Tag: Skiresorts

Gulmarg: Ski Slopes to wildflowers

by Leela Gopinath, posted in India, Kashmir

Welcome to the “Heartland of Wintersports in India”…..Gulmarg.

Winter converts Gulmarg into a sheet of ice and this is the time it becomes a skiers paradise…

Sheets of ice in winter

In contrast , summer brings out the blooms in the meadows justifying the name Gulmarg which means “meadow of flowers” in Persian . In spring and summer, the meadows of Gulmarg are covered with wild flowers.

A beautiful Gulmarg summer

Gulmarg….India’s Skimarg

Gulmarg is about 60 kms from Srinagar and easily accessible by road from there.

Located in the Pir Panjal ranges of the Himalayas, its popularity as a ski destination is on the rise. The Institute of Skiing and mountaineering located here provides training to amateurs and professional skiers.

Gulmarg ski resort has world class facilities including forecasting, avalanche mitigation, rescue and first aid services.

The Skiing Institute

Skiing

Gulmarg….A golfer’s dream

The British started using Gulmarg as a summer retreat. Golf was one of their favourite hobbies and three golf courses were established in Gulmarg ; one of them at 8690 ft is the highest golf course in the world. The first Golf Championship was played at Gulmarg in 1922 and since then it has hosted amateur and professional golf tournaments.

The green golf course

Gulmarg Gondola….highest in Asia

The highlight of Gulmarg is the Gulmarg gondola ,the highest cable car in Asia. There are different phases of travel in this Gondola. The first phase takes tourists to Kongdoori station at a height of 8530 ft and second phase to 12293 ft.

The Gulmarg Gondola

Horse riding is another activity that one can indulge in. Strawberry valley and Leopard valley are great riding destinations.

Our snow encounter at Gulmarg

Driving down from Srinagar, we were treated to some great views of the mountains and valleys. As we started the ascent, Srinagar town could be seen below.

Views of Srinagar as we ascended

Just before we started the final ascent, we hired the snow gear for our snow encounter from one of the innumerable shops.

All ready with snow gear

All ready to greet the snow, we continued our ride up to Gulmarg where some awesome mountain views greeted us….

Beautiful mountain views while reaching Gulmarg

View from the parking lot

Soon we were at the parking lot where we got dropped off by our driver. We wanted to ride the gondola and so we decided to walk up to the gondola station.

We could have also taken a sledge but we opted to walk up to the gondola station. Sledges are pulled by men and that was something sad ; the struggle for survival!!

Sledges to the gondola station.

Gondola starting point

After we purchased the tickets we joined the queue to board the gondola. Once we boarded, it was an awesome sight as we started ascending . The cable car kept passing in between pine trees which seemed to have sprung up from a sheet of snow. A short video for you….

The cable car moves along….(click on the video)

Some pictures from the gondola…

Views from the gondola

Soon we were at the phase one gondola station where we alighted. There is a small cafe here but the main activity is playing in the snow. We also enjoyed ourselves sitting on snow and aiming snow balls. The gondolas proceeding to phase two were also visible from here. Some tourists were trying their hand at skiing too.

At phase one.

The gondola pillars and skiers can be seen in the background.

Playing with ice balls

After thoroughly enjoying ourselves in the snow, we wanted some warmth and rushed to the cafeteria where we had some hot tea and snacks.

Returning to the gondola, we boarded it for our trip down hill. Walking up from the gondola station, we met our driver and returned to Srinagar.

Book Gondola tickets online

Visitors to Gulmarg should book their gondola tickets online before starting the trip as it is almost impossible to get tickets across the counters now. Bookings are now online unlike a couple of years back when we visited the place. Tickets get full months in advance specially if you are traveling for the tulip festival.

Well, that sums up our Gulmarg trip and marks an end to the series on Kashmir which I hope all of you enjoyed.

Next week I start a series on The Nilgiris, the famous blue mountains of south India.

See you there…

Till then, do comment and give your feedback. I have also added a star rating below…please give your ratings…

From this week, I am adding a Viewer’s Corner

Viewer’s Corner

Can you share your experiences at Gulmarg? That would be great…You can put it in the comments section.

Rating: 0.5 out of 5.

WHISTLER

by Leela Gopinath, posted in Canada

The visit to Whistler Blackcomb ski resort was another amazing trip we did from Vancouver.

An Overview…

Getting its name from the whistling marmots who inhabit this area, this mountain was originally called London Mountain. Located in the Pacific Ranges in British Columbia, this is again a “NO MISS” destination….

North America’s largest ski resort by many standards, it has the greatest uphill lift capacity. No wonder it gets more than 2 million visitors per year and logs in as the busiest ski resort.

The main attraction for non skiers like us is the Peak to Peak Gondola….something I have never experienced before!! It connects the two peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb.

History

It was originally conceived in an attempt to win the bid for the 1968 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately they failed to win the bid. However, construction continued. Whistler and Blackcomb were initially individual resorts…competing with each other. Subsequently they were merged and we have this beautiful ski resort now.

As if to prove the saying “united we stand”; after the merger, they went on to win the bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics which were hosted here. The Alpine Skiing events were held here.

Whistler Village

Located 125 kms from Vancouver, the inhabitants are primarily tourists who come for skiing and snow boarding in winter and mountain biking in summer. It provides all facilities for such tourists like boarding and lodging, restaurants and pubs etc. Actually this was the accommodation for the participants of the Olympics. Subsequently the facilities were modified to cater to the tourists. Famed for its Tyrolean design, it is indeed an impressive starting point for the Gondola and the ski facilities above.

Our Trip

Picked up from our Vancouver hotel, we had a scenic drive through some of British Columbia’s beautiful country side.

We had a small photo halt at a waterfall…the Shannon Falls

Shannon Falls

We reached Whistler by 10 am but were told that the gondola was temporarily shut due to inclement weather conditions.

We were a bit disappointed but our guide told us that it may still be open after noon.

Meanwhile, we visited Whistler Village. This compact, chalet-style pedestrian village at the base of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains; has lot of hotels, restaurants and other facilities. We walked around exploring the village which was once the accommodation for the participants of the Olympics.

Whistler village

During the walk around we had our eyes constantly looking out for announcements on the electronic display board about the resumption of gondola services.

The electronic display informing the status of various activities

By noon, the announcement came that the gondola would resume service. With much excitement, we boarded the gondola.

This was a 30 minute ride to the peak.

The Gondola to Whistler peak

View of the peaks from the gondola

Whistler peak landing

From there, we took the next gondola which is the peak to peak gondola. This runs between the Whistler and Blackcomb peaks. It has a glass bottom to enable greater visibility. It covers a distance of 4.5 km which makes it the longest connected Gondola system in the world. 

Being suspended approximately 400 metres above the valley floor we had unique views of the Valley and the peaks and glaciers in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The glass-bottom cabin was ideal for a bird’s eye view of the creek and forests below. Accessible from the base of Whistler on the Whistler Village Gondola or from the base of Blackcomb on the Blackcomb Gondola; it gives a the 360 degree experience.

The Peak to Peak Gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb

View from gondola

View of Whistler village and the valley from the Peak to Peak gondola

This was really a unique experience. Since it serves a ski resort, the gondolas do round trips and we helped ourselves to two rounds of this exhilarating experience.

On the gondola we met another Indian couple and we had a nice picnic on the gondola munching some goodies which we exchanged.

After two rounds of this trip enjoying the breathtaking views, we returned to Whistler village in the smaller gondola and were driven back to Vancouver.

But not before a photo op ….

Our day among the clouds….on the Olympic podium

Well this brings us to the end of my series on Canada.

Now we move to Australia.…let’s meet next week down under…but not to forget…subscribe below