Altay Mountains trek and eco tour

The Altay Mountains are one of the most serene and beautiful locations on Earth. Quiet mountain lakes reflect snowy peaks, while alpine meadows carpeted with wildflowers cover gently rolling valleys. Glaciers cover the highest peaks feeding hundreds of mountain streams and rivers cascading down the peaks in torrents of water. While to the north of the mountains the flat grassy steppe stretches in Russia, the Altay Mountains shelter primordial taiga forest. Few other places can compete with the beauty of the Altay Mountains and the region is a sparsely populated paradise for photographers, hikers, artists, mountaineers and those who love nature. We offer you a memorable trip to the heart of the "Golden Mountains".

The Altay Region is nestled between Kazakhstan and Mongolia and was peopled by Turkic speakers. The region did not escape the major upheavals of history. Conquerors such as Genghis Khan and Tamerlane swept through the area. Much later, in the 18th century, the area came under Chinese authority and a number of brutal wars decimated the indigenous population. Then in the 19th century, the region came under Russian control. Though the Altay region remained under Soviet control, and the indigenous population became a small minority in their territory, the imprint of the Altay people remains strong and the region is reputed for its powerful shamans. The Altay people called the Altay Mountains the "Golden Mountains" and this name is appropriate: the wealth of the region is immeasurable. The region is thus rich both in terms of its spectacular nature and its rich cultural traditions that continue to play an important role in the lives of the inhabitants of the Golden Mountains.

In the course of the trip, the expedition will cross the entire Altay Region by car and will discover the traditions of the indigenous Altay. In addition, the expedition will visit Old Believer communities, who sought refuge from persecution centuries ago in the remote Altay lands, yet have retained ancient Russian traditions. The Old Believers are religious dissenters who refused to accept the reforms imposed on the Russian Orthodox Church by the patriarch of Moscow in the 17th century. Old Believers not only preserved the ancient religious traditions of Russia, but also folk traditions and dress that have disappeared elsewhere in Russia.

The Altay Mountains region harbors two World Heritage sites: the Altaisky Nature Reserve located on the banks of Teletskoe Lake and the Katunsky Nature Reserve, and the latter will be visited in the course of the expedition. The Golden Mountains Ecotour: The Altay Mountains will allow participants to trek through the Altay Mountains from the foothills to the mountains tops.

The hiking is spectacular: over the course of the trip, participants will see mountain rivers, waterfalls, lakes cradled in the rocky crevasses of mountain gorges, and glaciers, all interspersed with virgin forests of highland cedar and fir, forest-steppe dominated by larch, and mountain meadows featuring innumerable flowers. High above it all towers the glacier-covered Belukha Mountain (4,503 meters or 14,773 feet).

The rich environment supports a variety of animal and bird species ranging from pikas to the very rare and reclusive snow leopard, including Siberian wapiti (red deer), musk deer, brown bears, sables, Siberian weasels, squirrels, chipmunks, and Siberian ibex (mountain goat). We promise spectacular vistas that will remain forever etched in your memories.