GULMARG — For nearly twenty years, Mohammed Anwar Sheikh skied down the bowls of a Himalayan peak in Kashmir and waited. Not for the snow, which covered the mountain every winter with meters of powder and not for the impending construction of the world's longest gondola. He waited, patiently, for the tourists to return.
"It was empty here," Sheikh said. "The mountain was waiting for people."
In 1989, Sheikh was one of six Kashmiri men selected for the first official ski patrol on Gulmarg Mountain. The job was new and the responsibilities unclear, Sheikh said, but there was excitement about the mountain's future. Hoteliers were building, guides were touring, and Sheikh was learning how to keep the slopes safe for winter athletes.
When the predicted boom of Kashmiri tourism turned into militant gunfire around the countryside that year, Sheikh and his colleagues were left patrolling the more than 7,000 acres of terrain alone. Gulmarg, for the most part, remained a quiet haven only kilometers from the Pakistani border during what locals call the "years of turmoil."
For the past seven years, however, there has been a steady decline in conflict-related deaths, which peaked in 2001, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal database. Last year alone there was a 60 percent decrease of civilian casualties. Officials say
Gulmarg, which translates into meadow of flowers, is ready to bloom again. The Jammu and Kashmir state tourism department is once again teaming up with foreign investors and tourism experts with hopes of making Gulmarg a world-class ski resort.
For the moment, however, the mountain with its limited infrastructure — don't think you can bank on a hot shower here — remains a Shangri-La for the thrill seeking skier.
So Sheikh, now 45, is picking up where he left off. For the first time in his two-decade-long career, Sheikh is wearing the internationally recognized red and white uniform of ski patrollers, albeit a faded donation from the Whistler Mountain authority in British Columbia, Canada.
"Everyone knows what this means," Sheikh said pointing to the white cross on his jacket's red sleeve. "I am proud to wear this, but hope one day we will have our own jackets. I hope, with time, we can manage the mountain for ourselves."
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir hired Brian Newman, from the USA and James O’Brien, from New Zealand, as head snow safety officers, who are reinstating the patrollers’ suspended training from 1989. They are focusing on avalanche preparedness and rescue along with basic first aid to provide a consistently safe environment for the growing numbers of tourists visiting the mountain in recent years, Newman said.
The last three years have seen the biggest increase of tourists, who were lured by buzz around the completion of the phase II gondola in 2005. The second phase brings skiers to Gulmarg’s peak at 3980 meters, making the mountain home to the highest lift accessible terrain in the world.
This winter, about 125 tourists skied or snowboarded on the mountain daily, double the amount from 2007, according to several business operators in Gulmarg. Most of the mountain’s visitors were backcountry skiers and snowboarders who came seeking the frontier of winter adventure. They all said Gulmarg offers some of the best skiing in the world.
John Lavin, a 32-year-old American from New Jersey said the vacation is the adventure of maneuvering in the “resort’s” rogue state. Figuring out how life works — or in some cases doesn’t work — is part of the experience, Lavin said.
“It’s the mountain you come for,” he said.
Asha Banker, 33, agreed. On a weekend vacation from her work in New Delhi, she made the 60-minute trek from the gondola’s top station to Mount Apharwat's 4124-meter peak. She took in the views of Nangaparbat, the ninth highest peak in the world, before dropping into a long, steep powder run with only her and her guide leaving any trace.
“For a die-hard skier to have that kind of open terrain is amazing,” Banker said. “Exhilarating.”
If walking in thick snow and high altitude doesn’t sound fun, southeast traverses from the gondola bring snow surfers to Drang, with more than 1700 vertical meters of backcountry terrain. A traverse off the northwest leads surfers down another set of steep terrain suitable for advanced intermediate skiers with a finish in Gulmarg meadow. Of course, the option of going straight down from the gondola rarely disappoints either.
Though a physically demanding mountain, snow surfers live a relatively relaxed lifestyle. Many are used to waking up with the first light of day to hit the slopes before anyone else. In Gulmarg there is no rush. Even if you are last on the mountain, there is always fresh powder to be found.
Wake up calls come around 8 a.m. followed by a hearty breakfast of baked beans on toast, fried eggs, and porridge. Around 10 a.m., when the food begins digesting, skiers and boarders have taken phase one of the gondola and reached the mountain’s mid-station. They often hunker down for another wait (and further digestion) while Sheikh and his staff cut the mountain’s top ridges ensuring that it is as safe as possible from avalanches. Skiers and snowboarders who head to the top peak are advised to carry beacons in case they or their companions get caught in a self-triggered avalanche.
One morning this winter, about 100 skiers and boarders waited at the mid station for the patrollers to finish the first run and deliver the day’s verdict. Newman said he had concerns about the out-of-bounds terrain, but was comfortable with inbounds. In a display of the intimacy formed among Gulmarg’s guests and staff he opened up a dialogue with his charges. He shouted out a request that if the snow surfers agreed to stay inbounds the patrollers would open the second phase of the gondola lift. The group, eager to hit powder and see views of the surrounding peaks grabbed their equipment and chimed in with a collective ‘yes’ while simultaneously jockeying for a place in the lift line.
It was just about noon and a fairly early start for ascending the mountain’s peak. Whether it’s because the gondola breaks down, the government staff strikes or Sheikh and patrollers need time deciding whether to open the second phase at all, getting to the top around 1 p.m. can be an average start time. No matter, Lavin said. The wait is worth it.
“It’s remarkable in that the lift drops you off in places you would normally have to hike to and still nobody is there,” Lavin said. “It’s all for $20 (US) a day and that’s just unheard of.”
If the top is closed, or somehow you’ve exhausted skiing in open bowls with fluffy powder, there are tree runs just below Gulmarg, in Tangmarg. Groups can hire out a jeep that will meet them where the runs intersect the road and then shuttle them back to the top for another go. Though jeeps are not the most environmentally friendly, and time might get lost if your car gets stuck behind a military traffic jam, a heavy Bollywood beat blaring on the driver’s sound system usually keeps the energy pumping through snow surfers’ veins.
Once in the tree glades, a pause from skiing or boarding offers a moment of tranquil solitude, only interrupted when the muezzin delivers the call to prayer from the nearby Baba Rishi mosque and his voice drifts into the mountains.
For less experienced skiers, like Sangita and Girish Chamadia, the mid-station serves as an access point for beginner friendly runs. After their first weekend skiing, the Chamdaias, a Mumbai couple who came for a weekend, left sore, but ready for more.
“It’s a good activity, but very difficult,” Sangita Chamadia, 26, said. “I’ve been all over this country and I’m telling you (Gulmarg) is the best place.”
Still, Peter Robinson founder and owner of Ski Himalaya, a travel company that helps visitors find accommodation, mountain guides, and rent equipment said there is a reason the majority of travelers to the mountain at the moment are foreigners with a lust for adrenaline.
“This is not a ski resort,” Robinson said. “It’s a mountain with a big lift. It has a long way to go in terms of the investment of infrastructure required to achieve its potential.”
Yet ending a day with a cup of kava tea or a beer shared with friendly hosts around a bhukari stove while discussing the day’s runs makes Gulmarg a paradise all its own.
“Don’t tell people that,” Rori MacFarlane an 18-year-old snow boarder from New Zealand said. “I want to keep this place off the map.”
Gulmarg and Kahsmir have been on the political map for a while, however, and Sheik for one is happy this time — in this moment — his home is getting attention for its natural bounty and hospitality.
“This is very good,” Sheikh said. “We are busy with people.”
Even better. The last run of the day I got separated from my group of friends. It was just me, my Kashmiri guide (something of a BMOG — Big Man On Gulmarg) and two men from New Zealand who have skied nearly every major back country peak in the world. They were in Gulmarg hoping to start a heli-skiing operation. We followed a traverse that led us off the main bowl and then jumped into the steep terrain. I held my own, kept pace and enjoyed the mountain. No sound but my skis moving the powder. No sights but white.
Who knows how Gulmarg will develop. Or when. For the moment, it's raw and something special, even for the most experienced skiers and snowboarders. If you're looking and listening, you can get a peak into lives of the Kahsmiris who maybe ten years ago were waiting for the gunfire to cease so they could show off the beauty of their homeland, and you know, make some money.
The "trail" map:
I was indulging too much in skiing and so my pictures don't really do the mountain justice. Check out this video clip.
So Fortune recently published a list of the 25 dirtiest cities in the world. And yes, New Delhi, the place I've been living for the past year, makes the cut. It comes in at number 24 and they highlight the Yamuna River — the city's main source of water and a place considered holy by observant Hindus — as a major source of pollution and a breeding ground for disease. It may once have been holy water, but now it's the dumping ground for the city's raw sewage. That's more than 13 million people going to the bathroom in one big drain. Don't forget all the towns and cities north of the river that flush into it as well. Delhi, however, rates better than Mumbai, which pulled in at number seven.
I hope to have piece out on the Yamuna River and the people who bathe in it, soon.
