Salaam Aleikum, Privet-

Fishing these bountiful waters to see if we can track down splitters who have ridden Kyrgyzstan/other parts of Central Asia. Not sure we’ll find many…but we’d like to at least up the stoke regarding this part of the world because it is so little (and oftentimes mis-) understood in the West, and because the mountains there are simply incredible.

We (myself and a few other splitters and bc skiers, all of whom hail from Colorado) are 2 years deep into a project to develop a community-supported yurt-stay/backcountry touring and education program in KGZ. Our endeavors began as a home-grown development project known as The Kyrgyzstan Plan, and since developed into a full-fledged (though still fledgling) backcountry guiding outfit called 40 Tribes. The upcoming 2010/11 will be our inaugural season, so we’ve got a lot to look forward to.

I’m here in the INTL split forum for 4 reasons:

1) We want to hear and stay in touch with splitters who are riding Central Asia!! We would love to maintain a CA-specific thread/topic here on sb.com, and we would also like to recruit relevant trip reports and other beta for the 40T forum. As the buzz grows we’d like to make sure that there is an avenue for people to be share about their Central Asia shredventures – whether it’s poaching the sidecountry at one of the many developing resorts, farming turns from a MI-17 heli, or touring from any of the mtn passes.

2) Everyone who loves to travel/ride the world should know that our doors are open for self-guided stays. :bow: We’ll have a yurt set up this season in the Lake Issyk Kol region (between Karakol and Dzerghalan – 2 known resort/heli skiing destinations), and it will be available whenever a guided program is not taking place. Our village partners will host anyone staying at the yurt, so the cross-cultural element is a huge part of the experience. This would make an epic trip if you can pull together a crew and make it happen!

3) Anyone who wants to get involved in the project in any capacity should check out our voluntourism program. We’re interested in hearing from guides and avy educators in particular – those who’ve got some freedom this coming winter…who can join us for one month or longer…oh, and can afford their own travel costs. But from there we’ve got you covered – food/lodging in the village and at the yurt, and as much shredding as you can handle.

4) Photos.

Enjoy.