Age is no bar for adventure in Solang Valley

Manali, Feb 11 (IANS) Winter sport is seen as an adventure for the young. Hemraj Thakur from Old Manali does not. The 55-year-old is out setting a new benchmark blazing down the slopes of Solang.

Hemraj, who earns his daily bread by ferrying tourists back and forth from Solang in his Maruti Gypsy, started skiing as a young boy. Four decades on, he is still at it with his skis and a wide enthusiastic grin.

'I started skiing when I was a child. I took my mother's plastic slippers and started sliding down the snow near my house. Then one day, I saw some foreigners skiing and decided to make my own wooden skis. From then on it has been regular skiing,' he told IANS about his unending saga.

Adventure sports have become increasingly popular among the locals in Manali. Though still an elitist and very expensive proposition, the sheer joy of blazing a trail down a mountain has appealed to many local youngsters.

'I love the speed and the kick I get out of it. I am not scared of getting hurt, I just want to go down a slope as fast as I possibly can. The ski resort here has made it really easy for people like me to pursue the sport,' Hemraj said.

However, Manali has taken a beating over the years. With every fresh snowfall, more and more tourists throng this beautiful landscape. The natural beauty of the snowcapped mountains has been marred by the electricity poles that light up the mushrooming hotels and resorts.

Talking of the grave repercussions the influx of so many tourists has on the ecology, Hemraj said: 'It has affected the nature a bit, but it's not just the resort, it is the number of hotels that have come up.'

'Twenty years ago, there were not so many tourists, but now tourism is the biggest employer with 60 percent of the people here making a living out of it.'