In April of 2006, I ventured over to India and spent three weeks ski touring in the Kullu Valley of Himchal Pradesh. Unfortunately, the weather conspired against us, and I was only out in the mountains for 9 out of the 20 days I was there. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic adventure and below is information to help others plan a trip.
Books
Lonely Planet has guided me through countless countries and the India guide book is no exception. It doesn't have much information about ski touring and trekking in the Kullu Valley, but it does have everything else you need for Kullu Valley and the entire country of India, including lodging, bus schedules, restaurants and acitvities.
Ski Touring India's Kullu Valley is a must have if you plan on ski touring in the Kullu Valley. In fact, if you don't plan on going anywhere else, you could get away with just this book. Spooner spent three years compiling the information and does a great job highlighing numerous ski tours in the region.
Ski Touring the Kullu Valey
I only spent three weeks there, but I got a good taste of ski touring in the Himalayas. The mountains are much bigger than I am used to, and this was evident when I tried to estimate times and elevations - it was usually double what I thought the first couple of days out. Obviously, avalanches and weather were a big concern for us. My friends Trevor and Emily found that if you were able to get up high and into a safe spot with mellow slopes, you could wait out the storms and be in a good position to ski the powder once the snow settled (snow settled a lot faster than the Cascades). Unfortunately, the one time we were out in a storm, we were not in the best of locations and were forced to retreat back to Solang.
A company is planning on building a ski area, with plans on having it open for the winter of 2009. This will probably change the area, and attract additional people. I was suprised by how few people were ski touring there - seemed like only a handful of Westerners in the valley at any given time. With the amount of terrain available to ski tour on, you can go get your solitude.
My trips:
Other Sites:
Lodging & Activities
There are numerous places to stay around Manali and Lonely Planet has good descriptions and rates. I choose to stay at the Iceland Hotel in Solang Valley, as my friends Trevor and Emily were staying there. The owners of the Iceland Hotel, Khem and Ludher, were incredilby helpful and knowledgable anout the area. Additionally, Solang Village is a lot more peaceful than Manali and in the heart of winter has ski touring very close.
On down days, there are a variety of activities to do around Manali - again Lonely Planet has all the information you need. I enjoyed visiting Naggar Castle, hiking around Solang Valley (there is also a nice hike from Solang to Manali thorugh the apple orchards), the Roerich Museum and Hadimba Temple.
My day sightseeing around Manali
Weather
Getting reliable weather forecasts for the Kullu Valley is somewhat tricky. There are a couple of sites that have forecasts, but we found them fairly unreliable, although they are better than nothing.