Following the death of Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev launched the Virgin Lands Campaign to solve the Soviet Union’s chronic food shortages by farming millions of hectares of uncultivated territory. While the initiative initially produced record-breaking harvests, it eventually faltered due to harsh climates, a lack of proper infrastructure, and Khrushchev's rigid insistence on planting corn in unsuitable regions. This ambitious project significantly altered the demographics of Central Asia and caused lasting environmental damage, such as soil erosion. Ultimately, the program’s failure to provide long-term food security weakened Khrushchev’s political standing, contributing to his removal from power in 1964. Despite its shortcomings, the campaign remains a pivotal example of how centralized planning and political ambition shaped the Soviet landscape.

Qurt (also known as kurt or kurut) is a traditional hard, salty cheese made from fermented milk, famously known as the "original travel snack" of Central Asia.

Invented by nomadic Turkic and Mongolian tribes over 2,500 years ago, it served as an essential tool for survival during long migrations across the arid steppes.

Beyond nutrition, it represents resilience and heritage. In Kazakhstan, it is particularly celebrated for its role in saving the lives of gulag prisoners, to whom local villagers threw the cheese "stones" to provide secret nourishment.

Let's ride some powder in the Switzerland of Central Asia.

In this episode of Steppe By Steppe, we journey to the "Mountains of Heaven" to uncover a skiing legacy that is both ancient and radically modern. While the rest of the world looks to the Alps, we explore why Kyrgyzstan is a "primed canvas" for those seeking the wildest backcountry on Earth.

We trace the timeline from 10,000-year-old wooden planks in the Altai region to the Soviet Olympic training grounds of Karakol, where the USSR once tested torpedoes in the same lakes where we now find après-ski relaxation.

Join us as we discuss the "art" of navigating the region’s notorious "sugar snow," the rise of community-based tourism in the world’s largest walnut forest, and how modern geopolitics is bringing a new generation of "draft-dodging" instructors to the Kyrgyz slopes.

Whether you’re here for the yurt-based expeditions or the fermented mare’s milk, this episode proves that in the Tien Shan, the adventure is always "never not powder shredding".