Archive For March 25, 2026
What is new to write about the Dolomites after so many visits? Thinking about the trip over morning coffee, I jotted down a few thoughts. Here they are, in no particular order:
Helmets
From this year it is compulsory to wear helmets when resort skiing in Italy. Crossing the Dolomites on skis requires the use of lifts, so we had to comply. Easy enough for those who habitually wear helmets, but for those who don’t, it felt like a mildly grumpiness-inducing inconvenience. In the end, no big deal.
Francesco
One member of this year’s team described him as “uplifting,” which is a lovely and very accurate way to describe him. He is one of life’s energy-givers: a true professional and, to top it off, an amazingly talented skier.
Food
Over the years, trips to the Dolomites have consistently offered the best food of any ski trips I’ve done. This year was no exception. The quality and variety are still very much there. I suspect we consumed more calories than we expended!
Scenery
As with the food, the Dolomites never disappoint. The scenery we travelled through was as stunning as ever.
Companionship
You’ve heard the saying before: “Mountains are just mountains — it’s people that make them special.” We shared plenty of laughs and enjoyed precious time outdoors together, privileged to be where we were and with whom we were.
Skiing
And let’s not forget the skiing. The snow was challenging at times, but overall it was pretty good.
Alla prossima!
Pomegranates and Powder
Hovhannes welcomed us warmly to his house, greeting us with freshly squeezed pomegranate juice and Armenian coffee. Delicious, and for the first time in several days, drinks I could appreciate.
Eating cold, cooked food which has sat out in a food court is an ideal way to catch food poisoning—and catch it I did. I had felt it coming on during the opening act of Madame Butterfly at the Yerevan Opera and had to make a hasty exit. Just as well! For the following four days I felt completely drained, barely able to leave my hotel room while the rest of the team enjoyed the snow.
Tukhmanuk Blue Skies
Once recovered, I was delighted to get back on my skis and enjoy some of the best snow of the season. The highlight of the trip had to be the 2763m summit of Mt Tukhmanuk: freezing temperatures, blue skies and perfect powder.
If this team keeps going the AAC will very soon have to propose a Super Seniors ski tour for the over ‘80’s!
Last minute spring snow
The High Atlas come as a surprise to most ski mountaineers. Few expect such sharp, steep peaks and challenging ski objectives.
This was a last-minute, mid-March, visit to enjoy good snow conditions and sunny, blue-sky skiing. For two members of the team, this marked their seventh and final ski continent.
Classic Atlas ski lines
Sitting on the terrace of our gîte in the evening sun, we sipped sweet mint tea while contemplating two of the great Atlas ski classics. We had skied one—the Tizi Likemdt 3625m—that day and were planning the other, Bou Iguenouane 3882m, for the following morning. Tacheddirt, the highest village in the Atlas at 2320m, is the perfect base.
Steep, hard skinning with ski crampons had given us 1200m of perfect spring snow. Bou Iguenouane promised more challenging skinning and an even longer 1400m descent. Conditions were perfect and the avalanche risk zero, so shovel, probe and transceiver could remain in the valley.
Our guide was L’ahcen, one of the most experienced Moroccan ski guides. We first skied together in 2001, so this was our twenty-fifth anniversary trip. Over those years I returned often to Morocco to ski—every time with L’ahcen except once—and always with the delightful Ali as cook and muleteer. It was super to see him again and to enjoy his delicious tajines and salads.
The Power of Spring Snow
Water rushed down the rusting iron half-pipe to the turbine wheel which spun wildly in a shower of spray. Installed in Soviet times, before transmission lines reached Ghilon, it still provides the village with a modest but reliable 6kW of power.
This water then flows into the Aksu River and on to the huge Hisorak reservoir and dam. Built in 1987 at the entrance to the valley, the dam generates around 80 million kWh of electricity each year. It also provides irrigation to the surrounding land: fields of cotton, potatoes, vegetables and melons, and millions of fruit trees.
On our way up to Ghilon we were struck by the state of the road — a relentless, potholed bump-fest. No fun in particular for the mountain guide and his herniated disc. The reason soon became clear – Central Asia’s “new friends” have been contracted to build three micro-hydroelectric plants, harnessing the same water that ultimately feeds the Hisorak reservoir and adding a further 24MW of generating capacity. The China National Electric Engineering Co. Ltd. is busy at work, trucks (made in China of course) churning up the old road.
Above Ghilon, and our second base in the village of K’ol, the land rises in terraces of small fields bordered by tall, elegant poplars. Orchards of apple, cherry and apricot trees flourish here with apricots especially well adapted to the poor soil and the altitude of more than 2000 metres. Impressive 4000m+ peaks form the backdrop.
We skinned up through these fields and orchards to the upper slopes, dotted with fragrant juniper trees through which we carved turns on the descent. The skiing was good but it was unseasonably warm so the snow was already melting fast – ensuring power generation and irrigation for another year.
Ski Touring in the Shadow of the State
Emomali Rahmon – The Beloved Leader.
His photo is everywhere.
Looking down at you with benevolent eyes, arm often outstretched, acknowledging the love of a grateful people. Rahmon, Tajikistan’s “Founder of Peace and Unity” and “Leader of the Nation,” watches over the country from billboards and the outside of buildings. One could be forgiven for thinking that he was the manager of every hotel we stayed in.
Often the images are accompanied by rousing, patriotic texts. Here’s one translated:
Dear people!
I believe in the creative power and the honour of every one of you.
My great nation!
As long as you live, I am proud to bear your name,
I sincerely love you and wholeheartedly dedicate
my entire life to serving you.
My great, heroic people!
Hand in hand, all together,
in an atmosphere of peace and harmony in our beloved homeland,
Tajikistan, we will turn it into a paradise on Earth.
An ancient nation and a culture of tolerance — the Tajiks!
The hard and difficult days are behind us.
Now, with confidence and firm steps,
toward a prosperous future,
let us raise our caps even higher and move forward!
My proud and successful people!
May joy on the road to a bright and prosperous future
be with you forever!
Of the two and a half million books held in the colossal Firdausi National Library we only saw a few. All were by Rahmon or about him.
You get the picture.
But what about the skiing?
We put in some great turns despite bad weather and the challenges of moving around this exceptionally mountainous country. Tajikistan was this year’s ‘Expect the Unexpected’ tour and the trip lived up to expectations.
The notorious road up to and through the Anzob tunnel closed due to avalanche only an hour after we passed through, blocking our way back south to Dushanbe. What to do? The answer was to drive to, and visit, Samarkand in Uzbekistan before heading south to cross back in Tajikistan at Denau. There are usually (but not always) solutions to be found on these trips!
Cigars, raki and ski touring
Admir is a cheerful, welcoming man with a humidor full of expensive Cuban cigars. Empty cigar boxes lie piled up next to an eyebrow-raising selection of cognac, whisky, grappa and raki. We are the only guests for three delicious dinners in Admir’s restaurant which sits high on a hill overlooking Plav, a muslim town in Eastern Montenegro.
Many people from this part of Montenegro have a connection with the USA and in particular New York City. Admir himself worked in Montenegrin-owned restaurants there for six years – hence the superb food and his excellent American English. Mass migration occured at the turn of the twentieth century and then again after the Yugoslav wars of the 1990’s.
American Montenegrins retain very close ties with their villages of origin. For example, Bimber, our 4×4 driver’s Land Rover Discovery 3 has Texan plates. His uncle is a successful businessman and owner of three restaurants in Texas. For his two-month summer holiday in Plav he shipped the Discovery over, leaving it with Bimber on his departure.
Without Bimber and his fleet of 4×4’s we would never have reached the snow. Conditions were very good but the weather refused to play ball. We did ski everyday though, enjoying some fun turns!