Adventure Magazine

saving the world
one ski run at a time...
Words and Images compliments of Untamed Borders
Crossing the infamous Khyber Pass
between Pakistan and Afghanistan,
isn’t quite how you expect a normal ski
excursion to begin.But that’s exactly how
James Willcox, Founder of adventure
travel company, Untamed Borders, arrived
for their latest ski trip to Afghanistan.
Untamed Borders thinks a little differently
to most conventional ski and travel
companies – in fact, it became the first
international company to organise ski trips
to Afghanistan back in 2011 and they’ve
ventured into the peaks of the country’s
Bamian Province ever since.
James has played a central role in the
development of ski tourism in Afghanistan,
where an intrepid international contingent
head every spring with Untamed Borders
to take on backcountry routes, many which
have never been skied before.
For the adventurous tourists who join
James and his team, they’re treated to
a truly unique skiing experience – with
the opportunity to ski virgin routes, often
alongside Afghans using wooden skis.
The company also runs annual ski trips
to Northern Iraq and private guests have
been on ski excursions with Untamed
Borders to Tajikistan, Iran, Western China,
Pakistan and Lebanon.
An increasing number of tourists are
looking for more adventurous destinations
to ski in, fuelled by a boom in the
backcountry skiing industry.
Sales of backcountry skis increased by
81% in 2020, according to Snowsports
Industries America, and the sector has
continued to be buoyant since – with
backcountry snowboard sales also spiking
by 146%.
That’s good news for Untamed Borders,
who are increasingly getting more
requests for unusual and off-the-beatenpath
ski trips.
For James though, Afghanistan is well
trodden territory, and fresh off the back of
his latest visit – the first ski trip since the
Taliban retook control of the country, he
tells us how the Untamed Borders Afghan
ski adventure all began.
“At the beginning of the winter of 2010
almost no-one had skied in Bamian
Province, despite the region boasting
snowy peaked mountains.
The region is phenomenally beautiful,
not only due to its mountains, but
also due to the crystal blue Band-e-
Amir Lakes & the fascinating history,
including its Buddhist cave complex
(which used to house enormous
statues, some of the most important
ancient Buddhist relics. Sadly blown
up by the Taliban) and rich culture.
The New Zealand government funded
an international development agency,
called the Aga Khan Foundation,
who saw the potential in the area as
a tourism hotspot, to help the local
economy, which suffers from a high
level of poverty.
Slowly the building blocks began to
form for what we see today, with 2
American skiers coming in to chart
out potential ski routes in the region.
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