Skiing in Gulmarg in the Himalayas - new video online

Well after a long wait I'm pleased to bring you a short video from my ski shoot in Gulmarg, Kashmir from earlier this year. Gulmarg is a small village in the Himalayas, about 2 hours drive from Srinagar, the capital if Indian Kashmir. In 2005 they finally completed a gondola that goes almost to the top of 4,300m Mount Affawat, making it the highest operational ski resort in the world.


And there are no pistes. That's right....none.


This makes it a powder skier's paradise, a whole mountain covered in virgin snow, and you can make your own lines down the mountain. Once you get away from the top station, you will hardly see another skier. The open mountain and local culture make a wonderful change from the over developed resorts we are used to in Europe and North America. I hope to make it back there next season.


The whole video was shot on a pair of Canon 5d mark IIs, and this was the fiest time I had shot video on these cameras. A few things I learned:

• Exposure is tricky, especially on the snow in bright sunlight (the recent 2.0.4 firmware update helps with it's live histogram)
• Focusing on fast moving skiers is almost impossible
• Shooting handheld is very wobbly...

We were primarily there to shoot stills and enjoy the skiing, so the video was a bit of an afterthought. Given that we didn't plan any of the shots I'm really pleased with how it came out.


I shot the video with my friend Richard Hadley at Ballistic, and Rich did a fantastic job on the editing. So when you have a spare 6 minutes, click on the video below. Crank up the volume and watch in full screen mode for the best impact.



Gulmarg 23.01.10 from Julian Love on Vimeo.