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Our location is ideal for corporate retreats, family
meetings, or casual, private vacations. HHS has made a separate fee
schedule for small, intimate groups of heli-skiers who would like
the ultimate Himalayan ski experience; our area and aircraft are
available for the exclusive use of your private group for the week.
These Our Packages are helicopter time based. In order to help customise
the trip to your group's requests, please let us know well in
advance if you would like more information and a price quote.
The
Complete Journey Includes
1. Your journey from New
Delhi to the mountains will involve flying in aircraft that can not
carry skis, or luggage in excess of ten kilograms per
passenger.
2. The luggage travelling by road will reach Manali and Patlikul
late on Saturday night.
3. The luggage accompanying you by air should not weigh more than
ten kilos and the luggage going by vehicle should not weigh more
than thirty kilograms.
4. On Saturday morning after breakfast you will be picked up at your
hotel for departure to our base in the
mountains. Our representative who meets you at the Delhi
international airport will inform you of the time that your luggage
should be ready for collection.
Please pack all sharp objects
and batteries in your checked luggage.
5. We move
our guests from New Delhi to the mountains by a combination of
means, including fixed wing aircraft, train, helicopter and car or
bus. Depending on weather forecasts and numbers of passengers we
will use the most efficient means available to us to get you to and
from the mountains. Please inquire with our staff in Delhi on
Saturday morning if you are curious about the transport logistics
for the day. In all cases there is the possibility of changes in
plans, usually due to unexpected changes in the weather. For this
reason guests must be prepared for the possibility of travelling a
large portion of the trip overland. Those who have done this trip
have commented that they enjoyed the opportunity to see the rural
Indian countryside. It is quite spectacular and very interesting. In
most cases the longest you could expect to travel by road is 9 hours
and this in rare cases only.
6. Because of
the possibility of delays on your return from the mountains to New
Delhi we recommend that outward flights from Delhi should be booked
no earlier than Sunday night. One extra day in the itinerary means
that if your transfer to New Delhi arrives on schedule (as it
usually does) then guests have the chance to see the Taj Mahal on
Sunday. If guests are willing to accept the uncertainties of the
service between Manali and Delhi, then flights out of Delhi can
obviously be booked for Saturday night.
APRES-SKIING
ENTERTAINMENT
We believe that we
have more variety in the way of after skiing entertainment than any
other ski area. We admit that we are a bit short in the way of
discos and celebrity spotting opportunities (unless you count the
possible Indian film crews and film stars) but we have other
diversions. Some of them are: visiting the local moonshine
distillers, seeing the local gods being moved from village to
village with all the accompanying fanfare (and drinking), viewing
the collection of paintings by Nikolai Roerich at the local art
gallery (Roerich's old residence), bathing in the hot springs,
having absurd costumes made by the local tailor (who can also make
good clothes) to see if you can look worse than our pilot does,
visiting ancient villages and seeing the beautiful local wood
carvings, taking audience at the local Buddhist monastery, visiting
the local Tibetan Thanka painting school, experiencing the ancient
Hindu temples (home to some extremely important Gods and Rishis),
bargaining with the Kashmiri carpet merchants or just drinking tea
in the bazaar and watching life move slowly by.
No-fly days
due to bad weather will happen. To date we have had less than half a
dozen weeks when we have not reached the minimum hundred thousand
feet of skiing. To entertain our guests in bad weather, HHS employs
a local cultural interpreter who runs daily tours of the area.
Guests indicate their interest and a trip is tailored to include the
most relevant points of interest.
HELICOPTERS
In the 2003 season, using Helicopters will
be a Bell 407 and a Lama. Both of these machines will be serviced by
Swiss engineers and flown by Swiss pilots. Backup support is
supplied by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Before making a
reservation you must carefully read our "Guide to Skiing"
brochure. To reserve a week please contact our office or
representative to confirm if seats are available in your chosen
week. Payment procedures will be forwarded together with advice on
seat availability. A non-refundable deposit of US$2000.00 per
seat is required to hold a reservation. Full payment must be made at
least twelve weeks prior to your departure date.
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