Learning to step into tension – and manage it well, in a non-reactive, grounded way – is one of the top FEARLESS principles to success, being authentically magnetic and forming strong connections and relationships, and living a fulfilling, adventurous life.
A good relationship to tension allows you to “play big” in life. Avoidance of tension or managing tension poorly keeps you small.
From business to lifestyle to relationships, The FEARLESS Man’s executive director, Dave Stultz, has always epitomized a good relationship with tension, risk, and adventure. And his latest adventure has amped those things up more than ever. This is his story…as it continues to unfold.
American Dave Stultz had planned an ‘adventure tour’ and some snowboarding with his friends at the famed Gulmarg Ski Resort in Kashmir, but upon landing at the nearby Srinagar airport, they were met with a massive military presence, with low-flying helicopters and jets soaring overhead.
As the conflict between Pakistan and India rages on – a month that’s seen a suicide bomber ram his car into a bus carrying Indian paramilitary police, killing 44; a gun battle in a residential area rumored to be hiding suspected militants, killing 9 and, most recently, two Indian jets getting shot down near the ‘Line of Control’, the border between Kashmir’s Indian and Pakistani sides – the Indian pilot, who fell into Pakistan, has since been captured and released.
“I arrived here in Kashmir at the height of everything going on – heavy military presence in the airport at Srinagar – all through the city of Srinagar there is massive military presence,” said Stultz. “We have been told that about 80% of the Indian military is currently in the Kashmir region… everywhere you go, there is military on high alert and lots of checkpoints, and they’re heavily monitoring this area.
“A lot of the airports in the northern region of India have been shut down – some have been re-opened; Srinagar airport, which I flew into, was shut down. I believe it’s open now. The airspace over Pakistan is still shut down and there are very limited flights in and out of this area.
“We drove through all the way up into the Gulmarg region, which is a bit more of a safe region… but still a lot of overhead aerial campaigns have been going on, some helicopter recon… lots of jets and helicopters flying over this region – which is extremely rare.
“We are on the Pakistan/India border, snowboarding and doing an adventure trip – it’s definitely become an adventure. The military showed up here checking IDs and searching hotels. We can almost go right up to the ‘Line of Control’ between India and Pakistan; of course, the Indian military is up in the mountains – their mountain base is up there. We ran into a few of them yesterday, they were all doing their patrols.
“We got chased by a pack of wild dogs the other day – I had to fend them off; we were actually snowboarding and skiing while this happened. The dogs actually came out of the woods and were chasing us like a pack of wolves! We had to fight them off with our ski poles, skis and snowboards. It was a rather interesting experience – never had that happened before while snowboarding!
“The other day we couldn’t even get out if we wanted to – one of the roads was avalanched and the airports were shut down and there’s no way to get in and out, and you don’t want to be really hanging out down in Srinagar, because they really won’t let you in the airport; you have to stand outside until three hours before your flight… and you’re taking a risk being outside.
As of right now, nobody really knows how many flights are coming in and out, or how easy it is to get out of here. One of the main ways to get out – outside of flying – is a 19-hour drive down to Delhi through the Kashmir region, which is extremely dangerous because a lot of the fighting is happening halfway between Delhi and here, so you really don’t want to be driving.
The locals are very friendly, very helpful, and express their concern – or lack of concern – because they’re so used to it. We are always losing power and losing heat. Gasoline is being fought over and rationed – there are about 100 cars at every gas station trying to get fuel. Srinagar is probably the worst place to be, in my opinion, especially with some of the possible suicide attackers down there in that region potentially targeting tourists – specifically western tourists.
Everybody’s spirits are fairly high – there have been other people that have gotten out of dodge as fast as they can… and we don’t even know if they have actually been able to get into the airport and leave or if they’re stuck down in Srinagar.”
