Hiking tour in the Altai Mountains

You will be accompanied by experienced guides throughout the program.

Meals on the way from Novosibirsk, Barnaul or Gorno-Altaysk to the beginning of the active part of the route and back are not included in the price.

Upon arrival in the village of Ust-Koksa, you will have three meals a day in a summer cafe. On the route, meals are prepared by the guide: breakfast and dinner — field cuisine, lunch — packed meal. In the field, food is cooked on a fire, a stove or a gas burner. Meals are light in weight and enhanced in calories. Tourists take part in collecting firewood and, if desired, help in cooking.

The menu includes canned meat, fish, green peas, corn, beans, butter, cereals, pasta, cheese, sausage, bacon, vegetables, fruits, dry cream, raisins, dried apricots, nuts, chocolate, tea, coffee, cocoa, condensed milk, sweets, cookies, bread, crackers, biscuits. During the hikes, there is an opportunity to fish (you need to bring fishing equipment with you), pick mushrooms and berries.
 
If you have food allergies or you are vegetarian, please inform the manager when booking your tour. We will take into account your wishes when drawing up the menu.

A paid transfer will be organized for you from the city of arrival. The time is local, the difference with Moscow is +4 hours.

Transfer from Novosibirsk to Ust-Koksa and back:

• the day before the start of the program — at 8 pm from Sovetskaya st., 65
• day 10 — departure from Ust-Koksa at 5 pm, approximate arrival in Novosibirsk - at 10 am the next day. 

Transfer from Barnaul to Ust-Koksa and back:

• the day before the start of the program — at 11:50 pm from the hotel and restaurant complex "Oblepikha" (Novoaltaisk, Dorozhnaya street, 13).
• day 10 — departure from Ust-Koksa at 5 pm, approximate arrival in Barnaul — at 7 am the next day.

 
Transfer from Gorno-Altaysk to Ust-Koksa and back to the village of Maima:

• day 1 — departure from Gorno-Altaysk airport at 10 am
• day 10 — departure from Ust-Koksa at 5 pm or 9 pm, approximate arrival to the village of Maima (to the hotel "Lyubimy") — at 11 pm or 3 am the next day.

 
Please, note that the return transfer is not carried out to Gorno-Altaysk itself, but to the village of Maima, located on the Chuisky tract, as close as possible to the airport of Gorno-Altaysk. We recommend booking one of the hotels in the village: "Lyubimy", "Tikhiy dvorik" or "Energetik".

If you want to significantly reduce the time on the road or are not ready for a rather difficult road trip across Gorny Altai, we advise you to get from Gorno-Altaysk to Ust-Koksa and back by plane. You need to book the tickets on your own on the airline's website (cost — from about 40 EURO per person for a round-trip ticket, flight duration — 1 hour). At the Ust-Koksy airport you will be met and taken to the "Altair" tourist base.

The route is trekking along mountain trails, which does not require the use of special skills, but excellent physical fitness and endurance are required to complete it.
 
For two days (days 2 and 5) you will carry a backpack with personal belongings, a sleeping bag and a sleeping mat (weighing up to 10 kg). A backpack can be transported for an additional cost. Group equipment (tents, campfire equipment, food, awning) is carried by pack horses.
 
On day 7, during the climb to Mount Kolban, each tourist, in addition to personal belongings, has to carry food (about 1 kg) and tents (tent is disassembled into components and the load is evenly divided between the participants). All things that are not needed for the next 2 days can be left at the base camp on Lake Kuiguk. The use of horses on this section of the route is not possible. 

On day 9, you carry your personal belongings in your backpacks + a sleeping bag and a mat (total weight up to 10 kg) and a tent (tent is disassembled into components and the load is evenly divided between the participants). Group equipment (campfire equipment, food, awning) is carried by the guides. 

On other days you will light radial walks, the length of day routes will be from 6 to 24 km. While staying on the lakes, you do not have to go out on any of the hiking trails, but just walk around the camp or arrange a day of rest if you want.

Children from 10 years old can participate in the tour, but only accompanied by adults. From 16 years old you can travel independently.

The tour price includes medical insurance (in the amount of 450,000 rubles on the active part of the route and 150,000 rubles on the inactive part of the route) and accident insurance (in the amount of 30,000 rubles) for tourists under 65 years old. An age coefficient applies to insurance for older tourists.
 
In Altai, there is a high probability of getting a bite of an encephalitis tick. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you get insurance against tick-borne encephalitis. It costs 5 EURO per person.
 
Please send us your full name, passport details and phone number. It is important to do this in advance, because insurance is activated only 5 days after registration. Payment is made in cash to the guides upon arrival in Altai.
 
In case of a tick bite, you will get immunoglobulin in any medical center in the country, which will reduce the risk of illness.
 

• passport
• down jacket or warm jacket
• waterproof clothing (raincoat, jacket, trousers)
• trekking boots
• boots (preferably made of polyurethane foam)
• trekking poles (it is possible to rent them at the tourist complex before the start of the route)
• sneakers and flip-flops (light slippers)
• carimat seat
• warm tracksuit and a warm hat
• cotton gloves
• T-shirts 2-3 pcs
• shorts
• woolen socks 2 pairs
• thin socks 3-4 pairs
• sun cap
• sunglasses and cream
• swimsuit / swimming trunks
• headlamp and spare batteries
• jackknife
• matches
• charger (power bank), if needed (not everywhere along the route there is a possibility of charging the phone)
• personal set of dishes
• personal hygiene items
• medicines: corn plasters, bandages, elastic bandages, iodine, pain relievers, for colds

A backpack, sleeping bag and travel mat will be provided on site.
 

Depending on the size of the group, the car transfer to Ust-Koksa and back will be carried out on:

• KIA Grangbird or Higer buses (for large groups)
• minibuses Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter (for small groups) 

Note: from Novosibirsk to the Seminsky pass, the road runs along a good federal highway, and then from the pass to Ust-Koksa (211 km) — along a very broken gravel road with large holes. The road has not been repaired for many years, so a car transfer turns out to be quite difficult and tiring. The road also passes through 4 mountain passes, during the ascent to which the drivers of minibuses are forced to turn off the air conditioners to reduce the load on the engine in order to ensure a safe passage through the pass. Please, consider these factors, when planning your trip.

In the village of Ust-Koksa there is a good signal from mobile operators MTS, Beeline and Megafon. The base has free Wi-Fi. While staying on Lake Lower Multinsky from 2nd to 5th day of the tour, in the mornings and evenings, a Beeline signal appears from time to time. During the daytime radial routes, as well as during the overnight stay at the Kuiguk Waterfall, there will be no mobile signal.
 
The camp on Lake Akchan (days 7-8) has mobile Internet and signal from the Beeline operator.