Silk Road Mountain Race 2023

The Silk Road Mountain Race is our attempt to showcase some of the most beautiful and wild areas of Kyrgyzstan. Each year we try to include something new to share with the community of racers who come out to join us in this incredible country. We strive to create the perfect setting for them to test themselves against each other and the awesome natural setting of this mountainous wilderness. The fifth edition will be no different, with the race seeing a mix of new sections and a return to some of our favourite locations from previous editions.The fifth edition of the Silk Road Mountain Race will be very close to the previous one in its scope: it will follow a 1,880 kilometre route with roughly 30,640 meters of elevation gain. It will start in Karakol, at the far eastern end of lake Issyk-kul and will finish a little further west along the lake in Cholpon Ata, reaching it via a rather circuitous route through Enilchek, Kel Suu and Son Kul. Overall, there are around 639 kilometres of new tracks. The two notable new sections are described in more detail below.In 2023, riders will line up and start the race in the lakeside town of Karakol. This is a place of historical importance, being the first outpost established by the Russians during their expansion during the period known as the Great Game. It is now a vibrant town of 100,000 inhabitants and a base to explore the surrounding mountains. Registration will also take place in Karakol, so riders will need to make their way east before the start. There are a few options to get there, that will be outlined in more detail in the Race Manual. Logistics will still be quite simple, with riders able to book flights in and out of Bishkek and the race organisation providing a bag transfer service to the finish line. As for the start time, this year the race will start at 9:00AM on Saturday the 12th of August and finish at midnight on Saturday the 26th.Besides the new start, we also have a new first checkpoint : Enilchek, an abandoned ghost town that owes its existence to a now defunct gold mine. Where there used to be 5000 inhabitants, there are now a handful of families living from their livestock. It's an eerie place, far out in the middle of nowhere. The riding along the Kazakh border to get there is fantastic and the old soviet road that we'll take to get back to civilisation is also well worth the detour. The other notable new section is a new route between Baetov and Jangy-Talap, on the way to Son Kul. We'll be taking a long detour here through Kazarman and a little used bridge across the Naryn river.Besides these new sections, we see the return of a number of SRMR classics : Kel Suu is back in the race, as is the Old Soviet Road. Kegeti pass will be the option chosen to cross the mountains south of Bishkek. Finally, the finish returns to Cholpon Ata, with the suitably epic Kok-Ayrik pass. It's a massive effort to get over it but well worth it for the finish in Cholpon Ata on the shores of lake Issyk-Kul.We hope that you are as excited as we are by the route for the fifth edition of the Silk Road Mountain Race! Scroll down for a more detailed outline of each section of the route. We’ve split it into eight distinct sections and highlighted the major points of interest and difficulties of each. The following information should give you a better idea of what to expect in the fifth edition of the race but is still lacking the more precise details that will help riders fully prepare for the race. We will be updating this information in the coming weeks and months so that it is complimentary with the Race Manual.