Kashmir Heliski

THE TEAM

billa majeed bakshi

BILLA MAJEED BAKSHI

Director & Lead Guide

Billa was born in Kashmir in the Gulmarg area and he started ski guiding from a very young age. He is the founder of Kashmir Heli ski and also the lead Guide for Gulmarg Powder Guides. Billa has almost more than 17 years of Guiding experience From New Zealand to the Himalayas and Canada. He is working as a Heli-Ski Guide since 2011 with Kashmir Heliski, and in summer he lives in Canada.

In 2010 Billa Started Heli Guiding in New Zealand with Alpine Heli ski based in Queens Town and in 2011 he started Kashmir Heli Ski in Gulmarg Ski Resort. For Billa Skiing is his passion and profession, he loves to guide people. He has guided thousands of people in his 17 years of guiding career in the Himalayas. He is the first qualified ski guide and founder of Heli ski in India.

While operating one of the world’s highest Heli-Ski ,it was never an easy job. Still, his experience and passion for skiing made it one of the world’s safest Heli ski with zero accidental /incidental records. Billa also provides heli rescue facility to the entire Gulmarg Ski Resort, he has rescued lots of people in the Himalayas. Billa has guided the world’s best riders and film crews in the Himalayas, Red Bull, Salomon TV, Warren Miller, TGR, match stick production etc. He is a very friendly and smiley person and very kind-hearted.

MUSHTAQ MAGRAY (MUSHA)
Lead Guide

Musha is a local ski guide of Gulmarg. He studied Bachelor of Arts at Kashmir University. Skiing has always been his passion, and he has won many international free-ride events in Gulmarg. He has been skiing in Gulmarg for the last 16 years. In 2004 he joined Gulmarg Powder Guides, a company. Musha is now a lead guide for Kashmir Heliski since 2011, Musha has almost 13 years of Heli-Ski guiding experience.

MIR MUSHTAQ
Ski Guide

Mir has been guiding here in our Pir Panjal Range for the last 14 years. He’s one of our very experienced local ski guides. He has won a couple of national free-ride skiing competitions. Mir loves backcountry skiing and of course, Heli guiding. He’s been a Heli guide with Kashmir Heliski since the beginning, and he is working for us with Gulmarg Powder Guides.  Mir has almost 18 years of Guiding experience in the Himalayas with zero accidental records.

SHOWKAT (ALI)
Ski Guide

Ali joined Gulmarg Powder Guides in 2006 and has been working as a Heli guide for Kashmir Heliski since 2011. He’s also a local and has more than 18 years of ski guiding experience in the Himalayas. He is the favourite guide of our backcountry clients; he knows the mountains like the back of his hand. Ali spends almost 340 days a year in the mountains, he guides every day to guests even in summer, he is a real mountain goat, Ali is a very friendly ski guide, you will always miss him after your ski trip.

Ali has almost 12 years of Heli ski guiding experience with zero accidental records.

MUSHTAQ RATHER (METHUN)
Ski Guide

Nicknamed after an old Bollywood star, he has been skiing in Gulmarg since 1995. A fantastic and athletic skier, Methun is also a local ski Guide and one of our best backcountry/Heli guides. He’s always keen to get out with clients and have a good time in the mountains! Methun has almost 13 years of Heli guiding experience and lots of Backcountry . he is a very strong and experienced guide.

TARIQ BAKSHI
Ski Guide

Tariq is one of the strongest guides,  he’s been skiing and living in Gulmarg since the age of 8. He’s a chill guide and happy to be in the heli or in the backcountry! Tariq has almost 10 years of Heliguiding experience and many years of Backcountry.

FAYAZ
Ski Guide

Fayaz was skiing from a young age and was skiing for national ski team for 8 yrs , he is guiding from last 10 years in Himalayas backcountry guide as well as Heli guide. he is one of the guide who loves to do lots of ski touring and backcountry skiing.

TIM O’LEARY
Chief Guide

Tim is an NZMGA full certified ski guide. He is an avalanche full certified professional in New Zealand. The looks at more than 20  years of experience in heli-skiing / heli-guiding in New Zealand. In Queenstown, New Zealand, he’s the owner and operator of Alpine Heliski Ltd.

Dean Staples Ski Guide
DEAN STAPLES
Lead Guide

Dean is a qualified IFMGA / UIAGM mountain and ski guide. He has over 20 years of guiding and 30 years of climbing and skiing experience both within New Zealand and internationally. After successfully summiting Mt. Everest (8848) nine times, Dean also became the first New Zealander to summit Mount Everest from both North and South sides. Dean has accomplished many other significant climbs including three other 8000 metre mountains. He has also climbed six of the seven highest peaks of the seven continents (The 7 Summits). Dean is the former Chief Guide for Harris Mountains Heli-ski New Zealand and after 11 years in this position has taken a step back from that role to enjoy more skiing and climbing for himself. Dean has had 3 years as a Lead Heliski Guide working for both Himachal Heli Skiing in India and TLH Heli Skiing in Canada plus a season or two skiing and climbing in Chamonix, France.

Takuya Tsukada Heliboarding
TAKUYA TSUKADA
Heliboarding

TAK is a snowboard guide for Kashmir Heliski from Japan. If you book your trip via him, he will be your guide. He runs his own agency in Japan. He has been in the winter industry over 25 years, full certified ski instructor in the USA, Canadian association of snowboard instructors CASI Level 1, Japan ski & snowboard certified instructor, JAN Avalanche control level 1. He started with the cat ski & snowboard operation in 2002 at Myoko, Japan and the heli ski & snowboard operation in 2006 at Hokkaido, Japan. Recently he expanded to Myoko.

OUR PILOTS

Reto Mueller heliski
RETO MUELLER
Pilot

We’re excited to have Captain Reto Mueller from Switzerland with us this year. He is an extremely accomplished pilot coming from a family of big aviators he acquired his first Licence at just 15 on fixed wings and his favourite helicopter. Reaching 10`000 Hours total flight time this season.

Reto loves the mountains and when not flying he can be found ski touring, climbing, mountain biking, paragliding, of course ski and snowboarding.

JUERG WEGMÜLLER
Pilot

Juerg is a mountain person and a passionate pilot. He has been an active paraglider before he started his education as a helicopter mechanic in 1993. He is flying helicopters for twenty years, seventeen of them as a commercial pilot. Besides his flight experience in airplanes, Juerg has logged more than 6.000 flight hours in helicopter cockpits with tasks ranging from supplying goods to remote alpine huts to scenery flights with film crews and many more duties. He is rated as a flight instructor and trains pilots in high mountain and glacier landings. That’s why he has accumulated an impressive number of close to 15.000 high mountain landings.

ERWIN SCHÄRZ
Pilot

Erwin is a Swiss Commercial Helicopter pilot. His experience includes a variety of helicopter operations around the world ranging from utility, longline, heliski and rescue missions on various helicopter-types. He knows the mountains and heliskiruns around Gulmarg from his previous two seasons he worked for us and has logged over 5000 hours in his career. His main job is at Swiss Helicopter in Switzerland.
He loves spending time with his family at various outdoor activities when not at work.

OUR HELICOPTER

AS 350 from Eurocopter

Our AS 350 B3e from Eurocopter – especially adjusted for high altitude and cold temperatures.

Our new helicopter of the type AS 350 B3e von Eurocopter (2012 model), give our company an extra safe touch and make it to the safest in the entire Himalayas. We are THE company in the Himalayas who never had any incident or accident. This type of helicopter is especially made for such an extreme terrain like Gulmarg. The B3e can handle the extreme altitude and the cold temperatures easily. If the weather allows us we can land up as high as 5.000 meters above sealevel. The helicopter offers a seating capacity of 5 passengers and one pilot. We only transport 4 passengers to offer you an higher comfort. Our heliski operations is certainly something special in this world. Our choppers fly from the capital of India – New Dehli within 4-5 hours to Gulmarg. If the weather doesn´t cooperate it can take the Helis also multiple days to reach us.

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