Kazakhstan · Altai · cat skiing
With cat skiing, a snowcat carries you up to untracked faces and all your energy goes into the descent: we take you to Ridder, in the Altai mountains of Kazakhstan, from early to mid-December, six skiers per guide, with avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe provided.
From€5,950per person, based on 6 skiers, excluding flights
Cat skiing with PowderWeGofrom €5,950
Early to mid-December · exact dates on request
You’ll enjoy
Each morning in the Altai, the snowcat hauls you up to the clearings and untracked faces around Ridder, about 800 m each climb, and you ski back down through cold, light powder, run after run until mid-afternoon. Our cat ski week runs from early to mid-December, with two guides for twelve skiers at most, and it can be arranged for your group alone, on dates set with you. When you would like the helicopter or the lifts to take you up, our heli skiing and freeride skiing trips open other mountains, from Iceland to Hokkaido.
Kazakhstan · Altai
€5,950per person, based on 6 skiers, excluding flights
Iceland · Italy · Turkey · Chile · Nepal
A helicopter drop at the top of the slope, then powder all the way down. By the day in Sestriere, by the week in the Kaçkar, in Chile or in the Annapurnas, and as heli-assisted ski touring in Iceland.
Japan · USA · Canada · the Alps
The lifts or a climb on skins take you up, and your guide leads you away from the marked pistes. In Hokkaido, Jackson Hole, Whistler, Val d’Isère, the Dolomites, the Tyrol and around Mont Blanc.
The Altai trip can be arranged for your group alone, on dates set with you, and the price per person decreases with the size of the group. On request and subject to availability, we can add a day of heli skiing, some ski touring or a private suite at the hotel.
Georgia and Turkey will soon join our cat skiing trips; let us know if they appeal to you and we will keep you posted. A question in the meantime? We’ll reply within 24 hours.
After an early breakfast, a van takes you to the ski area, where the snowcat is waiting, engine warm. It climbs about 800 m while you watch the birch forest slip past, and at the top your guides have chosen the line: wide bowls with generous shoulders, couloirs framed by snow-laden firs, north-east faces that keep their powder. You ski run after run until mid-afternoon, with lunch in the mountains, then head back to Ridder for a debrief and dinner.
Depending on conditions, the number of skiers and the options chosen, snowmobiles sometimes take the place of the snowcat. In December, night-time temperatures regularly drop below -15 °C, and that dry cold keeps the snow light for days after each fall. The whole week is set out on our page on cat skiing in Kazakhstan.
Two guides lead the trip, and each group of six skis with its own guide from the first climb to the last run. Our mountain professionals work alongside local guides; everyone in the PowderWeGo team is a qualified ski instructor (French state diploma, BEES), off-piste specialist, or an IFMGA/UIAGM mountain guide. Each morning the guides assess the snowpack and choose the line according to recent snowfall, wind direction and the stability of the snow; the programme follows the snow, the weather and the availability of the snowcat, and the guide has the final word. Every skier wears an avalanche airbag pack and carries a transceiver, shovel and probe, all provided by us.
In the evening, you return to Ridder, to a twin room at the hotel or in a traditional dacha, depending on the comfort you are after. The cooking is generous, the tea piping hot, and Kazakh hospitality sets the tone; a private suite at the hotel can be booked on request.
Your level
Cat skiing suits strong off-piste skiers: technical level 3/5, at ease in all snow conditions, with experience of deep snow. Fitness level 2/5 is enough, as the snowcat does the climbing and you save your energy for the descent, run after run. Pack warm layers: December temperatures in the Kazakh Altai regularly fall to between -15 °C and -25 °C, and we send you a detailed kit list when you book.
To check where you stand: your off-piste skiing level and your fitness level. If you are unsure, message us before you book and together we will see whether this week is right for you.
A snowcat carries you up to untracked faces while you take in the view, and all your energy goes into the descent. In Ridder, in the Altai mountains of Kazakhstan, the December powder is cold and light among the birches and larches, and steppe eagles circle above the frozen ridges. Made for off-piste skiers who want to open their season in light powder, six to a guide.
Boris Malesset, founder of PowderWeGo, holder of the French BEES ski instructor diploma, the Swiss level 3 ski instructor patent and the Austrian Schiführer diploma
« Equipe de rêve, toujours aux petits soins … On rentre avec la banane pour toute l année »
Translated from French: Dream team, always looking after us … We come home with a grin that lasts all year
« Les meilleurs pour nous faire découvrir les plus beaux spots de ski du monde »
Translated from French: The best for showing us the most beautiful ski spots in the world
Cat skiing means a snowcat, a tracked vehicle built for snow, takes you up the mountain in place of a lift or a helicopter, and you ski back down off-piste in natural, ungroomed snow. In the Altai, around Ridder, each climb is about 800 m: cat skiing lets you fit many runs into a day and opens up areas that are hard to reach on foot.
The way up. In cat skiing, a snowcat climbs the mountain with your group on board, around 800 m each time in the Altai; in heli skiing, a helicopter sets you down at the top of the slope. Both keep your energy for the descent. Our heli skiing trips go to Iceland, Italy, Turkey, Chile and Nepal, and in Kazakhstan a day of heli skiing can be added to the cat skiing week, on request and subject to helicopter availability.
In the Altai, in the far east of Kazakhstan, around Ridder, at the foot of the Ivanov and Prokhodnoy mountains. Ridder is a two-hour drive from Öskemen airport, and the welcome at the airport and transfers are included.
Our cat skiing week in Kazakhstan costs €5,950 per person, excluding flights, based on six skiers in twin rooms. The price covers eight days, six of them guided ski days: accommodation in Ridder on full board, guiding, the snowcat or snowmobiles, transfers from Öskemen and safety kit (avalanche airbag pack, transceiver, shovel and probe). For your group alone, the price depends on the size of the group and is given on request.
Skiing level 3/5 and fitness level 2/5: you need to be at ease off-piste in all snow conditions, with experience of deep snow, and the snowcat does the climbing. To check where you stand: your off-piste skiing level and your fitness level.
Twelve at most: one snowcat for two groups of six skiers, each with its own guide all day. On some days, depending on conditions, snowmobiles take over from the snowcat.
From early to mid-December, when the deep cold of the Altai keeps the snow dry and light and the faces are still waiting for you, untracked. Exact dates are given on request.
PowderWeGo designs the trip and guides it on the ground; bookings go through our partner agency, Aereau Voyages, based in Samoëns, which organises and sells it. We are based in Val d’Isère, and our founder, Boris Malesset, has been an off-piste ski professional since 2001. A 30% deposit confirms your booking.
Useful before you go: Kazhydromet, Kazakhstan’s national weather service · GOV.UK, foreign travel advice for Kazakhstan · Ridder, on Wikipedia.
Tell us when you’re coming and how many of you there are, and we’ll reply within 24 hours.
Or email us at infoskitravels@powderwego.com
You can also write to us from our Contact page.
