| Shymbulak Ski Resort | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kazakhstan |
| Nearest city | Almaty |
| Top elevation | 3200 |
Shymbulak (Kazakh: Шымбұлақ), also known as Chimbulak (Russian: Чимбулак) is a ski resort near Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan. It is located in the upper part of the Medeu Valley in the Zaiilisky Alatau mountain range, at the elevation of 2200 meters above sea level. The resort area is about 25 km south of Almaty city by the Medeo road. It is popular for its mild climate, large quantity of sunny days and great amount of snow through the winter (from November till May).
Almaty is hosting the 2011 Asian Winter Games and is considering a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics; Shymbulak is a venue for both events.[1]
There are three ski lifts, which cumulatively reach Talgar pass (3200 meters above the sea level), the highest point of the ski resort. The total length of the lifts is 3620 meters. There are 3 stations of them; the first one is Intersection Station (2260 meters above the sea level) (9 minute trip), then 20th Prop Station (2630 meters above the see level) (16.5 minutes) and Talgar pass Station (3200 meters above the see level). There is also Snow-Park for the fans of snowboarding.
The resort offers a ski and snowboard school. There is also Shymbulak hotel (4 stars) and ski, snowboard and sleigh rentals.
The weather varies from +20°C in summer to −7°C in winter and the snow base is about 1.5 to 1.8 meters.