Medeo

We pick you up in the morning in Almaty and drive up to the Medeo skating rink. Here we take a cable car to Talgarsky pass via Shymbulak ski resort. At the pass, at a height of 3200 meters above sea level, the pedestrian part starts.

Shymbulak

The trail to Shymbulak peak (3450m) starts at the pass and follows the mountain ridge to the very top. There are no technical difficulties on the route, it does not require any special skills or usage of climbing equipment. The trail is quite comfortable and safe, logically bypasses rocky areas. In winter, the trail is covered with snow. The ascent to the top takes 1.5 - 2.5 hours, depending on the season and trail conditions. In a good weather, the lunch can be taken on the top, surrounded by incredible panoramas. From Shymbulak peak, not only the best view of the snow-capped peaks of the Northern Tien Shan, headed by the highest point of the ridge - Talgar Peak, opens up. But the best panorama of Almaty: the city looks like spread out at the foot. The descent from the summit goes along the same way/ridge - to the pass. From the pass, we take the cable car down to Shymbulak ski resort.

After a hike to the top of Shymbulak peak we get back to the pass, take a cabe car down to Shymbulak ski resort. From the resort we will need to walk for another 40 minutes up to the Trekking Club alpine cabin, located at 2600m in Touyuk-Su gorge, surrounded by sheer kilometer-long cliffs. Here at a cabin we accommodate, take dinner and stay overnight.

After a breakfast at a cabin, we start hiking up the gorge. While hiking, we witness dramatic change of geographical zones. At the start point, coniferous forest prevails. But at 2800m you see that trees disappear and the landscape changes into the zone of alpine meadows. Above 3300m there is already a zone of glaciers - there is almost no vegetation here. The route all the way follows the main ground track. We will walk through so called "Touyuk-Su gates" - the narrowest place of the gorge with high vertical rocks both sides. Then pass by Mynzhylki dam with oldest meteostation. Then cross a stream, move to the left side of the gorge and follow hiking up to the T1 glaciological station. Behind the station, if walk further along the path, you can find the moraine lake under Molodyozhny peak. The lake is formed by Molodyozhny glacier, "hanging" on the mount slope. The panoramas are indeed great - stunning view of the circus of the Touyuk-Su glacier, surrounded by peaks over 4000 meters

Almaty

We hike back to the cabin from the glacier, take lunch and get ready for the descent to the city. Having packed, we hike down to Shymbulak, from where take a cable car (or eco-taxi) to Medeo. Drive to Almaty. Drop off at your hotel.