In December 2013 I skied Cotopaxi, undoubtedly the most famous volcano of Ecuador. This 5.897 meters high mountain is not the only volcano that can be skied around the equator though. With Cayambe, Antisana and Chimborazo this small country has a few other amazing challenges to offer. Together with Ale, the Italian mountain guide I had met in Peru, I went back 9 years later to see which of those big volcanoes I could tackle.
During my first ski trip to Peru I got a nice taste of what the Cordillera Blanca has to offer in terms of skiing. I also quickly realised how challenging the conditions can be. As is the case on many trips, the list of objectives I wanted to ski was longer when I returned than it was before the trip. So, in the end I had no choice but to go back and try again…
In recent years I have visited the Balkan region a few times. Since I enjoyed its variety with mountains, beaches and plenty of culture, I wanted to explore a bit more. Albania is a fine example that ticks all these boxes with the Albanian Alps offering beautiful hikes, beaches can be found on the southern coast and when you head to the interior, towns with traditional architecture can be found. The country has also been more or less closed to foreigners for a long time during communist times, so mass tourism hasn’t found its way there yet, hopefully. This October I checked it out…
In 2013 I had visited the South of Peru. The Inca trail with a beautiful finish in Machu Picchu and the city of Arequipa were the highlights during that trip. Huaraz, the base for trekking – and climbing expeditions in both the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash, was not yet on the radar back then. When I read about ski mountaineering adventures in that part of the world, things changed quickly. Having skied Cotopaxi in Ecuador, I figured some more high altitude skiing wouldn’t hurt…
In 2017 I traveled for about 6,5 months with my skis and part of the plan was to ski in Bulgaria. I arrived in Sofia in the beginning of March of that year and explored the Balkan region but, due to bad conditions, I did not ski in Bulgaria. Instead, I went ski touring in Kosovo and Greece. The mountains of Bulgaria have been in the back of my mind ever since and this year I have spent a week in the end of March for some exploration of the Rila and Pirin mountains.
Last year I rode a chairlift in Goderdzi (Georgia) together with Jesper from Denmark and we discussed our skiing plans for the near future. We found out we were both inspired by “Skiing around the world“, a fantastic book written by Jimmy Petterson, and as a result we were skiing as many different places as we possibly could. I like to say I’m seeing the world through skiing since the cultural experiences one gets by skiing in exotic locations are simply invaluable. Jesper and myself had never skied in Russia which made things pretty simple, either Kamchatka or Siberia was on the agenda for the next year!
A Central Asian country that is still relatively under the radar, is located south of both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, countries which are currently well-known by travelers. It is the smallest country in the region and more than half of it is over 3.000 meters. This country is of course Tajikistan. One of the main attractions of this destination is the Pamir highway, a road that passes through an autonomous region called Gorno-Badakhshan with a population density of only 3,2 per squared kilometer!
The last weeks I have been traveling around Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have all showed me some amazing culture and landscapes. The landscapes showed me the potential for ski mountaineering. After all the sightseeing, a trip with my skis into the high mountains of Kyrgyzstan seemed like a great adventure!
When I think about the Silk Road and Central Asia, Uzbekistan is the country I associate the most with it. The history of the country reaches millennia back, culture is abundant and architecture is simply spectacular with its significant buildings made of marble, richly decorated with mosaic and completed with turquoise domes. But, at the same time bureaucracy is around every corner and the heat can be unbearable this time of year, let alone in the middle of Summer. Nevertheless, welcome to the pearl of the Silk Road!
The largest country of Central Asia is Kazakhstan. Being more than 60 times as large as the Netherlands, it’s the 9th country of the world in terms of size. However, due to the fact that the vast majority of the country is empty, there is not that much to see and or do. With two potentially interesting cities and a nice train ride, I visited a country that somehow captures the imagination even though it felt more as a transit than a proper visit…
