When skiing on Kazakh Altai.

“Everything in excess is opposed to nature” 

Hippocrates.

Coach trip from Almaty to Taraz.

The Western-Altai State Nature Reserve was established with the goal of comprehensive protection of the Altai mountain system in 1992. It covers an area of about 56 thousand hectares at the northeastern border of the East Kazakhstan region, 60 km east of the city of Ridder.
This territory has a complex geological history. Here you can see picturesque rock formations – geological monuments of the distant past. The territory of West Altai Nature Reserve differs in the fine developed mountain hydrology presented by the rivers White and Black Uba with their inflows, the river Barsuk and the complex of the small mountain lakes cwm of an origin located in sources of these rivers.
Two largest lakes - Cedar and Scherbakova, are placed on border of forest and Alpine areas (Gubanov, Ivanova, 1988). Tens of small streams feed the rivers, form riding swamps. The swamp "Promenade" in sources of Black Uby - the largest in the Western Altai.
The river Uba, belongs to the right inflow of the Irtysh River, on the multiwater content is the largest inflows of Irtysh within Kazakhstan. It is formed on confluence Black and White Uba, the beginning of the rivers from the Ivanovo ridge in a zone of eternal snow.
The river receives the main food from thawing of seasonal snow therefore the flood in the river occurs in April - May. The periods of small water come in November and proceed till March. Preservation in natural state of this system - the basic of conditions of providing the normal hydrological mode.

Authority:
"West Altai Nature Reserve". Bastanogova L. Ishkov E. Reserves of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2006. Under the general edition of Roman Yashchenko. The international union of conservation of IUCN - The World Conservation Union. Physiographic features (across Kerteshev, Vagapov, Yashchenko, 2001). Reserves of the USSR. Reserves of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Moscow "Thought", 1990.

Photos
Alexander Petrov.