Skiplomacy-Episode 4-Tajikistan

Jimmy Petterson calls himself a ski bum, and under that heading, he has supported his skiing habit by a myriad of different occupations including ski instructor, off-piste guide, travel guide, slope-side singer-entertainer, bar owner, hotelkeeper, ski-travel arranger, and most recently ski writer and photographer. He has skied in more than 70 countries on all seven continents during his search for ski nirvana, and his work has been pub- lished in 20 of those lands. He has more than 30 ski magazine cover photos to his credit and more than 650 feature articles on the subject of skiing. His first book, Skiing Around the World Volume I--Chronicles of a Ski Bum, received the Bill Berry Award for “outstanding contribution to skiing by the media.” It also won the Harold Hirsch Award, presented by the North American Snowsports Journalists Association. Shortly after the book was published, he and producer/videographer, Ari Heinilä, created a TV series loosely based on the book, called Raider of the Lost Snow. That series won a Harold Hirsch Award as well, for excellence in snowsports broadcasting, and the Warren Miller Modern Media Award given by the Far West Ski Association.

In this, the fourth episode in Jimmy's Skiplomacy series, Jimmy skis in his 74th country--Tajikistan. The mountainous land is one of the poorest in the world, and the infrastructure is poor. As always in poor countries, however, Jimmy finds that the local people are extremely kind and hospitable. He stays with a local mountain family near the ski resort of Safed Dara, who absolutely refuse to accept any money for his accommodation and food. Of course, he plays guitar and sings with the locals, the only way he is able to "give" something in return for their kindness. In addition to the skiing in this small bona fide ski resort, he also attempts a ski tour with a Tajik snowboarder.

While skiing is not really part of the Tajik culture, there is an unusual sport which is--buzkashi. The object of the game is to pick a headless goat carcass up off the ground while on horseback and carry this approximately 45-kilo “ball” through some goal posts, while about 50 other horsemen do everything in their power to prevent you from doing so. The film also includes Jimmy's visit to observe a buzkashi match, which can be best described as organized chaos, with emphasis on the chaos and very little that is organized.