Morning with the Military, Afternoon in the Clouds

“Come on! Lets go get into the truck!” Anthony yells at the six of us brightly colored characters dispersed amongst a group of Kashmiris hanging out front of our unofficial home for the next month, Gulmarg Resort Hotel.  Today is my first day in Gulmarg and my mind is a little cloudy from the three days of travel. The plan is to check out a zone outside of Gulmarg past a military base. Nothing like getting face to face with the military on day one.

Before long we are rolling down the icy snow covered road as our Kashmiri driver asks us where we are all from, honking around every turn as he waves at trucks going the other, all the while smoking a cig.

Not long after passing the last hotel, the road narrows and the buildings change from small hotels and guesthouses to camoflaged barracks behind large barbwire fence. Around the next corner a sign reads “High Altitude Warfare School” along with a cannon, I guess showing India’s Military power.  As we continue to motor along the barbwire lined road, we arrived at a military checkpoint in the heart of the camp.

As we roll up, guards in white snow boots and machines guns rush out of a make shift warming hut towads our trucks.  They tell us to turn around and return back to the gondola, that we are not allowed to travel beyond the camp. As we attempt to talk with the commander or who ever is in charge, more and more troops come out from the little warming hut. And before long there are more machine guns then skis. One of the soliders tells us " turn around, you are not welcome here. Please return to the Gondola!" while waving his machine gun in the direction of the gondola.

All of the cameras seemed to make them very uneasy, so after our unsuccessful bid at getting past the military, we turn around and we head for the gondola.

I know that I keep talking about the Military in Kashmir but they are everywhere. From in the lift line to in town milling around. They all seem to be a little bored as they watch tourists and smoke ciggs.

So in the end we paid the two-dollar-per-ride lift ticket for the gondola—the power goes out so often that you pay for each gondola ride—and headed up the gondola which was bought second hand from some European resort in the eighties.

Arriving at the mid station the upper mountain is still closed and patrol was doing control work up high. We made do with the low angle ridges nearby. It was good to get out and get a little exercise to stretch my legs on a little tour. Tomorrow the upper mountain is planned to be open. So it should be cool to get out and shred from the highest lift access in the world.

cheers

until next time. 

-Forrest Coots

www.forrestcoots.com