Below are some tips and recommendations to ensure your trip to Kazakhstan goes perfectly!

1. Equipment

Required equipment for cat-skiing:
Skis or snowboard
Ski/snowboard boots
Poles(for skiers)
Avalanche equipment(shovel, probe and transceiver)
Backpack
Goggles
Helmet
Gloves

For heliskiing, an avalanche backpack (air bag) is additionally required.

Required equipment for ski touring:
Skis with ski-touring bindings or splitboard
Ski/snowboard boots(for skiers with system of switching to walking mode)
Skins
Poles
Avalanche equipment(shovel, probe and transceiver)
Backpack of volume at least 25+ liters with ski/snowboard fixation
Goggles
Helmet
Gloves
Thin gloves for touring
Sunscreen and sunglasses
Head torch
Thermos with tea, water tank or camelback
Extra set of warm clothes for a night in the mountains
Snacks(bars, muesli, special mount nutrition)

In Ridder, civilian radios (walkie-talkies) and drones are permitted for use in the mountains. Avoid using them in the city and the airport.

2. Flight

Kazakhstan has two main international airports: Almaty and Astana.
Your route to and from Ridder will likely pass through these cities.

Your arrival airport is Ust-Kamenogorsk (Oskemen) — IATA code UKK.
SCAT, FlyArystan, and AirAstana fly here daily.

Then transfer to Ridder, approximately 2 hours by car.

If your luggage is lost, contact the airport’s lost baggage service and, in addition to your personal WhatsApp number, provide them with our company number +77071800171. Once your luggage arrives in Ust-Kamenogorsk, we will send a driver to pick it up.

Recommendations for carrying avalanche backpacks with cylinders on domestic flights to Ust-Kamenogorsk and back.
You should be aware that local airlines and staff working on domestic flights rarely encounter avalanche backpacks. This can be a major source of confusion and questions, especially at the beginning of the winter season.

1. Disconnect your cylinder from the tube. You can leave it in your backpack, but it must be disconnected.

2. Check the cylinder or backpack with the cylinder as baggage. Do not carry it in carry-on baggage on domestic flights in Kazakhstan.

3. If security asks questions about the cylinder:
— Say that the avalanche backpack is a type arrangement as a life jacket. Life jackets with cylinders (for drowning people) are permitted for free carriage. It works the same way.
— Say the cylinder contains COMPRESSED AIR.
— Show the IATA leaflet about permitting these cylinders to be carried on airplanes.
— NEVER say the word «gas» when talking about cylinders, including to each other. The problem is that in Russian and Kazakh, the word «gas» often means propane (a flammable, explosive gas). You may be misunderstood by airport staff whose primary language is Russian or Kazakh.

3. Money

Most shops and restaurants accept Visa and MasterCard.

If you need cash, you can withdraw it from ATMs in the airport departure lounge.
Or in Ridder, at the Kazakhstan shopping center: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mjsFBZDejqu8ghfh6
Please note that ATM withdrawals from foreign cards are limited to 100,000 tenge per card per day. Therefore, use different ATMs or cards.

You can also bring cash in foreign currencies (EUR/USD). Banknotes must be of good quality (not damaged, without any markings or stamps, etc.)

4. Dinners

You can dine at one of the hotel restaurants:

Also we can recommend three restaurants in center:

All restaurants have English menus, and they can also call you a taxi back to your hotel (about 20 minutes in road).

5. Rental and repair of skis and snowboards

  • Splitboards, ski touring skis, avalanche kits (transceiver, probe, shovel) — Pavel +7 707 440 11 02, Stepan +7 707 485 04 56 (you need to mention that you are from Sergey’s group, TopTrip). Equipment delivery is available.

  • Skis, snowboards, boots, poles, clothing, etc. — Ivan +7 705 245 0090, Extremal Shop, https://maps.app.goo.gl/L9c61RLvHfagrzXn6
  • Avalanche transceivers — Bearlog Hotel +7 771 358 0596

Ski and snowboard repair — Ivan +7 705 245 0090, Extremal Shop, https://maps.app.goo.gl/L9c61RLvHfagrzXn6
Equipment delivery is available.

6. Applications

Before your tour, you can install several useful applications:

  • Offline translator to Russian(not Kazakh). Russian is spoken by the majority of the population in Kazakhstan, especially in Ridder.
  • If you want to order a taxi in Ridder yourself, use the Region App.
    In other cities in Kazakhstan, YandexGo and Uber are popular apps.
  • The most detailed offline map of Kazakhstan’s cities is available in the 2GIS app.