amateur skiers in the 1940s. Soon after, it became the
first downhill route in the Soviet Union. Skiers originally needed to climb up the mountain tops on foot (which took roughly 3 hours). In 1954 a 1500 meters ski tow was built. Starting from 1961, Shymbulak hosted several USSR Championships and the Silver Edelweisse prize skiing competitions. In 1983 it became the Olympic ski training center for the USSR. During this time, various commodities were built including restaurants and hotels.[2]The annual "Artyemenko" Prize competition has been held in Shymbulak since 2011. The competition is held on February. Almaty hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games, bid for 2014 Winter Olympics, considered a bid for 2018 Winter Olympics, but decided to bid for 2022 Winter Olympics instead; Shymbulak was a venue for the Alpine Skiing events (both speed and technical), and would have been for the latter