Having grown up near the Teton mountains in Idaho and Wyoming, Luke Smithwick has always been passionate about mountains. He has now channeled that into The Himalaya 500 project to map out 500 aesthetic ski lines in the Himalaya.
A mountaineer, skier and founder of Himalaya Alpine Guides, he is also an avalanche forecaster and educator who first visited Nepal in 2001 when he was still a student of Environmental Biology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Colorado.
“That trip completely changed me, I knew Nepal would be a part of the rest of my life,” says Smithwick, who speaks Urdu, Kashmiri, Ladakhi, Tibetan, Nepali, Hindi, Spanish and English. What inspires him is seeking out blank spots on the map for skiing right across the Himalayan arc from Nepal, India, Bhutan, China and Pakistan. And along the way he can also appreciate tremendous biological, geographical and ethnic diversity of the world’s youngest and highest mountain range.
The idea for his vast skiing project came about when Smithwich was working in snow safety and development on the Indian side of Kashmir. When choosing a line, some of the things he takes into account are the people, climate, geology, and orography that he will be skiing through.
The next is getting permits since the Himalaya is also a geopolitical hotspot and many border areas are restricted. After that, he checks for lodges or tea houses in the area as well as suitable camp sites in the higher reaches.
Smithwick’s background in avalanche is vital to keeping him safe during runs. He says a lot of it has to be intuition: “There is a daily avalanche forecast for many regions, but you also have to do it yourself. We have to figure out what is going on with the snowpack.”
RECENT SKIING FEATS
Mountaineering sucks all the oxygen from the media, and skiing is often ignored. But recently there have been major feats: Polish ski-mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel skied down the South Col face of Mt Everest without any supplemental oxygen, and American Jim Morrison skied down the Hornbein Couloir on the North Face. This spring another Pole, Bartek Ziemski, plans to ski from the summit of Lhotse.
Smithwick says the best areas for skiing in Nepal are in the west where there is more snowfall in winter. Some Nepali guides go to Gulmarg in Kashmir to get practice, but with adequate facilities Nepal could set up its own ski centres.
Smithwick spoke to Nepali Times from Phu in Manang which has seen heavy snowfall this spring. His latest post on Instagram is a video of a puja as he prepares to climb Mt Himlung, 7126m. Writes Smithwick: ‘Pujas for me have always been a time to think about why I’m here, and to bring the team together in a bonding moment.’