Forty Tribes Backcountry is an adventure travel company that offers yurt-based ski tours, avalanche courses, and ski/snowboard mountaineering courses in Kyrgyzstan. They host a network of backcountry yurts set against the mountains and rivers of Kyrgyzstan.
A trip with 40 Tribes immerses you in Kyrgyz culture and directs your tourist dollars into local communities by putting you in traditional yurts that are run by locals.
Our programs pledge to employ village members in a variety of roles. Via ourVolunTourism program, we are providing local Kyrgyz with the unique opportunity to train under talented caretakers, chefs and guides from around the globe – helping them develop skills to support winter tourism initiatives in their own backyards. A significant percentage of 40 Tribes’ profit is directed back into the communities in which we work, providing salaries for our local partners and the basis for a locally-held fund intended to support further program and community development goals.
– 40 Tribes Backcountry
Kyrgyzstan has enormous potential as a ski and travel destination.
Bordering Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China, Kyrgyzstan is a welcoming oasis in a remote, always fascinating, sometimes volatile, and oftentimes misunderstood part of the world. With an average elevation of 3000m (9,840ft), and 30% of its landmass buried under permanent ice and snow, the country’s landscape and people are defined by a ruggedness utterly unique to the highlands of Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan is 94% mountainous, so just about everywhere you look, you face a new breathtaking alpine vista. What’s better is that the country is criss-crossed by an extensive network of roads, many of which are maintained through the winter (not to say that they are safe or in good condition, by any means…but they do provide amazing access to backcountry terrain!). The climate can be likened to that of Colorado – i.e. continental, warm summers, cold winters, lots of sun, and huge temperature gradients. The snowpack is most volatile in March, and shallowest in December/early January. Late January-February and April are the ideal months for hitting the backcountry.
– Ryan Koupal, 40 Tribes Backcountry
The trip that started it all. The Kyrgyzstan Plan.