Ski Myanmar (Burma)

After decades of mis-rule by the military dictatorship in Myanmar (formerly Burma) there is very little infrastructure left in the country, let alone ski lifts, but surprisingly there have been several plans to construct a Myanmar ski resort on South East asia’s highest peak, 5,881m high Mount Hkakabo Razi in the province of Kachin in the north-west of the country, an off shoot of the Tibetan Himalayas.

Initial plans by the government in the late 1990s failed because accessing the ski slopes in one of the remotest places on earth involved a 10-day trek through jungle, which is partly controlled by separatist guerrillas and the use of the international airport over the border at the leading northern Thai tourist destination of Chiang Mai, a border which Myanmar had unilaterally closed.

More recently there have been plans announced by Thai investors to create a year round tourist destination in the pristine wilderness, but as yet nothing has come of that idea either.

Although permanently snow capped, skiing in or near Mount Hkakabo Razi is virtually impossible because of the political and practical problems in getting to the slopes. It was not even climbed until 1997 when a team of Japanese and Myanmar climbers made the summit. The closest town, Putao, was once one of the remotest outposts of the British empire in the 19th century. There is an airport here however with daily flights in from Yangon.

Precipitation in the region, falling as snow at higher altitudes, is reported to be abundant, thanks to its proximity to a number of major water sources including the Bay of Bengal 900km away, – around 5 metres per year. However glaciers that used to exist on Hkakabo Razi are reported to have melted away so much due to climate change there are no longer classed as such. But the abundant snow does still lie year round in places on the mountain.

Another unusual factor is that the steep sides of the mountain lead to large volumes of snow avalanching to lower levels where the fallen snow collects in sheltered areas and again often lasts year round at lower altitudes than would normally be the case at this latitude.

Myanmar (Burma): latest snow conditions round-up

Snow: next 3 days

Summary of forecast snowfall and ski conditions for resorts in Myanmar (Burma). Fresh snow is forecast at 1 resorts. Powder is reported at 0 resorts and 0 are reporting good piste conditions.