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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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