Shymbulak

From the Medeu gondola station, 8-person cabins depart for Shymbulak, rising 570 m over 4.5 km in roughly 15–20 minutes. The resort base sits at 2,260 m among open alpine meadows that in summer fill with wildflowers. In winter the resort operates 20 km of pisted runs — green, blue, red, and black — spread across a 1,000 m vertical. Equipment rental, ski school, and several café-restaurants are available at the base. The resort is the largest ski area in Central Asia and drew amateur skiers from the 1940s onward before formal infrastructure arrived.

From Medeu the gondola climbs 570 m over 4.5 km in 15–20 minutes to the Shymbulak ski resort base at 2,260 m. This is the trailhead for the Tuyuk-Su hike. The resort's ski infrastructure — lifts, restaurant terraces, alpine meadows — marks the boundary between the road-accessible zone and the national park interior. Fill water bottles here if not already full: the next reliable water source is the Malaya Almatinka river below the Mynzhylki dam, not higher. The trail to Mynzhylki begins south of the main resort buildings and follows a maintained dirt road. A park entry checkpoint is located along this initial section.