Shymbulak. From Strength to Strength
The alpine resort of Shymbulak, at a height of 2,260 metres above sea level, is one of Almaty’s best-loved attractions, located in a picturesque valley of the same name in the Zailiisky Alatau mountain range. Throughout the winter this resort, with its numerous activities and sunny aspect, is one of the most popular weekend destinations for the residents of Almaty and visitors from abroad.
Despite the number of tourist attractions and leisure complexes emerging in the Almaty suburbs every year, the long-established alpine resort of Shymbulak has easily remained a favourite with local residents, drawing enthusiasts of skiing, freeriding, freestyle and many other winter sports and activities.
The modern gondola lift carries visitors up from the Medeu skating rink to the centre of the resort with time to take in the glorious views and the peaks that dominate the Talgar pass, which is 3,200 m above sea level. Once there the choice is yours. You can hit the slopes on skis, take your snowboard down the half pipe, race down the mountain in an inflatable doughnut or enjoy any number of the range of activities on offer.
From Shymbulak you can access the mountains all year round. You can challenge yourself in the rope park, set off on mountain trails on horseback, book a breathtaking trip on a paraglider with an instructor pilot, visit the climbing park, rent a quad bike or a set off for a scenic hike in the company of an experienced guide.
The ski runs at Shymbulak, with their varying degrees of steepness, have a stable snow cover from November till April and are perfect for everyone from first-time to
advanced skiers. Beginners can start on the nursery slopes and move on to longer runs, with dizzying corners for extreme skiers and a special mogul track. The downhill and giant slalom tracks here are among the ten most difficult in the world.
One of the most popular activities is night skiing, when you can speed down perfectly-illuminated slopes against a backdrop of mountains cloaked in darkness. Learning to ski is easy at this resort. Families with children can use the children’s park and take advantage of the instructors, while older children can join the ski and snowboarding schools, which are also available for adults.
Shymbulak is one of the most successful and innovative tourist locations in Almaty, giving the city the reputation of one of the best winter holiday destinations in Central Asia.
HISTORY OF THE RESORT
The name Shymbulak comes from Sym, meaning ‘moss or grass’, and Bulak, meaning ‘spring’. It has also been suggested that Shambala and Shymbulak have the same root, which would draw parallels with the mysterious Buddhist kingdom of Shambala.
Shymbulak ski resort was founded in 1954 with the construction of the first rope tow. It was brought here from the Alps after the war as a trophy. Ski experts from the USSR decided that Shymbulak was the best place to build a new ski resort after a careful study of other suitable locations in the Caucasian mountains and the polar regions.
From 1983 the base was used as an Olympic training centre for Soviet skiers, with Soviet and Kazakh championships taking place here every year. In early February skiers competed in the annual Alexandra Artemenko championship, named after the 11-time champion of the USSR, master of sports and participant in the 1956 Olympic Games.
WHAT’S NEW AT SHYMBULAK THIS SEASON
Shymbulak is not a resort to rest on its laurels and is always looking to provide the best service possible. This year it has hugely expanded the range of rental equipment, made changes to the Shymbulak app, imported a new system for adding artificial snow to the runs when needed, built a new panoramic deck with views of the Til glacier, now offers fascinating tours in a snow-cat and has a new app to make it easier to book individual lessons with ski and snowboarding instructors.
New software has been brought in to bring rental services into one digital infrastructure that includes the whole resort. The locker rooms have also been rearranged to make them more user-friendly.
The Shymbulak Mountain Resort app will allow you to organise your skiing in advance by booking season tickets online. It will also give you information about the activities and hotels at the resort.
Thanks to a modern system of creating artificial snow, the winter season now will last up to six months. The extension of the main ski run towards Levyi Talgar has been completed and the new snowmaking system has allowed the creation of additional runs in Sunny Valley, Green Glade and
Uncle Bogdanovich, which opened with the rest of the resort when the season started. Moving the snow park to the Levyi Talgat pass has enlarged the slopes available to skiing in the heart of the resort, and a special new lift for very small children has been installed on the nursery slopes.
Bearing in mind the changes imposed as a result of the pandemic, the resort administration requests that visitors follow the latest sanitary regulations: wearing a mask is obligatory, don’t come if your temperature is higher than 37oc and keep a two-metre distance between yourself and others. Lifts can now carry no more than four people except for members of the same family who can travel in groups of up to five, and cafés are limited to 50 customers at any one time.
To avoid queues at the ticket booths buy ski passes and season tickets ahead of time on the Shymbulak website shymbulak.com or with the Shymbulak Mountain Resort app.