Waking up in the vans in the ski station car park, I was quickly told by my good lady she would not leave her sleeping bag until i had turned the van on and it was warm in the van.  It was -12c and she probably had good reason.

The day had started with such a huge promise, the forecast was good and the dawn was reflecting this.  So we all got ready (Lara, Scott and I) and headed up to try for the fourth time to ski to up Ben Macdui (the UK’s 2nd highest )

Above is Lara setting of climbing up the Coire Chais ridge.  The weather was glorious and the views were stunning, we had high hopes for the day.  As soon as we got onto the plateau the cloud came in…….

We thought there goes the fourth attempt and lara used a select view words that made Scott blush.  The prospect of navigating across the plateau in a white out never appeals, so we decided to go and ski Raibert’s Gully down to Loch Avon, this is quite a famous ski descent.  It did not fail to please, fresh light snow and no tracks.  It was awesome, it was also Scott’s first gully skiing.

Above is Lara hammering it!  Once at the bottom it was either a long walk around or climb back up the gully.  we decided to climb back up, I had never skinned up a gully before – I don’t think I will again either, three steps and kick turn, three steps kick turn.  Was slow and rather painful.

Once at the top the cloud had gone, back to the original plan.  So we started to hot foot it across the plateau with Macdui firmly in our sights!!!!!

To get there it was rather painful, it was false summit after false summit.  But after what seemed like an eternity we finally got to the top, and very pleased we were too.  It was the first Munro I have been to that we could sit and admire the view and actually warm up.  The view was glorious (see the pano pic in the gallery) and I was trying to work out what all the hills were, Scott said there used to be a table with all the mountains marked on it.  I then realised I was standing on it!

Scott’s feet were starting to show the effects of ski boots and was swearing at then.  The decent was rather long as well, finishing off with a fast blast down Lurchers gully back to the car park.  Very happy and tired we found a pub and celebrated.  It ended up messy

Sunday we woke up again, same routine, I started the van before my good lady would even consider venturing out side the safe warmth of her big sleeping bag.  The weather again was amazing.  Today was more about finding some powder than getting somewhere.  4 of us set off (we found a friend randomly in the pub and we skied together).  We Skinned up Fiacall Ridge and drop into the SW face into Coire an Lochain.  We found a huge face with fresh snow and was brilliant

From here we skied around back into Coire an t-Sneadcha andskinned up onto that ridge (we did a lot of climbing this weekend) from here we had the run of the weekend, a long steep ride down into the Coire.  Lara was the hero and her powder carving clicked!

This was it for the day.  We skied down to the car park, totally amazed at the weather and snow conditions we had had over the last two days.  This was definitely the best weekends skiing I have ever had in Scotland.  We both sat at work today emailing each other how good it was and excited for more.

All the pictures can be seen here

Where to start?  Not sure on how much detail I am going to go into or not – I suppose I will just type and see what happens.

We both flew down to Heathrow T5 – from here we were catch our plane to Delhi, we knew that there would be others on the same plane as us on our trip.  So in the one and a half hours it took to get through Indian customs we were trying to point out those who we though were skiers.  Lara got 3 out of eight and I was champion with 6 out of 8. 

We were met by a local guide who helped us move from the international airport to the Domestic airport.  We now had met the group who we would spend the next week skiing with.  We had lucked out, no black sheep, twats, ex pro skiers or numpties.  We decided to go on the hunt for beer to help break the ice between each other.  Denied, shockingly India has drinking licensing laws and sticks to them!!!  So we had a buffet breakfast instead, after all it was 8am in the morning. 

All on the plane we set off on or last plane journey to get there.  Excitement sore in me as I got my first glimpse of the Western Himalayas from my little window in the plane as we flew above them, massive huge white lumps of rock soaring into the sky covered in snow.  God I was excited to be back in this part of the world.  We landed in Srinagar and had to fill in a million forms about who we were, where we were from, passport numbers, were we where going, how long, who with, favourite teddy bear and preferred method of eating a kitkat.  Honestly , the questions they asked were random and plentiful.  I felt like a very lucky man as my lovely wife for some reason likes filling in forms. 

Once all our bags were all accounted for (thank god for BA once getting it right!) we entered out into the open.  The first thing that hits you is the huge billboard showing a stunningly beautiful mountain range and a skier posing on it with a huge slogan “Kashmir – one step closer to Heaven” it is at this point you come out of your dream of what is waiting for you over the next week and see the machine gun emplacement  from which Indian soldier peek out from camouflage netting and I come down to earth with a thump.  Scanning around it is obvious that this part of India is not settled, there are many machine gun toting soldiers all around, with armoured cars.  We soon find out that there has been rioting in the town the last three days due to the police killing a young boy and we should leave ASAP. 

With the skis thrown on top of our taxis we leave down,  On the way through the town weaving around barbed wire clad rad barricades being manned by more machine gun armed soldiers , we virtually see no one on the streets.  We ask the local guide who met us and he says there is a complete and utter house curfew in the town at the moment to stop the rioting.  We left Srinagar and headed for the hills with haste. 

The journey was to be of two parts to our final destination, once we arrived at Tangmarg we had to change taxis to small jeeps with what looked like hand made chains on the back wheels, the rain how now turned into snow and it was coming down thick and fast.  The journey up the road from Tangmarg up to Gulmarg was just a taster of what we had to endure of snowy Indian driving.  I can not understand how the drivers don’t all die.  When asking one driver a few days later how good his driving was before I got in his car – he told me “the best, Allah guides me”  I decided to just close my eyes and get on with it! 

We arrived in Gulmarg,  Indias only ski resort  sitting on a plateau at 2700m, we can not see a great deal apart from the blizzard that is going on around us.  We pull up to our hotel ‘Hotel Highland park’ opened in 1966 by a retired cavalry officer (Major benji Nedou)– his grandchildren still own it. There is family history all over and the bear that attacked someone in the village in 1969 is still hanging up in the dining room after Benji shot it. As we go into the hotel there is a sign  which politely asks guests to leave weapons at the doors. We go in and meet our guides for the week – Olly and Ralf.  Everyone is excitedly firing questions and beer is bought.  You can imagine this place being filled with top military brass who came up here in the olden times to escape the summer heat and play on one of the towns three golf courses.  But tonight, it is full of snow addicts covered in the latest performance materials ,  beanies, dreadlocks and all talking about the snow and the lines they have been skiing. 

The night is past with excited chat and too much beer as always on the first night of the holiday and we all soon drift off to our rooms to sleep due to travelling fatigue. 

Lara and I were woken through rustling.  It was Ahmed our room boy, this lovely man was to bring us masala tea in bed every morning at 7:15 and lit our Bukhari before tiptoeing back out the room.  Ahmed if you ever read this, all six of us in the three rooms you looked after thoroughly love you and wish we could have brought you home with us, you did a brilliant job! 

Due to this massive storm that was on top of us and all the snow fall – the lift was not open that day, so out came the skins and it was some time for some tree skiing down to Barbareshi.  The snow was amazingly deep.  But unfortunately with no base as this was the first time it had snowed since new years day.  On harder turns you could hear horrible scraping noises from the skis hitting some secret under the snow,  After one run, it was getting on for lunch time, one group went for lunch others decided that eating was cheating and to keep skiing ( I was in a powder frenzy and had no time to eat!!!) 

After the day of tree skiing was finished, the normal routine was to get back to your room, have a shower and hot foot it to the bar to talk to everyone about the dare devil stories, crashes, hilarities and anything about the day over a few beers.  The beer was pot luck.  Normally on a beer it will give you an alcoholic percentage at the back, not in India – the beer we were drinking said 

Alcoholic contain no lower than 5% and not higher than 8% 

Some where smiley before dinner, whilst the other who were less or more lucky (depending on how you look at it) were having difficulty with getting the food in their mouth and consequently throwing that evenings curry down their front whilst swaying back and forth in there seat drunk as skunks. 

The following day the storm was fully kicking in – snowing like I have never seen before and zero chance of the lift open.  So deciding to keep a bit higher as the lower village’s snow was rather wet and heavy we decided to try and keep higher.  This time we skinned up ‘Monkey Hill’  named because , yup, you guessed it – it has monkeys on it!  A lot of the group were new to skinning so a bit of a faff ensured getting everyone transforming their skis from downhill mode to uphill mode.  The skin up through the trees was beautiful,  the huge trees covered in snow, the heavy snow falling made for quite a majestic climb. At the top we again now had the customary faff to change the skis from uphill to downhill mode.  The trees here were steeper and the snow was deeper – powder frenzy kicked in. 

To those non skiers reading this – this is similar to a heroin addiction, the prospect of fresh snow with no tracks in it is that addictive to us skiers it whips us all into a crazy frenzy, people are pushing past each other to get there go first, people shooting off into all sorts of different direction with Olly our poor guide shouting for us to meet at the same point at the bottom.  Wow, the snow was incredible.  Thigh high sugary snow with widely spaced trees that you could easily plan your route two to three threes ahead.  Lean ….. whoosh, unweight and lean…… whoosh, unwieght and lean……… whoosh as the snow just flys everywhere and the trees seem to fly past into the corner of your vision then disappear and now your eyes are fixing on the next few trees working out the route through.  Your thighs starting to burn with lactic acid build up but you are able to ignore it as the adrenalin is stronger.  In a space of time that is far too short you arrive at the bottom – sad of it finishing but grinning like a crazed man.

The next day we woke up to our friend giving us tea (have I mentioned he will be missed yet!)  Today’s aim was to go a little higher, again the lift is not open.  The people who run the avalanche control are having difficulties getting explosives from the army to go and blast the mountain.  So instead of going lower we decided to skin up to the top of phase I.  The lift here is built in two sections (phase I and phase II).  The lift is made by the french company POMA.  The Indians are very proud of it,  it was completed only 5 years ago.  Instead of it being shiny and new, it is has taken over 16 years to build, frequently breaks down, the ski racks on the sides are too narrow to take modern skis and and instead they have to go inside the cabins with the ends poking out so the doors do not shut.

The Skin up takes just under two hours and we take refuge in the midway ski lift building.  Here we all huddle around the Bukhari, it was not until a member of another group sits near it do things go tits up.  The Bukhari gets knocked over, sending everyone scrambling to get out of its way, its chimney is broken open and covers the room with smoke, everyone is coughing and it turns out quite comical.  No one hurt, but a few items of burnt clothing is the only thing to show.  They soon get it back up right and use bread dough to putty the chimney together again.  You have to admire how they get on with what they have!

The ski down has some fantastic bits, but in general the terrain is not steep enough, the two snowboarders with us struggle on the flat bits.  A great day in some very deap snow.  But again the mountain teases us with what it has to offer but does not let us at it.

The next day I did not ski, due to having spent most of the night on the toilet and being completely wiped out by it, feeling weak.  Lara went out and had a good day skiing in up higher to Paper trees, where they had fantastic snow and great aspects.  She then endured a rather epic ski down to Drang, involving farm terrace jumping, river crossing, avalanche debris crawling and dodgy taxis – I will let her fill us in with the details later.

Friday: our last day skiing.  We woke up to rumours of the top lift opening.  again the powder frenzy kicked in,  we all queued at the bottom with every other skier in the town (200, as that is all there is space for in the town)  if the lift opened it was going to be a day to remember!!!!  Phase I opened and we all got up to the mid station with such excitement, only to once again have our hopes flattened by high winds and the mountain staring down at us smugly.  bugger.  Instead we skinned to the top of Mary’s Shoulder (who names these??!?!) and had some great powder through the trees.   Our last run was a race down to the bottom through Phase I.  great fun, all going hell for leather and ripping down.  At the bottom there was stories of an Indian bloke being knock over by one of us (nothing to do with me!) and a small disappointment that that was it and it was the end of the holiday…..

The journey back was not with out its drama’s.  The bus taking us down the road lost control on the way down, sliding nearly off the road and we are alive only thank you to a massive snow drift that kept us on the road.  It took 15 odd minutes to push the bus back onto the road and get back 0n our way again.

We swapped vehicles in Tangmarg and drove the rest of the way to Srinagar in taxis.  We all arrived at the side of the lake there with differing looks of fear from Indian driving.  here we spent the evening on a house boat.  A beautiful way to finish the great holiday.

Overall a fantastic holiday, never a dull moment.  Got no where near the potential skiing in which it has to offer.  But non the less, we met some great new friends, spent a week in Kashmir’s amazing mountains and was looked after by it’s amazing people.  I think I definitely will have to go back and try again!

The rest of the pictures can be seen here