Amirsoy Mountain Resort

History

Skiing in Uzbekistan began in Soviet times at Chimgan and Beldersay, but their equipment aged badly over the decades. The idea for a new resort came from the businessman Ravshan Ubaidullaev in 2017. He and his co-investors put around €100 million into the first phase, including access roads, and hired the Andorra-based PGI Management to design and run it.

The opening, planned for December 2018, slipped because of infrastructure problems, and Amirsoy officially opened in December 2019 with a gondola and chairlift, a conveyor and two tubing lifts. A Poma Telemix lift and more runs followed in summer 2020. In 2023 Amirsoy joined Russia’s Rosa Khutor and Kazakhstan’s Shymbulak in the Eurasian Alliance of Mountain Resorts.

The resort

Amirsoy lies about 65 km east of Tashkent and covers 900 hectares on the north slope of Mount Maygashkan in the Chatkal Range. The pistes run between roughly 1,630 and 2,290 m. Most are aimed at beginners and intermediates, with plenty of off-piste potential. The gondola and lifts come from Doppelmayr and Poma, the snowmaking system from TechnoAlpin.

The resort was designed with disabled skiers in mind, offering adaptive equipment and instruction. Accommodation is in a village of wooden chalets beside the slopes, much of whose power comes from solar panels.

Winter and summer

The winter season normally runs from December to March. Night-time frosts keep the snow dry and light, so the cover is good despite the modest altitude. In summer the gondola takes visitors up for wide views over the Chatkal mountains towards Charvak, with walking trails and viewing areas at the top.

Most visitors are Uzbeks: some 150,000 people came in the first three months after opening, and the resort’s stated aim is to build a national ski culture almost from scratch.

Getting there

The drive from Tashkent International Airport takes about an hour and a half. Chimgan and Beldersay are close by, so all three can be combined in one trip. Seasonal transfers run from Tashkent, but check the timetable in advance.