Freeheeler-17-18 Nachdruck

last night’s exhilarating party. But then
we start skiing and everyone enjoys the
powder on the sun-covered slopes. We
finish at the Shymbulak resort hotel. In
the evening, we relax in the traditional
Uighur saunas – a tent, hot stones, fragrant
essential oils, twigs, eucalyptus oil
massage, cooling directly in the glacier
creek and excellent herbal tea.
3 May 2017
Heli-skiing the Kazakh way. We move
from the hotel to Almaty. First, the necessary
procedure in the military airport
before entering the helicopter takes
place. This involves checking of luggage,
passports and people. Then pre-flight
instructions and skiing rules. Our helicopter
is the big Russian MI-17 which is
18 meters long with maximum take-off
weight 13,000 kilograms. There are 17 of
us, including the guides. We divide into
two groups and the helicopter alternately
flies one and then the other group. It is
an amazing feeling when more than 10
tons hover above you and then fly away
over your head. We again enjoy skiing in
powder. After two runs, we break for half
28. REPORTAGE
PAGE | FREEHEELER.EU
an hour and then ski again. The weather
is fantastic – it is sunny with great visibility.
After our last run, we ski to the
glaciological base on the Tuyuksu Glacier
at the altitude of 3,200 meters. A total of
5 runs in a beautiful area. At the base, a
permanent scientific crew explores the
movements and behavior of the glacier.
We stay in old Soviet-era huts that are
falling apart. We relax in the sun in front
of the huts, play the guitar and enjoy ourselves.
4–5 May 2017
We ski around the base. It is still sunny
and warm, but we can always find powder,
so skiing is always great. Our member
José does not follow our group and
gets lost a little, and so does not entirely
deliberately ski his own magic line from
4 000 meters high Peak Molodyozhi.
Fortunately, nothing happened to him,
even though he had to cross clear ice at
the end of the descent. In a few minutes,
he becomes a local celebrity. Surrounded
by the stunning mountain scenery, it is
a pleasure not only to ride, but also to
relax and enjoy time spent with friends.
Telemark, beer, guitar, lots of fun and
friends. That’s why we are here. A mountain
chill-out.
6 May 2017
In the morning, we wake up into a cloudy
day. We have breakfast, pack and descend
to Shymbulak ski resort. It’s hard to believe
how good the weather was until
now. Thanks to the good snow conditions,
we are able to ski relatively close to
the Shymbulak resort – we only have to
walk with our skis on the backpacks for
about 15-20 minutes. After dinner, we go
to the sauna again. At the bar they serve
the last drinkable Kazakh beer, and now
only have some miserable weizen, so we
drink some of the not very tasty Chinese
bottled beer. Outside it is already raining,
the weather has held very well.
7 May 2017
In the morning, it is raining. We have
planned a trip to Charyn Canyon. The
canyon is 4 hours by bus to the east of
Almaty. On the way, we stop for food,
picking something typical for this area. A
lot of vegetables, especially peppers with