I have just left India and already it seems we weren’t there for long. The truth is, we weren’t. The goal: to ski at Gulmarg, a small ski resort, the only of it’s kind in the entire Himalaya. Equiped with the highest gondola in the world, we were set to ski some stunning terrain and magical snow, and capture the experience (both photography and video). Upon arrival however, we learned quickly they are having the worst season anyone can remember, and to make matters worse the snow stability was beyond bad. With our safety caps on, we poked around and gathered enough footage we could for the web episode I’m doing for Arcteryx/Goretex. Deciding to leave before schedule, it seems we made the right call. We jumped ship prior to a big forecasted snowfall, and we’ve seen all over the news 17 soldiers died tragically in an avalanche in Gulmarg – tragic because this could have been prevented 100% with some reasonable snow safety knowledge.
It was incredible to go to India and experience such a completely different world, warm people, and the stunning beauty of the Himalaya, however we’ll have to wait until another year to experience safe and powdery skiing.
