First time for the Alpine Legends in Uzbekistan in the middle of Asia. The capital
Tashkent is half way on the ancient silkroad between Venice and Beijing and these
mounatins are 100 km east of the capital.

The Tien Shan Montains are roughly on the same latitude as Barcelona and the same
longitude as Kabul. Uzbekistan is one of only two countries on the planet that is
landlocked between landlocked countries. Closest neighburs to where we were are
Kazakstan and Kirgistan. The western part of China is less than 400 km away.
Needless to say the mountains are magnificent.

First day we could not fly due to fog and snow. So we took a look at the helicopter
in package.

Next morning started well looking very good with 40 cm of fresh snow.

The giant helicopter had 2 pilots and a mechanic. We were 8 in our group as well as
4 very sympathetic russians + 2 extra guys from another group + 3 heliguides. We
flew very comfortably for 25 min to the first peak at 3270 m.s.l.

They said it wasn’t much snow but I can assure you it was more than enough.

Endless runs in deep powder is nothing short of a very physical activity. I felt that
my fat skis were to short and to narrow for this kind of deep snow.

We were told that this was the next run seen from half way down.

The giant helicopter is said to be one of the most built aircrafts, but i’m afraid i cannot
check the validity of those words. The russian guys flying it were extremely calme
and had very polished shoes, if you see what I mean and again someone said they
have been flying in Afganistan during an unnamed war many moons ago.

They were excellent pilots holding the 13 tonnes aircraft very steady on top of a peak
with only 1 or two wheels touching the ground.

We spend much of the day getting in and out of the giant machine. In between we
skied a bit… We did 5-6 runs of 700-900 vertical meters per day.

Two happy snowboarders from our brotherland in the east.

Flying back home we could se our little mountain lodge with a lakeside view. 208 rooms
built for summer tourism when it gets too hot (45-50 degrees Celsius) on the plains of
Tashkent.

Here is part of the team that did. A very special trip to a very remote area.

Keep heliskiing
and exploring the world