About Gulmarg Snowkings

Who we are

Gulmarg Snowkings is a ski school and backcountry guiding operator based in Gulmarg, Kashmir, founded in 2006 by Shafat Ahmad Tantray and Bashir Ahmad Mir. We are registered with the Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Department under permit no. JKAT00005678, our backcountry team is certified through AIARE, Avalanche Canada and the Kashmir Avalanche Association, and in nearly twenty seasons we have guided more than 2,500 skiers and snowboarders from over 40 countries with zero avalanche accidents among our guided clients.

We teach complete beginners on the Gulmarg Beginner Slopes. We guide expert skiers on Apharwat's uncontrolled faces. We run a ski shop, we rent full avalanche safety kits, and we organise trips that start and end at Srinagar airport so nobody has to work out the Tangmarg road on their own in a snowstorm.

Why any of that matters

Gulmarg has no shortage of people willing to guide you. Some of them are excellent. Some of them have never been trained, have never dug a snowpit, and are guiding because it pays better than the alternatives in a valley where good winter work is scarce. From a hotel lobby, on your second day here, you cannot tell those two groups apart.

So we publish the things that let you tell.

A permit number you can check. JKAT00005678, issued by the J&K Tourism Department. It is a specific string that either exists in a register or does not. We have not found another Gulmarg operator publishing theirs.

Certifying bodies, named. Almost every operator on this mountain says "certified guides." Very few say certified by whom. Ours are trained through AIARE, Avalanche Canada and the Kashmir Avalanche Association, three organisations whose curricula you can go and read. If a company will not name the body, there is usually a reason.

A safety record stated as a bounded claim. Zero avalanche accidents among our guided clients since 2006. Not "we have a perfect safety record," not "safety is our number one priority." A specific claim, about a specific group of people, over a specific period, that we would have to answer for if it were untrue.

A founding year rather than a vague span. 2006. Nearly twenty seasons on this exact snowpack, which is a different thing from twenty years of skiing in general.

None of this makes us the only good choice in Gulmarg. It makes us a checkable one.

How this started

This is a Kashmiri business, started by two people from this valley, in a period when running a formally registered adventure operator in Gulmarg was not an obvious commercial decision. Twenty seasons later we are still here, still based in the village, and still teaching people to snowplough on the same Gulmarg Beginner Slopes.

How we work: three commitments

Everything we do sits on three things. They are not values on a wall. Each one changes what actually happens on your trip, so we have written each with the specifics attached.

1. Safety

Safety in Gulmarg means one thing above all others: the terrain above Kongdoori is not avalanche-controlled, and we plan every day around that fact rather than around it.

This is the part most visitors get wrong, and it is not their fault. If you have skied Chamonix, Whistler or Niseko, your instincts have been trained by mountains where someone bombs the start zones before the lifts open and ropes off what is not ready. Gulmarg has a cable car and, above Kongdoori, none of the rest of it. There is no patrol sweeping the face. There is no line marking where the safe skiing ends. The mountain does not distinguish between someone who bought a gondola ticket this morning and someone who has skied it for twenty seasons.

Skiers have been killed here. In February 2023 an avalanche in the ski area killed two Polish skiers and caught more than twenty people. We put that in writing on our own website rather than letting visitors assume that a lift ticket implies a controlled mountain, because that assumption is how people get hurt.

What we actually do about it

Terrain choice is the primary control, and it is the only one that works reliably. Beacons, airbags and shovels matter enormously, but they are what you fall back on after the decision has already gone wrong. Not being in the avalanche is the whole game. That is why we hire and train for judgement rather than for descending ability, and why our guides carry avalanche education from named bodies rather than a general claim to local experience.

The day is planned against the advisory, not against the itinerary. Every guided morning starts with the day's backcountry avalanche advisory and a weather read, and the plan gets built around what the snowpack will tolerate. Not around what looks good from the gondola, not around what the group booked, and not around what somebody skied yesterday.

Turning around is a normal outcome. We say this to every group at the start, because the single most dangerous dynamic in guided skiing is a client who has flown a long way, paid a lot, and does not want to hear no. If we get to a slope and the snowpack is telling us something the forecast did not, we go somewhere else, and that is not a failure or a refund conversation. Any operator whose incentives make it hard to turn around is an operator whose incentives are wrong.

Beacon checks every day, on everybody, including the guide. Described above. Ninety seconds. No exceptions.

We check whether you can actually use the gear. Owning a transceiver and running a burial search under time pressure are different skills, and plenty of competent skiers have only ever done the first. If you have never run a search with a stopwatch, tell us, and we will run one in a safe spot on day one rather than discovering the gap on the day it matters. Nobody has ever been embarrassed by this. Several people have been glad of it.

Full avalanche kits are available to rent, not treated as an optional extra. ABS airbag packs, transceivers, shovels and probes, from our own ski shop. If you are going off-piste in Gulmarg without a transceiver, a 240 cm probe and a metal-bladed shovel, you are not equipped, whoever you are skiing with.

Group sizes stay small enough to manage. Spacing, communication and line-of-sight are safety measures, and they stop working once a group is too big to hold together in real terrain.

What we will not tell you

We will not tell you that skiing with us is safe. We will tell you that we have guided more than 2,500 people since 2006 with zero avalanche accidents among our clients, that we are trained through AIARE, Avalanche Canada and the Kashmir Avalanche Association, and that we plan conservatively. That is a record and a method. It is not a guarantee, and nobody guiding on an uncontrolled Himalayan face can honestly offer you one.

We would also rather you came back. Reputation in a village this size is not an abstraction, and the incentive that governs a local operator's behaviour is different from the incentive that governs someone who will not be here next season.

Read more: avalanche safety in Gulmarg; Ski shop and avalanche gear rental

2. Progress

Progress means we measure a trip by what you can ski confidently at the end of it, not by how much vertical you covered or how high we took you. That distinction decides almost every teaching and guiding call we make.

The most common way a Gulmarg holiday goes wrong has nothing to do with avalanches. It is a skier being put on terrain a level or two above where they actually are, spending five days frightened, skiing badly because they are frightened, and going home having got worse. It happens constantly here, because the mountain is famous, the photographs are extraordinary, and it is commercially easy to say yes.

How we teach

Beginners start at village level and stay there until the fundamentals hold. Four days of instruction takes most complete beginners from never having worn skis to linked turns they can rely on. Day one is boots, sliding, snowplough, stopping and getting up. Day two links turns in both directions and introduces the poma, which defeats more people than the skiing does. Day three brings longer runs and the beginning of matching the skis through the turn. Day four consolidates and, for most people, includes a first gentle descent at Kongdoori.

We will tell you not to buy a Phase 2 ticket. Riding the gondola to 3,980 m for the view is worth doing and we encourage it. Skiing down from there before you are ready is an entirely different activity, and every season people find that out badly. If you are not ready, we will say so, and we will say so before you have spent the money rather than after.

Two private days, then group days, for most first-timers. Private instruction produces faster progress because the pace is entirely yours and the instructor is fixing your specific problem rather than the group's average one. It usually costs less in total because you need fewer days. But group days are cheaper per day, more social, and perfectly good once you have a base. Bad habits formed in the first forty-eight hours take a long time to undo, so that is where we would spend the money.

How we guide

Everybody gets assessed before the terrain gets chosen. Usually a day or a half day on Kongdoori, watching how you ski ungroomed snow when it is not flattering, in variable light, in cut-up conditions, on something steep enough to matter. Not to grade you. To find out what terrain we can put you on for the rest of the week without the day becoming survival skiing.

Terrain gets stepped up deliberately. The Main Gondola Bowl before Looker's Left. Looker's Left, with its ridges and handrails, before Looker's Right. Nothing committing until we have seen you ski something similar and non-committing first. Far Far Side and Drang are not week-one runs for someone we met on Monday, regardless of what you have skied elsewhere.

Fitness is a progress input and a safety one. A thirty to sixty minute bootpack at 4,000 m in ski boots is harder than it sounds after a long flight, and tired people make the decisions that get groups into trouble on day five. Six to eight weeks of leg and aerobic work before you come buys you more skiing than any piece of equipment.

We will tell you the honest ceiling for your trip. If you have four days, are a solid intermediate on piste and have never skied powder, a realistic outcome is skiing the Kongdoori bowl well and possibly the Main Gondola Bowl with a guide on a good day. It is not a Drang descent. Saying that in advance is more useful than discovering it on day three, and it is the difference between a trip that met expectations and one that did not.

See also: Beginner ski and snowboard packages, Guided powder and backcountry packages.

3. Communication

Most trips that go badly here go badly because of something nobody said out loud in advance. So we over-communicate, in three phases: before you book, on the mountain, and when the plan changes.

Before you book

Tell us when you can come and what you can ski, and we will tell you what the mountain is realistically likely to give you in that window. Sometimes that answer is not the one that gets us a booking.

If you can only travel in late December, we will tell you the base is still building and the upper mountain may not be running consistently. If you want deep powder and can move your dates, we will tell you the first two weeks of February average the highest snowfall of the season. If you are a beginner asking about a heliski add-on, we will tell you no and explain why. "Come three weeks later" is a sentence we say most seasons, and we would rather say it than take a booking that disappoints somebody.

We also ask direct questions before you arrive, and we would appreciate direct answers: what you have actually skied, not what you can ski on your best day; whether you have used a transceiver; any medical condition affected by cold or altitude; how fit you currently are. None of this is a test. It changes how we plan your week, and getting a truthful picture in November is worth a great deal more than discovering it at 3,980 m in February.

On the mountain

A briefing before we leave, covering the day's plan, the avalanche advisory, the terrain we intend to ski, the exits, and what we do if something goes wrong.

Terrain decisions explained as they happen. When we change a plan mid-morning, we tell you why. Partly because you are entitled to know, and partly because the reasoning is genuinely interesting and you will ski better mountains for the rest of your life if you understand how the call was made.

Clear group protocol. Where to stop, how much spacing, who goes first, what the hand signals mean, and who you should be able to see at all times. In the trees at Babareshi or Monkey Hill, staying in visual contact with a partner is a safety measure, not a courtesy.

Say something if you are not comfortable. Standing at the top of a slope you do not want to ski and saying nothing is the most dangerous thing a client can do. We would far rather change the plan than have somebody ski a line while frightened.

When the plan changes

It will. Gulmarg is not a mountain where itineraries survive contact with the weather.

Phase 2 closes for wind, visibility and avalanche danger, and on a typical peak-season week you should expect it to be shut on some days. The Tangmarg road can require chains or close entirely after heavy snow. Flights into Srinagar are delayed by winter fog. The gondola takes scheduled maintenance days.

Our commitment is not that this will not happen. It is that you will hear about it from us early, with an alternative already worked out. Storm days have their own terrain: Monkey Hill needs no lift at all, the tree descents to Babareshi and Tangmarg are at their best when it is snowing hard, and the Kongdoori chairlift often runs when Phase 2 does not. A guided group's bad-weather day should be a good ski day, not a day in a hotel.

How to reach us

WhatsApp is the fastest route and the one we recommend, on +91-9596300570. Mobile connectivity in Gulmarg can be intermittent, especially in the trees and on the far side of the mountain, so if we are slow to answer during the day it is usually the network rather than indifference.

4. Being local, and what that obliges us to

We live here. Gulmarg is not a posting or a season for us, and Kashmir is not a backdrop. That has practical consequences worth stating.

Your money stays in the valley. The person responsible for your day has a reputation in this village that outlasts your holiday. When the road closes, someone local is on the phone to someone else local, which is a materially different situation from being managed remotely by a booking platform.

It also means we have a stake in this mountain being looked after. Gulmarg's growth over the last decade has been rapid and not always careful. We would rather be part of an industry here that trains its guides properly, publishes its credentials, tells visitors the truth about avalanche terrain, and treats the Pir Panjal as somewhere people will still be skiing in fifty years.

What we do

Six things, in order of how many people use them.

Ski and snowboard lessons, beginner to advanced. Private and group, all ages, on the Gulmarg Beginner Slopes and progressing to Kongdoori. Four-day and longer beginner courses for skiing and for snowboarding.

Powder and off-piste guiding. Guided days on Kongdoori and Phase 2 terrain, with the route chosen against the day's avalanche advisory. Full safety kit included or rented.

Backcountry and freeride tours. Ski touring beyond the lift-served terrain into the Pir Panjal, led by AIARE and Avalanche Canada certified guides. Multi-day tours including Sunshine Peak.

Heliskiing. Untracked descents beyond what the gondola and a day's touring reach. Strong skiers only, and flexible days required because helicopters do not fly in poor visibility or high wind.

Ski shop, rentals and avalanche gear. Skis, snowboards, boots and poles, plus complete avalanche safety kits, ABS airbag packs, transceivers, shovels and probes. Powder-capable skis specifically, because the wrong ski ruins a good snow day and standard rental fleets here are not always set up for deep snow.

Airport-to-airport packages. Srinagar airport, the Tangmarg road, accommodation, gear, instruction and guiding as one chain, with someone local accountable when the road closes. This exists because the logistics are the part of a Gulmarg trip that most often goes wrong for first-time visitors.

We also run international ski tours for clients who ski with us here and want to travel with us elsewhere.

See all packages and pricing

The people

Shafat Ahmad Tantray: founder

Founder of Gulmarg Snowkings in 2006 and lead guide. Avalanche-certified through AIARE, Avalanche Canada and the Kashmir Avalanche Association. Author of the Gulmarg trip planning guide and terrain guide on this site.

Bashir Ahmad Mir: co-founder

Co-founder of Gulmarg Snowkings in 2006.

What a day with us looks like

A beginner day

Meet at the ski shop, boot and ski fitting, then a short walk to the Gulmarg Beginner Slopes. Two to three hours of instruction in the morning, a proper break, and a shorter afternoon session, because beginner skiing is exhausting in a way that surprises people, and technique acquired while exhausted does not stick. Your instructor stays with the same group all week so nobody has to re-explain their problem every morning. By day four most people are linking turns and ready for a first run at Kongdoori.

A guided off-piste or backcountry day

An early start, because the first gondola cabins take the freshest snow and in February the Phase 1 queue builds before opening. Before we leave: the avalanche advisory, a weather read, the plan, the exits, and a beacon check on every person in the group including the guide.

On the mountain, terrain choice is a running conversation. We ski in a managed order with spacing, we regroup where it is safe to stand, and we adjust as the day tells us things the forecast did not. If Phase 2 is shut, we go to the storm-day terrain rather than going home. Guides carry group safety and first-aid equipment appropriate to the day.

What we won't do

An About page that only lists strengths is not telling you much. These are real limits, and we would rather you read them here than find them out later.

We will not put a beginner on Phase 2 terrain because they asked. This is the most common request we decline and we decline it every season.

We will not guarantee you powder. Gulmarg averages its highest snowfall in February, and the snowiest week of the year is the first week of February, but averages are not promises. Some weeks are blue and firm. Anyone who guarantees you conditions is selling weather they do not own.

We will not guide terrain the snowpack is not allowing that day, whatever is in the itinerary and however far you have travelled.

We are not a substitute for insurance. Most standard travel policies cover on-piste skiing only, and Gulmarg's best terrain is off-piste by definition. Check the wording yourself before you buy, and check whether the policy requires you to be with a certified guide, several do.

We cannot fix the infrastructure. The gondola is operated by the Jammu & Kashmir Cable Car Corporation, not by us. We do not control ticket prices, opening hours, maintenance days or closures, and we cannot get you up a lift that is not running. What we can do is have a plan for that day.

We are not the cheapest option in Gulmarg, and we are not trying to be. Guiding is the one line item on a Gulmarg trip where the cheap choice carries consequences money cannot fix afterwards.

Plan a trip with us

Whether you have never worn skis or you want a week working through Looker's Right and the Back with someone who has been reading this snowpack since December, tell us your dates and what you can ski. We will tell you what is realistic, including, when it is true, that you should come three weeks later.

WhatsApp or call +91-9596300570

Gulmarg Snowkings. Gulmarg, Baramulla, Jammu & Kashmir, India J&K Tourism permit JKAT00005678. Founded 2006

See also: Skiing in Gulmarg: complete trip planning guide, Famous ski runs and terrain, Packages, Ski shop.