Snow Kiting Adventure II

By Asem Mustafa Awan

ISLAMABAD--Anoushka Mulgrew is 28 and she just returned from the mountains after setting a snow kiting record at 5000 meters and extreme snowboarding in Shimshal and Deosai Plains along with her team mates who form a multinational group representing various countries of Britain, France, Norway and Poland.

The seven member team visited Pakistan to explore the possibilities of having it as an extreme snow kiting destination for the extreme sportsmen and women. The team was sponsored by Ozone Kites which is the leading name in the world.

The seven member group had two projects snow kiting and extreme skiing and they did that in the two areas of Shimshal and Deosai Plains. Shimshal is the last village that borders Pakistan and China and isrenowned for the quality of its high altitude porters and climbers.

Anoushka is a professional abseiling superviser. She besides snow kiting and extreme skiing she has an unmatched love forthe horses which places her different in the group of professionals thatvisited Pakistan for the tour. Anoushka in her exclusive talks with Sports World Pakistan said, " It wasa great to be Pakistan and it was my first time.

Meeting the people and taking a closer look at their lives was anenriching experience, we were all honoured to be made so welcome and were especially impressed with the generosity, hospitality and hardiness of the Shimshalli's. Also of course it was above all amazing to have themountains for ourselves."

The team was the first group in Pakistan and spend two months in Pakistan coming early April she said, "We were all doing the snow kiting andextreme skiing by ourselves and there was none but us and it was well organized effort and we had the best of the people and a lot of experience we shared as in being there and the process of learning never ends." "It's a great feeling to snow kite up and down the mountains and thehighest I go was 5000 meters others in the team reach as high as 5500 meters and it's the highest snow kiting is done in the world," said the 28 year old horse woman.

"It's a little dangerous but with skills u learn to enjoy it a lot and it is a very popular extreme sport and the feeling is great." Answering a query she said, "One of the most memorable experience from Shimshal was the Yaks - we were there at the time that the yaks come back over the Shimshal pass to their spring pastures at Shuijerab. They were hundreds coming down from the high pastures with babies and it was an unforgettable experience.

We rode the yaks, milked them, were warmed byyak dung fires and spun rope from their tail hair. The kindness was from the herders who shared this with us. As I never saw a yak before this was even more amazing."

Anoushka left Pakistan with good memories she said , "I really lookforward to returning to Pakistan - the free sking opportunities are endless and I would love to come rock climbing and bouldering here also. I think themost striking thing of the country is the difference between the perception of people in the west and the actuality of the people here.

Many people told me not to come and that it was dangerous and I would be kidnapped or something like this! On the contrary people have been amazingly kind and honest in a way I think you cannot experience in the West. It is very humbling to experience the generosity of people who have so little compared to what we are used to."