Chimgan

Setting and name

Chimgan lies some 80–90 km east of Tashkent in Bostanliq District, in the Chimgansay valley on a spur of the Chatkal Range. The resort sits at 1,400–1,600 m, where the average July temperature is about 20 °C — a welcome escape from the heat of the plains. Annual precipitation is around 790 mm and winters bring plenty of snow.

The name means “green place” or “meadow”. It already appears in Khorezmi’s poem Muhabbatnama (1353), and the Russian traveller Filipp Yefremov, writing in 1811, translated it simply as “greenery”.

History

The resort began in 1879 as a military sanitary station. Malaria was ravaging the garrisons of Tashkent, Kokand and Khujand, and the summer heat known as chilla wore the soldiers down. In 1878 the army’s sanitary inspector Emiliy Okolov proposed a hill station on the model of those the British built in India, and the Chimgan tract was chosen. In 1879, on the orders of Governor-General Konstantin von Kaufman, a branch of the Tashkent military hospital opened here, treating patients with kumis, fermented mare’s milk.

By the end of the 19th century Chimgan had become Tashkent’s favourite summer retreat, with up to a hundred families moving up from late May until August. In Soviet times a ski complex, children’s camps and sanatoriums were built on the slopes.

Greater Chimgan

Above the resort rises the dome-shaped massif of Greater Chimgan, part of the Chatkal Range. Its true summit is 3,309 m, while the survey marker stands lower at 3,275 m, and that is where most hikers turn round. Snowfields survive near the top all year, and the view takes in the Pulatkhan plateau and the surrounding ranges. The most popular route follows the West Ridge. Streams such as the Chimgansay, Beldersay and Gulkamsay rise on its flanks, and Lesser Chimgan (2,099 m) stands close to the resort.

Winter and summer

The ski season usually runs from mid-December to March. The slopes face north, so the snow lasts; there is plenty of off-piste terrain, but it is best explored only with a guide. In summer Chimgan is a base for hiking, climbing and gentle walks, with the Gulkam canyon, Beldersay and Lake Charvak all within easy reach.

Getting there

From Tashkent, Chimgan is reached by the road through Gazalkent towards Charvak. Public transport is patchy, so most visitors take a taxi, a rental car or a tour bus. From Chimgan a road crosses the Melovoy (Chalk) Pass to Burchmulla, the shortest way to the villages around the reservoir.