Bill's Gulmarg Tour
With Bill's Trips you get to experience the best of Gulmarg Kashmir; a bucket-list destination for adventurous backcountry skiers and snowboarders with its gob smacking views, big mountain terrain, abundant snow, and unique cultural experiences.
This Bill’s Trips Gulmarg Tour is a premium offering with quality guides, a low client to guide ratio plus Kashmiri tail guides, and you’ll stay in a deluxe and charming Kashmir hotel, not one of those Gulmarg hotels where the heating and hot water only works some of the time.
A trip to Gulmarg in Kashmir India is just as much about the amazing cultural experiences as it is about the epic powder.
Bill Barker and team have made many local friends over the years through safety training, and they can introduce you to the intrigue of Gulmarg and Kashmir.
The Gulmarg Skiing & Riding
Perched at the very top of India,
Gulmarg sits on the rim of the Kashmir Valley in the Pir Panjal Range of the mighty Himalaya. The Gulmarg Gondola rises from the village in two phases up to an elevation of about 4,000 metres. The gondola provides access to a myriad of lines within the ski resort boundaries and beyond into the backcountry of Gulmarg.
The advanced and expert terrain is highly varied and consists of vast alpine bowls, sub-alpine ridges, and awesome tree skiing. During big storms, the huge pines from the gondola mid station offer great protected tree runs while the options off the top are endless. When the conditions are right you can cut laps straight off the gondola, other days the group will utilise taxis to return to the village after skiing the trees off the Gulmarg plateau or dropping into a remote mountain village, and sometimes you’ll put on skins or strap on snow shoes for a hike to the summit or to access or return from favourite runs.
The highly qualified experienced guides structure each day around your specific needs, which is possible due to the small group numbers. Each morning the guides assess the weather, avalanche and snow conditions, and present you with the best available options for the day. The focus is on finding and riding the best untracked snow possible. With the right guides, the right equipment and a small amount of effort, it is possible to ski untracked snow for a mighty long time after the last snowfall.
Whilst in Gulmarg, the guides can also teach you more about avalanche safety and riding the backcountry safely. For more information on safety and the guides, see the
Bill's Trips safety page.
The Culture
A trip to Gulmarg is way more than just the skiing or boarding. To immerse yourself in such a unique culture and have the opportunity to get to know and laugh with the locals is reason enough for a Kashmir adventure. Bill’s many local friends who he has trained and worked with over the years are as welcoming to his guests as they are to him. Laugh with the patrollers over a cup of tea in the Patrol Base, learn about life in Kashmir while visiting families in the local villages, and hear stories from many other classic characters during your stay. Feel the warmth of the locals and go home with a real understanding of the people and the situation in Kashmir.
If and when your rest day arrives you can walk to the Gulmarg Market to shop for local handicrafts and soak up the atmosphere, or simply relax at the Hotel Highland Park and take in the views.
Here is a video showing what you can expect in Gulmarg with Bills Trips....
Srinagar & Dal Lake
No trip to Kashmir is complete without a stay on one of the famous houseboats on Dal Lake in the vibrant city of
Srinagar. At the end of your final day on the mountain, the group heads to one of Bill's close friend’s houseboats to relax and enjoy the hospitality. Finish off your adventure with a city tour taking in the sights, sounds and smells, shop for rugs, pashminas and handicrafts, and end the day with a relaxing shikara cruise on Dal Lake.
Here is a video of what you can expect with Bills Trips on the Dal Lake experience...
Ability Level/Fitness
Bill’s Trips Gulmarg Tour is ideal for advanced to expert off-piste skiers and snowboarders who are comfortable riding a variety of snow conditions. Although great snow is usually on offer somewhere around Gulmarg, at times, you may need to travel through less than ideal conditions to get to or from it. You don’t need to be an experienced ski tourer or splitboarder, as Gulmarg is the ideal location to learn.
In addition to a sense of adventure, an important pre-requisite is a willingness to put in a little work to source the primo snow. You need to have a good level of fitness considering the hiking requirements and the long runs. The hardest hike that is typically undertaken is a half hour skin / walk from the top of the gondola at 3,960m to the summit of Mt Apharwat at 4,150m which is breath taking!
With a maximum client to guide ratio of 4 to 1 the guides are able to group together guests with a similar skill level, equipment choice and daily objectives.
If you want more clarification you can
make an enquiry.