Seven days is the complete beginner snowboard course, and it is the length at which snowboarding's reputation stops being a warning and starts being a promise. Days 1 to 3 get you through the hard start and into linked turns. Days 4 and 5 put you on Gondola Phase 1 and onto real descents. Days 6 and 7 add the chairlift terrain above Kongdoori, steeper, more varied, and where turns stop being a technique you perform and start being a tool you use.
Riders progress slowly and then all at once. A week is long enough to be on the other side of that when you leave, and we make that claim because we have watched it happen here since 2006, with one instructor to one rider, on terrain that lets you progress in the right order.
What's included
- Airport pick-up and drop: Srinagar (SXR) both ways
- 3-star or 4-star hotel stay with breakfast and dinner included, plus free Wi-Fi, a dedicated ski room to dry and store your equipment, and 24/7 hot water
- Complete snowboard equipment: board, bindings and boots, set up for your stance on arrival
- All essential safety gear: helmet, goggles, gloves and wrist guards
- Snowboard pants and jacket
- All lift passes for the slopes used in the course
- Gondola Phase 1 passes: Kongdoori, approx. 3,100 m
- Chairlift passes: the chairlift above Kongdoori toward Mary's Shoulder
- One-to-one snowboard instruction for all seven days
- Daily transport hotel to slopes to hotel
- Emergency medical support on call
Day by day
Day 1, Stance, edges and sliding on purpose Boot fit, regular or goofy, binding angles and stance width. Strapping in and getting up efficiently, skating and gliding, and the heelside slip: controlling descent on an edge and stopping on command. Falling technique, fists closed, forearms not palms.
Day 2, Toeside, and the day it's supposed to be hard Toeside slips, falling leaf on both edges, garlands. Onto the 8-5 slope and the beginner lift once both edges are reliable. The hardest day of the week for almost everybody, and the one that a private instructor shortens the most.
Day 3, Linking turns Heelside to toeside and back without stopping between, steered by vision, front hand and hips. Longer descents at Highland Park, riding to a rhythm.
Day 4, Gondola Phase 1, Kongdoori Base at 2,650 m up to Kongdoori at around 3,100 m. Riding lifts with a board, carrying speed through flats and traverses, and adjusting turn shape as pitch and snow change.
Day 5, Turns that hold up Dynamic linked turns on the full Kongdoori descent, repeated until they survive being tired. First work on tilting the board on edge and letting it turn rather than pushing it around.
Day 6, The chairlift, steeper pitch, and first soft snow
The chairlift above Kongdoori opens terrain with more pitch and more variety than the Gondola runs. Here your turns get tested: short-radius turns for control where it's steep, edge grip on firm morning snow, and enough commitment through the toeside that the board holds instead of washing out.
This is also where you take your first turns in soft snow off the groomed edge, under close instruction, a more centred stance than your instinct wants, letting the board's setback do the floating rather than leaning back and destroying your rear leg. Snow this good is the reason people come to Gulmarg, and a week is enough to get a taste of it honestly.
We also run a beginner mountain-safety session on Day 6, what avalanche terrain looks like, why we ride where we ride, how to read a forecast, and where the boundaries sit between in-bounds riding and the backcountry. It includes the board-specific parts: why riders' line choices skew steeper, why getting up in deep snow at altitude is a cardiovascular event, and why a flat exit is a safety issue and not just an annoyance. Our guiding team is certified through AIARE, Avalanche Canada and the Kashmir Avalanche Association, and we think every rider should understand this before they are tempted past a rope line.
Day 7, Putting it together A full mountain day with no new technique introduced, the day everything consolidates. Carved turns on groomers, varying turn shape and radius to suit the terrain rather than riding one turn for everything, a first look at riding switch, and choosing your own lines. Your instructor will finish with an honest assessment of where you are and what to work on next.
What you'll be able to do at the end
- Ride confidently on chairlift terrain above Kongdoori
- Carve turns on groomed runs and vary turn shape and radius deliberately
- Handle firm morning snow and softer afternoon snow
- Ride soft snow off the groomed edge under supervision
- Manage flats, traverses and lift access without help
- Read a slope, choose your own line, and know what terrain is not yet yours
- Understand basic avalanche and mountain-safety principles
That is a genuinely intermediate rider, and it puts our powder and guided backcountry packages within reach on a future trip.
Why the hotel details matter on a 7-day trip
Three nights, you can put up with anything. Seven nights, small things compound, and they compound harder for a snowboarder, because you spend more of the day in contact with the snow and your gloves and outerwear get wetter than a skier's do. This package includes a dedicated ski room so your boots and gloves start each morning dry rather than frozen, 24/7 hot water for after a cold day on Apharwat's flank, and Wi-Fi that works well enough to send photos home.
Not included
Airfare to Srinagar, lunch, personal expenses, travel insurance, snowboard clothing unless added on. GST where applicable
Book
Seven days is our most complete beginner snowboard course. Tell us your dates and we'll build the week around your progress. WhatsApp or call +91-9596300570.
Enquire about this package. WhatsApp us.