Photo Gallery: Skiing in Mongolia
Mongolians have been skiing from A to B for thousands of years. Now, thanks to a booming economy, skiing is becoming a winter sport...of sorts. And when we say “winter,” we mean it: You’ll freeze your bong-bongs off.
Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth fitness, nutrition, and adventure courses and more than 2,000 instructional videos when you sign up for Outside+ Sign up for Outside+ today.
Writer Evelyn Spence and photographer Ilya Herb traveled to the far reaches of Mongolia to witness the evolution of skiing from a mode of transportation to a nascent winter hobby. Here are some of the images Herb captured during the journey.
The Whole Story: Skiing and Reindeer-Spotting in the Coldest and Most Remote Resort in the World
Skiing in Mongolia
Photo: Ilja Herb
Sky Resort opened in 2009 was the first step toward what Western Hemispherical elitists call real skiing.
Mongolian’s divide winter into nine sets of nine days, or The Nines. Writer Evelyn Spence and photographer Ilja Herb were there during the coldest.
Ganbat and Uvedorj of the Tsaatan people. Thirty percent of Mongolia’s population is nomadic. Editor’s note: This photograph by Ilja Herb won a 2013 American Photography Award.
The tiny outpost of Khatgal, in northern Mongolia, has a school, an airstrip, and a post office.
Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world, with 5 inhabitants per square mile.
Rentals are available onsite at Sky Resort, and the slopes stay open for nightskiing.
Lift tickets cost around $23 for six hours.
Sky Resort is the only ski resort in Mongolia.
Craig Dillon, a transplant from Alta, Utah, braves the minus-50-degree temps.
The resort blows a five-and-a-half-inch base in the fall that’s supposed to stick around until March. It does. Alta transplant Craig Dillon and Jagaa, a patroller, rip it up.
The monastery of Amarbayasgalant Khiid, one of the three largest buddhist monasteries in Mongolia.
The monastery is within a day’s drive of Sky Resort.
The sun sets on Sky Resort, and the locals get ready for night skiing.
Tea and thawing meat, dripping blood on the floor, in Ganbat’s hut.
Ulaanbaatar’s Choijin temple.
