Germans set to conquer Kashmir glacier

Leaving behind the dismal memories of the 1995 foreign tourists’ abduction episode, five German ski-mountaineers have teamed up with Kashmiri experts to scale the Kolahoi glacier and ski-down 4,000 meters in a bid to revive adventure tourism in the Valley.

Britishers Keith Mangan and Paul Wells, Americans John Childs and Donald Hutchings, German Dirk Hasert and Norwegian Hans Christian Ostro were abducted in 1995 by Al Faran, a front organisation of Harkat-ul-Mujhadeen, from Aru-Pahalgam.

Ostro was beheaded by the militants and Childs managed to escape. Four others were never found.

The ultras were demanding the release of several militants, including Masood Azhar, who was released some years later in exchange of IC 814 passengers.

Sixteen years on, a group of Germans are back to undertake 150 kilometers trek on skies.

Led by Oliver Alefeld, the 10-member team includes five Germans and five local experts. The group would ski down Kolahoi glacier and many virgin ridges in Sekiwas area as part of the ‘2011-Kashmir Bavarian Ski-Mountaineering Expedition’.

Security does not seem to be a worry for the team. “We are not scared at all. There is great feeling being here. My father is a mountaineer and he was very excited, my mother was a bit worried but I called her and everything is fine,” Petra Rimbeck, one of two German women in the team, said.

Firdous Khan, the leader of Kashmiri mountaineers team, who scaled the glacier in 1988 alone, also said security is not an issue with the team.

“The area is safe and there is no problem as far security is concerned. We will complete the expedition in a week,” Khan said.

Tourism planners say the expedition will send across a positive message which would go a long way to attract foreign tourists back to Kashmir.