My name is Javed Reshi. I was born a couple of miles from Gulmarg. I have been skiing since a small boy when my father made my skiis out of wood. I know these mountains like the back of my hand. There are many guides in Gulmarg. The problem is they are just people who may or may not know the area well. This may be ok if you do not run into any problems but this is big mountain skiing and problems can occur.
This is when you need to know that your guide is a bit more experienced and trained than someone who just says they are a guide. What kit do they carry? Do they have a radio to get help quickly? Do they know what areas are safe or not dependent on the weather conditions? Have they ever rescued anyone in the past? Would they know what to do if the weather turned and they had to camp out for the night? Do they know what to do with any injury that might occur? Many questions that when you are in nature’s back garden far from any ski patrol you want to be sure your guide has the right answers fast.
There are less than 15 fully qualified ski guides in Kashmir who have proper avalanche training and have been on appropriate first aid courses.
I have completed level 1 with Avalanche awareness with the Organization of US Avalanche Professionals and level 2 with AIARE.
I have 14 years of experience of skiing the backcountry in the Gulmarg mountains. I have 16 years experience of trekking all over the Himalayan mountains. I have also completed a medical first aid course. As one of the few qualified ski guides in Kashmir I have vast knowledge about this mountain, far better than foreign guides in this area. If you are looking for the guide who is fully trained, has all the avalanche safety gear, has all the rescue gear including radios, and knows every inch of this amazing area then you have come to the right place.
We also work with Manzoor Ahmad who has level 1 AIARE and Mahraj Bhat who has level 1 with CAA.
Qualified ski guides in Kashmir carry:
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Full first aid kit to deal with medical problems on the mountain. |
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Rescue Sledge |  |
Salvage rope |
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Deploy 3 aluminium snow shovel |  |
Avalanche probe |  |
Tracker 2 transceiver / beacon. |