This post is dedicated to the friends and family of Shaun Kratzer, a man lost in an avalanche one year ago today, at Gulmarg. An account of this sad event by someone who was there can be found at The Avy in Gulmarg. There is also a discussion of this particular avalanche with photographs of the crown and deposition located at this forum thread at Teton Gravity Research. (The area of that slide is now known as Shaggy's Face). An additional account of this tragedy can be read where it was originally reported at News.com.au (Caution: This article is accompanied by a disturbing photograph of the victim).
The snowfall at Gulmarg this season has been generous, increasing the danger of avalanche at the resort, and especially in the adjacent bowls, which are unpatrolled, but heavily skied. There has been a slide in every bowl of Mt. Affarwat this season. Fortunately, the resort has retained the services of experienced patrollers and avalanche experts, and has gained permission to use explosives to trigger pre-emptive slides to control the danger to skiers.
Please consult the following avalanche resources before venturing into the backcountry, and if you intend to visit Gulmarg the patrollers firmly ask that one come equipped with a transceiver, a probe, a shovel, and the knowledge to properly use them all.
AVALANCHE RESOURCES:
The Avalanche Center
The Avalanche Encyclopedia
Surviving the Backcountry - Tahoe World.
WestWide Avalanche Network
Photo credit: Corey Putkunz
ORIGINAL POST: 08 FEB 2008
AVALANCHE AWARENESS
DAY ONE ON SNOW AT GULMARG
Everyone is ready early and excited to get on snow. I lace up snowboard boots for the first time in 20 months after a season off for an ankle surgery. The familiar routine of dressing for the mountain comes back quickly and I’m relaxed. Hand passes hand eye to lace, buttons snap, goggles are levelled. In an instant I’m where I’ve been a thousand times before, readying myself for the day, picturing sweet turns and fun lines.
The gondola barn is only a short, downhill ride from the hotel and we make for it after a quick breakfast omelet. We arrive to discover that avalanche control is still in progress on the upper mountain and the upper gondola will be closed all day. One can hear the explosives going off from time to time, and later we learn that the snowpack is good - the morters did not trigger any avalanches, so it's expected the upper stage of the gondola will open tomorrow.
Instead we take four runs in deep snow on the lower stage and quickly find every flat spot on the hill. Frustrating! I haven't had to unbuckle and walk this much in many years. But it's only a matter of learning the hill and knowing what to avoid, and we soon have it dialled. In the afternoon we do the Gulmarg-Tangmarg run through the trees. It's several kilometers below, so a jeep picks us up and we return to Gulmarg.
Photo credit(s): Griffiths/Smith
ORIGINAL POST: 09 FEB 2008
AVALANCHE AWARENESS, PT. TWO: GULMARG
Brian Newman, leader of the Snow Safety team for Gulmarg 07/08, with Nanga Parbat in the background.Mr. Newman is a no-nonsense individual who takes his job very seriously, and each Tuesday night he and his Snow Safety team hosted a (spellbinding) presentation on the subject of avalanche danger at the Pine Palace. This was always a very well attended, SRO event that never failed to make a sobering impression on the gathered crowd. 
Brian is careful to stress that this presentation in no way substituted for actual avalanche training, and in doing so, most definitely motivated many in attendance to seek out that training. (The Snow Safety team established a permanent, simulated buried victim and transceiver as a practice facility on the grounds of the Pine Palace).
Photo credit: John Carolin
Image courtesy of Brian Newman
Lest you remain unimpressed with the inherent danger of a big mountain environment I invite you to read this arresting submission by Ptor - the 2007 Kashmir Winter Report.
ORIGINAL POST: 26 FEB 2008
SECOND STORM OF FEB '08, GULMARG
Second storm of February 2008 and the upper gondola (stage two) finally opens! Heavy snowfall on an already destabilizing snowpack caused the upper stage to be closed for several days during the storm, and for a day or more for the ensuing avalanche control. The shutdown continued when the army was unable to deliver the allotted avalanche explosives due to other activities. This led to grumbling, grousing, and finally the hiking and skinning necessary to reach the fluffy goods.
This storm had closed out almost any opportunity to ride due to extremely poor visibility, and even the lower stage had been closed for for a short time. When it opened the hounds were waiting at the gates, and the lineup at the lower stage gondola was edgy, tense, and impatient. We got fully duped because in our excitement we forgot the first rule of deep snow - find all the available pitch on the hill. Instead of heading to the skiers left we dropped right down the gondola line, and after a few slow turns we were stopped dead in our tracks. Many of us ended up actually walking downhill. The sole groomer track had not been rolled out, so first tracks meant pretty slow going. We were sweating balls!
Photo credit: Griffiths/Smith
Photo credit: Sam Smith
ORIGINAL POST: 27 FEB 2008
AVALANCHE AWARENESS, PT. THREE
The video below contains NO footage of avalanche events at Gulmarg; it is included here to give one an idea of just how dangerous is this natural phenomenon. The subject of avalanche danger is taken very seriously by the Snow Safety team and the Gulmarg Ski Patrol, and these people did a very good job of ensuring the safety of visitors to Gulmarg. They ought to receive a measure of credit for there being no avalanche fatalities at Gulmarg during this season.
Here is the video, best seen with the volume off, since the soundtrack only glorifies danger, which, as anyone who has been in an avalanche event knows, is not glorious in any way, whatsoever.
ORIGINAL POST: 04 MAR 2008
