New Friends

I was lucky to be introduced to a family from the Blue Mountains and have been skiing with them for the past week.

The Mum, Adele and her two daughters Tarinna (6) and Kia (4) are fun skiing partners.  

Dad, Ben sometimes joins us for a run but like most boys here in Gulmarg prefers the steeper terrain so we often only catch up for lunch.  The dynamics of the family are amazing and work so well.  Skiing with a family is a challenge in itself but skiing with a family in Gulmarg is something completely different.

The girls take turns picking a path down from the mid station (phase 1) to the bottom of the gondola.  They call it adventure skiing.  The girls are trailblazers.  

The locals and domestic Indian tourists love taking photos of the girls and they oblige with cheesy grins.  Take a look at our below photo and you’ll understand why they are so popular.

Whilst I have been skiing with the girls Jim has been enjoying catching up with the Ski Himalaya group and having runs with them.  

He is enjoying his role with Ski Him.  For the next two weeks he is doing training sessions with them on first aid, avalanche beacon finding and guest services.

It has not snowed for nearly a week but the overnight snow we got last week was good fun.  You could hear lots of yahoo’s around the place whilst skiing.

More snow is predicted over the next few days (Wed 16 Jan to Fri 18 Jan).  It is needed, to help cover up some rocks and branches and just a top up to make skiing easier.

My new friends at the bottom of the gondola

Fresh snow last week, view out of our bedroom window.

Tarinna, me and Kia - thank goodness for friends