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Alum Allen Taylor's Adventures

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Alum Allen Taylor Shares Post-Sant Bani Adventures at Morning Session

Taylor [SBS’05] skis some tall mountains.

On Friday, April 16, alumnus Allen Taylor, SBS class of 2005 and UVM class of 2009, presented one version of what is next after graduation from Sant Bani School. After completing an internship in forestry, Allen headed to northern India and Indian Kashmir for two and a half months with some friends to explore the Himalayas, the highest mountains in the world, and find what they have to offer for backcountry skiing.

Allen played a short video of skiers in that region soaring down mountains and rooftops and then showed with maps where he skied and travelled. He explained the history and tensions of the region, dating back to the partition between India and Pakistan. He spent much of his time in Hindu or Indian Kashmir at the only really big ski resort in India. Indians come there to escape the heat and often stay in houseboat hotels, which Allen showed. He explained the common sight of Indian military personnel bringing explosives to the resort’s ski patrol to trigger avalanches when no one is skiing. When he was backcountry skiing he went down mountains of up to 17,000 feet and came near the DMT fence, a ten-kilometer zone near the border of India and Pakistan that helps keep tensions down between the two countries. Electric power at the ski resort was inconsistent and there were other mountains he wanted to ski without chairlifts, so Allen travelled up winding mountain roads by motorcycle with skis on his back. Other desired locations demanded a six-to-seven-thousand-foot climb, starting at two o’clock in the morning with spiked boots. Sometimes he had to camp in the mountains, which allowed him to see sunrises he called “unbelievable.”

In addition to many photos of his skiing experiences in the Himalayas, Allen showed images of the different cultures he encountered in this part of the world. Some were of a people believed to be descendents of Alexander the Great’s army, who would not touch Westerners because they believed them to be unclean.

Allen with full pack on the ridge.

A high-altitude trip like this could not have been taken easily without training and preparation. Allen explained how acclimatization happens to the human body and how it worked for him. He said he felt out of shape for the first few days, but that his body adjusted. He has a lot of experience backcountry skiing in the northeast and prepared here. He is glad he did and said he saw some climbers in the Himalayas who did not seem to know what they were doing.

At the end of his presentation Allen told students and staff that the three parts of his trip in which he had the most fun were first skiing, then experiencing the various cultures he came across, and finally learning how to work with photos and video—he said he was really glad that he brought his camera. The morning session audience was glad as well, since viewing Allen’s photos as he discussed his trip brought us closer to what he experienced. Many students and some teachers were inspired to go adventuring like he did, and like so many other Sant Bani seniors have, after they step out of the white graduation tent as new alumni.