Surrounded by the Himalayan belt on the northern side, there are immense climbing, mountaineering, and skiing opportunities in India. The best time to take a skiing course in India is generally between mid-January and mid-March, with those months holding the most promise for fresh snowfall and temperatures consistently low enough to prevent melting. Here are some of the best skiing institutes in India.
Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering, Gulmarg
If you’re planning to learn the right skills to ski down the alpine slopes, this institute at Gulmarg opens up the opportunity to learn the basic skiing course on a budget at an internationally-acclaimed destination for winter sports. The snow conditions, terrain and the length of skiing season at Gulmarg coupled with a dependable Air service makes it one of the best destinations to learn skiing. The Institute conducts various adventure courses like Snow Skiing, Water Skiing, Mountaineering, etc. It’s a 14-day basic skiing course which is ideal for beginners who wish to try out a new adventure. IISM also offers latest skiing and snowboarding equipment, which is available to participants as well as visitors.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali
During winters, Ski Slopes in Manali can provide an exhilarating experience of skiing in the white powdery snow. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali (ABVIMAS) today is the largest Adventure Sports training centre in the country and hosts a 21-day basic skiing course at the skiing centre in Solang Valley. It also has a library, a museum, and lecture halls. Along with various adventure training centres all over Himachal, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute offers nine subcentres all over India. Being an institute that believes in the conservation of nature and environment, it preaches the importance of “Leave No Trace” policy to its students.
Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, Pahalgam
This institute was set up in 1983 at Aru, Jammu and Kashmir. Headquartered in Pahalgam, its various sub-centres are at Nalthi Bhaderwah, Sanasar-Patnitop-Kud, Shey (Leh) and Gulmarg. It is one of the best institutes to learn skiing in India by highly trained professionals. They have different types of courses ranging from skiing, mountaineering to special adventure courses, river rafting, paragliding etc. With exceptional services and experienced trainers, this is one of the finest and most reliable institutes in India to learn winter sports.
Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi
NIM is rated as one of the best mountaineering institutes in India and also considered as the most prestigious mountaineering institute in Asia. This institute conducts Skiing Course for 21 days during the month of January – February. The training area for Skiing is Dayara Bugyal Ski Slopes in Uttarkashi. This course depends upon the snow condition at Dayara and thus the dates for this course is decided during January only. Also, it is the only mountaineering institute in India certified by the international federation for climbing and mountaineering. They started skiing course in 2014 based on snow conditions. One has to apply a year in advance for next year’s course as the seats get full very early.
Auli Ski and Snowboard School, Auli
Auli is beautiful at any time of the year, but during the winter, once the snow has begun, it turns into a winter wonderland. The skiing slopes here are some of the longest and finest in India, and attract people from around the world. Auli Ski and Snowboard School is a small non-profit organization that offer basic as well as advanced level skiing courses running throughout January till March. They provide the best of trainers with high quality service and basic skiing equipment’s as well. All of their instructors are nationally or internationally certified and have been in this profession for more than five years which makes it one of the most reliable institutes in India.
