July 2015

It was 5:00 in the morning and I had just stepped out of the airport in Almaty. Sleep deprived and disoriented, I stumbled forward, looking for some type of non-overpriced ride to take to my hostel. Off in the distance, the sun was just beginning to peer over the horizon, causing me to look up and squint my eyes. That's when I saw them for the first time.

Surrounding the city in every direction, mountains, taller than nearly any I had ever seen, proudly stood, piercing the blue sky above. Green at the base and snow-capped on top (despite it being July) they immediately seized my attention, yanking me from the delirious, sleep deprived state into a present alertness. It was at that point I knew how I was going to spend the majority of my time in this country. I was going to hike, climb, breath the fresh air, and hopefully not get caught in a thunderstorm.

During the week I spent, I ended up doing three major hikes around the city. Two of which involved taking a bus to an area named Medeu at the base of the mountains and climbing up, while the other was a hike to the highest point of the city called Kok Tobe (which can also be reached by cable car, but that's expensive and cheating). Each point allowed me to see the entire sprawling city and surrounding forests below, giving me some much needed relief from busy city life.

Most of the peaks surrounding Almaty are between 3000m-4200m (10,000-13,500ft). This holds true for most of the southeastern part of the country near the borders with China and Kyrgyzstan. The north and western parts of the country are mostly covered by the flat steppe. Technically, the tallest mountain is the Khan Tengri (however it is also partly in China and Kyrgyzstan) standing at 7000m (23,000ft), but most of the highest ones level off at 4,500m (15,000ft). Although snow remains on most of the tops for the entire year, the winter is really the only season suitable for skiing. The summer is more for climbs and treks, which you can make pretty extensive if you feel like it.