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International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) Gulmarg 2019 Trip Report - Himalayas

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Mattadvproject

Mattadvproject

Love that powder!
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This was our last run for the day, on that same day. The cloud was hitting the resort but up high, the skies were still open. The group had not hiked yet and they were keen to get up there and see the views. At least we would be guaranteed that. So, we put the skins on and up we went. It takes about 40 minutes to reach the top of Mt. Apharwat (over 13,600ft) and normally we would head around the summit to the left. This time though we decided to follow the skin track and take it straight up the steep final section, to the summit. I think that was actually quicker. It certainly felt shorter. It had been several years since I had done that......

We had great visibility from the top. The views behind were incredible and that was worth the hike alone. The group were blown away by that. Unfortunately the cloud was hanging right on the edge of the runs back towards the resort, if we went that way, we wouldn't be able to see a thing. So, I suggested we at least ski something we could see and we dropped in one at a time, down towards the Frozen Lake next to the Shark's Fin. The snow and the run were really nice. Here is that run......


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Mattadvproject

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Love that powder!
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I was pretty proud of the team for this next run. After our run down to the Frozen Lake, we had to put the skins back on and regain the ridgeline. As we did so, we hit the cloud layer and we couldn't see a thing. Tanveer led the way and his goal was to try and get us to Khilanmarg. I love the main bowl of Khilanmarg as you get a long run with good fall-line. It's also pretty mellow as well.

The cloud was still really thick as we arrived at our suspected drop-in point. Tanveer was on his phone to try and find out how low the cloud layer went. He had friends down in Gulmarg spotting for us. He suggested that the cloud would break so we should wait. It was about 30 minutes before the clouds started to lift. About 15 minutes later, we could see a decent ways down into the bowl.
Unfortunately there were two tracks already in the bowl. To their credit, they had made really tight turns and had figure 8'ed all the way down. The group was happy to ski next to the track as there was still plenty of room. I tested the wind-drifted roll over at the top of the bowl. It held fine and we skied one at a time, from section to section. It was a dream run. Towards the bottom, Bennett had a spectacular crash. He did a Rodeo 360 flip and got all the way around. He nearly landed it. I got it all on film, thankfully he was all right.

Then it was a huge open run all the way down to the Kongdoori Plateau. As you get lower, you really have to pay attention to your aspect. Just a small change can get you onto crusted snow, so you have to keep looking for anything that is a little more north-facing, so reading the subtle ridges and shallow gullies is key, if you want to keep skiing soft snow all the way down. I was proud of our group for sticking it out and waiting for that cloud to clear. We had an incredible run down. Well done team!


- Matt
 
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Drung - Untouched powder run....

Ok, this is the last video I have from Gulmarg. I think this was the last day I skied. It was a big day. Unfortunately the second stage of the gondola was shut down due to maintenance so we only had access to the first phase and the chairlift. We could have done laps on the chairlift, but the snow was pretty tracked and that wouldn't have been a lot of fun. With some effort, we could hike from the top of the chair and have the whole mountain untouched (it had been snowing previously). Why not get one, long, quality run in?

So we took the chairlift up and started getting our gear on. There was a group of Slovakian splitboarders ahead of us and they put the track in. It was unlikely that anyone else would follow. The thought of there only being 15 or so people, on top of an untouched mountain, was pretty exciting. So up we went. We had our two groups, so with all the guides, there were 11 of us. A pretty big group but we had a massive area to play in.

The track can get steep at times and the kickturns were not easy, so I shoveled out a lot of the corners to make life easier for the team. It took about 2.5 hours to gain the top. We stopped and rested near the top of the gondola. Then we got ready for our run. Sure enough, the other group had continued on up towards the summit. We headed south down the ridge to the Drung bowls. There were no tracks ahead of us. This was the first time I had been down towards Drung and there were no tracks at all. This was pretty special.

We headed way down, past the army base and up to the small hill. We had to do a little bit of sidestepping to gain the knoll. Then we could look down and see the whole of the Drung drainage, untouched. Our target was the second ridgeline (there are 3 big ones that lead down to Drung). We skied several nice long pitches, before we got to the trees. The snow up high was great; untouched, soft and fun. We had a couple of different untouched bowls to play, so everyone had plenty of room to ride. I had a great vantage spot to watch both groups ride down safely, at the same time.

When we got into the trees, then the temps had really risen. The snow was pretty manky. It was survival skiing just to get down to the main gully and start the traverse out. Tough going but thankfully we had had, the quality of turns above, to make it more than worthwhile. It took a while but we got down in one piece. Then we took the skate/walk out along the track towards the hydroelectric powerstation. We didn't go into Drung as it was getting late, plus the track was not in through the trees and everyone was pretty spent. We stopped back in Tangmarg and had a lovely late lunch at the Downhill restaurant. The road was pretty clear and we made decent time back up to Gulmarg by taxi.

It had been a huge day with a big skin and a very long ski down, but another fun and rewarding day. It had been a great adventure! And that was it for me, for Gulmarg 2019, my 10th year visiting Kashmir. It had been the most eventful season, the situation with India and Pakistan that nearly got out of control, dealing with some other internal guiding politics...... it was a big challenge but all in all, a great season. We'd had a lot of quality runs this time out and enjoyed having the mountain nearly to ourselves. We'll be back in 2020, Inshallah! Thanks for following......


- Matt
 

Ken in LA

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Matt, Thank you for sharing this very beautiful and compelling travel blog! I loved reading about your Himalayan adventures and living vicariously through you.
 
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Mattadvproject

Mattadvproject

Love that powder!
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Granby, CO
Matt, Thank you for sharing this very beautiful and compelling travel blog! I loved reading about your Himalayan adventures and living vicariously through you.

Thanks so much Ken, those are very kind words. Thank you for following along and commenting. I hope you also read the TR's to Tohoku (Japan) and Georgia as they were two new trips that were really fun. If you ever want to come on one of our trips and experience these adventures yourself, then let me know. You can have your own private group with only 4 people in it. Send me a PM if you want to know more. Cheers Ken.

- Matt
 

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