Ski India

Skiing in India??!! Most people think of India as a hot, dusty and crowded country, where skiing would only be possible in an indoor stadium. However up in the Himalayas, there is an abundance of snow.

Forget skiing in Japan, India is the new "IT" place to go skiing! India will provide you with ski and snowboard travel stories for the rest of your life that will not require any embellishment!

India Ski Resorts

Gulmarg is the most popular Indian ski resort for international skiers and snowboarders. Gulmarg is a no-frills "ski resort" by international standards, although it is very well developed for an Indian ski resort. Gulmarg provides a huge playground for experienced and fit riders who love powder skiing and a bit of ski touring or splitboarding. Gulmarg is in the state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) in northwest India at the foot of the Himalayas, 56km from the city of Srinagar. See our Gulmarg review for more information on this intriguing ski destination. There are various tour companies that offer Gulmarg ski tours.

The Solang Ropeway and Ski Centre is located 13km north of Manali in Himachal in north-eastern India. The ski resort has a modern gondola which services a reasonably steep intermediate run and there is a poma lift for novices. The southeast aspect of the Solang Valley ski resort isn’t ideal for snow maintenance, but in the height of winter it can provide some fun storm skiing in amongst the trees. Solang Ropeway is usually just frequented by domestic tourists who are there for snow play and selfies, but considering that the heli skiing company, Himalayan Heli Adventures, is based up the road, sometimes the heli skiers visit the ski resort on no-fly days.

Auli in Uttarakhand is the third main India ski resort, although it’s rather primitive compared to Gulmarg and targeted to beginners.

India also has some hill stations where people put on skis and sort of walk around and call it “skiing”, but these areas don’t have chair lifts or ropetows, and there are no groomed slopes, just patches of snow.

Heli Skiing India

India heli skiing is emerging as the new trend for powder addicts who are looking for something a bit spicy.

Himalaya Heli Ski are based in Manali and offer superb week long heli skiing packages. This heli skiing in India offers the amazing combination of phenomenal powder skiing with the unique culture of an India ski or snowboard trip. You can check out our review of Himalaya Heliski. 

Based out of Gulmarg, Kashmir Heliski offers week-long trips that are flexible in the number of runs as well as the number of days of heli skiing versus non-mechanised backcountry skiing at Gulmarg. It is also possible to do a single day of heliskiing.

Why Ski India?

India is a fascinating country. The local people will provide hours of people watching entertainment and this goes way beyond their obsession with cricket and Bollywood. The combination of the interesting cultural experience and an awesome skiing and snowboarding adventure makes for an inimitable ski holiday. Like the curries on offer, skiing in India is very fiery!

Whilst snowboarding or skiing in India, it also seems fitting to take in some other tourist activities with a stop-over in Delhi or a trip to the Taj Mahal. If you’re heading to Gulmarg, a stop-over in Srinagar is rather eye popping.