Photos: Mongolia-Web
Mongolia gets its first ski resort, and Matador goes in early to check it out.
It’s wicked cold for sure, and yes, there’s some snow, but Mongolia has never been associated with alpine skiing. Things change.
This November marked the grand opening of the country’s first downhill ski mountain, “Sky Resort,” situated on the outskirts of the capital, Ulan Bator.
If you’re in the mood for a review smacking of privileged condescension, head over to the post on The New York Time’s In Transit blog.
Otherwise, read on to see what Matador member akmonki, who visited the mountain in its second week, thought of Sky Resort. Akmonki is currently a youth development volunteer with the Peace Corps in the small city of Baganuur.
For a window into life in the world’s most sparsely populated country, I highly recommend following her Matador blog.
While you had to keep in mind that this was still Mongolia and there were only 3 main runs (one blue square, one green circle, and one bunny hill), it was deee-luxe. The rows of shiny ski/snowboard equipment, snow-making machines, and spacious facility made a pretty convincing case for a legitimate ‘resort’, comparable to something back in America.
And the prices were hard to beat. A half-day ski pass plus equipment rental cost only 19,000 tugriks (equivalent to about $14 USD). It was most likely over our PC-issued leisure allowance, but well worth the few extra tugriks.
Riding an unhurried chairlift up to the blue square run, I noticed that we were the only people on the lift—turned out that most Mongolians are still taking baby-steps in the world of skiing.
Most of the time we spent teaching and coaxing another volunteer friend who had never been on skis before, and therefore only managed to cruise a couple of runs. But the speed and chilly rush of those few minutes got my endorphins pumping enough to reawaken the skier in me.
*excerpt from the Matador blog post In the Big City
For more info, including a trail map, check out Ski Season in Mongolia begins this weekend at Mongolia-Web. Below is a short video from YouTube showing some of the terrain.
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About the Author
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10 Comments... join the discussion!
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Ha! Mongolia is such a different place–it opens itself to creative travel like this. Awesome.
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Intriguing…maybe that’s where I should go to learn how to ski. I’d fit right in with the Mongolians.
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What about skiing in UK ? Anyone share your experience here.
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Hey Hal-
That’s really cool that you made a write up for the Sky Resort. And thanks for including me in it! I still don’t fully understand why you wrote it though, I thought you were still in South America??
Either way, thanks again, and happy holidays!↵ -
Glad you liked it, Aleta. To answer your question, I’m not writing from my personal experience (that’s where your voice comes in!), just rounding up a cool story for our readers. Also, I’m back in the States now.
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It is way too cold to ski in Mongolia. Who wants to go there in that cold weather???
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Well, actually, if you put on some warm clothes and enjoy the scenery, then skiing in Mongolia can be quite pleasant. I was merely wearing some long johns & jeans with a winter coat, and I had a blast.
On another note, if you’re stuck in Mongolia during the winter, there’s really not that much else to do, so skiing is a perfect way to cope with winter blues.↵ -
Wow. Im From Mongolia. Im mongolian.
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I am going to Mongolia in February, so excited. Is there a ski season or is machine made snow good all year round?
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