Maybe out of place, but I missed the ski season stationed in hot, polluted, crowded Delhi. However I did escape for an early season 5 day hike in the Himalayas. It's been a heavy snow winter and the mountains are blanketed. Later in the season, shepherds with scads of goats and sheep move in and eat everything in sight in the high country (and leave stuff...) so it's not really wilderness. But early season, they are not around yet. Many dirt roads go up to 8,000-10,000 feet or so, and the north sides do better for snow just like here. There are maybe 3 lift-served ski areas in India including one in the Manali area, perhaps 70 miles from where these photos were taken. There is even a heli-ski operation out of Manali, very expensive, with a flashy web site you can find if interested. The ski touring I can find information on is mostly the sponsored, heroic, big mountain sort. However, mellower logging road, intermediate fish-scale, and traditional skin-up ski-down touring are largely unknown, especially in what are known as the middle hills. Around Manali the local main peaks are 17,000 to 20,000 feet, that is, monstrously huge. These rise above valley floors of 6,000 to 8,000 and a local treeline of 11,000 or so. There is a ton of potential there.
Anyhow, a few pics from late March/early April at
www.flickr.com/photos/94756057@N06/sets/72157633181989027/
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