Almaty’s ambitious Mountain Cluster project will increase Shymbulak’s capacity from 6,000 to 30,000 visitors per day, add 151 km of ski slopes and 30 new cable cars, and connect Shymbulak with Oi-Qaragai into one of Central Asia’s largest ski destinations.
Your Next Mountain Escape Just Got 5x Bigger: Inside Shymbulak’s 30,000-Visitor Transformation and Imagine stepping off the cable car at 2,200 meters above sea level. The Ile-Alatau mountains stretch before you in jagged, snow-capped peaks.
The air is crisp enough to bite. And instead of fighting through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds on narrow slopes, you have space to breathe, carve fresh tracks, and explore terrain that matches your ambition. That’s the future Almaty’s tourism office just promised you.
From 6,000 to 30,000: The Capacity Leap
On July 21, 2026, the Almaty tourism management office dropped significant news. Shymbulak Resort’s capacity will increase fivefold. Both Kursiv Media and BES.media reported the statement within hours of the public briefing. But this isn’t some fresh policy dreamed up overnight in a government back room. It’s a concrete update on a comprehensive development plan that has been taking shape since 2025.
Here’s the thing about timing. The Almaty Mountain Cluster master plan stretches all the way to 2029. It encompasses 73 specific measures across seven strategic directions. We’re talking about upgraded mountain infrastructure. Expanded ski resort connectivity that actually makes sense. A broader network of tourist routes that doesn’t leave you stranded. This is systematic, integrated development rather than scattered, isolated resort upgrades.
The numbers tell a striking story. Shymbulak currently handles approximately 6,000 visitors per day. Upon completion of the planned infrastructure expansion, that number jumps to 30,000 daily visitors. Five times the space. Five times the opportunity. Five times the mountain experience without five times the chaos.
What You’re Actually Getting
Let’s talk specifics about what this looks like on the ground. The project unifies Shymbulak and Oi-Qaragai into one seamless, integrated mountain resort system. The Medeu base station, historically a separate recreational destination, becomes your central transfer hub linking both resort areas.
Remember Medeu? It’s that legendary site featuring the world’s highest outdoor skating rink, a place that’s drawn locals and tourists for generations. Now it’s evolving into something far more consequential. Under this new vision, Medeu transforms from a standalone attraction into the beating heart of a multi-resort network. The base station serves as the entry point for the Medeu-Shymbulak cableway, but now it connects something much larger than just one mountain.
The infrastructure numbers are staggering. Thirty new cable cars are planned across the unified system. One hundred fifty-one kilometers of ski slopes will weave across the mountain terrain, giving you options ranging from gentle cruisers to challenging descents. Construction already started on the first of seven new cable cars at Shymbulak back in May 2026, according to Kursiv Media reporting at the time.
The funding foundation was poured back in February 2025. That’s when authorities announced approximately 656 billion Kazakhstani tenge would be allocated specifically for tourism development in the Almaty mountain region. That’s not pocket change. That’s serious, long-term commitment backed by real capital.
Why Your Trip Just Got Better
Location details matter when you’re planning an international ski vacation. Shymbulak sits in the Ile-Alatau mountains outside Almaty, Kazakhstan. It’s roughly 25 kilometers from central Almaty, accessible via that same Medeu-Shymbulak cableway. At coordinates 43.128 degrees north, 77.082 degrees east, the resort rises from a base elevation of 2,200 meters to a summit elevation of 3,200 meters. That’s a vertical drop of around 1,000 meters waiting for you to carve.
It’s already widely regarded as Kazakhstan’s premier ski destination. Soon, it will be something else entirely: a world-class mountain destination that happens to be in Central Asia.
The July 21 update focused on what you probably care about most: visitor capacity and employment implications rather than bureaucratic governance structures or complex funding mechanisms. The tourism management office knows you want to know whether you’ll get a ticket, whether the lifts will run smoothly, and whether the experience justifies the journey.
BES.media captured the economic projections. Foreign tourists visiting Almaty are expected to nearly double as a result of this cluster development, climbing from approximately 986,000 to 1.7 million people annually. Employment in the tourism sector is forecast to grow substantially, reaching approximately 101,800 people working in Almaty’s tourism industry by 2029. Real jobs. Real growth. Real economic transformation.
This isn’t happening in isolation. The original Almaty Mountain Cluster master plan, first discussed publicly in 2025 and covered by outlets including SnowBrains, The Astana Times, and Kursiv Media in both English and Russian editions, envisioned coordinated development across multiple resort zones in the region rather than piecemeal, isolated upgrades.
The Kok-Zhailau Proposal
There’s also the Kok-Zhailau proposal on the table, known as the Almaty SuperSki project. It has been subject to separate public hearings and represents yet another layer of regional expansion. The entire region is transforming before our eyes.
You can already see the construction timeline taking shape. May 2026 brought the first cable car construction breaking ground. July 2026 brought the definitive capacity announcement. The progression is real, measurable, and accelerating toward that 2029 completion target.
The mountains are calling. At 43.128 degrees north, 77.082 degrees east, something unprecedented is happening. From 6,000 to 30,000 daily visitors. From isolated resort to integrated network. From regional destination to international draw.
Start planning your trip. Watch the progress unfold. The slopes are expanding, the cable cars are rising, and by 2029, you’ll have 151 kilometers of freshly groomed reasons to book that flight to Almaty.