Ski touring trip Kyrgyzstan

On March 7, 2023, I started my ski touring trip to Kyrgyzstan.

In my luggage was the first prototype of today’s Selun binding.

Travel organizer Alpine Welten, the largest mountaineering school in Germany.

Owner, my friend Hans Honold, who is well known for expeditions to the Arctic and Greenland.

Hans was the lead research icebreaker on the Polarstern expedition 2019-2020

Expert for the local conditions, while the ship was allowed to freeze in winter, and researchers were able to move safely on the ice thanks to his expertise.

From Munich we travel via Istanbul to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

From there we take an off-road bus directly to Karakol, a 6-hour drive, and then continue to the Irdyk Gorge, where we reach a yurt camp.

Yurts are the traditional tents of nomads in Central Asia.

This will be our starting point for the ski tours we plan to undertake here. I was surprised by the comfort offered by the simple accommodations. A wood-burning stove and comfortable beds are in every tent. The walls retain heat surprisingly well.

The first ski tour, we climb early, everything frozen.

But it warms up very quickly, the cornice thaws, and the snow turns into deep grit. This is the first time I've had snow like this under my skis.

The descent is very interesting. You're moving through knee-deep (sugar) snow. It's like having to learn to ski all over again. You can only ski this snow with a lot of reserve, so you forget everything you've learned so far.

Back at the yurt camp, we enjoy beer by the glass and chill in the warm yurt. In the evening, we enjoy good, home-style food and the obligatory vodka. The Russians drink, and we can't and don't want to keep up with them.

After a few days of ski touring and simple comfort in the yurts, we are picked up by former Russian army vehicles.

The road away from the yurt camp has now become a slippery mud track. It's almost unbelievable what the simple four-wheel drive vehicles and their drivers are capable of.

Back in civilization, we visit the bazaar of Karakol.

Here, people shop at the market; supermarkets are only found in the big cities.

Our eyes have to get used to the way the products are advertised.

Especially when it comes to meat, the smell and the display make your stomach twist a little.

The people are very friendly, even though we can only communicate with our hands and feet.

On the same day we continue to Jergalan, where we will stay in a guesthouse typical of the country.

Jergalan is a very small town that was founded because of a coal mine.

There are thousands of beautiful peaks to climb in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, but reaching the starting points requires weeks-long expeditions due to the lack of roads and infrastructure. Therefore, commercial mountaineering is limited to a few towns and roads, often created solely for the purpose of extracting resources.

The ski tours here in the Tian Shan Mountains offer their own special charm.

The view: white peaks all around, as far as the eye can see. It's a lonely solitude; aside from your own group, you hardly meet a stranger.

The weather has changed, a cold snap has brought us firn snow that lasts well into the afternoon and provides us with fantastic descents.

On the last day it snows from the icy sky.

The firn of the previous days is now covered with a very light, thick layer of fresh snow.

What a finish! I climb up a second time with the local guide to enjoy the knee-deep powder to the last drop.

The hospitality at the guesthouse was so warm and the food was prepared with so much love.

It is hard for us to say goodbye.

Our journey now takes us back to the capital, a city built in the Russian style with almost 1.2 million inhabitants.

And the bindings:

The prototype works, but still shows potential for improvement.

For example, the boot must be locked during descents to keep it secure with the pin tips.

The space under the knee levers fills with snow and must be cleaned before boarding

become.

The frame between the hole pattern is designed too lightly and twists.

So we improve the design and build a new prototype for the next trip.