Sheregesh is a village in the Tashtagol district of the Kemerovo
region at the foot of the Green Mountain. Also famous as a ski
resort.
The leading industrial enterprise, the Sheregesh
mine, supplies iron ore to metallurgical plants in Novokuznetsk.
The village got its name in honor of the Sheregeshev brothers,
who discovered an iron ore deposit in 1912. In colloquial speech you
can find the names "Gesh", "Sher".
Sheregesh is connected
with Tashtagol by road. There is also a railway line to Tashtagol.
In 2011, the Chugunash motor road was officially opened - the sports
and tourist complex "Sheregesh", which shortened the road from
Chugunash to Sheregesh by 16 km.
In the season 2018-2019, a
special electric train "Sheregesh-Express" was launched for guests
of the resort. The electric train follows the route Novokuznetsk -
Chugunash. Thanks to this, it became much easier to get to Sheregesh
from nearby cities.
The settlement is a typical settlement
serving an enterprise, in this case a mine and a processing plant.
There are only three main streets in the village, namely: Gagarin,
Dzerzhinsky and Yubileinaya. Most of the houses are typical red
brick Khrushchevs. There are also panel multi-storey buildings in
the village. The settlement consists of two parts: "new" and "old"
Sheregesh.
The ski complex was opened in 1981 for the Spartakiad
of the peoples of the RSFSR. Since the early 2000s, Sheregesh has
been known as a ski resort. During this time, the number of tourists
visiting Sheregesh increased from 30 thousand per year to 980
thousand per year. The tracks are located on the slopes of the Green
Mountain, at the foot of which there are about fifty hotels of
various types. The ski season lasts from November to May.
Characteristics of the slopes (alpine skiing, snowboarding):
Length - 700, 2000, 2300, 2500, 3200, 3500, 3600 and 3900 m.
Width - 50-200 m.
The difference in height is 300-900 m.
The
highest point is 1570 m above sea level.
The ski area is
formed of four peaks - the Mustag, Green, Kurgan and Utuya
mountains. The mountain is divided into 3 sectors - sector A and
sector E, South sector ("Malca", formerly Skyway).
In 2011,
there are 19 lifts of various types on the slopes: drag lifts, chair
lifts, gondola lifts.
In terms of skiing, Sheregesh is known
for a lot of snow and off-piste skiing. The thickness of the snow
cover in some places reaches 4 meters.
The season starts in
November and ends in May.
Over the 2014-2015 season, more
than a million tourists visited Sheregesh, making it the most
popular ski resort in Russia
The village got its name from the surname of the Sheregeshev
brothers, who in 1912 discovered an iron ore deposit here. A few decades
later, in 1931, geologists went here to study the area. Only in 1949 the
first mine was developed, at the same time the village began to be
inhabited by residents. Mostly lived men who worked for the benefit of
the Soviet metallurgy. In 1957, Sheregesh turned from a mine into a
settlement.
Sheregesh was not famous before, it was considered an
industrial town in which iron ore was mined for the plant in
Novokuznetsk. Since in those years metallurgy experienced a dawn, the
Sheregesh mines were valued.
In 1980, the Kemerovo region was
supposed to hold the 17th Spartakiad, the Zelenaya mountain was chosen
as the venue. This place was chosen by the champion of the USSR Glukhikh
Vitaly Igorevich, who in those years was the coach of the women's alpine
skiing team. During the year, tracks, a sports school were built, now a
hotel is located in it, in 1981 the Spartakiad was held.
After
the Spartakiad, the village was forgotten for some time, in the 90s they
began to develop a ski resort. Over the years, the resort has been
greatly rebuilt. Now the village is divided into old and new Sheregesh.
People who worked at the mines of Shergesh live in the old one, and the
young ones strive for more comfortable living conditions.
From
history it is clear that in the 90s Sheregesh received a new round in
development. At this time, ski slopes began to be developed, new sports
complexes and houses were built. At first there were only two tracks,
but after five years there were much more, lifts were built.
In
the Siberian region, Sheregesh is the most popular ski resort, which is
located near the mountains Mustang, Zelenaya, Kurgan, Utuya. It deserves
its popularity due to weather conditions, the temperature here does not
drop much, down to -15 degrees. There is always a lot of snow here, and
the slopes of the mountains are small, so tens of thousands of tourists
visit the town in winter.
In general, the mountains are here with
river valleys and clear clear lakes. In summer, caves, grottoes are
clearly visible, the terrain is rocky, but it amazes with unusual
beauty.
Despite the fact that the village is small, no more than
10,000 inhabitants live in it, the infrastructure is very developed: a
sufficient number of hotels at the foot of the mountain with excellent
living conditions, as well as shops and complexes for the convenience of
tourists. There are a large number of baths and saunas, in this place it
is especially pleasant to take a steam bath. The village of Sheregesh is
even compared with the famous Courchevel.
Sheregesh attracts
Siberian tourists also because it is convenient to snowboard and
freestyle here.
Currently, Sheregesh is developing summer
tourism, namely hiking in the mountains for several days, and climbers
often train here.
There are no problems with transport in the
village, special buses go here from Kemerovo and other large centers.