Yes it would seem, after much investigation the rumours are true. Even if you have been granted a VISA with allowable re-entry, the Indian Customs can and will deny you entry back into the country if you have not remained outside for AT LEAST 2 MONTHS!
On exit Customs officials are stamping some passports with a stamp reading you may not return within 2 months and others, like myself seem to get no stamp which is adding to the confusion as I flew my way from Delhi to Kathmandu in Nepal.
Even failing to verbally pass on this vital information to myself or other fellow travellers just seems crazy.
This seems absolutely absurd as it seems to apply to travelers who have already been issued a multiple entry VISA and now they have just slapped down this rule to include EVERYONE without any kind of notice. Initially I thought this was classic Chinese whispers amongst the backpacker community and just applied to people wanting to leave the country, get a new VISA and then return to India. Ok I guess I was trying to use some logic, stupidly my friend Pete reminded me!
You can apply for a ‘Permit to Re-enter Within 2 months’ ‘This permit is granted only if the need is urgent, and not for Business Activities/Employment or pursuing studies/research, etc.’ Or ‘If the visa holder is traveling to multiple countries on the same itinerary, no permit is needed as long as trip follows the itinerary exactly. The visa holder must carry a copy of the itinerary to show the Immigration Officer.’
Again this is just added bureaucracy making for more hassle and lining up in unorganised government offices, where process is extremely unclear and officials unhelpful. The BBC article written in December states that the Indian Government are using this as a justification because of David Headley’s involvement (who was charged in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks) due to his travel back and forward to identify targets.
Rumour has it that even some foreign nationals now have to return to their place of origin to gain a new VISA to return to India which in some cases can mean timely and expensive travel, rather than shooting off to Kathmandu or Bangkok to get a renewed VISA.
I hate to think how this will affect tourism in Nepal, as many backpackers wish to just trek or climb for a month and pop back over to India, within their 6 month VISA, now this seems a little more difficult and may take some extra planning & thought. Good old Indian bureaucracy....when will the unbelievable cease to amaze?
Further Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8427798.stm
https://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com/guidelines?id=16
www.sunstoneadventures.com
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Overland Kashmiri Trip from Srinagar, Jammu to Delhi
After chilling on Nageen Lake in the excellent 'Lake Superior' Houseboat, owned and operated by Gullam Langoo, for 2 luxurious days it was time to head back to the hub of Delhi.
Watching the sunrise over the Himalayas, with the lake people coming to life is a great way to end a ski season, or for that matter a week or three, in Gulmarg skiing. I visited the Hazbaral shrine on Dal Lakeside which had many worshippers visiting, praying and chilling on the green lawns with friends and family. I returned to chillax for the afternoon, to be paddled around Nageen Lake, finishing off a Wilbur Smith novel as the water lapped up on the Shikara sunbathing in perfect 25-28 degree sunny weather.
I normally fly out back to Delhi but was keen to go 'overland' and try something new. For backpackers and dirt bags a like 250 rupees for the (hopefully 8 hour) jeep ride takes you to Jammu (the winter capital) from Srinagar (the summer capital) connecting you to the train that will deliver you back to Delhi. We set off and it wasn't long until we passed through the tunnel and started winding our way through the deep mountain pass, with a lot of traffic ie trucks and buses, it's a little nervy with the (typically) crazy passing manoeuvres and huge drops of hundreds of meters vertical. It was a good jeep, a Chevy Tavera and I was joined with 7 others crammed into the ride, albeit fairly comfortably as we listened to some 'classic' Indian music. Good spirits and trying a some great local food & snacks a long the way ie cashew nuts (that didn't cost the earth) and an interesting kind of Kashmiri Tea (unlike the Northern Kawa) that was more savoury in which you added sesame seeds and salt - very very palatable!
We winded our way down, watched my monkeys on the side of the road and then (the inevitable happened) with us breaking a front axel on the Chevy. A bit of surprise actually as it was rather a new vehicle. We limped a long, after much debate and made it to a mechanic, which was rather hilarious watching them get the crow bar and hammer out - clearly not having a scooby doo (clue) what they were up to. Oh well 8 hours turned into 11 and unfortunately I missed my 9.45pm train (380 Rupees) but made it onto the 11.45pm having to buy a general ticket (130 Rupees) but grabbing a 2nd class sleeper seat (luckily not a full train) and upgrading for an additional 120 Rupees, so not a bad result and time to bed down on the train and awake an arrival in Delhi. The 2nd class sleeper is certainly the way to travel, especially if you can score a top berth as this is fixed, and superb for longer trips as you have a seat and the option of having a little siesta should you feel.
We pulled into a roasting Delhi of 33 degrees + and I welcomed my crazy old friend, good old Delhi, it's always an adventure and something crazy around every corner!
http://www.sunstoneadventures.com/
Kashmiri
Watching the sunrise over the Himalayas, with the lake people coming to life is a great way to end a ski season, or for that matter a week or three, in Gulmarg skiing. I visited the Hazbaral shrine on Dal Lakeside which had many worshippers visiting, praying and chilling on the green lawns with friends and family. I returned to chillax for the afternoon, to be paddled around Nageen Lake, finishing off a Wilbur Smith novel as the water lapped up on the Shikara sunbathing in perfect 25-28 degree sunny weather.
I normally fly out back to Delhi but was keen to go 'overland' and try something new. For backpackers and dirt bags a like 250 rupees for the (hopefully 8 hour) jeep ride takes you to Jammu (the winter capital) from Srinagar (the summer capital) connecting you to the train that will deliver you back to Delhi. We set off and it wasn't long until we passed through the tunnel and started winding our way through the deep mountain pass, with a lot of traffic ie trucks and buses, it's a little nervy with the (typically) crazy passing manoeuvres and huge drops of hundreds of meters vertical. It was a good jeep, a Chevy Tavera and I was joined with 7 others crammed into the ride, albeit fairly comfortably as we listened to some 'classic' Indian music. Good spirits and trying a some great local food & snacks a long the way ie cashew nuts (that didn't cost the earth) and an interesting kind of Kashmiri Tea (unlike the Northern Kawa) that was more savoury in which you added sesame seeds and salt - very very palatable!
We winded our way down, watched my monkeys on the side of the road and then (the inevitable happened) with us breaking a front axel on the Chevy. A bit of surprise actually as it was rather a new vehicle. We limped a long, after much debate and made it to a mechanic, which was rather hilarious watching them get the crow bar and hammer out - clearly not having a scooby doo (clue) what they were up to. Oh well 8 hours turned into 11 and unfortunately I missed my 9.45pm train (380 Rupees) but made it onto the 11.45pm having to buy a general ticket (130 Rupees) but grabbing a 2nd class sleeper seat (luckily not a full train) and upgrading for an additional 120 Rupees, so not a bad result and time to bed down on the train and awake an arrival in Delhi. The 2nd class sleeper is certainly the way to travel, especially if you can score a top berth as this is fixed, and superb for longer trips as you have a seat and the option of having a little siesta should you feel.
We pulled into a roasting Delhi of 33 degrees + and I welcomed my crazy old friend, good old Delhi, it's always an adventure and something crazy around every corner!
http://www.sunstoneadventures.com/
Kashmiri
Saturday, 20 March 2010
The season finale viewing the beautiful Nanga Parbat and Nun Kun Peaks from the summit of Gulmarg Ski Resort in Kashmir.
Well the freezing level was predicted to rise to over 4000m by Tuesday so a last chance to enjoy the last of the silky powder up above 3000m in Gulmarg. I had a day’s guiding with Bangalore ex-pat Guillaume from the US and he was stoked to summit Mt.Apherwat at 4200m exclaiming ‘ This is the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen’ and it was one of the most clear days I’ve ever had on the top. Perfect views of 9th Highest Mountain in the world – Nanga Parbat ‘the naked mountain’ standing at 8,126m. It was first climbed by Austrian legend Herman Buhl in 1953.
The first ascent was a bit of an epic by all accounts, and after 31 people had already died trying to climb it you can understand why. After his companions had bailed out on him, Buhl pressed on alone topping out very late around 7pm. It was a lot more of a mission than he expected and was further hampered when he lost a crampon on his descent downwards! When darkness arrived he was forced to bivouac standing upright on a narrow ledge, holding onto a tiny handhold with just one hand. Probably not his best sleep he’s ever had! He managed to hang in there balancing while dozing and was lucky to have a calm windless night. He returned to base camp some 40 hours after summiting, with no oxygen, Buhl is the only climber to make a first attempt, solo of an 8000meter. Incredible effort.
Another beautiful mountain we could see from the summit was the twin peaks of Nun Kun massif which is comprised of Nun (7,135m) and Kun (7,077m). The peaks lie 250km east of Srinagar in the Sulu Valley and are pretty outstanding as a huge white pyramidal massif. First ascent was in 1953 by Pierre Vittoz, Claude Kogan a French-Swiss-Indian-Sherpa team also in 1953.
A breakdown of the 10th Highest Mountains in the World (source Wikipedia).
Everest Sagarmatha (Nepali), "Head of the World",[7]
Chomolangma (Tibetan), "Goddess mother of the snows"[7] 8,848 29,035.44 1953 Highest mountain on Earth, on the border between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.
K2 Chogo Gangri 8,611 28,251 1954 2nd highest mountain on Earth. Located on the border between the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Kangchenjunga Kangchen Dzö-nga, "Five Treasures of the Great Snow" 8,586 28,169 1955 3rd highest mountain on Earth. Located on the border between Nepal and Sikkim, India.
Lhotse "South Peak" 8,516 27,940 1956 4th highest mountain on Earth. Situated between Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, and Nepal, in the shadow of Mount Everest.
Makalu "The Great Black" 8,462 27,765 1955 5th highest mountain on Earth. Situated on the border between, Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China and Nepal.
Cho Oyu Qowowuyag, "Turquoise Goddess" 8,201 26,905 1954 6th highest mountain on Earth. Situated on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, and Nepal.
Dhaulagiri "White Mountain" 8,167 26,764 1960 7th highest mountain on Earth. Situated in Nepal.
Manaslu Kutang, "Mountain of the Spirit" 8,156 26,758 1956 8th highest mountain on Earth. Located in the Gurkha Himal, Nepal.
Nanga Parbat Diamir, "Naked Mountain" 8,126 26,660 1953 9th highest mountain on Earth. Located in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
Annapurna "Goddess of the Harvests" 8,091 26,545 1950 10th highest mountain on Earth. Situated in Nepal.
www.sunstoneadventures.com
The first ascent was a bit of an epic by all accounts, and after 31 people had already died trying to climb it you can understand why. After his companions had bailed out on him, Buhl pressed on alone topping out very late around 7pm. It was a lot more of a mission than he expected and was further hampered when he lost a crampon on his descent downwards! When darkness arrived he was forced to bivouac standing upright on a narrow ledge, holding onto a tiny handhold with just one hand. Probably not his best sleep he’s ever had! He managed to hang in there balancing while dozing and was lucky to have a calm windless night. He returned to base camp some 40 hours after summiting, with no oxygen, Buhl is the only climber to make a first attempt, solo of an 8000meter. Incredible effort.
Another beautiful mountain we could see from the summit was the twin peaks of Nun Kun massif which is comprised of Nun (7,135m) and Kun (7,077m). The peaks lie 250km east of Srinagar in the Sulu Valley and are pretty outstanding as a huge white pyramidal massif. First ascent was in 1953 by Pierre Vittoz, Claude Kogan a French-Swiss-Indian-Sherpa team also in 1953.
A breakdown of the 10th Highest Mountains in the World (source Wikipedia).
Everest Sagarmatha (Nepali), "Head of the World",[7]
Chomolangma (Tibetan), "Goddess mother of the snows"[7] 8,848 29,035.44 1953 Highest mountain on Earth, on the border between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.
K2 Chogo Gangri 8,611 28,251 1954 2nd highest mountain on Earth. Located on the border between the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Kangchenjunga Kangchen Dzö-nga, "Five Treasures of the Great Snow" 8,586 28,169 1955 3rd highest mountain on Earth. Located on the border between Nepal and Sikkim, India.
Lhotse "South Peak" 8,516 27,940 1956 4th highest mountain on Earth. Situated between Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, and Nepal, in the shadow of Mount Everest.
Makalu "The Great Black" 8,462 27,765 1955 5th highest mountain on Earth. Situated on the border between, Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China and Nepal.
Cho Oyu Qowowuyag, "Turquoise Goddess" 8,201 26,905 1954 6th highest mountain on Earth. Situated on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, and Nepal.
Dhaulagiri "White Mountain" 8,167 26,764 1960 7th highest mountain on Earth. Situated in Nepal.
Manaslu Kutang, "Mountain of the Spirit" 8,156 26,758 1956 8th highest mountain on Earth. Located in the Gurkha Himal, Nepal.
Nanga Parbat Diamir, "Naked Mountain" 8,126 26,660 1953 9th highest mountain on Earth. Located in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
Annapurna "Goddess of the Harvests" 8,091 26,545 1950 10th highest mountain on Earth. Situated in Nepal.
www.sunstoneadventures.com
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Sunshine Peak area backcountry tour culminates 2 epic days of light powder in Gulmarg, Kashmir
Another lovely 50cm snowfall came and produced surprisingly light powder for March. The freezing level dropped further than the forecast predicted and we were in business. A 5 day sunny period of high pressure allowed us to let loose hitting the cornices, bowls, banks and colouirs with reckless abandon. I was astonished when I joined a group of 3 to make the queue a total of 4 for the 2nd phase to open – it really is worth coming to Gulmarg in March with phat amounts of snow base and just a handful of skiers and riders. The gondola guy reckoned there was a count of 18 and our group of 4 riders struggled to see any skiers on the hill, although there was still lots if Indian tourists milling around the mid station and teahouses!
The second day of bluebird was the opportunity I’d been waiting for to branch out and get over to the legendary ‘Sunshine Peak’ area. Most people camp out overnight or iniaite a very early start (staying in G4 etc) but we reckoned we could get over there and back, knowing it would be a late one but with superb weather, lots of snacks, water, extra gear ie headtorches and down jackets (just in case) we set off from G4 at 10.30 (about as fast as we could get to the top and ‘get on the road’).
What an incredible day, we headed across the ridge and dropped into the south-facing bowls (warming up so some Avi risk here) where some snow had already released in slides so we chose a path that had already gone to be on the safe side! We accessed a ridge that would take us to a large bowl system right of the large jagged black pyramidal peak of ‘Sunset Peak’. The ridge was a lovely consistent 25 -28 degrees pitch pretty much all the way up and after 3 hours of skinning we gained some serious vertical. The US boys (Matt, Wes and Lee) were heading out to camp for 3 or so nights and it was nice to share the breaking of trail when they finally caught us up.
We broke for a quick 15 minute lunch as we were conscious of our time, as the slope we had come down to access the ridge was fairly large and I reckoned Mika and I would have a good 2- 2.5 hour skin back after our ski – depending where we decided to drop in. With time ticking we decided not to go all the way to the peak but take a lovely safe, mellow 25 degree line on the north face into the bowl which proved to be absolute perfect cruisey smooth, silky pow pow turns – just deluxe and understandable why Gulmarg Heliski want to access this area for their commercial operation next year. We put 2 beautiful lines down the fall line - skier and snowboarder in tandem, lapping it up making the hard work all worthwhile cruising a huge untouched bowl that had a huge build-up of snow! This led us into a drainage in which we had sussed out would bring us around to a line that we could skin back up to the Gulmarg ridge.
What a run, but time for more work again and I reckoned the 2.5 hour prediction back was still on track and then we could traverse back across to G2. If you had time you could ski down to Drang but this would make a massive outing with the snow deteriorating below 3000m vertical. The sun beat down on us but we made progress slowly and surely finally topping out on the ridge for sunset! We cut it a little short and should have skinned to the army hut but instead dropped in a bit too early to the drung bowls, I realised this and we took a high left traverse. On the way Mika pulled out a big release which to my horror, took him down 100m and as he luckily pulled up the avalanche kept going down the guts with large soft chunks of warm, spring snow, – my heart was in my mouth but he rode it out on top and was not buried, not hurt. I got down to him in seconds! This pulled him down past the ideal traverse line and with light fading we pulled out our down jackets and head torches to slog it back to the traverse out above the teahouses. By this time Mika was knackered (me too)traversing on the board was hard going so we were very happy to receive a hearty greeting by the teahouse boys (who stay over the night) normally servicing the daytrippers at the gondola mid station. They had thought we were 2 tigers with the scraping noises of the frozen crud from ski and board and were happy to see our torches, feeding us coffees, fortifying us for the night ski down the 1st phase of the gondola. I lead Mika down snow plowing with my head torch glowing as he followed using his skinning poles and we finally made it down to solid terra firma making the walk back to our respective lodges. A well-earned beer, dal and rice at 9.35pm and I crashed to bed.
What a finally to the end of the season!?!? Nah, it’s too good a snow and good weather to leave quite yet - Im hanging here for a while, get out do some more superb skinning – what a great time to be in Gulmarg with no crowds and great snow above 3000m! Rock on!
For photos please see the Sunstone Adventures Facebook Page and become a fan!
www.sunstoneadventures.com
The second day of bluebird was the opportunity I’d been waiting for to branch out and get over to the legendary ‘Sunshine Peak’ area. Most people camp out overnight or iniaite a very early start (staying in G4 etc) but we reckoned we could get over there and back, knowing it would be a late one but with superb weather, lots of snacks, water, extra gear ie headtorches and down jackets (just in case) we set off from G4 at 10.30 (about as fast as we could get to the top and ‘get on the road’).
What an incredible day, we headed across the ridge and dropped into the south-facing bowls (warming up so some Avi risk here) where some snow had already released in slides so we chose a path that had already gone to be on the safe side! We accessed a ridge that would take us to a large bowl system right of the large jagged black pyramidal peak of ‘Sunset Peak’. The ridge was a lovely consistent 25 -28 degrees pitch pretty much all the way up and after 3 hours of skinning we gained some serious vertical. The US boys (Matt, Wes and Lee) were heading out to camp for 3 or so nights and it was nice to share the breaking of trail when they finally caught us up.
We broke for a quick 15 minute lunch as we were conscious of our time, as the slope we had come down to access the ridge was fairly large and I reckoned Mika and I would have a good 2- 2.5 hour skin back after our ski – depending where we decided to drop in. With time ticking we decided not to go all the way to the peak but take a lovely safe, mellow 25 degree line on the north face into the bowl which proved to be absolute perfect cruisey smooth, silky pow pow turns – just deluxe and understandable why Gulmarg Heliski want to access this area for their commercial operation next year. We put 2 beautiful lines down the fall line - skier and snowboarder in tandem, lapping it up making the hard work all worthwhile cruising a huge untouched bowl that had a huge build-up of snow! This led us into a drainage in which we had sussed out would bring us around to a line that we could skin back up to the Gulmarg ridge.
What a run, but time for more work again and I reckoned the 2.5 hour prediction back was still on track and then we could traverse back across to G2. If you had time you could ski down to Drang but this would make a massive outing with the snow deteriorating below 3000m vertical. The sun beat down on us but we made progress slowly and surely finally topping out on the ridge for sunset! We cut it a little short and should have skinned to the army hut but instead dropped in a bit too early to the drung bowls, I realised this and we took a high left traverse. On the way Mika pulled out a big release which to my horror, took him down 100m and as he luckily pulled up the avalanche kept going down the guts with large soft chunks of warm, spring snow, – my heart was in my mouth but he rode it out on top and was not buried, not hurt. I got down to him in seconds! This pulled him down past the ideal traverse line and with light fading we pulled out our down jackets and head torches to slog it back to the traverse out above the teahouses. By this time Mika was knackered (me too)traversing on the board was hard going so we were very happy to receive a hearty greeting by the teahouse boys (who stay over the night) normally servicing the daytrippers at the gondola mid station. They had thought we were 2 tigers with the scraping noises of the frozen crud from ski and board and were happy to see our torches, feeding us coffees, fortifying us for the night ski down the 1st phase of the gondola. I lead Mika down snow plowing with my head torch glowing as he followed using his skinning poles and we finally made it down to solid terra firma making the walk back to our respective lodges. A well-earned beer, dal and rice at 9.35pm and I crashed to bed.
What a finally to the end of the season!?!? Nah, it’s too good a snow and good weather to leave quite yet - Im hanging here for a while, get out do some more superb skinning – what a great time to be in Gulmarg with no crowds and great snow above 3000m! Rock on!
For photos please see the Sunstone Adventures Facebook Page and become a fan!
www.sunstoneadventures.com
Friday, 5 March 2010
Another epic day at Gulmarg, Kashmir and the Kiwis beat the Aussies watched by an injured powder hound!
After more snow we were back to that usual feeling of ‘Gondola Opening Anticipation’! The snow had consolidated somewhat and it meant the avalanche control crew could ski cut rather than having to bomb on this occasion. The day before I was mucking about at the Gondola bottom station trying to stick a rail that was a small bridge with some exposure – unfortunately the rail got the better of me and resulted in some badly bruised/ if not cracked ribs, back and arm – that’ll remind me that I’m a powderhound and not a park rat!
Dosed up on 4 large Ibprufens through the day and the 2nd phase was open just before 12pm. Being a Gulmarg Season’s Pass holder allows you the privilege to go to the front of the queue for your first run. It’s worth the 25,000 Rupees just for those golden few times to claim pole position in Gondola number 1, albeit being quite expensive as far as international standards go! And again I claimed that position and beat my mates to drop into the main gondola bowl first! It was fast silky, smooth chalky goodness. I managed 6 runs off the top finishing in an Afferwat Summit and skiing 5th bowl and the singing trees. We had some Kingfisher Premiums to wash down our Bakshi Burgers and mull over a sweet day, before jumping in a jeep to get over to the Avalanche Talk, held at Pine Palace on the Gondola side of strawberry valley. It’s always a very infomatitive catch up with the local crew and newcomers for that week. It gives a great overview of what’s going down and a perspective of how the mountain works and of course some great insights into Avalanche awareness from a localised point of view!
I decided to pull in a rest day after this epic and nurse my bloody sore ribs – coincidentally it was the first One Day International cricket match between New Zealand and arch rivals Australia playing in Napier. I kicked back all day and watched the action as the balance tipped back and forwards throughout the match. The Kiwis got there in the end winning by 2 wickets and 5 balls to spare – a close one indeed! I also won 150 ruppees from the locals, but they’ll have a chance to win those back as the Aussies are reknowned for their tenancious abilities to come back. C’mon the Kiwis and we’re looking forward to another 2nd phase opening Friday arvo or Saturday for sure!
Dosed up on 4 large Ibprufens through the day and the 2nd phase was open just before 12pm. Being a Gulmarg Season’s Pass holder allows you the privilege to go to the front of the queue for your first run. It’s worth the 25,000 Rupees just for those golden few times to claim pole position in Gondola number 1, albeit being quite expensive as far as international standards go! And again I claimed that position and beat my mates to drop into the main gondola bowl first! It was fast silky, smooth chalky goodness. I managed 6 runs off the top finishing in an Afferwat Summit and skiing 5th bowl and the singing trees. We had some Kingfisher Premiums to wash down our Bakshi Burgers and mull over a sweet day, before jumping in a jeep to get over to the Avalanche Talk, held at Pine Palace on the Gondola side of strawberry valley. It’s always a very infomatitive catch up with the local crew and newcomers for that week. It gives a great overview of what’s going down and a perspective of how the mountain works and of course some great insights into Avalanche awareness from a localised point of view!
I decided to pull in a rest day after this epic and nurse my bloody sore ribs – coincidentally it was the first One Day International cricket match between New Zealand and arch rivals Australia playing in Napier. I kicked back all day and watched the action as the balance tipped back and forwards throughout the match. The Kiwis got there in the end winning by 2 wickets and 5 balls to spare – a close one indeed! I also won 150 ruppees from the locals, but they’ll have a chance to win those back as the Aussies are reknowned for their tenancious abilities to come back. C’mon the Kiwis and we’re looking forward to another 2nd phase opening Friday arvo or Saturday for sure!
Another epic day at Gulmarg, Kashmir and the Kiwis beat the Aussies watched by an injured powder hound!
After more snow we were back to that usual feeling of ‘Gondola Opening Anticipation’! The snow had consolidated somewhat and it meant the avalanche control crew could ski cut rather than having to bomb on this occasion. The day before I was mucking about at the Gondola bottom station trying to stick a rail that was a small bridge with some exposure – unfortunately the rail got the better of me and resulted in some badly bruised/ if not cracked ribs, back and arm – that’ll remind me that I’m a powderhound and not a park rat!
Dosed up on 4 large Ibprufens through the day and the 2nd phase was open just before 12pm. Being a Gulmarg Season’s Pass holder allows you the privilege to go to the front of the queue for your first run. It’s worth the 25,000 Rupees just for those golden few times to claim pole position in Gondola number 1, albeit being quite expensive as far as international standards go! And again I claimed that position and beat my mates to drop into the main gondola bowl first! It was fast silky, smooth chalky goodness. I managed 6 runs off the top finishing in an Afferwat Summit and skiing 5th bowl and the singing trees. We had some Kingfisher Premiums to wash down our Bakshi Burgers and mull over a sweet day, before jumping in a jeep to get over to the Avalanche Talk, held at Pine Palace on the Gondola side of strawberry valley. It’s always a very infomatitive catch up with the local crew and newcomers for that week. It gives a great overview of what’s going down and a perspective of how the mountain works and of course some great insights into Avalanche awareness from a localised point of view!
I decided to pull in a rest day after this epic and nurse my bloody sore ribs – coincidentally it was the first One Day International cricket match between New Zealand and arch rivals Australia playing in Napier. I kicked back all day and watched the action as the balance tipped back and forwards throughout the match. The Kiwis got there in the end winning by 2 wickets and 5 balls to spare – a close one indeed! I also won 150 ruppees from the locals, but they’ll have a chance to win those back as the Aussies are reknowned for their tenancious abilities to come back. C’mon the Kiwis and we’re looking forward to another 2nd phase opening Friday arvo or Saturday for sure!
Dosed up on 4 large Ibprufens through the day and the 2nd phase was open just before 12pm. Being a Gulmarg Season’s Pass holder allows you the privilege to go to the front of the queue for your first run. It’s worth the 25,000 Rupees just for those golden few times to claim pole position in Gondola number 1, albeit being quite expensive as far as international standards go! And again I claimed that position and beat my mates to drop into the main gondola bowl first! It was fast silky, smooth chalky goodness. I managed 6 runs off the top finishing in an Afferwat Summit and skiing 5th bowl and the singing trees. We had some Kingfisher Premiums to wash down our Bakshi Burgers and mull over a sweet day, before jumping in a jeep to get over to the Avalanche Talk, held at Pine Palace on the Gondola side of strawberry valley. It’s always a very infomatitive catch up with the local crew and newcomers for that week. It gives a great overview of what’s going down and a perspective of how the mountain works and of course some great insights into Avalanche awareness from a localised point of view!
I decided to pull in a rest day after this epic and nurse my bloody sore ribs – coincidentally it was the first One Day International cricket match between New Zealand and arch rivals Australia playing in Napier. I kicked back all day and watched the action as the balance tipped back and forwards throughout the match. The Kiwis got there in the end winning by 2 wickets and 5 balls to spare – a close one indeed! I also won 150 ruppees from the locals, but they’ll have a chance to win those back as the Aussies are reknowned for their tenancious abilities to come back. C’mon the Kiwis and we’re looking forward to another 2nd phase opening Friday arvo or Saturday for sure!
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