On the evening of November 8, Almaty rescue services received a report that three 16-year-old girls had gone missing in the area of the Kok-Zhailau tract. The teenagers had set off into the mountains but had not returned home by evening: their mobile phones were switched off, and their last location pointed to the Kok-Zhailau area at an altitude of about 2,200 meters, infohub.kz reports.
Five rescuers from the Monitoring and Rapid Response Center of the Almaty Department of Emergency Situations set out to search for them. However, at 20:45 word came that the girls had descended the mountains on their own. The search operation was called off.
Fortunately, the incident ended well. Even so, it serves as a reminder of the importance of safety in the mountains, especially amid a rapid rise in visitor numbers and growing pressure on rescue services.
Safety issues are becoming particularly pressing in the context of the comprehensive development of Almaty's mountain areas. In particular, the Kok-Zhailau tract is slated to host the Almaty Superski project, aimed at creating a modern year-round mountain resort and developing a unified mountain cluster.
The comprehensive development of Almaty's mountains, including the Almaty Mountain Cluster and the Almaty Superski project, envisages the creation of transport links, lift systems, utility networks, organized access points and tourist service facilities.
Such infrastructure is important not only for boosting the tourism appeal of mountain areas but also for ensuring visitor safety. Organized routes and access points will help tourists navigate the terrain better, while enabling rescue units to plan their work more effectively and reach possible incident sites faster, the akimat concluded.