15 Ski Resorts of Russia from Karelia to Sakhalin

Everyone has their own recipe for an ideal winter holiday, but most of the ingredients certainly come down to activities in the fresh frosty air and sitting by the fireplace. And if you add in the adrenaline from skiing and relaxation at a good spa, the adventure can be considered a success. But what makes everything even better is combining the ski vacation with the cultural program.

A trip to the ski slopes will help you plunge into the world of sports and get ready for the upcoming season. We offer you a selection of 15 promising resorts that are not yet overcrowded with tourists.

Location: Russian North

Kukisvumchorr, Khibiny Mountains

6 trails

4 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Freeriding

Elevation difference: 520 meters

The Kukisvumchorr is the largest mountain range of the Khibiny. The city of Kirovsk is located at the foot of the slopes; there is a small airport 30 kilometers away. The ski complex, popularly known as the "25th kilometer", is located in the northern part of the city. The resort is most popular among freeriding enthusiasts – there are many spots for freeriding, and competitions among professionals are held annually.

Tourists are offered six trails of all types and four surface lifts, including a children's one, help from instructors for beginners, and equipment rental. The elevation difference here is small – just over 500 meters. However, despite this, the Khibiny is a region of increased avalanche risk, especially the slopes outside the trails. Due to its location above the Arctic Circle, the northern lights can often be seen here in winter. In addition, snowmobile tours are conducted from Kirovsk to the Khibiny; there is even a mountain driving school.

Yalgora, Karelia

4 trails

2 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Elevation difference: 100 meters

A developing year-round resort on the banks of Lake Onega, 30 kilometers from Petrozavodsk. Yalgora ("yalo" translates to "big" from the Veps language) offers tourists three trails, a training slope, a four-seater chairlift, and equipment rental. In the future, it is planned to open a complex of jumping hills and a snowboarding park here. The gentle slope will appeal to beginners: the training center has two courses for beginners, a children’s club, and a weekend school.

The resort has two restaurants and a cafe on the top of the mountain, a hotel, Scandinavian-style cottages and a bathhouse on the shore of the lake. It will be interesting for children to walk along the Folklore trail, which descends along a slope overgrown with Karelian forest. Here, you can book excursions to the famous locations of the region – the Onega petroglyphs, Kizhi Island, a Neolithic sanctuary.

Loparstan, Monchegorsk

2 trails

2 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Freeriding

Elevation difference: 250 meters

The ski complex is located at the foot of Mount Monche. Small elevation differences and short trails of a natural virgin slope, 1.5 kilometers wide, are suitable for beginner skiers. There are two lifts on the territory (a surface lift and a baby lift), equipment rental, and tubing. At the base, there is a cafe "Chum" and an equipped parking lot. The resort has a system of artificial snowmaking. You can ski here in the evenings – the slopes are well lit all night.

From above, there is a view of Lake Imandra – the largest on the Kola Peninsula – as well as the lands of Lapland Reserve with Father Frost’s tower, Sami camps with deer and chums, and incredible landscapes of untouched northern nature.

Location: Caucasus

Chindirchero, Dagestan

10 trails

9 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Freeriding

Elevation difference: 500 meters

A two-hour drive away from Makhachkala, guests are greeted by a real family resort. Here winter lovers of all ages will find entertainment to their liking. 10 slopes of varying difficulty, areas for freeriding and slalom, a speed skating ice rink for ice skaters, areas for evening skiing. For children, there are separate trails for beginners, tubing, ATV and snowmobile races.

The resort has a hotel, a cottage and a sauna, several cafes and an outdoor barbecue area. The top of the slope can be reached by all-terrain vehicles. In the vicinity, there is a mountain extreme park, where you can walk along the rope bridge over the gorge.

Tsey, North Ossetia

7 trails

2 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Freeriding

Elevation difference: 500 meters

On the slopes of Tsey Gorge, almost on the border with Georgia, there is a year-round resort. Since Soviet times, skiers, climbers and mountain lovers have come here. Here you can climb to a glacier, walk along numerous routes along the mountain passes, explore the nature of North Ossetia Reserve. A characteristic feature of Tsey is its own microclimate of a closed gorge, due to which the snow cover here lasts longer, and the number of days unsuitable for skiing is only 5%.

Tourists will find seven trails, of which two are black and three are red, a two-seater chairlift, freeriding zones and a slope for beginners. The infrastructure includes a mountaineering camp with a sauna and gazebos with barbecue, several hotels with a swimming pool and a cafe. As après-ski (fr. “apres-ski” – “after skiing”), there are excursions along the gorge: the Rekom sanctuary, Mount Monakh, the Tsey and Skazsky Glaciers, the thermal baths of Alagir.

Veduchi, Chechnya

1 trail

1 lift

Ski and snowboard rental

Elevation difference: 200 meters

The year-round resort of Veduchi is under construction. Plans include 19 slopes, seven lifts, a snow park, a heated pool, and cross-country skiing areas. However, a blue run with all-season skiing surface is already open for guests (you can ski without snow!), as well as a training slope. The pride of the resort is the instructor school and a children's park with a travelator, small ski jumping hills, a curving trail with arches and sculptures. Tourists have access to a single seasonal ski pass for three resorts – Arkhyz, Elbrus and Veduchi.

On the territory, there are two hotels, a restaurant, and a bath complex. Around there are dozens of sights of mountainous Chechnya: Argun Gorge, the Ushkaloi guard towers, the Tsoi-Pede necropolis, Dondi-Yurt Ethnographic Park, Nikhaloi Waterfalls, which turns into a wondrous ice surface in winter.

Location: Ural

Adjigardak, Chelyabinsk Oblast

10 trails

6 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Freeriding

Elevation difference: 400 meters

The South Ural Mountain Range Adzhigardak is located on the border with Bashkiria, a hundred kilometers from Ufa. The trails are mostly of medium and high difficulty. The slopes – in particular, the three freeriding routes – will be appreciated by those who are confident on skis. There are only surface lifts here, and the snow is natural: there is quite a lot of it in these places.

On the territory of the resort, there is a cottage town, as well as a bath complex with an outdoor pool with spring water perfect for plunging in after the steam room. In the plans for the resort is the construction of an entertainment center with a swimming pool, spa area, bowling alley, and apartments. By the next season, a chairlift will be opened and the system for artificial snowmaking will be put in place.

Uktus, Yekaterinburg

5 trails

4 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Elevation difference: 100 meters

The ski complex within the boundaries of Yekaterinburg is surrounded by the pines of Uktus Forest Park. The slopes here are wide and rather gentle. The elevation difference is only 100 meters, so this place will be appreciated more by the beginner winter sports lovers. For beginners, a separate spacious training slope and a whole team of instructors are prepared. For professionals – a snow park with structures for tricks, a boardercross track, as well as a sloped airbag for learning to jump and the feeling of flying.

An interesting feature of the park is a specially equipped high-speed track for snowmobiles with jumping hills and artificial unevenness. For children, there is kart racing, a wind tunnel, a rope park, a zip line, a husky park, and two tubing tracks. The après-ski area includes a thermal spa complex with hot springs and a grill park with warm houses.

Takman, Chusovoy

16 trails

3 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Freeriding

Elevation difference: 200 meters

The Takman Ski Resort, located 150 kilometers from Perm, has absorbed all the beauty of the coniferous forest and the snowy Ural winter. Due to its favorable location, there are practically no strong winds here. Most of the slopes are blue-green, suitable for beginner skiers. There are three runs available to professional athletes: two red and one black. In addition, guests are offered five freeriding trails, snowmobile routes, and the largest snow park in Perm Krai.

The Russian national snowboarding team trained on these slopes, and various sporting events are also held here during the season. Infrastructure: six hotels, a panoramic restaurant, a burger place, a bath complex with a hot tub, and a children's play area.

Location: Siberia

Cheryomukhovy Log (eng. “Bird Cherry Ravine”), Khakassia

3 trails

2 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Elevation difference: 300 meters

120 kilometers from Abakan, on the banks of the Yenisei, in the hollows of the steep Sayan Mountains, there is a ski resort "Cheryomukhovy Log". The complex is quite new – it was opened in 2018. In the coming season, there will be three runs (red, blue and training) as well as two lifts (a two-seater chairlift, framed by slender rows of pine trees, and a surface lift). The mountain peaks block the slopes from strong winds, and the artificial snowmaking system allows you not to depend on the vagaries of the weather. A snowboard park, ice rink, cross-country skiing track, indoor hockey rink, gym and swimming pool complete the resort's sport options.

On the territory, there is a hotel with a view of the Yenisei, a Finnish sauna and a cedar barrel bathhouse, several cafes, and an equipment rental area. 15 minutes away, there is the observation deck of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station. On the opposite bank of the river there is Shushensky Bor National Park.

Mount Sobolinaya, Baikal

15 trails

7 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Freeriding

Elevation difference: 480 meters

In 2010, the ski Mecca of South Baikal won the cup for the best resort for beginners, and in 2021 – for the best hotel according to the Russian Hospitality Awards. The trails are mostly blue-green, there are some red with black sections, tubing, cross-country skiing and a snow park with jumping hills. The best time to visit is late April-early May: snow cover, maintained by cannons, is still on the slopes, and the weather is quite warm.

In addition to skiing, there is a year-round mountain Wookiee Rope Park with a zip line (a system for a fast descent suspended from a cable), a sports complex with a swimming pool, water slide and sauna, as well as a spa center with a salt cave and mud therapy. Local restaurants offer dishes of European, Siberian and Buryat cuisines. On holidays, guests can enjoy entertainment.

#TeletSki, Altai

8 trails

3 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Elevation difference: 800 meters

The total length of trails here is more than 17 kilometers. Photo: instagram.com/teletski

On the slopes of Mount Kokuya, towering over the picturesque Teletskoye Lake, there is a ski complex of the same name. Mild winters and healthy air make this place a full-fledged recreational resource. From the tops of the slopes of blue and red difficulty levels, the freeriding zone and the snow park, you can see the lake surrounded by the white caps of the Altai mountains covered with snow-coated pine trees.

A chairlift goes to the beginning of the trails – it lifts to a height of 1050 meters. For the convenience of the guests, there is a cafe and an observation deck. On the very top of the mountain – 1386 meters – a transfer by snowmobile is possible: several freeriding routes are laid on the slopes. Edelweiss Zoo is located at the foot: it will be interesting for children to look at the Siberian tiger and feed the sika deer.

Far East

Gorny Vozdukh (eng. “Mountain Air”), Sakhalin

14 trails

4 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Elevation difference: 500 meters

In the dark, the trails are illuminated, attracting lovers of night skiing. Photo: facebook.com/gornyvozdukh

The largest resort in the Far East, occupying 1300 hectares, is located on the slopes of the Bolshevik and Krasnaya Mountains, within the boundaries of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. In 2018, Gorny Vozdukh was named the best ski resort in Russia according to the Leaders of the Sports Industry Award. These slopes are more suitable for those who ski with confidence: only two slopes out of 14 are for beginners, seven red and five black slopes are for advanced skiers. High-speed trails and giant slalom with the total length of more than 25 kilometers are presented separately. There are plans to expand the resort to three nearby hills, build nine chairlifts and an all-season Valley of Tourists.

Around there is a large number of hotels and cafes with hot food. There are observation platforms on the tops of the mountains, opening to a beautiful view of the city. There are also several eco-trails along the slopes of the hills for those who prefer hiking to skiing.

Holdomi, Komsomolsk-on-Amur

17 trails

4 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Elevation difference: 500 meters

The pride of the resort is a new gondola-type chairlift that can accommodate eight people. Photo: instagram.com/holdomi_officia

The first ski slopes appeared here in the 1950s: winter, lasting more than six months, and the complete absence of other entertainment contributed to the development of active recreation in the region. Today on the slopes of Kholdomi Hill, there are 17 trails of various difficulty levels and six more are in the works, a skating rink for playing hockey, tubing, cottages, saunas, and warm gazebos for barbecue. In the plans are the opening of a ski and biathlon complex, a training slope, a spa center and a cafe on the top of the mountain.

The total length of the trails is 25 kilometers, 10 of them have artificial snowmaking and five, night lighting. The climate here is rather harsh, so it is better to choose the spring months for skiing.

Kometa (eng. “Comet”), Vladivostok

3 trails

2 lifts

Ski and snowboard rental

Elevation difference: 160 meters

A small ski park "Kometa", which has received four awards as the best resort in the Far East, is located 30 kilometers from the city. The sports infrastructure is represented by three trails of varying degrees of difficulty, three mountain skiing circles, an ice rink, a tubing park, a snow park with jumping hills, and equipment rental. The popular “Yeti Park” ski school for adults and children is located here. A comprehensive program, developed by the National League of Instructors, promises to put a beginner on skis in just a couple of days.

There is a hotel on the territory. Small wooden houses – gazebos for barbecue – are scattered throughout the park. You can rent new skis, snowboards and helmets, as well as equipment for children from two years old. The resort also has a ski service for repairing and preserving skis and sharpening skates.

"Traveling with the Russian Geographical Society" is a collection of fascinating author's tours around Russia from Russian tour operators, which have undergone an expert assessment by the Society’s specialists and received the distinctive quality mark "Recommended by the Russian Geographical Society".

The system of voluntary certification of routes, developed jointly with Russian State University of Tourism and Service, means that the route meets all quality and safety requirements, and is also an authentic, unique and educational product.