Gretchen Stuppy Carlson
Looking for an amazing day trip from Alamty? I’ve got an epic mountain for you to visit. While Big Almaty Lake gets a lot of the attention when it comes to the mountains outside of Almaya Kazakhstan, Visiting the mountains at the skip resort: Shymblulak in summer is a fun and easy way to get high up into the mountains in a short amount of time.
When we started looking at how to visit Shymbulak in Summer, we found very little information about how to visit and what to expect. This guide is meant to showcase on the best Almaty day trips in the mountains.
Looking for more to do in Kazakhstan? Get all our guides to go hiking in How to Hike Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan (What We Wish We’d Known).
I’ve spent decades exploring family adventures, epic hikes, and National Parks across the world. For more inspiration, check out my National Parks Page or see some of my favorite destinations to plan your next adventure and make sure to join my weekly newsletter.
Quick overview of Visiting Shymbulak in Summer
Shymbulak in summer is one of the easiest ways to get up into the Tian Shan mountains from Almaty without planning a full hiking day. And it’s very close to the city. Most people know it as Central Asia’s biggest ski resort, but from late spring through fall the gondolas keep running and the whole place turns into a sightseeing, hiking, and lunch-with-a-view kind of stop. It is very established and popular for people in Almaty.
The experience really consists of riding three gondolas up the mountain starting at the Medeu station on the edge of the city, ride the long gondola up to the Shymbulak base, then keep going on the upper lifts to Talgar Pass at roughly 3,175 m of elevation. You can stop at any level, but the views get noticeably bigger the higher you go.
At a glance
- Getting there: Taxi or Yandex Go to the Medeu gondola station, about 30 minutes from central Almaty.
- The lifts: Medeu → Shymbulak base [~2,260 m] → upper lifts → Talgar Pass [~3,163–3,200 m]
- Time needed: You should plan a half day for this visit or if you plan to hike, you can easily spend a full day exploring the area.
- Tickets: You can purchase tickets at the counter right on site or book them online. Tickets cost about $8 for adults up to the first stop and $16 to get to the top (this was in summer of 2026). We purchased tickets on site.
- What to do up top: Short walks, longer hikes from Talgar Pass, cafes at the base, hiking or walking at the summit.
- What to bring: Layers and a windbreaker even on a hot day in Almaty, sunscreen, water. It was windy and chilly in July at the top.
- Good for families? This is an easy and fun activity for kids and adults of all ages! You can do this without any hiking.
Our Day Exploring the Mountains of Almaty by Gondola
We arrived at the Medeu gondola station around 10 am after a rather stressful police issue (another story for another time). The drive up to the mountain base is easy with some elevation gain but is easy and well paved. You will arrive right at the Gondola Station where you will find lots of parking lots. Park and walk over to the ticket area. You’ll find a few restaraunts, a ticket window, and bathrooms.
We bought our tickets and got in the short line for the gondola. This is the first of 3 gondolas.
The first gondola takes you up to the true base of the mountain. This is a full resort and you will find lots of restaurants, hotels, and other amenitities. There were hawks and clothes to take pictures with and a very festive atmosphere with music, etc. We stopped here for lunch and had a great, but slightly pricey, meal of sandwiches and some sweet treats.
Then we got in the next gondola. This gondola really starts to get into the mountains and the views just get better. At the top of this this is another smaller place to eat.
From here, we took the final gondola to the top. Here you will find views up to the glacier. There are several places to stay here at the top and a few walking trails. The wind here was strong and we were glad we had plenty of layers.
We were originally planning to hike once we got here and we did a short walk, but we were running a little late after our morning and Hadley had a knee issue, so we decided to enjoy the views. This is actually one of the things that makes this a great destination and a great stop is that you can visit and do some hiking or just ride the gondolas and still get incredible mountain views.
Hiking Shymbulak in Summer
Hiking at Shymbulak works in two directions. You can ride the lifts to the top and hike from Talgar Pass, or you can get off at the Shymbulak base and walk up the Small Almaty Gorge toward the glaciers. We were planning to hike towards the glacier, but didn’t make it that far. Here’s how the main options compare, from easiest to hardest.
Easy: Walking between the lift stations
If you want to hike without committing to a big day, you can walk sections of the lift line instead of riding them. Lots of people were doing this. The lower gondola is on paths between and even on roads at times.
The further you go uphill, the most rugged the trails.
Moderate: Mynzhylki Plateau
This is probably the most popular summer hike from the base. You head out from Shymbulak on a wide gravel road along the Malaya Almatinka (Small Almaty) River, pass through the Gates of Tuyuksu, a narrow rock section of the gorge, and come out onto the Mynzhylki Plateau at about 3,000 meters. The name means “a thousand mares” in Kazakh, because it used to be a summer pasture. Expect 2–2.5 hours from Shymbulak to the Mynzhylki dam. The route is a road, so it’s easy to follow, but give yourself time for the altitude.
Moderate: Black Waterfall
This follows the same road for about 1.5 km, then crosses the river and climbs through the old Tuyuksu mountaineering camp to a waterfall in a ravine below Peak Medik. In early summer, avalanche snow can still be at the base into June and July, and the ravine stays cold and damp even on warm days, so bring a layer.
Hard: Shymbulak Peak from Talgar Pass
From the top lift station at about 3,200 m, a trail follows the ridge to Shymbulak Peak at 3,450 m. Plan on 1.5–2.5 hours to climb, depending on conditions, and come back down the same ridge. The appeal is that the lifts get you most of the elevation, so you’re hiking with big views for the whole climb. There are several reviews of this hike that describe it as difficult and exposed.
Hard: Tuyuksu Glacier and the T-1 station
Keep going past Mynzhylki and you reach the T-1 Glaciological Station at 3,440 m, the oldest continuously operating glacier monitoring station in Central Asia, which looks out over the Tuyuksu glacier cirque. The glacier feeds the river that supplies Almaty’s water, and it’s expected to disappear entirely by around 2050. The trail above Mynzhylki isn’t well-marked, which is why many people do this one with a guide.
Hard: Bogdanovich Glacier from Talgar Pass
Guided trips from the pass list this as about 8 km with 400 m of gain, topping out at 3,500 m, with a June–September season.
Things to Know about Hiking Shymbulak in Summer
Altitude: Everything here starts above 2,200 m. This means that hiking is simply harder here with the altitude.
Season: July and August are the reliable windows for hiking . In May and October, snow and ice can make the higher routes much more dangerous.
Getting back down: If you hike up from the base and end your day there, you can take the gondola, an eco-bus, or a taxi back to Medeu.
