in Kyrgyzstan after preliminary research on what to expect and was worried about the potential for lack of flavour and too much emphasis on horse. I’m not a foodie but rather I’ve been told that I’m a “fussatarian”. Anyhow I needn’t have worried as I was able to eat like a horse without actually eating horse (others quite enjoyed it!). The food was a thousand times better than I expected. In Karakol our guide took us to a variety of restaurants where typically he ordered bread and lovely salads for the group, and then each of us ordered a main. The choice of cuisine was extensive and very flavoursome, although sometimes trying to get a decent alcoholic drink was more of a challenge.

At the cat skiing guesthouse the fare was more traditional Kyrgyzstan, which was nice to experience rather than just eating the gentrified or touristified cuisine of Karakol.


Overall the trip was fantastic and it brought together a great crew from different parts of the world that added to the fun. That the tour enabled my heart to be captured by Kyrgyzstan speaks volumes.

See our video here

GENERAL REVIEW
Pros
- The Jyrgalan cat skiing outfit offers the fun of cat skiing with a generous serving of culture on the side and an opportunity to visit this intriguing country.
- Kyrgyzstan Cat Skiing is very inexpensive relative to snowcat skiing in many parts of the world. In comparing 7 nights + 5 days of cat skiing in Kyrgyzstan here are a few examples (current as of 2026): Niseko cat skiing for 1 day (no lodging) is half the price; a SW Hokkaido cat skiing outfit with simple Japanese accommodation for 4 nights + 4 days of cat skiing – costs 2.8 times more; a classic Canada cat skiing outfit for 4 nights + 4 days cat skiing – costs 2.9 times more
- Central Asia is recognised for receiving dry powder and Jyrgalan is renowned for scoring the most snow in Kyrgyzstan due to lake effect storms. To the west of Jyrgalan is Issyk Kul which means “warm lake” and this massive alpine lake doesn’t freeze due to its salinity and the presence of hot springs in the area.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- Assumedly you’re not a princess or prince if you’ve decided to travel to Kyrgyzstan, so you’ll probably love its rawness and the great sense of adventure it provides.
- Staying in the yurt for a night is a unique experience.
- The snowcat does its job in getting you up the hill, although the comfort of the cabin differs somewhat from the fancy snowcat cabins that you might find in BC Canada as an example. As above, you’re there for a great time, not a cushy time.
- Whilst the guides are experienced and cover safety aspects, if you want a safety briefing then you might want to ask for it.
- It takes a long time to get to Jyrgalan yet this is half the adventure, and the journey provides plenty of opportunities to soak up Kyrgyzstan.

We’ve provided more detailed ratings of the Jyrgalan cat skiing against various other cat skiing outfits around the world (we’ve reviewed 35+ cat ski outfits) on our cat skiing ratings page. Even though we thought that the cat skiing in Kyrgyzstan was amazing fun, no company is absolutely perfect for everyone. Our ratings cover different aspects of the operation and hopefully you can determine if cat skiing in Kyrgyzstan is likely to align with your priorities. To put it into perspective, the cat skiing ratings are against the gold standard of cat skiing which is in BC Canada with respect to exceptional safety standards, terrain diversity and snow, whilst the absolute gold standard for snow is in Hokkaido Japan. Note that one of the factors not included in the ratings is cultural immersion, which is one of the great aspects of Kyrgyzstan cat skiing.

OUR EXPERIENCE
We checked out 2 days of cat skiing as part of the Ski Adventure Kyrgyzstan. It was plenty of fun! This was in February 2026 in the location of the new Jyrgalan Ski Resort, and for 2027 Ryce will move the cat skiing to a nearby spot with similar terrain.

As a precursor to the comments below, it’s my job to critique ski experiences and analyse the nuances so as to set your expectations appropriately. As alluded to above, this cat skiing is not like typical BC Canada outfits which commonly have luxury lodging, highly refined safety practices, decades of experience in building perfect snowcat cabins, and diverse terrain including challenging tree skiing. Don’t let that deter you from going cat skiing in Jyrgalan. The overall experience was fantastic and unique, and I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to go back again.

TERRAIN
All the terrain we skied was in the alpine and sub-alpine with sparse vegetation, so there wasn’t much true tree skiing like you’d find in North America or Japan, and similarly there weren’t any steeps.

Many of the runs were really long, although the lower parts were rather flat and whilst still fun, they were in no way exhilarating.

It’s worth noting that the minimum ability level for the Ski Adventure Kyrgyzstan is lower than for the week-long cat ski trips, so at times we skied mellowish runs to cater for all. As some skiers sat out runs, the challenge of the slopes increased somewhat and the lines were perfect for advanced skiers and snowboarders. The video hopefully provides a good concept of the terrain.

SNOW
There was plenty of snow in the tenure and most of the terrain was at a good elevation. The guides had lots of aspects to work with and sun-affected slopes were not really a problem. Wind was another matter and in the absence of tight tree zones, the guides had to work really hard to find some decent snow that was protected from the wind but they did manage. Many of our runs had wind crust for the top third, which even the fattest skis didn’t always deal with. It was still plenty of fun; just not ego powder.

SNOWCAT
The snowcat was reasonably good and had plenty of power to get up the hill efficiently. Our snowcat cabin had seats just around the edge and only had 2 forward facing seats (when going uphill), unlike many other cat skiing outfits. With no seatbelts or handles or the like to keep you in your seat, we spent a bit of time sliding onto other guests, although I guess that was sort of fun. Other features that are common with gold standard cat cabins were also absent such as insulation from sound and fumes, hooks or other set-up for storage of drink bottles and gear, and easy steps to get in and out.

SAFETY & GUIDING
The lead and tail guides were very good and were cohesive with their communication, although considering there was negligible tree skiing per se, it wasn’t difficult for them to explain the run and to keep visual checks on all guests throughout the run. They re-grouped at appropriate locations and the tail guide did a great job at picking up the pieces of fallen skiers. Considering the disparate abilities of our group, they managed considerably well.

Undoubtedly they had safety aspects well covered although this wasn’t obvious to guests, such as the digging of snow pits or information provided about avalanche forecasting. As would be standard in North America, there was no safety briefing provided regarding the beacons, what to do in the event of an avalanche, or safety around the snowcat. Toto we’re not in Kansas anymore.

APRES SKI
Each of the 2 days of snowcat skiing was topped off with a gratifying stop at the après ski bar for beverages. It was situated in a shipping container so it didn’t take much for it to be packed with backcountry skiers, and on the first day we spilled outside to the tables and chairs to celebrate a great day.

LODGING
We stayed in a yurt for a night to get the quintessential Kyrgyzstan experience (unlike the full week cat skiing trips where guests mostly stay in the guesthouse). I probably wouldn’t want to stay in a yurt for a couple of weeks, but just one night was a perfect taste of yurting and a pretty cool way to get into the Kyrgz nomadic lifestyle.

I’d conjured up ideas of staying in a yurt camp that was “off-the-grid”. It was definitely very rural, but it wasn’t until we got there that we realised that the yurt tents were setup on the same land as the guesthouse and it wasn’t quite as isolated as I’d fabricated in my mind. The pros of this were that we had some mobile phone coverage, had power points for charging electronics in the yurt, and we had meals in the comfort of the guesthouse.

We had 7 of us sharing a yurt which was reasonably spacious. Some youthful giggling did ensue at times and it felt a little like we were back at school camp. The beds on the floor were very comfortable, and the yurt was well heated….maybe too well. “Bathing” was via use of the wood fired hot tub and/or sauna and then doing a bit of a snow angel. Our expectations had been set that we’d be using a drop toilet so that was fine, and it was just the right distance from the sleeping quarters, but the hole was excessively large and I’m surprised someone didn’t fall in! A seat or the like might have been a nice little creature comfort. Assumedly the week-long cat ski guests could just use the indoor bathrooms when staying in the yurt for a night.

It’s never good to segue from restrooms to food, but I’ll give it a try! Our eating needs were well looked after by the friendly hosts. After having dined in Karakol restaurants where the cuisine was somewhat international, it was nice to sample some good traditional fare. They had well-priced beverages for sale, and plov and vodka are a marriage made in heaven!

Jyrgalan is likely to look very different in a few years considering the development of the Ala-too Ski Resort. It won’t be the sleepy hollow anymore, but undoubtedly Ryce will find another little patch of paradise close by and I look forward to heading back to go cat skiing in the new location.
See our video here

This was a fantastic tour. Very well organised and great tour leaders.

China is a great revelation. Fantastic ski resorts, lovely people and the food!!

We went to several resorts in the remote North of China. There were a couple of cultural side trips that were fascinating, like visiting the place where skiing originated and skiing on handmade tradition skins.

I got a bit sick on the last two days and Peter, Elise and Zero stepped up big time to make sure I didn’t feel left out and helped organise me so that I was still comfortable.

The other skiers and boarders on the trip were great fun and everyone had a good time.

I highly recommend this tour for those interested in the new frontier - China!
See our video here