Jiangjunshan (Altay city)
Night skiing, tree runs and the easiest logistics — usually the season's first to open, around late October.
Destinations / Xinjiang /
The snow belt.
China's deepest, driest natural snow falls in the Altai: a season from late October to early April, three resorts including the country's biggest lift-served vertical, and village skiing under wooden roofs at Hemu.
Explore the guide ↓Northern Xinjiang · the Altai · 1,200–2,800 m
- The season
- Late Oct – early Apr
- The vertical
- 1,466 m
- The resorts
- 3 + villages
- The culture
- The birthplace claim
The deepest snow in China, honestly cold.
The Altai's snow is a geography fact: the region sits far enough north and high enough to catch Siberian moisture in dry, deep, persistent falls — a season from late October to early April, with the powder core from December through February. Three resorts cover the spectrum: Jiangjunshan above Altay city (the accessible city hill with night skiing), the Koktokay mountains (the big terrain and the 1,466 m vertical at Jikikpulin near Hemu), and the small Hemu area above the wooden village itself.
The honest warning is the cold — genuine −20°C and below cold that demands proper kit and rewards it with the quietest lift lines in China. Our seven-day ski week runs the whole belt: city powder, the big mountains, and two nights in snowbound Hemu, with a weather-flex day built in because the region's roads close with storms and the region is better for it.
Three hills and a village.
What each is actually like.
Koktokay
The Altai's serious terrain: long verticals, big bowls and the driest snow — the powder day of any China season.
Jikikpulin (Hemu)
1,466 m of lift-served drop above the wooden village — China's biggest, with the valley view doing half the work.
Hemu village
Ski-in village lanes, fur-ski heritage and the homestead dinners — the part of the week that is not about the skiing.
The fur-ski heritage
The Altai's hunting cultures made skiing a way of life here millennia ago — the museums and elders keep the claim alive.
Getting it right.
Cold, roads and the season shape.
The cold rule
−20°C is normal, −30°C happens: proper kit (hired on-site at the resorts to current standard), hand warmers, and the honest understanding that this is real winter.
Roads and storms
Storm cycles close the Hemu road periodically — the ski week builds a flex day and treats the storm as weather, not a failure.
Season shape
Late October to early April; the powder core December–February; March is spring snow with the best light and the thinnest crowds.
Getting there
Fly Urumqi–Altay city (or Burqin); the road does the rest. The ski week runs the whole circuit by van.
Non-skiers
The villages, the horse sleds, the fur-ski heritage and the winter light keep non-skiing partners honest — the week is not ski-or-bust.
The deepest week in China.
Tell us your week and your level — the outline comes with the snow report and the kit list.
Start my journey brief ↗