One of the very best things about a country like India is that its position on the equator gives it an extremely versatile range of climate. We have desserts like Rajasthan, hill stations like Darjeeling, tropical rainy regions like Kerala, and true-blue snowy winter regions like Auli.

Now, for most residents of India, snow during winter might be the rarest kind of climate they’ve seen. And if anyone wishes for a skiing trip, their usual bet is that they might only find such experiences abroad. Well, I thought like that too – until I discovered Auli in Garhwali, Uttarakhand, which actually offers a resort for skiing!

Skiing had been on mine and my cousins’ bucket lists for “skills we must learn” for a very, very long time. But we’d also believed for a long time that we would have to search outside India for the lessons. And then one of our brothers mentioned – oh-so-innocently, mind you – that we could actually go to Auli for skiing lessons.

Needless to say, we sorted out our schedules and ran rampant booking tickets and reserving rooms at a homestay after adequate internet research and phone calls.

The White Blanket of Snow

Remember that cold day you huddled under blankets, drank only hot drinks, refused to let your toes touch the cold tile floor without warm slippers, and generally wondered whether a tropical country had any right to be so cold? Well, let me tell, that is nothing compared to arriving in a place with real winter and real snow!

When we caught the first glimpse of the snowy ski resort, we were shivering already and I was pretty sure my nose was ready to fall off with the cold. But we were still utterly spellbound by the white, beautiful snow that covered the entire area, the sheets of fallen white powder stretching across the meadow for as far as the eye could see. It looked exactly like the foreign or cartoon-like wintry postcards you would see on Christmas. And it looked just as enchanting up close.

The moment we reached our rooms at the homestay, it felt like heaven. Our blessed hosts had kept the room heated for us and served us piping hot chocolate! It was amazing. Once we were ready to face the chill outside with the multiple layers we were out in the snowy wonderland.

Incredible Skiing Lessons  

The resort offered a 7-day and 14-day skiing course for anyone who wanted to learn, and of course, we signed up for it immediately. Travelling up and down the ski-lift to and from the ski slopes in itself was an experience though. For, while the sitting or chair ski-lift was exciting and fun, the standing or free-stand ski-lift was utterly thrilling in a terrifying kind of way.

The instructors for the ski lessons were easy to be at ease with. And, after the first many tumbles we all took as beginners, it became surprisingly easy to get a grip on it. After that, we put our lessons to good use skiing down the slopes, progressively trying one or two of the more difficult slopes as we gained more confidence. The number of people around us, as well as the ski-safety and supervision professionals, made sure that we were safe and unhurt.

Then, at the end of each day, when we were wet through with snow, half-frozen from the cold, and grinning and panting with glee, we made our way back to the homestay and indulged in piping hot chocolate and cookies to thaw ourselves out.

It was an incredible experience in every way!