DEOSAI

TEXT GIAN LUCA GASCA PHOTOS SAMUEL CONFORTOLA

A unique plateau in the world

Six Italians, on skis, across the Deosai plateau for the first time in winter. It happened in Pakistan, where four Mountain Guides, a ski instructor and a videomaker covered in one week the 80 kilometers that separate Astore from Skardu, in the Gilgit Baltistan region.

A project strongly desired by the government of the Pakistani region for the promotion of winter tourism in the land of the great mountains of the Karakorum. The Associazione Cuore Attivo Monte Rosa and the EvK2Minoprio organization put this project into practice with the support of the Italian Embassy in Islamabad. “For Pakistanis, ski mountaineering is something new, which they have been discovering in recent years” explains Michele Cucchi, guide of Alagna Valsesia and operational manager of the project. With him there were the guides Maurizio Gallo, president of EvK2Minoprio, Marco Zaninetti, Paolo Dalla Valentina, the ski instructor Matteo Negra and the videomaker Samuel Confortola. The aim of this crossing was to identify a possibility for the tourism of the future, to seize new opportunities and to outline possible itineraries. But there was more.

Skiing on the Deosai plateau

Starting from the Astore valley, which leads to the plateau, the group reached Skardu in about a week, one of the last human outposts on the road to K2. From March 15th to 21st, they moved on their own through this lunar territory about 4000 meters above sea level, living a unique experience. “The first day was the hardest, but it was also a great party, there was also a marching band following us” explains Cucchi. "We received an unexpected and warm welcome".

Having overcome the important difference in height that allowed access to the plateau, the group left the celebrations behind, finding themselves alone in a white world, where everything appeared motionless. "We had to use a GPS to orient ourselves, otherwise it would have been impossible”. A continuous ups and downs following the summer itinerary.

So they went on for 80 kilometers through the Deosai National Park, a protected area declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco since 2016, which measures 3000 square kilometers of surface and hosts bears, wolves, foxes, snow leopards and more than 124 species of birds. “We met some wolves and a bearded vulture. It was strange: you are in the middle of nowhere but there’s actually life".

A huge and almost infinite white land, covered by four or five meters of snow, between 3900 and 4000 meters of altitude. "It is similar to Greenland or northern Iceland, totally different from anything else I have ever seen in neighboring Tibet or in the rest of the Himalayas where there are less snowfalls”. And then the thrill of being alone sliding on that immaculate mantle, listening only to the sound of skis and your own lungs. “I don't think I've ever seen a clear light like that. Darkness, silence, all things that we no longer find in everyday life".

It is unthinkable that until today no one has ever imagined crossing this land with skins, but basically here ski mountaineering is something new, which has being discovered in recent years and which in the future could reserve interesting surprises by opening the doors to new tourist frontiers, creating work and seasonally adjusting the attendance of the Pakistani valleys, that are nowadays frequented only in the summer months for trekking to the highest mountains on earth. "We are working on the technical report to be delivered to the Deosai National Park, with the intention of creating nature trails and perhaps support points" concludes Cucchi.

“Small structures, similar to our alpine bivouacs, usable both in summer and in winter. Eco-sustainable structures to facilitate the tourist flow and the discovery of this small unspoiled natural corner". The hope is to beat this new sustainable tourist track as early as the next winter season.

“We received an unexpected and warm welcome”