Thread: Gulmarg, Kashmir 2012

Starting this to get info about skiing in Gulmarg. Basically a new version of:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...hlight=Gulmarg

Anyone who went last year have any profound comments or recommendations?

[had to approve this manually since poster had less than six posts and was posting a link. Get a couple more posts up so you can post links and pm and shit].

I have flights booked I will be flying in on January 4th and leaving January 11th.

Any updates on hotel, restaurant, to do recommendations,.

I spent a month in Gulmarg last year and have upped the ante this year.
I will be in Kashmir for around 7 weeks from Jan 22nd ish.

Unless the snow is good this year, your trip is a bit early. Gulmarg season can start late!
You are also leaving your window of opportunity a little small. If it is snowing the top phase of the gondola will close.

As far as Hotels, make sure you stay near the Gondola base station. The village is a good few kilometres away.

Yeah my trip will be short and risky I know. I am going to be in India for a wedding, and have to be back to work. It's the best dates I can get, I'm hoping for the best.

For hotels you mentioned staying at the base station, not the village. What hotels are at the base station the Pine Place?
Is there food available? Or am I going to have to go back and forth between the village and the base station anyways.

Lameeee..... Dude, you're totally cutting an amazing trip short... I understand job, wedding and all, but seriously, you could spend a year in India with a 1 month paycheck from a decent job.... I've been thinking of potentially getting over this season, and if I do, it'll be a month at least in Gulmarg, and more time in Nepal and India... Don't cut the chance of a lifetime short!

Guys, can anybody help me with some questions:
Best time for ride pow ?
Best place to live for 3 weeks ( village or base of gondola) Cheapest
How can I go from Srinagar to Gulmarg ?
Price of the ticket ?
Thanks

Nicolas Harasic
Filmaker of WhoSaint

Originally Posted by nharasic

Guys, can anybody help me with some questions:
Best time for ride pow ?
Best place to live for 3 weeks ( village or base of gondola) Cheapest
How can I go from Srinagar to Gulmarg ?
Price of the ticket ?
Thanks

Nicolas Harasic
Filmaker of WhoSaint

Want to know this too.
From what I've seen so far, I think I'm actually going to be able to pay for this trip (as a college student).

Ticket is 800 bucks, which is nothing (Amsterdam to Srinagar).
Lift pass is 20$ a day. You can get a hotel for 20$ a day (Global hotel, which is pretty good, but in the village, but who gives a fuck).
Srinagar to Gulmarg is about 20$

I want to make a big trip (Japan/India/Canada), but this would be by far the most cost effective, as well as the most adventurous one. Probably end-january to early-march 2014 (still a long way ahead, but next year I'm going somewhere else!

I'd love to hear anything anyone has to say about Gulmarg. Probably won't be getting there this year as the trip to India that is planned is too early, but I'm hoping for a long trip the year after.

I even made my wife re-watch the Salomon Freeski TV episode yesterday so she'd get pumped too.

Particularly, how long does the snow last in an average year? I'd likely not be able to get there until March.

Gulmarg is awesome, but if you are comfortable going your own way, consider the Kullu valley as well.

When I was there three years ago, I left at the end of feb and I think they got one final storm in march before it started melting rapidly.... so the season was basically February that year.

Originally Posted by samthaman

Gulmarg is awesome, but if you are comfortable going your own way, consider the Kullu valley as well.

When I was there three years ago, I left at the end of feb and I think they got one final storm in march before it started melting rapidly.... so the season was basically February that year.

When you left Gulmarg? Or the Kullu Valley?

I'm looking up the latter and it looks pretty awesome for subsequent trips. I've basically married into India trips for life, so I'll probably get a couple of shots at such things (though the wife's family lives in decidedly non-snowy parts of the country). Kullu (as well as Gulmarg) looks like it would be great to visit any time of the year, though obviously I'd like some skiing if it's an option.

Thanks for the intel!

end of feb is when I left gulmarg and went to the Kullu (kulu?) valley for spring skiing.

I think the Kullu valley is supposed to be awesome year round, but it's totally dead and quite in winter, which I really like. It has a reputation for filling up with drug tourists and crusty backpackers in the summer.

Manali stoke:

That looks incredible, thanks!

Also, googling for more info, I came across what I assume are your TRs on FIS. Pretty inspiring stuff. I'm very eager to start going farther north in my Indian explorations.

If you are interested in exploring, Leh and the surrounding area of Ladakh is worth a visit. The Manali-Leh road is open in the summer (May-October) and has some awesome scenery. the north section of manali (other side of the park/river) was/is the backpacker ghetto with bongo playing israelis, the main town had many more indian tourists when I passed through. Really pretty area. So many awesome places to explore in that country. In the south the Nilgiri's and the backwaters of Kerala are pretty cool.

Originally Posted by Hugh Conway

If you are interested in exploring, Leh and the surrounding area of Ladakh is worth a visit. The Manali-Leh road is open in the summer (May-October) and has some awesome scenery. the north section of manali (other side of the park/river) was/is the backpacker ghetto with bongo playing israelis, the main town had many more indian tourists when I passed through. Really pretty area. So many awesome places to explore in that country. In the south the Nilgiri's and the backwaters of Kerala are pretty cool.

I am absolutely interested in exploring (and avoiding bongo playing Israelis) so I much appreciate the tip.

I'm lucky in that my wife's family has a house up in the Nilgiris. I've only been there once, but loved them. Backwater Kerala might be on the agenda for this November. I've hear it's great.

if you want an ... um ... experience, you should consider malana as well. It's an easy add on to a trip to Manikaran

in the south-ish another place to check out would be Hampi - good bouldering, interesting site. not sure where the relatives are, but flights from the south to Sri Lanka are pretty cheap and it's easier/less stressful to get around with imo much nicer beaches/surfing if you are looking to tack on a non-mountain getaway

re Gulmarg, I was there late January into February for a couple weeks. February seemed to have the snow. I stayed away from the village which meant only a short walk in the morning, I'd do it again that way but I probably won't go back. You can take a taxi or a bus from Srinagar, not terribly hard to get there.

Planning a Gulmarg trip this winter and trying to sort out guide options, including couple days of touring and maybe a day of heli. Any recommendations?

Originally Posted by Ernst

Planning a Gulmarg trip this winter and trying to sort out guide options, including couple days of touring and maybe a day of heli. Any recommendations?

where are you coming from?

Medium-sized group coming from all over but prob only 5-6 days on the mountain.

Me and a buddy are planning on going towards the end of January for a week-- and I've been trying to read through the threads here and elsewhere.

Anyone have up to date info on doing this independently? Mainly how difficult/expensive is it going to be to just show up, hire a solid guide for a few days, and then having a few days to be on our own afterward.

Also, if anyone else is going to be there, I'm down for splitting guide costs or just having a beer.

Use makemytrip.com - for India local reservations.

A couple of years ago we got our guide from the kiwis at the heli pad. Ask for Tiger. He was fun to ski with.

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Gulmarg/6day/mid

It ain't no SLC, but that's what we came for right?

Anyone thinking of ski-touring in the Kulu Valley / Manali area should get their hands on the guidebook my brother wrote. It's available through: http://alpinetouring.com/