Skis 4 Kashmir

The crew in traditional Kashmiri dress

All of our hard work and preparation has led up to today, our first day on the snow with the kids. We had no idea what to expect when we arrived at their hotel this morning to fit boots and skis. There was a lot of confusion at first (the kids didn’t understand that ski boots are not supposed to be comfortable) so they were all under the impression that they had size 10 feet. Eventually we eased the boots onto everyone’s feet and we were off to the snow.

All the kids were super excited to take off on their new skis and the first few hours were utter chaos.  Group control is really difficult with the language barrier, however we were able to adapt our teaching throughout the day and now we have a pretty good handle on it.  We began with simple lessons like duck walking and side stepping, to get the kids comfortable with balance in ski boots. Thankfully most of them proved to be quick learners and everyone had a great time.  With the exception of 2 kids who inadvertently jumped off a 5-foot snow bank onto the plowed trail, there were no major mishaps. We were really glad to have everything run smoothly, and our main concern is to make sure everyone makes it through the week happy and healthy.  We ended today with some serious progress for the group, the snow-plow is almost mastered and most of our group is linking turns together! This progress is very impressive, especially considering how our day began. Many of these kids have not even seen snow before and everyone is excited about their improvement.

It has been snowing really hard throughout the day here in Gulmarg, and we are all looking forward to some great skiing this weekend while we are awaiting the next group of grommets.  We will upload pictures as soon as the internet connection gets a bit more reliable, stay tuned..

-Max