Karakol Ski Base, Issyk Kul Province, Kyrgyzstan

5DeanWilly22 5:00 PM Jun 29, 2012

Amazing!
Agree with KabulKevin. That's a gem in Central Asia. Now: first you have to be prepared to take this adventure. Ready to come to Kyrgyzstan? Ready for a hell of a road trip? Off you go! I leave it up to you how you come to here (there are seasonal flights with some strange airline I guess). But once you made it (I was travelling by car, hours and hours, through many small middle aged peasant villages)...an absolutely unexpected new world is opening up! Wonderful hotel (Caprice) directly at the slopes, nice and clean rooms for USD 120. So after a nice breakfast you go to the skiroom where you receive new and great carving skis (no need to bring any of your ski equipment), put them on, and are immediately on the slope. Slopes are going through forests (sometimes dangerous, sometimes steep, upper part not for beginners), snow is great. Skilifts are old but romantic. At the top: knock-out view over Chinese and Kazakh mountains, you overlook Lake Issyk-Kul while skiing! Panorama bar in the middle of the slopes where you can warm-up with a tea. Then continuing skiing down, literally right into the restaurant of your hotel for a lunch. In the evening sauna, pool then dinner in the nice restaurant incl. live music with a great kitchen, followed by water-pipe, bowling and biliard. I had a great time, and I'm really impressed by this place.

4farbeach 5:00 PM Feb 5, 2013

Small, mix of easy and challenging terrain, surprising
With four lifts, Karakol is clearly not an alternative to the Alps or Rockies. What it is, is a nice place to ski if you happen to be in the region or if you really want to ski somewhere where none of your friends have been. I was visiting Bishkek during new year and went to Karakol by car for three days (two days of skiing). The hotel, Kapriz Karakol, surprised me with how clean, modern and nice it was. It was much more expensive than Kirgisia in general, but actually worth the money. If I can find/have it added to TripAdvisor, I will write a separate review. I mostly stayed on the main, beginners' piste, and only once went up to the top. During the New Year week, Karakol is extremely crowded and the lift lines require some organizing. At the time of my visit, the lines were just a crowd of people, pushing each other (including children), and six people's skis crossed on top of each other at the gate. Terrible experience. The bottom piste was not surprisingly filled with beginners, whose average level I would rate below a children's piste in Europe. Some adults were quite dangerous to themselves and to others, skiing straight down at full speed, without knowing how to stop. That was the negative. From the top the views were amazing, and I got to ski down a mix of marked piste and off-piste in complete solitude. At the higher elevations Karakol offers some very nice skiing! There is only one restaurant on the mountain, operating next to the hotel. They serve delicious sashlik at very reasonable prices. I wouldn't fly all the way from Europe to Karakol just for the skiing experience, but it makes for a nice couple of days during a visit to Kirgisia, or for people living in the region.