Four Lakes National Ski Patrol Director Mark Briel, Assistant Patrol Director John Yunger and Alpine Patroller Bill Vala set off on an adventure of a lifetime – to ski the Himalayas.  This is a travel blog featuring photos and words detailing their Himalayan heli skiing trip.

Curry Powder in India

No amount of wishing, praying or paying could have brought us the perfect conditions we experienced on our last day of Himalayan heli skiing. The sun rose to crisp blue skies with no clouds in sight. The fresh powder that fell Wednesday night and Thursday morning was now fluffed up with a bonded layer. Called Champagne Powder out West, it’s called Curry Powder in India. Mark, John & Bill were in group 2 and boarded the heli at 9:20 am. Today was going to be a special day.

Flashback to the night before

We were having dinner with our pilot and the CEO of Air Zermatt Gerold Biner. “Gerry” as he was known in the room told us stories of training Swiss, Indian & Nepal pilots, assisting the Pakistani military with rescue missions and flying for fun. Gerry told us we were in for something very special tomorrow and that he “couldn’t guarantee it, but he was going to push for it”. What that meant, we had no idea – but we were excited nonetheless.

Fast forward to Friday morning

As we jump into the back of the heli we catch a glimpse of Gerry behind the controls with a confident grin on his face. It was our 5th and last day of skiing and we intended on making the most of it. Reaching higher than we had all week and skiing more than we had in a single day was our goal. Getting dropped off at 5,040 meters or 16,535 feet is something almost indescribable. Let alone multiple times with 3 feet of powder and open terrain. We were at the top of the mountain – we felt like we we’re on top of the world. Himalayan heli skiing is not for everyone – but if it’s for you, you need to do it.