Heli-skiing service starts in Gulmarg
Gulmarg, Feb 1 (PTI) Heli-skiing service was startedtoday in this picturesque resort of north Kashmir followingthe heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of the area.
J-K Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, whileinaugurating heli-skiing facility, said it will help inattracting rich tourists to the Kashmir Valley.
"Heli-skiing will be an additional attraction inGulmarg for the tourists," Jora told reporters at a functionhere, 50 kms from Srinagar.
"Heli-skiers are the top of the line skiers in theworld, they are the rich and the elite. It will help inattracting rich tourists to Gulmarg," he said.
The introduction of heli-skiing here is the brainchildof a young tourist guide-turned-entrepreneur Majeed Bakshi.
"Most of the foreign tourists wanted to ski on theupper reaches of Gulmarg, but due to lack of infrastructurethen it was not possible," Bakshi said.
The Heli-skiing equipment used here is French-made2010 model of Eurocopter AS 350 B3 Squirrel, operated by apilot from New Zealand with a team of five professionalheliski guides.