GULMARG '07/08: TRIP REPORT: snowboarding

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INSPIRATION & INFORMATION

I cannot recall how I first heard of a ski resort in India but it was described to me as an expanse larger than Verbier with vertical footage similar to Whistler, serviced by one six-person gondola. Many hours after that were spent Googling into the night to learn more about Gulmarg. "Ne Pofa, A short ski trip around the world" from M.dub is a beautiful video featuring the resort in the second half. It alone was enough to convince me to drop it all and go ASAP.

Trip reports provide the grittier details about a destination, so browsing the Thorn Tree Travel Forum and similar has become mandatory before any adventure. The chestnuts in all of the internet jibber-jabber are doughboyshredder's TR: Gulmarg Late Feb 2007, and reidhresko's TR: Gulmarg, Kashmir 1.5-12.2007 at the Teton Gravity Research Forum. DBS also has a great Flickr photoset from Gulmarg, as does batschmidt.

"Get High in Gulmarg" is about skiing in India despite what it sounds like, and be sure to check out "Kashmir: Land of Paradise" from Chill Factor. Three additional sources of info are: Himalayan Powder Dreams, Ellis Brigham Travel - Gulmarg, and "The Line of Control".

This is a Recommended Reading List for visitors to Jammu & Kashmir.
Photo credit: MHIP

ORIGINAL POST: 2 DEC 2007

AVALANCHE AWARENESS

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

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

DAY TWO ON SNOW AT GULMARG

The second stage opens to the public today for the first time in a week, allowing access to the upper mountain and many feet of untracked powder. It is the conclusion of a waiting period following the first major storm of February. It leaves a meter (three feet) of fresh snow in its wake. Game on - Release the Hounds!
Photo credit: John Carolin
Skier: Andrew Jowett

I generally get my ass handed to me by the steep, the deep, and the vastness of the terrain. It's my rookie day on Stage Two and I make several mistakes. I ride the gully, main bowl, since I haven't figured out how to ride the hill. I have no legs and no lungs (it's been 22 months since my last turns), and I foolishly take a 181cm board on the hill. I bury the nose and cartwheel the steeps several times. Far from ripping, I'm learning all over again. That night I sleep like a baby from 8:00 PM till morning.
Photo credit: John Carolin
Rider: Michael O'Connor

Just another day in Paradise for professional snowboarder Steve Fisher. This week it is India, next week who knows? Life is pretty good when you are on tour and sponsors are paying the bills.
Photo credit: Dave Watson
Rider: Steve Fisher

ORIGINAL POST: 10 FEB 2008

DRUNG, BABARESHI, & TANGMARG

Several of the long-distance runs off of Mt. Affarwat are named for the villages where they terminate after a distance of many kilometres. The bowls to the east of the summit, on the skier’s right, generally run to a drainage that leads to the small community at Drung. Babareshi can be reached from the bowls to the west of the summit. From either of these villages one must walk to Tangmarg, where there is transport back to Gulmarg.
Photo credit: Griffiths/Smith

ORIGINAL POST: 16 FEB 2008

GULMARG GONDOLA, STAGE ONE (2650-3050m)

Gondola car approaching G2 (top station, stage one).
Photo credit: MHIP

Matt R. finds airtime behind the Green Heights Hotel.
Photo credit: John Carolin

ORIGINAL POST: 21 FEB 2008

GULMARG GONDOLA, STAGE TWO (3050-3950m)

The pre-ski scene at G3.
Photo credit: MHIP

Hiking the ridge to the OB.
Photo credit: John Carolin

Andrew J. ripping cold smoke somewhere in Drung Bowls.
Photo credit: John Carolin

ORIGINAL POST: 22 FEB 2008

THE HOTEL ALPINE RIDGE, PT. THREE

Due to hit the shelves in the fall of 2008: Snowboard Canada, with a full-feature trip report, shot on location in Kashmir. SBC is a great magazine that too few American or European riders recognize; it is hard to find on sale outside Canada, and it is not available online. To my knowledge, when published this would be the first article on Gulmarg for a snowboard magazine in North America. Kudos!

Shooting stills for the piece is BC lens guy John Scarth, in Gulmarg with Carlo Wein as part of the Alterna Films crew, shooting a film (rumored to be named after an over-proof beverage) for release in the fall of 2008. In Transit, and Apples & Oranges are two of their previous films. Both are excellent, so in their new film look for the best high-quality footage of Gulmarg since the Warren Miller crew was in town.

We watched as they arrived at the taxi drop and they looked as bewildered as our crew did when we arrived. After all the traveling to get to Gulmarg, you may find yourself at arrival in the fading light, a hundred yards from your hotel, with a hundred pounds of gear, looking at narrow pathways stamped in the hip-deep snow. Pile your stuff on a sledge and have it hauled to your digs.

When we desperately needed entertainment, Carlo gave Sam a copy of Apples & Oranges, which went directly to heavy rotation on the laptops at the Hotel Alpine Ridge for the remainder of the season. Here is the banger trailer:

UPDATE: Alterna Action Films Knockout! premieres in Vancouver, 9 October 2008, and Snowboard Canada opens its winter run with a full-feature article on Gulmarg. Read this post from the blog Gulmarg '08/09.

ORIGINAL POST: 23 FEB 2008

GULMARG - THE 5TH NATIONAL WINTER GAMES

One of the highlights of the National Winter Games at Gulmarg was the ice hockey tournament. The rink itself was unusual in that the corners really were corners, there was almost no transition at all in the boards. For a somewhat witty, sarcastic, and definitely denigrating account of this event please read "Hockey Night in Kashmir" as reported by some Canuckleheads that were evidently unimpressed with this version of their national pastime.
Photo credit: wayoffside.wordpress.com

Winter Games Begin in Gulmarg - Kashmir Observer, 18 February 2008.
Army Runs Away With Medals - India Times, 21 February 2008.

ORIGINAL POST: 24 FEB 2008

KASHMIR, GULMARG REPORT MOST SNOWFALL IN 15 YEARS

Major snowfall is considered a causal factor in border monitors reporting zero militant infiltrations. Pray for more snow!
Photo credit: Sam Smith

Heavy snowfall brings down infiltration in Gulmarg - MeriNews, 23 February 2008.

ORIGINAL POST: 25 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

1ST GLOBAL SNOWBOARD MARATHON, GULMARG

First straightline 1300m of vert, then run uphill to the finish line!

A Rowdy Finish.

1st Position, John Carolin, South Africa;
2cd Position, Ruari MacFarlane, New Zealand;
3rd Position, Michael O'Connor, Australia.
Images courtesy of John Carolin

ORIGINAL POST: 01 MAR 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

GULMARG IN MARCH - 600 METERS OF FALLINE POWDER

Returned last night from a respite in Srinagar unsuspectingly surprised to hear reports of dry powder on the upper reaches of Mt. Affarwat. Fresh turns to be had easily by rolling straight out the gondi, more awaiting those hiking over the summit, and off to Sharks Fin.

The bootpack to Affarwat's summit, well-trod by mid-day.
Photo credits: John Carolin

ORIGINAL POST: 05 MAR 08