We are 40 Tribes, a collective of professional mountain and river guides working in partnership with local hosts/guides-in-training from the Kyrgyz Republic to promote a more innovative and adventurous edge to the country’s community-based ecotourism industry.
Our passion for the backcountry means that we’re stoked on the places and experiences that you won’t read about in the guidebook – villages on the fringe, lost stretches of river, and world-class mountains that haven’t been mapped since the Soviet Era. In those places, we offer one-of-a-kind skiing and fly fishing adventures that emphasize environmental sanctity, sustainability, and community involvement and management.
The ethnonym Kyrgyz derives from the Turkic words kyrk and uz, meaning “forty tribes,” presumably referring to the epic legend of Manas, a warrior who united the original forty Krygyz tribes against the Mongols. Today, a 40-ray sun is the central emblem of Kyrgyzstan’s national flag.
Our programs pledge to employ village members in a variety of roles. Via our VolunTourism program, we are providing local Kyrgyz with the unique opportunity to train under talented caretakers, chefs and guides from around the globe – helping them develop skills to support winter tourism initiatives in their own backyards. A significant percentage of 40 Tribes’ profit is directed back into the communities in which we work, providing salaries for our local partners and the basis for a locally-held fund intended to support further program and community development goals.
To learn more about the origins of the project, we invite you to check out this Q&A with Founder/Director Ryan Koupal, featured in July 2010 on the Off Piste: The Backcountry Adventure Journal website.
View Staff Bios
Ryan Koupal
Founder/Director
Having spent the last 4 winters on the ground in Kyrgyzstan, Ryan has a unique first-hand perspective on Central Asia and the potential for winter tourism development in the region. Ryan first encountered the Tien Shan Mountains in 1999, living with nomadic families along the China/Kyrgyz border as a student on an intercultural studies/immersion program with Where There Be Dragons. Ryan later worked as Dragons’ Executive Program Director (’06-’09), during which time he continued to foster a deep appreciation for the mountain cultures of Asia, all linking back to his first Kyrgyz yurt-stay. Following several self-coordinated international splitboarding expeditions combining his personal passions with his work, Ryan finally found the perfect balance of local enthusiasm, native resources, and endless backcountry potential in Kyrgyzstan – thus the inspiration for 40 Tribes, which he founded in 2010. These days, Ryan is back and forth between Boulder, Colorado, a beautiful Kyrgyz mountain village called Ichke-Jergez, and the developing resort town of Karakol, where he bases himself while running 40 Tribes’ in-country operations. Ryan will tail guide alongside Ptor Spricenieks on our ’12-’13 guided tours.
Ptor Spricenieks
Lead Guide
Ptor’s 24 years of ski mountaineering and global guiding experience, and passion for unthinkable ski adventures, makes him a perfect match for the 40 Tribes program. His work as a freeride alpinist, heli-ski guide and ski-tour guide has sent him on pioneering expeditions in the far reaches of Pakistan, India, Turkey, and Bolivia, and has helped him develop a name as “one of the 48 most influential skiers of the last 35 years” (Powder Magazine). Ptor has held his CAA Level I Avalanche Certification since 1990, is certified in Advanced Wilderness First Aid and Advanced Outdoor Emergency Care, and has mentored with many famous guides like John Falkiner and Doug Coombs. In recent years, Ptor has been living between his native British Columbia, current hometown of La Grave, France, and Gulmarg, Kashmir, where he was working as avalanche forecaster and tour developer/guide for premiere ski descents in the surrounding valleys. With a wife and new son, Ptor seems to be settling into a nice life in the French Alps, but he will be the first to tell you that Kyrgyzstan/Central Asia is a place he plans to spend a lot more time. In his words: “40 Tribes is a perfect fit as a tranquil and undeveloped mountain scenario that will provide great skiing without an exploding scene for years to come. It’s how I prefer to ski.”
Recent Projects:
- Exploratory skiing with Sweetgrass Productions while filming for ‘Solitaire’ in un-skied regions of the Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru – Premiere ski descents of the Yerupaja Glacier, Sarapo Glacier and E Face of Sarapo
- Premiere ski descents on 20 day self-contained traverse, St Elias Mountains, Yukon – NW Face Mt. Vancouver (4813m), N Ridge Mac Arthur Peak (4300m)
- Clemenceau/Columbia Icefields traverse, Canadian Rockies, BC/Alberta – 18 day self-contained with 4 premiere ski descents en route
- Solo premiere attempt and ski descent from 6000m Gashot Peak (6800m), Nanga Parbat Himal, Pakistan
- Various premiere ski descents in Gulmarg area, Kashmir, India
- Trans-Himalaya winter ski traverse attempt via Zanskar
Notable first descents:
- Canada – N Face Mt. Robson, N Face Mt. Forbes, W Face Mt. Monarch, N Face Mt. Loki, NW Face Mt. Vancouver
- France – S Face Pic Central Les Aiguilles D’Arves, Col des Pichettes
- India – N Face Norbu Peak
- Peru – W Ridge Mt. Tocllaraju, S Face Pumarinri
- Bolivia – S Face Cerro Korichuma, S Face Cerro Yaypuri
Greg Johnson
Avalanche Instructor/Guide
Greg lives in the mountains of western Canada and the United States. He works as a snowboard guide and avalanche safety consultant holding accreditation with the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) and the Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA). He also spends time instructing for the CAA. Greg started his professional career as a student of a world renowned avalanche research program at the University of Calgary and earned a MSc in Civil Engineering. He went on to work in the US for the US Forest Service and in Canada for the Canadian Avalanche Centre as an avalanche forecaster. During that time he spent a few summers as a climbing ranger with the US National Park Service. Greg believes life should never be too routine and stagnant, and this winter he is going to mix it up by letting snowboarding drive his global adventures.
Local Partners
Please visit our Partners page!
