Spring was in the air as I returning to Arslanbob for the second time this winter to ski with kids and the local Community based tourism guides. Green pastures and grazing animals dotted the landscape on the drive down from Bishkek.
My first days in Abob rainy weather deterred skiing, but finally sunny weather got us out with local children. I was joined by several of the guides, Hayat and Kjartan. With the kids, we headed up into the agricultural fields and walnut forests above town to work on basic ski skills. The enthusiasm and pride of the children is always contagious! Despite their old equipment and having to walk uphill for every turn, they skied the entire day.
Kjartan and I, along with our friend Toby organized a three day winter camping trip for the rest of the week. We were joined by local guides, Hayat and Mischa- their first winter camping trip. We settled on the beautiful alpine jailoo “Jaz-Jarym” for our destination. Our ascent was a combination of 4×4 Niva, horses with skis strapped on the sides and finally a couple hours of skinning on our own feet. Transport never fails to be interesting in Kyrgyzstan. We even passed a local game of ulack (like polo but with a dead sheep) climbing out of the village. En route dark skies turned into rain, so we just stopped to drink tea in a manger and let the rain pour down around us. Clearing skies encouraged us to continue up out of Arslanbob into the mountains and to Jaz-Jarym that evening where we set up camp in a Shepard’s hut as the rain turned to snow.
Socked in the following morning, Mishca set off for home with his umbrella protecting him from the continuing snowfall. With no visibility we drank tea until lunch time when parting clouds urged us to go explore. Despite the flat light we managed to ascend and ski off one of the main ridges. We then sought out terrain with more features, including a beautiful chute that we skied twice and marked Hayat’s first couloiur descent. Temperatures dropped as the snow continued…
The next morning clear skies beckoned us from our sleeping bags at first light. We managed to eek out enough fuel for tea, water and breakfast during the most incredible sunrise. Completely enclosed by the mountains of Babash Ata and Jaz-Jarym, the ski potential was almost hard to fully grasp. We first headed south, north aspects were holding 30-50 cm of new snow. Stability tests reconfirmed our confidence in the snowpack. We skied two beautiful ridges off the southern ridge of Jaz-Jaryn, working higher each time before crossing the valley and heading up a beautiful unnamed peak. Toby and Hayat skied off a north slope, while Kjartan and I ascended the summit of the peak and skied an aesthetic line of powdery bliss. From our descent, we traversed and boot packed to follow the tracks of our group down into the gorge and back to camp.
The descent to the village took just over an hour, before we gorged ourselves on plov (rice and mutton). The trip marked the end of Kjartan’s time in Arslanbob, at least for this winter, not a bad ending….
