Gulmarg

Gulmarg, the meadow of flowers, is one of Asia’s premier hill resorts for its legendary beauty, prime location and the range of choices it offers to visitors. Famous for its exquisite valleys, gorgeous streams, fascinating slopes for every sort of skiing and hiking, Gulmarg is also home to one of the highest golf courses in the world. Gulmarg is equally the most sought after place in summers as well as in winters for, it offers myriad choices during summers like greenery and flower beds all around, with beautiful lakes, sublime valleys and Gulmarg Gandola. During winters, the place is thronged by the tourists for its snowy slopes where skiing is done.

Gulmarg is located 56 km north of Srinagar at an average altitude of 2650 m. The 3,5 long and 1 km wide valley was discovered in the 16th century by Sultan Yusuf Shah, who was inspired by the sight of its grassy slopes emblazoned with wildflowers. It was also a favourite resort of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Gulmarg was first established as a ski resort by the British who had set up the Ski Club of India here in 1927. Skiing at Gulmarg had become very popular during the pre-independence years. The resort used to host two major skiing events, one each during Christmas and Easter. The skiing season usually commences just before Christmas (mid-December) and continues till early April. In 1998, Gulmarg hosted the first National Winter Games of India.

Gulmarg also offers a host of other snow sports at this time of the year. The most popular among the tourists is riding a sledge and being pulled along the snow-covered roads or gentler slopes. Tobogganing also does not require any skill – a flat wooden board is taken up the hill and then allowed to slide downhill. Snowboarding, another exciting winter sport is also being introduced and promoted here. Making a snowman and holding campfires around it amidst music and feasting is another popular activity indulged by the tourists.

Heli-skiing was introduced in Gulmarg, for the first time in India during the mid-1980s in collaboration with the world-renowned French skier, Sylvain Saudan of Himalaya Heli-Ski Club of France. For this highly exciting sport, skiers are taken to the top of mountain ridges by helicopters from where they ski down the immense Himalayan slopes. Initially, the programme was started at Apharwat in Gulmarg. Subsequently, other sites in the Kashmir Himalayas were also used for the purpose.

The journey to Gulmarg is half the enchantment of reaching there. The roads bordered by rigid avenues of poplar give over to flat expanses of rice fields interspersed with picturesque villages. Depending on the season, nature’s colours could be the translucent green of spring, summer’s rich emerald, or autumn’s golden hues, when scarlet chillies festoon windows of village homes. After Tangmarg, the climb to Gulmarg begins through fir-covered hillsides. Gulmarg is a self-sufficient place having hotels of all choices and pockets. A market is also there offering all a tourist could imagine. The place is open to tourists throughout the year.