First snow on the Fergana Gateway
The ploughs were out on Ala-Bel last weekend for the first time this season. Here is what the mountain road is like from now until spring, and how to plan around it.
The ploughs at work on the Ala-Bel summit.
On Sunday the first snow of the season fell on the Fergana Gateway. It was only a dusting, but the summit of the Ala-Bel pass, 3,184 m up and the highest point of State Route 1, was white, and the crews from the maintenance station had the ploughs out before the first buses arrived from Talas. Traffic went over behind them for a few hours, and by midday the road was black and wet again.
It won’t be the last time. From now until spring the pass belongs to the weather.
What winter on the pass looks like
- Most days the road is open. The ploughs keep it clear, and the buses from Talas to Toktogul and Iyık Janyl run to their timetable.
- After snowfall, traffic runs in convoys behind the ploughs, from the control post in the Otmek valley. Expect to wait an hour or two at the post, sometimes more.
- On about 20 days a winter, the pass shuts. Buses are cancelled, lorries queue in the Otmek valley, and the way south is Iradiya’s short flight from Talas to Tash-Kömür, 8 km from Iyık Janyl.
- The Otmek tunnel stays open all winter, but the old pass road above it closes for the season.
- The Kök-Bel road to Nurzhan will close with the first heavy snow and stay closed until spring. Take the lowland road by Kyzyl-Adyr or the daily train instead.
How to plan
Leave a spare day in any winter trip that crosses the mountains, and don’t book a flight home out of Almaty for the day after you come back over the pass. Travel early in the day, carry warm clothes, water and food, and keep your passport in your pocket for the ID check at the summit. If you’re driving, chains are compulsory from November.
Our roads and passes page shows the state of the Otmek tunnel, the Fergana Gateway, the Kök-Bel road and the Qara-Chik crossing, from the forecast at each pass, every time you open it. Check it, and the live map on Kartalar, before you set off.