GULMARG – – Glittering Winter Wonderland

Glittering Winter Wonderland

Kashmir, the fabled ‘Paradise on Earth’, heaped with lavish praise by the Mughal emperors for its timeless beauty and eternal charms, still blows travellers away to this day. The jewel in its glittering crown is the gorgeous alpine resort, Gulmarg, with its blithe spirit of sunny meadows, balmy breezes, and snow-mantled pinnacles.

Today Gulmarg is an all- year-round destination, thrilling the throngs of visitors from all over the world with its special brand of tourist attractions which make it such a unique holiday destination. Yet, those narratives of Gulmarg’s cold winters too delight us with those shining visuals of its magical beauty as a fairytale wonderland of pristine snowfields.

Back in the day the resort village pulled in tourists, honeymooners and adventure buffs to sample another way of Gulmarg life. Honeymooners from all over India still flock to this lovely spot to soak in the romantic nuances of its snow-blanked slopes even in those freezing temperatures. The fun of cable car snow views, sledding, snowman building, snowball fights, ice skating, ATV rides and even pony rides to Khilanmarg, are well captured for family wedding albums.

Today Gulmarg ranks among the most favoured snow sports destinations in the world. Gulmarg’s tryst with skiing enthusiasts goes back to 1927 when the British recognized its potential for the sport by setting up what was known as the Gulmarg Ski Club. This is now the home of the Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering.

Few people are even aware that in 2010 CNN International rated Gulmarg as Asia’s seventh best ski destination. And not many people know that it’s one of the most inexpensive places in the world to learn to ski. This is thanks to The Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering here, which offers regular 10 and 21-day ski courses for different levels. The high season for skiing is between late December to late February. Another big draw is Gulmarg snow fields are easily accessible.

What makes Gulmarg such a delight is that from the lofty heights of Apharwat Peak (4124m) set amidst the iconic Pir Panjal range in the western Himalayas, all the way down to the tiny alpine village, there is a range of alluring experiences in the snow to be enjoyed.

Word of mouth has spread of its bounteous snowfall, natural virgin powders, off-piste expanses, uncrowded ski slopes, backcountry runs beyond the resort, and world-class facilities. It’s not just skiing that pulls in the winter sports fanatic to Gulmarg. Its snow slopes are scattered with snowboarders as well.  Global snow sports buffs running away from those overcrowded Western winter resorts are embracing the super uncrowded experiences on those abundant ski slopes and pristine natural powder snow runs that offer ideal snowboarding conditions. Gulmarg’s winter allurements are much less expensive than those available back home in Europe or the US for foreign tourists.

Advanced skiers are hard to please, but Gulmarg has wooed them with its steep terrain and uncrowded snow slopes the Australian skier ‘Wolf Pack’ had the crowds roaring back in the winter of 2012-13 for his exploits as the best and fastest skier at the resort had witnessed at the time. Today heli-skiers in huge numbers are expected to descend on the resort from Germany, Russia, the USA, France, and Australia. Heli-skiing is conducted on the lofty heights of the slopes of Mount Apharwat accessible only by Gondola cable-car system which reaches a height of 3,979 m.

A big attraction for the international skiing community, in terms of facilities, has been the T-bars, ski-lifts, chair-cars, and rope-ways. Gulmarg’s acquisition of the world’s second-highest gondola ski lift, set up in 1998 by French firm Pomagalsky gave a fillip to snow sports activities being developed here. The first stage of the Gulmarg Gondola was finished in 1998, and the second stage took two years to complete and was opened in 2005. The 2-stage gondola (from Gulmarg to Kongdoori and from Kongdoori to Apharwat Station) is operated by the J&K Cable Car Corporation under Poma regulations. An additional third phase was added to the Gulmarg Gondola back in 2011, which features 90 chairlifts connecting Kongdoori to Mary’s Shoulder. This entire exercise was conducted to connect the valley floor at 2600m to the top station (3990m) to Mt Apharawat (4124m). Visitors enjoy the culinary delights of the Kondogri Restaurant mid-station while soaking up those scenic snowy vistas spread before them. American avalanche forecaster Brian Newman helped launch the Gulmarg Avalanche Centre.

Don’t worry if you haven’t come equipped for all these joyful activities. You can hire all kinds of equipment for alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, ice hockey, toboggans, sleds, and snow cycles, etc from the J&K government shop.  Bunny Slopes Poma lifts are run by J&K Tourism on the snow-covered golf course. Three pomas are available for beginners on the flats, the forested slopes of the phase 1 gondola and surrounds, then there is the quad chairlift and the huge high alpine accessed by the phase 2 gondola. The lift-accessed terrain of upper Apharwat is only for experienced riders. If you revel in your skiing expertise you still need to be accompanied by a mountain guide to enjoy those risky ungroomed, backcountry (off-piste) slopes.

Gulmarg, which revels in its reputation as the Capital of winter sports in India also plays host to the annual Khelo India National Winter Games, generally held around February when snow conditions are ideal with snow at its deepest and the snowpack most stable. The carnival vibe is truly catching as participants take their stand in a range of winter games on showcase including snow-shoe racing, ice-skating, ice hockey, skiing, Nordic ski, snowboarding, ski-mountaineering and ice-stock. In the winter games of 2023 in February, the 3rd edition of the Khelo India Winter Games witnessed the participation of over 1,500 athletes representing 29 states, union territories, and institutional teams, in 11 different winter sports activities.

ACCOMMODATION

An excellent range of 5-star hotels and mid-range and budget properties are scattered across the alpine resort

ACCESS

Air: The nearest airport is Srinagar Airport, about 40km away. It is served by direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai. Prepaid taxi booths are located near the Arrivals Hall in the airport.

Rail: Jammu Tawi railway station lies 290 km away from Gulmarg. Onward journey can be done by bus or taxi

Road: Gulmarg is around 60 km from Srinagar by road. Bus and shared cabs are also available for the journey via Tangmarg.