Tourism at its Best
Roddy Mckenzie offers that the views from some of the vantage points in HHS’s operating area are as grand as from the top of Mount Everest. He sould know. He has been there. Besides, the 4500 m plus top end altitude of some of ski runs-Nasty Nick,Cunning stunt,powder box,Long Slow Screw, to name a few-is a hint of the potential panorama visible below. Looking over Malana glacier is Durga,the Mother Goddess of all skiing runs. At 5,080m,it is the higher regularly used ski slope in the world. “Durga is a special treat. You streak down 1200 vertical metres over a 30 degree gradient with Indrasan and Deo Tibba starting you in the face. Thirty to fifty guests get to ruffle it every season.” says Jan. His own favorite divinity,through,is Laxmi,originating near the 4200 Hamta Pass. “You start off on a gently rolling run,enter alpine forests,waltzing through silver-birch and rhododentron five metres apart,before coming to rest at the valley bottom bounded by gigantic granite cliffs.”
With inbound tourism promising a significant upswing in the immediate future, HHS looks forwards to a busy winter. And in the context of changing climate conditions,Roddy is confident of Manali’s inherent long-term advantages. ” The mid-January to mid-March in Canada-corresponding to Manali’s powder-packed heliskiing season yields a pitiful 10 days of sunshine. Comparatively,Manali is blessed more generously with the sun God’s largesse. During the same period,resorts in the Alps can probably offer less than a week of good powder. In that sense,global warming bodes well for the sport in the Himalayas as higher elevations will always carry better snow.”
Great. But when.oh! when will there be Indian heliskiers? There’s one atleast, to start with - Chuni Thakur,the country’s first and only heliskier,and a mountain guide to boot. Chuni believes the concept of adventure is growing amongst the middle and upper class and a spices of well-heeled hell-on-skis ‘Hindustani’ is bound to evolve. And in the years to come,Roddy foresees not just expansion and indigenisation of the operation,but also half the clientele as homegrown.