UZBEKISTAN’s MOUNTAINS. PART #1 WINTER

First of all, we do have great mountains in Uzbekistan; surely you should visit them in any season. Because vivid colors of nature, fresh air and feeling of something unexplored and wild draw every human being. There are peculiarity of nature and interesting events in every season, and today we are going to talk about winter season.

A little piece of information about Uzbek Mountains. Powerful and complicated mountain system of Central Asia belongs to the highest systems of Euro-Asian mountain belt crossing. Tien-Shan and Pamir-Alai are included in the Central Asia. 

By the way interesting fact is mountains occupy 43% of the total land area, in Uzbekistan it is 96,000 m², which means 21,3% of total land area of the country. Uzbekistan’s mountains are medium-high mountains (2000-2500 meters above the sea), the highest peak is Babatag (4688 m).

Chimgan and Beldersay are well-known and popular places among locals and foreigners. You can find up to 10 hotels to stay near these areas if you want to stay in the mountains more than 1 day. These areas are located not far from Tashkent city, about 90 km. You can go by mini-bus or taxi. Departure is early in the morning at 6-7 a.m. from Maxim Gorkiy region, near metro station. Price for bus is about 5$ (two-way), taxi* – 8$ (two-way). Taxi is not private one; you will sit with other passengers. Private taxi price is about 65-70$ for one car. It takes about 2.5 hours for bus and 2 hours for car.

Winter weather is mild, and it’s very cool to have snow activities while the weather is pretty warm. Average temperature in winter season is 8°C.

In winter the most popular activity are skiing, snowboarding and sleigh. For professionals and extreme-lovers: climbing, tracks, heli skiing, free-ride and others. You can find out more information about it here https://www.facebook.com/ClimberCA.ru/

I will tell more about mountain leisure for amateurs. Let’s start from skiing. Ski season is not long, from late December till mid-March; the ideal time for skiing is February. The longest ski slope is in Beldersay (3017 m), there is chairlift to the top. It takes more than 20 minutes to get there, the higher you go the colder you feel. There is also ski slope in Chimgan (1500), about 10 minutes. And rope tow lift ‘mop’ is 570 m.

For snowboards Chimgan is the best place. In Uzbekistan young people love snowboarding more than skiing. There is even snowboard lovers’ community in Tashkent. You can find them on Facebook page Snowboarduz

You can rent ski and snowboard equipment for one hour (4-5$) or for one day (9-10$). If you are with more than 3 persons ask for a discount.

Winter events

Tournaments on ski and snowboarding are held regularly in winter season. Recently 27-28 February, 2016 ski-cross and snowboard-cross tournament was held by support of non-government organizations. Event was called ‘Chimgan Extreme 2016’ on the slop ’12 keys’ in the Chimgan Mountains. Competitors’ age was from 12 till 60 and it brought something very exciting into the atmosphere of the holiday. Children, adults and elders altogether were involved in the world of sport. Though it was not professional sport there was contest spirit and explosion of emotions while the tournament. The day was bright and warm, filled by rays of the sun and people’s smiles. Sport activity is all about emotions. 

The award ceremony was held in the atmosphere of joy and simplicity. Everybody was glad for each other’s win and the winners got their prizes. When the holiday was over I left with the good memories and desire to come and watch it again!  

What to eat

For Uzbek food lovers there are sufficient amounts of cafes there, not very expensive. But if you don’t eat Uzbek food you should take some snacks with you. 

Have a snowy rest ;)

P.S. some of pics made by our local famous photographer 

Ernest Kurtveliev