At Primalscapes, we offer four fantastic backcountry skiing destinations you may have never considered or even heard about. Here’s a quick comparison to help you choose your next season’s powder paradise.
Kyrgyzstan, Jyrgalan
Come here for: Pure undiluted adventure: nomad yurts & spectacular ridge walks!
Logistics: Sensible – an overnight Pegasus flight to Bishkek via Istanbul. A full day’s rest in the capital is followed by a 6-hour drive to Jyrgalan village.
Season & dates: The best season for bespoke ski trips in Jyrgalan, Kyrgyzstan, is mid-January through late February.
Itinerary: 9 days of ski touring in at least 3 different spots, including one day of optional horseback-accessed skiing.
Trip extensions: You can opt for a day of skiing off lifts in Karakol before the trip.
Terrain: Think Silvretta, Austrian Alps — gentle textbook ski touring terrain, with many ridges for safe ascents and small patches of juniper forests.
Uphill: 900-1,200m elevation gain per day, very short approaches, and great views. Kickturns may be needed on some days. The highest point is around 3,500m.
Downhill: Plenty of choices for all skill levels, mostly sticking to faces below 30 degrees and avoiding couloirs due to typically suspect snowpack.
Snow: Unique ‘sugar-like bottomless powder’ snow, fun to ski! On some days, it may be more conventional medium-depth powder, perhaps drier and fluffier than you’re used to!
Competition: None. During your two-week trip, you may not encounter any other groups. While based in the yurt, we will have the entire area to ourselves.
Vibe: Charmingly rustic and decrepit — of a small mining village surrounded by mountains, with a sprinkle of Kyrgyz nomadic traditions like yurts, horses, and eagle hunting.
Accommodation: a classy hostel in Jyrgalan with full board delicious home-cooked meals and ski in/out, a small family-run hotel in Karakol, and a private heated yurt with incredible full-board meals.
Specials: Yurt-based skiing. Lots of clear days.
Georgia, Svaneti
Come here for: Unrivalled views, cultural heritage, and cuisine to die for.
Logistics: Easy — Wizzair offers direct and affordable 3-4 hour flights to Kutaisi from many European cities. Alternatively, you can fly Pegasus via Istanbul. The flight is followed by a 5-hour drive.
Season & dates: The best time for bespoke ski trips in Svaneti is early February to March.
Itinerary: 5 days of skiing – 1 day off lifts and 4 days ski touring in 3 different areas.
Trip extensions: Opt for a wine tour or spend 1-2 days in the lively and artsy capital Tbilisi!
Terrain: A breed of Chamonix and the Himalayas, with jaw-dropping views of Europe’s tallest mountain faces. The highest peak is a whopping 5,193m tall.
Uphill: Daily vertical gain is higher compared to the other trips, 1600-1900m. The highest point is around 3,000m. Kickturns are essential.
Downhill: Limited choice of lines for ski touring – but enough for 5-6 days of skiing. Runs are typically 30-40 degrees steep with 400-600m vertical.
Snow: Not very deep but fairly good. Usually feels fluffier and more forgiving than in the Alps — as testified by the participants of the recent FWT free ride comps!
Competition: Considerable — on a given day you may share the same mountain bowl with several other groups. Your guide will find untracked slopes, but you may encounter tracked-out sections.
Vibe: Positively European and lively, with many young visitors from Eastern Europe.
Accommodation: Comfortable guesthouses in medieval villages. Dining out in local restaurants. Ski spots are accessible with a short drive.
Special: Climb one of the millennia-old Svan towers.
Kazakhstan, Ridder
Come here for: Shredding prime powder in the woods.
Logistics: Rather challenging — a 10-hour direct international flight followed by a 1.5-hour domestic flight and a 2-hour drive.
Season & dates: The best time for bespoke ski trips in Ridder, Kazakhstan, is early December to mid-March.
Itinerary: 1 day of catskiing, 3 days of ski touring in a different range, then 2 more days of catskiing — totaling 6 days of skiing.
Trip extensions: Opt for 3 more days of yurt-based ski touring in a different region.
Terrain: Think Revelstoke, Canada, with several distinct mountain ranges rising from 700-1,200m base to 2,000-2,700m tops. The landscape is mostly subalpine: forested slopes, rolling hills, expansive glades, and wide-open bowls.
Uphill: Not too demanding as half of the trip is catskiing. 600-1,300m gain during ski touring days, depending on group fitness. Usually, no kick turns at all.
Downhill: mostly gentle, with 20-30 degree runs and 200-400m vertical.
Snow: Premium — deep, fluffy and forgiving powder unless it has been affected by the wind or high temperature. Sometimes even ‘champagne’ powder.
Competition: Very little. You’re very unlikely to see other groups or ski tracked-out snow.
Vibe: Geographically and ethnically, this part of Kazakhstan is Siberia! Expect sparse conifer forests, sleeping bears, orthodox churches, local honey, a Soviet mining town, and burly men in fur hats.
Accommodation: A mix of a luxury chalet and rustic log cabins. Catskiing is ‘ski in/ski out’ while ski tours require a short drive.
Specials: Catskiing ‘on par with BC, Canada’, as one of my guests put it.
Turkey, Kaçkar
Come here for: Big mountain lines, maritime powder, and oriental vibes.
Logistics: Sensible — a short-haul flight to Trabzon via Istanbul, overnight, then a 4-hour drive. Departure from Erzurum.
Season & dates: The best season for bespoke ski trips in the Kackar mountains, Turkey, is late January to early March.
Itinerary: 5 days of skiing, including 1 day of optional catskiing.
Trip extensions: In Trabzon, you can visit the Sumela cliffhanging monastery and in Erzurum you can spend a day skiing off lifts in Palandoken resort.
Terrain: Think Queyras in the French Alps or scaled-up Pyrenees. Multiple north-facing bowls are right next to our lodge, with a lot of skiable slopes.
Uphill: Everything is ski in/ski out, but sometimes long approaches. 1,000-1,400m elevation gain per day, often with kick-turns. The highest point is around 3,000m.
Downhill: Usually short — about 200m vertical — and steepish 30-40º upper parts of bowls and then more gentle and wide valleys lower down.
Snow: Moist and relatively stable maritime powder. Deep during the peak season in February when it can dump every other day.
Competition: Noticeable – you may share the same mountain bowl with one or two other groups. Your guide will find untracked slopes but you may have to ski some tracked-out sections.
Vibe: The village is deserted in winter, but the calls to prayer remind you that you’re in Turkey!
Accommodation: A cosy lodge run by a kind-hearted local host, with twin or triple ensuite rooms and a spacious common space heated with a wood-burning stove. Mind-blowing traditional Turkish breakfasts and hearty evening meals are included.
Special: Did you know that great skiing can be found in Turkey?