Kyrgyzstan is absolute mecca for winter sports – experienced traveler

Bishkek, Feb. 26, 2020 / Kabar /. Australia’s biggest adventure travel bloger, award-winning writer & photographer Jarryd Salem is back in Kyrgyzstan. Jarryd together with a group of six leading English and Russian speaking travel bloggers and active users of social networks are in Kyrgyzstan to participate in a study tour organized by the Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism in partnership with a project funded by the Swiss government (through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs - SECO) on sustainable development of winter tourism and the USAID project on competitiveness, trade and job creation places in Central Asia. Jarryd in his post on social network wrote: “I am absolutely thrilled to be back in one of my favorite countries for a 7th visit, this time in the middle of winter. While Alesha is back home in Australia, I'm here on a tourism development project with Discover Kyrgyzstan and a group of awesome adventure bloggers,” he wrote. For the next 12 days they will be exploring some of northern Kyrgyzstan's most beautiful sites, checking out some ski resorts, and doing a bunch of backcountry snowboarding. The experienced traveler named Kyrgyzstan an absolute mecca for winter sports. “But few people know about it. I'm pretty sure though once you see just how awesome this place is during winter (and how damn cheap it is), you'll be booking a trip in no time,” he said. Later Jarryd wrote that on the first day in Kyrgyzstan, they headed to Zil Ski Resort and Chunkurchak Ski Resort, both of which are less than an hour from the capital city of Bishkek and posted some photos. “These ski resorts aren't the biggest in the country, nor do they have the largest snowfall, but the fact that they are so close to Kyrgyzstan's major international airport is pretty awesome. They're excellent for a fun, cruisy day out with friends and family, and quite a few Kyrgyz people come skiing here. For us it was a great way to warm up the legs and see what the Kyrgyz skiing infrastructure is like. Fixed-grip chair lifts, apres-ski options at the bases and good grooming made these a perfect introduction to the trip,” he said. The country’s Ministry of Culture said that bloggers and users of social networks will be offered a fascinating and unique tour specially prepared by the Kyrgyz Community Based Tourism Association (KCBTA), which will include active types of winter tourism, such as skiing and snowboarding, freeriding, paragliding, and visits to skiing bases, natural attractions and cultural events, representing Kyrgyzstan as an attractive country for winter travel.