Shymbulak Mountain Resort
1253 reviews
March 27
"Must" visit place not just in Almaty, but in whole Kazakhstan. Beautiful resort place that offers a lot of opportunities for skiing, snowboarding and just enjoying the nature.
January 13
Gondola ride was so good, heaven for ice sports
May 29
More hyped than reality. Everything is super expensive from tickets to food
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November 21, 2023
Justva must-visit place in Almaty
October 14, 2023
It was beautiful in winter
September 21, 2023
Must to visit
January 21, 2023
Lovely but expensive
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June 20
A great ski resort.
Well-prepared trails, it's nice to ride. Beautiful views of the mountains and Almaty. There are queues, but acceptable, there are a lot of people on the slope. The lifts are comfortable and comfortable. The infrastructure is good, there are many places to eat, hotels, toilets on the slope. There is a rental car (I don't know what quality, I rode on my own equipment), locker rooms, storage rooms.
One of the serious disadvantages is transport accessibility. It is almost impossible to call a taxi after the slope closes. Parking spaces are available (for a fee), it is better to arrive by car. Also, a long queue after closing the slope for the lift down spoils the impression a little.
This is rather not a minus, but it is worth considering that hotel rooms should be booked in advance (2-3 months), they are quickly sold out.
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October 20
Super! I advise everyone who will be in Almaty to visit here! At any time of the year! The air is healing, mountainous! You can do it without skis, you can do it without bicycles, just breathe, take beautiful photos and take away unforgettable impressions!!! I met two local elderly ladies (Kazakh women) at the top, had a nice conversation with them, they told me that they climb to the top to breathe every 3 months (summer, autumn, winter, spring!). They said they were charging with clean air. And they taught me how to drink green tea with milk.
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October 7
We had a rest in this wonderful place twice! We arrived for the first time in December without much expectation! As a result, they rolled back very steeply and very budget-friendly, which is amazing! Comfortable rental with equipment for any request. Very cool trainers for an adequate price! I really don't want to go to Sochi after such a route) We had a real pleasure and went for a ride in February) And the buzz is back! I would recommend this resort to those who are not looking for extreme sports, but want to enjoy a winter resort and hone their technique.
The flight from Moscow is fast, the restaurants are delicious, the coffee shops are excellent, the whole infrastructure is there! We will definitely fly again!
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September 7
It's a great place, even though there are a lot of people. There is a service - everything can be paid by card, everything is new, clean, cozy, lots of cafes. Funiculars - there are closed ones, there are open ones. There is a cool cafe on the 2nd level, the price tag is inhumane, but it's worth it. The mountains are beautiful, the atmosphere when riding an open funicular is top. I will definitely come
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October 3
It's a great place. There are many beautiful views.
Of course, the slope is a masterpiece. Skiing, snowboarding!!!!
There are bicycles in summer.
Restaurants, cafes, etc. - everything is there
There is a hotel at the top.
Hiking in summer requires good shoes and athletic training. In winter, walking is easier and easier as all streams and ditches are covered with snow.
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September 12
Modern lifts, improved places on the first and second peaks. Clean, cozy. Even in the fog, it is very spacious and beautiful. Upstairs you can ride horses, swing, walk. There is a way up the stairs (someone said that there are 2k steps)
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November 12
The highest night ski run in the world and one of the best visa-free ski resorts for Russians according to Forbes magazine.
In early October, I finally closed the long-standing gestalt and rode the Shymkent cable car. This famous ski resort in Kazakhstan is located near Almaty on the Zailiysky Alatau ridge, slightly above the famous high-altitude skating rink "Medeo".
You can reach the highest point of the resort with the help of a modern cable car, which starts just 800 meters from the Medeo.
The winter sports season in Almaty usually starts in late November or early December and lasts until the end of March, depending on weather conditions.
Outside of the winter months, the resort is perfect for outdoor activities: you can go hiking, have picnics or ride horses.
Keep in mind that even in summer the temperature in the mountains will be lower than in the city. The resort is located at an altitude of 2260 meters above sea level. The maximum point from which skiers can descend is called Talgar Pass and is located at an altitude of 3180 meters.
The ascent to the pass takes about 30 minutes using a chain of lifts.
It is surrounded on both sides by majestic mountain slopes and evergreen fir trees, offering stunning views and picturesque landscapes. I was lucky to find the mountains in gold decoration.
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August 13
You can ride well, There are different tracks and even a stunt zone where you can do jumps, slip on pieces of iron, and when descending from this zone, a complete shaking begins at maximum.
On the mountain, when descending, there are stones right in the center, (But do not be afraid, the stones are not super huge and they will not always do something to you, but they can scratch your skis) and in one place there are pieces of ice at all and do not brake on these pieces of ice, otherwise you will fall. There don't seem to be enough trails and it gets boring, but if you get bored, you can go to the forest for a freeride. In principle, a good course can be easily rolled with pleasure!!!)
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March 26
A great place of European level. Much better than most Russian alpine skiers, especially for the price.
There are quite a variety of trails, a good slide for beginners, my wife quickly mastered skiing, although the hill is not the best solution for beginners.
I liked the riding mode: day and night (not every day), the experienced ones have enough to roll and there is something for beginners to do. On-site rentals are not much different from city rentals, convenient storage boxes.
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July 26
A great place to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city and the summer heat, rise above the sinful earth and delight the eye with magnificent views. Well, for lovers of mountain hiking, which I am, the cable car helps to save energy and start hiking immediately either from the first station or from the Talgar pass itself, depending on the direction of your route. There are queues on weekends, and it's freer on weekdays.
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September 3
Pleasure for the eyes, rest for the soul! Very attentive staff, incredibly delicious cuisine. Comfortable homes. In three days, it turned out to reboot and recharge at 100%. I will definitely come back. Thanks!
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March 30
An amazing place, incredibly beautiful with the purest mountain air. You rise to a height above the clouds. Even if you don't ski or snowboard, you still need to visit. The lifts are a bit shabby from skis and snowboards, but comfortable and safe. There is everything you need, cafes, toilets, observation decks and of course slopes 👍 I recommend you to visit ❤
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July 30
A great place to ski, especially for beginners. My first serious Wheelchair. Sophisticated partners said "weak mountains", but for me, as a person who got up on skis, it was the most important thing. It's cozy and beautiful, the service is on top, a lot of rentals. Well, the price tag is certainly incomparable with the space Sochi. There are no queues.
Of course, the tracks are not as long as we would like, but once again, for beginners, the most
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May 22
I highly recommend it! The mountains are suitable, even for the advanced, the hotel has a homely atmosphere in a protected place, a taxi rides, a friendly reception, a great new sauna overlooking the slopes! 🥰 You can order room service, squirrels run around the balcony) there is a place to store skis and boots, a ski lift nearby, as well as a variety of restaurants, there is a heated swimming pool
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December 25, 2023
For lovers of hiking and outdoor activities, that's the thing! Nature is 10 out of 10. For ice skating enthusiasts, there is a Medeo skating rink. Right there, if you lift up to Shymkent, you can ski and snowboard. You can also take off your equipment on the spot (although it will be cheaper in the city), but the amenities and service are worth it. We wanted to eat with the company OK, there are cafes and restaurants in general I recommend. The parking lot is large.
Of the shortcomings, a purely personal opinion: the application leaves much to be desired.
And if the skating tracks are added, expanded and enlarged, it will be super! (On holidays, the tracks can not cope with the flow of people, this makes the queues large for the lift, and the track is cramped and not comfortable.)
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August 7
The service is lame, but I really liked the coach and the cost! If you teach children to ride, then it's definitely worth coming here! There are many professionals here! But it is better to book them in advance, because in the season they are often all busy! For those who ride, of course, it is not very interesting, the track is not big, but for comparison with Sochi, it is very budget-friendly!
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October 29
A modern rolling road, incredible views of the cliffs on the way to the top. I was not in the skating season, but I was still delighted with the beauty of the mountains. In my opinion, there are few ski slopes and it will be boring for longer than 2-3 days. There is a lack of oxygen at 3200, and there are many hiking trails for trekking. The mountains are very beautiful.
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May 25
We are from St. Petersburg, we decided to ski in Shimbulak (February 2023). Excellent, varied skating. There is a freeride (unfortunately, it does not work when there is little snow). The slopes are heroically maintained in good condition, even when there are problems with snow, guns are constantly working. Spacious changing rooms. There are a lot of cafes. No cars (you can only get to Medeo, then there is a transfer lift). A sea of sunshine!!! You can go trekking to the nearest peak. Views of the foothills of the Tien Shan, for which you forget about the disadvantages.
About the disadvantages: 1) queues for the cable car to Medeo at the end of the slopes. But if you leave a little earlier, there are no queues.
2) a strange system of storage rooms. The cameras are empty, but you can't rent them according to some wild rules. As a result, people swear terribly, but they have to carry skis and boots from Alma-Ata and back.
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November 1
The best slope and place for skiing. Reasonable prices, service, good cable car, from the city as quickly as possible)) I recommend it to all guests and residents of the KZ
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September 24
We were a family with a small child in November. Everyone really liked it! Beautiful mountain views 😍 Several funicular ascents, the higher the more beautiful) At the very top you can have a snack and drink coffee! Also there, the guy shot a short video on a quadcopter, superimposed music and made a super video in memory of this beautiful place!!!
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October 12, 2023
To visit Almaty, but not to visit Shymkent with a cable car to Talgar is a crime. Comfortable, beautiful, clean.
I can't call the prices low, but I highly recommend a ride on the cable car.
Life hack for your like - there are online cameras from the slopes on the official website of Shymkent, thanks to which you can find out the weather in the mountains and not get into fog or snowfall.
I will also advise you to take food in advance, everything is quite premium at the top prices.
The only thing is a huge problem with a taxi in the opposite direction. The wait can exceed 30 minutes, and I am silent about the battle for getting on the bus.
I would like to add more transport taking into account the tourist flow.
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December 5
Although not very diverse descents, they are very wide, for beginners it is quite steep, but for the average and above the highest, the height is 3200, incredible pitchforks, high
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June 21
A must-visit! Prices for 2024 are very humane, 20,000 tenge for lifting 3 adults and 3 children. Children must be dressed or provided with blankets on the upper playground. The views will be remembered by you for the rest of your life! Some of the best in all CIS countries!
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May 12
Among the advantages are the height, comfortable cabins for climbing, beautiful mountains, and a view of the glacier. Delicious cafe Paul. Of the disadvantages, there are a lot of those who do not know how to ride and climb a high mountain right away. The track is too narrow, they scratch the slope and it is impossible to ride on ice and rocks. On New Year's holidays, they charge three times as much, taking into account the number of people and the unkempt slope - the buzz disappears. They spend little, guns don't work everywhere.
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September 11
We were here in February 2024, there were so few people that we rode together on the slope. This is an undeniable plus!!! The tracks, although there are not very many of them, but they are beautiful, always wasted, wide, Smoothly turning from red to blue. We just got an unreal pleasure from riding! There are three hotels in this resort right next to each other - we lived in one of them. I was very pleased to go skiing directly from the hotel, in the morning we boarded the lift and rode all day.
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October 14
The mountains are fascinating, you get into winter from autumn, be sure to dress warmly, the prices are very affordable for climbing, now you want to come in winter and ride
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July 26, 2023
Everything is beautiful here! Stunning nature, steep ski trails, relatively affordable prices. But the only drawback is that there are few ski equipment rental points! The one we applied to did not have the sizes we needed, and also required a deposit in the form of a passport + from 30,000 to 100,000 tenge! I had to bring skis from Almaty! That's where ski rental prices were more affordable, without any cash deposits, and there were always the right sizes. Dear administration, resolve this issue, please. You have a ski resort, and it's just unrealistic to rent skis. And this is a fat minus.Otherwise, everything is fine.
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March 12, 2023
Very beautiful mountains, and generally stunning nature. It takes about an hour to get from the city to the slopes, and it's very cool!
But there are disadvantages:
The bronze equipment is very dead, it is better to take silver.
The rental does not cope with the flow of people on weekends: it takes a very long time to wait for the equipment.
Keep an eye on the equipment when you go to the cafe:
When we went for coffee in a cafe, someone took our rental skis, contacted the information center, but no one could properly orient what to do next, they offered to watch the cameras themselves, but the shooting is so poor quality, it's impossible to see people's faces. We paid for the loss of the skis (the amount of the deposit + about 30% of the deposit). But the next day they called us, said they had found the skis during the detour, we arrived, and we were refunded the amount we had paid for the loss.
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October 5
I don't know how to rate it at all! The fact that nature is air is five! The rest is a complete rip-off! The common people who live on the PO. will definitely not get there. While people were standing in line and paying for the ticket, the queues literally went out of indignation, especially those with several children, and you can sit in a cafe and stay without pants! It turns out that we live here at home and there are so many beautiful places, but we can't afford them. Skiing is generally a dream! Well, of course you can ride on cellophane!
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July 8
07.07.2024, at the final stop of the Talgar Pass cable car, a huge queue formed from those wishing to go down, as the weather deteriorated, it began to rain with hail, women and children stood, got wet and froze, despite the queue and emergency, the administration continued to sell tickets for climbing to the top without warning people about bad weather, as a result, people seeing the queue and rain did not leave the booths and drove back without freeing the booths, for some reason the open lifts went down without people with raised seats, at the Shimbulak station people got drunk without observing the norms for the number of people to go down, as a result of overload, the cable car stopped and people sat in booths, which also swayed as lifting mechanismus it stalled for about 40 minutes.
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February 24
I am a beginner skier, I have been skiing for 4 seasons. I skated in Serbia, in Kapaonika and in Dombai. The place is beautiful, I came here on the recommendations of friends and acquaintances. The worst thing I've experienced here is a very disgusting rental service. I've never had to wait so long for a rental anywhere. The wait was 2 hours. At the same time, out of 4 working windows, 2 were working and another one sometimes started working. Equipment was rented out through the same windows. You can take equipment of the bronze, silver and gold class. As a result, it's the same thing, only the makings are different. The equipment is heavily worn, the edges are not sharpened. As a result, the child's skis were adjusted to 27 kg instead of 40, they were constantly unfastened on the slope, it was agony. The slopes are good, and so are the lifts. What will I do when I come again - I will take skis to Almaty, rent them - they are much cheaper, faster and more attentive, or I will bring them with me, which is much better. The resort itself is excellent, the slopes are prepared in the morning and evening, ski passes for morning, afternoon and evening skiing. The views are beautiful when it is especially sunny. In general, the resort would be rated well. To ride all day, choose a hotel closer to Medeo. It takes a lot of time from Almaty, at least an hour round trip and a lot of traffic jams. If you leave in the morning, then before 7 a.m. I was very pleased with the attitude of people towards us from Russia. Almost everyone is very friendly, they always help and explain. The food is super, especially local dishes - pilaf, beshbarmak, syrne - pal
You'll lick the chicks. I recommend everyone to visit Kazakhstan, especially Almaty. Before traveling, be sure to read the reviews and recommendations for this country. Good luck to everyone!
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July 25
Seagulls for 1500r, excellent views. But I do not recommend to take a look and especially to take a ride) But the place is very attractive, more touristic. I have already come from Russia 2 times and have not regretted it
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July 13
A great place both in winter and summer. It is very picturesque to climb up to it by cable car. In winter, those who like to go skiing or snowboarding.
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May 22
It is an ideal place for winter entertainment and relaxation on the high slopes. Located in the picturesque mountains, the resort offers excellent skiing conditions for both beginners and experienced skiers and snowboarders.
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October 21
It's a great place, just right for 3 days of skiing, it's better to take the gear with you, the equipment rental process is a little complicated, and they don't accept the document as collateral yet, but they need to take the money every day, and tomorrow everything is new... - which is very inconvenient.
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January 7
Pros: beautiful nature, decent preparation of the slopes. The queue is very well organized, even at the peak of the new year, there is not a very large queue. In Medeo, they waited 35 minutes in line for the descent. It's not much.
Minuses:
1. The cash registers work strangely - you can't buy a skipass for a few days.
2. It is impossible to rent a storage room for several days, so I had to drive from the hotel to Almaaty with equipment every day
3. Annoying behavior of pedestrians in the queue on the lift: almost everyone! the father pushes his children forward between the skis, and then pushes the skiers himself with the words that he has a child there. Moreover, this is not an isolated example, but is of a massive nature. It looks like a strange and unpleasant local feature
4. The steep skipass transmission control system fails: the child has a skipass in his inner pocket, but it was blocked allegedly for transferring it to another. Apparently, either it works from a distance and the passage of another person in the queue is fixed, or clones of cards are used. You can unlock it only in the information center
5. The cards are demagnetized for no apparent reason, being always in the sleeve. As a result, they are forced to buy the card again. It's a small thing, but it's unpleasant.
6. There are a lot of stones on the slope - in 3 days of skiing, the skis are specifically broken even despite careful skiing
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July 24
Better than mountains, there can only be mountains!!! It's cool there. The cable car is healthy. I recommend flying over the mountains to everyone! It's beautiful and interesting.
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October 4
We were in December 2023. I liked everything! Slopes for any level, convenient lifts, a variety of cafes and observation decks. We recommend it!
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August 7
A gorgeous place! The views from above are just awesome and mega photogenic. Be sure to take a ride on all the lifts, especially the open one. Complete delight!
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September 26
The lift is cool.
For the views, I recommend going outdoors.
It is better to go to the coffee shop in Lascala. After the second lift. There's a view, service and delicious coffee☺
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August 3
A very beautiful, picturesque place, one of the top in the city, if you are vacationing in Almaty, be sure to visit, conveys the essence and energy of the region.
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July 20
I was there in the summer, but there is something to see there at this time. Excellent lift. Three stations. Nature is changing before our eyes! At the first station, you can change the closed cradle to an open one, which we did. Complete delight! I strongly advise you to visit. From the tips, take warm clothes and an umbrella with you, even if it's summer)
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May 23
In my opinion, Shymkent is a worthy alpine skier. A short drive from the city center. It's easy to call a taxi. And there are buses. There are coffee shops. Warm cabins of the funicular. Good slopes. Of course there are a lot of people, but there is no sense of pandemonium. And of course, a beautiful landscape.
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