Shimla: Having overcome the logistics of no flights to Kullu valley, case Himalayan Heli Adventures (HHA) announced the start of Heli Skiing in Himachal with the first batch of 9 international tourists taking to high mountain skiing today.

We did face logistic problems, clinic especially with there being not flights to Kullu valley since September, but we are happy to announce that Heli-skiing is on as the first sorties took off today,” said Manjeev Bhalla, MD of HHA.

Instead of the 9 week schedule we had initially planned it has been shortened to a 7 week one. We are receiving many queries for skiing the Himalayas and much of slots that we have are already booked, he added.

For conducting the highly adventurous sport, the organizers have hired powerful BC Eurocopters that on warm skiing days make sorties from a resort in Manali and drops the skiers on mountain tops, to give the enthusiasts an thrilling experience of coming down at high speed on quality powder and corn snow.

The helicopters are manned by Swiss pilots, very adapt in maneuvering the machines in high altitude mountains.

Heli-skiing was introduced in Himachal and the country in 1992.