Trekking Along the Snowline
TREKKING ALONG THE SNOWLINE Hiking the Tian Shan mountain range in Kyrgyzstan By: Olly Beckett Garlanded in thick, unblemished snow, the mountains to my right lead to China and those on my left to Kazakhstan. Any temptation to hike to those countries is dispelled by peaks soaring over 7000 metres high, and harrowing tales of Victorian explorers vainly trying to seek shortcuts to Tibet. Nevertheless, Kyrgyzstan’s Tian Shan range is a land of adventure and I’m here to find my own version of it. The months pass peacefully in low season and that snowy garland is still draped deep down the slopes. I’m staying in the remote village of Jyrgalan where my accommodation – Peak Lodge – hasn’t had guests since some intrepid heli skiers passed by many weeks ago. It’s deserving of much more attention: modern Scandinavian in style with individual lodges clad in blonde wood, and floor-to-ceiling windows framing mountain views.
Low Season Traveller
Looking at hiking app Wikiloc I’m excited to see many possibilities (in 2016 US Aid funded the mapping of trails throughout the area). It’s been a long day of travel from the capital – Bishkek – starting with a 6-hour “marshrutka” (public minibus) to Karakol followed by a 45-minute ride in a VW Jetta taxi that’s notched up over 300,000km. But it was an efficient journey and so I’ve arrived in Jyrgalan earlier than expected. With plenty of daylight to spare I set off in search of a particularly large rock.
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The road that runs from our lodge and through the village is a mix of gravel, mud, and manure from the cows that commute along here morning and evening. A farmer just past the last house is the first and last person I’ll see along today’s trail, which rises steeply beyond a meltwater-swollen river. Vast grassy plains are soaked by recently thawed snow. I’d like to say that the air was filled with silence, but several small coal mining operations provide a constant hum and occasional crunch. They want to build a ski resort here. Earlier this year a French company announced the €146 million investment, attracted, no doubt, by conditions which will guarantee snow for many years to come. I wonder if they’re aware that a Chinese company also plans to move in and expand the mines?
Issyk-Kul mountain lake, surrounded by the Ala-Too mountains
I’m in no doubt that I’ve reached my destination when I see Tulpas Tash rock rising 8 metres above the ground. It’s so prominent that it features in a famous 18th-century Kyrgyz poem. It’s also a perfect turn-around point. My map shows that the trail continues up the valley, if I follow it I’ll soon be deep in snow. Which is exactly where I find myself the next day. Luckily someone had walked this way before me and so I literally follow their footsteps to Kok-Bel waterfall. Finding a patch of snow solid enough to hold my weight I admire the partially frozen falls, tumbling from 20 metres above. This was a four-hour trek and today I saw just one pair of hikers. Back to Karakol, which, with 84,000 people, is eastern Kyrgyzstan’s main population centre. In warmer months hikers flock here for the Karakol sign with 3040m marker (Right)
