The Shifting Sands

Tommy looking good on the off-piste serviced by the Sadzele lift. While sitting in the airport in Almaty for our return flight to Dubai, I double checked with Tom to ensure that he had applied for his Indian Visa on arrival. He had checked the website and was sure that he could arrive in Delhi and pick up the visa without prior approval. Unfortunately, the website is a little confusing and you need to have applied four days before arrival.  We had a problem. We had a 10 hour turnaround in Dubai so we applied for his Indian visa on arrival hoping that it would be approved before we had to change plans. In short, if we didn't fly that night, our ski days in Gulmarg would be cut from three to two due to the middle of the day timings for arrivals and departures of flights from the Indian Airforce Base in Srinagar. While considering our options. I checked the avalanche conditions in Gulmarg.  Luke Smithwick, who I know from the Gangstan climbing trip, is the...

Everything you need, wine, cha cha, fruit and  Churchkhela , which are a string of nuts dipped in thickened grape juice We believe in the policy of doing what is close and easy.  Even though Dubai is not far from Mumbai in terms of flying time, it has opened up a number of new opportunities.  For skiing, three places that have been on my ski radar for some time suddenly became very accessible, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. The middle of February was school holiday time and the prospect of a ski holiday seemed like a good tonic for the usual challenges of settling into a new country. From Dubai, Georgia is easy and cheap.  A three and a half hour direct flight with Fly Dubai, at around $600 per person, is not to dissimilar to flying to New Zealand from Australia. A mosaic covered viewing platform on the Georgian Military Highway From the Airport in Tbilisi, the highest ski area in Georgian Caucasus, Ga...