Gear and an instructor are hired in town. For a first day, stay on the slopes served by the lower lifts and phase 1 of the gondola. The point is to turn, stop and get back on the lift, not to reach a viewpoint.
Phase 2 and the bowl under Apharwat are for people who already ski off a marked run and understand that a closed gondola means the day is over. Avalanche conditions are a local judgement, not a feeling you have because the sun is out. If the people who ski here every week are not going up, you are not going up.
When
January and February are the most reliable. Late December and March can be excellent or patchy. A green Christmas-card promise for early December is a gamble.
Where
Gulmarg, Baramulla district, about 1.5 to 2 hours from Srinagar when the road is clear, longer when it is not.
Doing it well
- Book the instructor for the morning you want, and ask what the lower slope is like that week.
- Goggles, gloves you can actually ski in, and a layer you can remove indoors. The rental shop is not a closet.
- Altitude. Phase 2 is high. A headache on day one is a reason to stop, not a reason to push for the photo.
Skip these versions
- A non-skier on a phase 2 ticket because the family bought them together.
- Leaving Srinagar at noon and expecting a lesson and a scenic ride.