shymbulak ski resort

有各级雪道。租雪具的价格略贵，如果不怕麻烦可以从市区租了自己带来。从阿拉木图市区的哈萨克斯坦酒店对面坐6路或6A路公交车到Medeu再转taxi或者shared taxi到达。

Great day out, very close to Almaty. We went yesterday, Saturday, and it wasn't busy at all. Hired gear in town from Extreme Asia salopettes gloves goggles helmet boots and skis (had my own jacket) 3000 tenge. Taxis are around 5000 to the resort less to the skating rink. Lift pass on a saturday was 7000 for 4hrs or 8000 all day. Heated lockers and changing facilities very spacious clean and cheap.We arranged a lesson for 3 of us. 10000 for 1 person or 8000 for a two hour lesson as a group. Our instructor spoke very good English. We booked a beginners class as we had 1 complete novice and 2 with 15yr last ski experience. We should have split the group into 2 but wasn't sure how quickly we'd pick it up again. Perhaps they should have asked and when the instructor realised he should have given us advice rather than stuck rigidly to a beginners programme. Probably a communication glitch but make sure you explain your experience so they can tailor you lesson to you.Choice of cafes and bars so something for everyone. I didn't eat so not sure on prices but as with any ski resort you are a captive audience. Beautiful views good variety of slopes for a day trip or long weekend. Experienced skiers wouldn't get much of a challenge.

The best thing about this resort is the lack of queues and its proximity to the city. We skied two days, which was enough given that the resort is mall, and even on the Saturday there were no queues at any point. The services are all very good, from the gondola at Medeu to the toilets, lockers etc at the slopes. I disagree that the customer service is rude: we found it very good. I would say it's not a resort for novices though: the main long slopes are red and there are only a few short blues. At 4 pm the slopes are in the shade and get icy. It's well worth going all the way up and over to the other side, under the glacier, for the views, and there are 3 short blue slopes there. Here's how to make a potentially expensive trip cheaper:1. Rent gear from Extremal in Almaty, half price of the slopes rental place. Extremal is on the corner of Dostyk and Al Ferabi Stareets. They don't rent helmets though. Get them at the slopes.2. Take the number 12 bus from outside Extremal to the Medeu gondola. Buses are frequent up and down. 80 tenge.3. Weekday ski pass is 5000, weekend is 8000 per day, including gondola from Medeu.4. Take food with you or buy snacks at the silver airstream van on the left at the slopes. The cafes on the right are very expensive.

Ok, so not everything was perfect and some of the negative points made in others' reviews were valid: rude cashiers on arrival ("Do you speak English?" "NO!" "Can I have a return gondola ticket?" "You want three lifts... one, two, three... Combi ticket... three-thousand-five-hundred" "Um... ok, so you do speak English then?!" I'd merely wanted to undertstand the difference between the tickets, which was duly explained); food was also pricey and nothing special at all. BUT, I had the most amazing time: the views were fantastic, skiing would've been great and I was very jealous of those who had the kit with them; sun was blazing down on the gondolas, so it was warm inside and the skies were clear, enhancing the views; the service in the bar I went to was also superb. The music was also well chosen (mostly) and, although loud, played through a good quality sound system (unlike the euro trash that plays out of crackly speakers as you go up and down in the gondolas!).Useful info: There are three stations and if you travel up as a pedestrian (without skis/snowboard) it costs 3500 Denge. Some of the best views can be seen between the bottom and the first station, so if you're short of time, get the cheaper return ticket to the first station (it's probably a good 20 minutes to that). The majority of facilities are at the first station and there are practice slopes for kids, restaurants, bars and photo opportunities. I didn't try any of these, as it was very busy here. At the second station there is a lovely wooden cabin-style restaurant/bar with a platform outside where you can take pictures. This is where I chose to eat: they had a nice enough menu, lovely decor, amazing warm, cosy and clean toilets, and the best service I've experienced so far in Almaty. The guys here were so smiley and talkative, I didn't want to leave. I had fried feta with honeycomb, lemon and sesame and some roasted pepper soup. Neither dish was great, but they offered me some complimentary humous and bread, and the Paulaner wheat beer was lovely, so I didn't mind. For the price, I suppose I should've expected better, but it's a ski resort so actually the fact that it was edible and fresh sufficed! At the third station there was nothing really: a little cabin bar which served tea and coffee and probably alcohol but I didn't ask. It had a few futuristic looking inflatable-type seats outside and a toilet that I couldn't get to without skis or safer footwear, so I took a couple of pictures and returned to the second station. It's worth going the whole way up, even if you're not skiing as it makes more of a day out, punctuated by eating, drinking, reading etc at the different stations. Plus, the air gets cleaner the higher up you go, so you get to escape the city smog for longer and cleanse those lungs! I got a taxi to the beginning of the chair lift at Medeu, which was a little extravagant, costing 5000 Denge, but I wanted to make the most of the clear skies before it clouded over. The bus back(number 12, picked up from just oustide the gondola station at Medeu) cost a mere 80 Denge, so all in all it wasn't such an expensive day out. The bus came down Dostyk when it got back to town, so it's fairly simple to get on/off without getting lost. Had to give Chimbulak an Excellent 5 star rating as I had a brilliant time, even though not everything was perfect. :-)

I have been skiing at Shymbulak for 3 seasons now, and have found that although there is quite good infrastructure, the whole resort is BADLY let down by the quality of customer service. Rude, and ignorant staff at the cashier desks especially, make me feel that the resort management dont understand anything about making their customers feel appreciated. Safety on the slopes is also a neglected issue, with dangerously overcrowded slopes, dangerously fast speeds by inexperienced skiers and snowboarders, and the ski patrol staff do nothing about it. Last week I was nearly hit by a runaway snowboard travelling at high speed, its owner had no safety leash on it. Such a situation in a European or American resort would result in the wrongdoer being banned from the resort. At Shymbulak, no-one cares about safety. Again, it seems the resort management dont care if a few of their customers get injured (a frequent situation) or killed (happens every year, at least one fatal accident).

Located in 30 minutes drive from the center of Almaty Shymbulak offers great view of the city on the sunny day and lots of fun skiing. You can take a taxi from the city to the gondola from Medeu station. The ride on gondola to Shymbulak takes about 20-25 minutes. According to the Shymbulak's website (http://www.shymbulak.com/) this gondola is the world’s third-longest gondola with a length of 4.5 km.The prices of skiing might seems affordable for foreign people, however they are quite pricey for local people. Weekend day skiing for the 2014/2015 season costs 8000 KZT(around $43-44). The best time for skiing is early morning to beat the crowd. After 2pm it's too crowded and gets icey. One more great thing that Shymbulak offers is night skiing on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It's less crowded, starts at 7pm until 11pm, and much cheaper compared to day skiing (4500 KZT or $25)There is definetly a room for improvement for their service. The cashiers could be nicer and more informed. The feedback with management exists only when they can give feedback, no feedback for critisism. I would not recommend using the ski/snowboard instuctors. There have been many cases when insturctors after a whole lesson would end up not teaching one thing or working in improvement. Overall, it's definetly a place to visit and have a great time skiing/snowboarding/hiking, however do not have a great expectation for a good service.

Visited AUG 2014to get there Gondola to resort entrance, and 2 more gondola to go to peak.Temperature gap is more than 10 degree C, even in summer resort is used in summer time for sightseeing and bike down hilland the winter time.... wow, it is really great place to enjoy winter sports sometimes while you going up to resort from the starting point of gondola, you can see some people riding bicycle from gondola departure to resort, the height gap is almost more than 1000m anyhow, if you have a chance to visit Almaty. Do not hesitate to visit here.

I have been to Shymbulak two weeks ago. A wonderful place at an altitude of 3000 Meters. You need to take a taxi to go from Almaty to Medau. At Medau, there is a rope car station. Travel by rope car to montain top and return cost about 15 US Dollars. Rope car travel takes about 30 minutes, and it is very nice to see the hill top with many people skating & skying. There are plenty of restuarants / hotels on the hill top at a resonable price.

Shymbulak is being primed as Kazakhstan's ski resort for international visitors. It offers high-standard facilities and unspoiled views especially on a sunny day. I just love spreading out on one of the loungers and looking at the snow-capped mountains while soaking the sun. I can do it all day. The lovely people moving around are just a bonus. I especially love how they are able to limit establishments from mushrooming into the area so nature is not compromised. As with the whole of Almaty though, food prices are not very friendly.

Great place for skiing! It is good for beginners as well as for confident skiers. Beautiful nature, mountains and mountain air!

Shymbulak is a great place to be in Almaty no matter what season you plan to be there. i was there during spring and it was fantastic. 30 minutes from the city and with no high cost to be stay there, it is a must go place for anybody that visit Almaty. But please be aware that the restaurants close early (maybe not in winter) and the hotel doesn't serve breakfast late. As for transportation to the location, make sure you got enough info so you don't pay too much. Too much for the local may not be too much for your budget but still it will be a disappointment if you pay more than double the normal rate. Some hotels also accepted no credit cards. But overall, Shymbulak has been one of the best spot that I visited in Almaty

A recent snow drop had powder snow only on the second from the top gondola area. This was just by the restaurant. A gondola ride or two and then a short walk up part of the mountain then back down to the gondola where we ate a great Kazak lunch while watching the locals dressed in their finery parade and dine. Perfect weather with the sun shining and clear blue sky. A highlight of my visit.

But what the guide books don't tell you is that it is open all year accept it is closed for the whole month in OCTOBER!!!!You can drive up to base lodge, past the Medeo ice rink (I think the largest outdoor ice rink in the world) for a walk-about. Parking is sparse, but there are some spaces up along the side. The air is much cleaner than down in the city of Almaty. They sky is blue, blue. They say there are 300 days of sunshine. I believe it. And the sun is very very strong. Wear sunscreen! Sit in one of the cafes and drink this warm orange tea made out of sea buckthorn berries.

Having lived in Kazakhstan for over 2 years Shymbulak is one of my highlights for anyone visiting the country and Almaty. For non skiers its worth going for the view alone.Its very easy to get to either by Taxi which should cost less than 2,000 tenge.I would also recommend taking the number 6 city bus from outside Hotel Kazakhstan (opposite side of the Dostik Street from the hotel) which is a nice way to get there with lots of happy skiers.The bus costs around 150 tenge (less than 1 dollar and takes about 30 mins.From Medeo Ice skating rink (another must) you can buy the cable car and ski passes for the day. Shymbulak its self is very well set up with some very nice cafes, although a bit overpriced as you would expect in a ski resort. Facilities generally are excellent with Ski rental available, also they rent just skis incase you bring your own boots.Ski lessons aare available in English in case you need them and there is a small outdoor shop which sells accessories and stocks some clothing although if you dont have gear buy or rent in town at somewhere like Extrimal sports shop.

This ski resort is extremely convenient only 30 minutes drive away from Almaty. The most surprising fact about the geographical layout in the region is that the Tian Shan mountains sprung from the ground just at the outskirts of the city without of hilly area of few tens of kilometers in between. The climb is steep as soon as you exit Almaty and the only way Is up. On the way up you will leave behind the Medeu ice skating ring and the dam. If you drive your own car to Shymbulak, beware that few hundred meters before reaching the resort there is a S-type curve which has a very high inclination of almost 30 degrees. So be careful to climb it only in first gear, otherwise your car engine might just die under you.The resort is nothing much but few small hotels and private villas. Few restaurants and a terrace would provide a hot tea for you or a cold beer. The resort is good destination if you plan to get out of Almaty and enjoy a scenic view from the mountains. Over the mountains' peak is the border with Uzbekistan.The toll booth for accessing Shymbulak is located at the very exit of Almaty, so even if you go for a barbeque on the river banks before reaching Medeu you will still have to pay it.