Last winter, Whitelines headed off the map on a splitboarding mission to Kyrgyzstan. Along the way we encountered epic conditions, ‘interesting’ food and some of the friendliest people you could ever hope to meet. We also bought two sheep by accident. Well, almost.

Our crew, which included James Stentiford, Italian rider Tania DeTomas and backcountry veteran Dan Milner on photo duties, was hosted by 40 Tribes Backcountry – a company that specialises in splitboarding and ski touring adventures in the area. We spent six days hiking and riding around their yurt at Jalpak Tash, and a good amount of time exploring the Karakol, the local mountain town, and its surroundings. Bizarrely, we even ended up featuring on the evening news!

Massive thanks to Quiksilver and Roxy for helping make the trip possible, and to Snow & Rock for the loan of the awesome Venture Johan Oloffsson splitboard. You can read the full story in Whitelines 106 (the January 2013 Issue) which is out now.