Beginner Snowboard Packages in Gulmarg

Day 1, Stance, edges and sliding on purpose. Stance, edges and sliding on purpose

Morning starts with a proper set-up: boot fit first, because a loose boot is the single biggest cause of a frustrating first week, then finding out whether you ride regular or goofy, and setting your binding angles and stance width to match.

On snow, you'll learn to strap in and get up without exhausting yourself, to skate with the back foot out, the skill nobody teaches early enough and everybody needs in a lift queue, and to glide with the back foot resting on the stomp pad.

Then the core skill of Day 1: the heelside slip. Standing across the fall line, using the edge to control your descent, and coming to a complete stop whenever you decide to. You'll also learn to fall properly, fists closed, forearms taking the impact rather than an outstretched hand, roll rather than brace. This is why wrist guards are included and not optional.

Day 2, Toeside, and the day it's supposed to be hard. Toeside, and the day it's supposed to be hard

Toeside. Facing up the mountain, trusting an edge you can't see, on a slope your instincts are telling you to lean away from. Almost everybody finds Day 2 the hardest day of the week, and knowing that in advance is half of getting through it.

You'll work through the falling leaf on both edges, sliding down the slope in a zig-zag using only edge pressure, then garlands, which are turns that change your mind halfway through. Once heelside and toeside slips are both reliable, we move to the 8-5 slope and start using the beginner lift so your energy goes into riding rather than walking uphill.

If Day 2 feels like a wall, that is the course working as designed, not you failing at it.

Day 3, Linking turns. Linking turns

The day it comes together. Heelside to toeside, toeside to heelside, without stopping in between, driven by looking where you're going and leading with your front hand and hips rather than by throwing the board around with your back foot.

We move to Highland Park for longer descents, work on riding rhythm rather than one turn at a time, and finish the day with you riding a full run repeatedly without your instructor needing to talk you down it.

Day 1, Stance, edges and sliding on purpose. Stance, edges and sliding on purpose

Boot fit, regular or goofy, binding angles and stance width. Then strapping in, getting up efficiently, skating with the back foot out, gliding on the stomp pad, and the heelside slip, controlling your descent on an edge and stopping on command. Falling technique: fists closed, forearms not palms, roll rather than brace.

Day 2, Toeside, and the day it's supposed to be hard. Toeside, and the day it's supposed to be hard

Toeside slips, falling leaf on both edges, then garlands. Almost everybody finds Day 2 the hardest day of the week. Once both edges are reliable we move to the 8-5 slope and start using the beginner lift.

Day 3, Linking turns. Linking turns

Heelside to toeside and back without stopping between, steered by vision and by the front hand and hips rather than by kicking the tail out. Longer descents at Highland Park, and riding to a rhythm rather than one turn at a time.

Day 4, Gondola Phase 1, Kongdoori. Gondola Phase 1, Kongdoori

Your first mountain day. The Gondola takes you from the Gulmarg base at 2,650 m up to Kongdoori at around 3,100 m, and the descent back down is longer and more varied than anything you have ridden so far.

Three things get taught here that only mountain terrain can teach. Riding a gondola and a lift with a board, unstrapping the back foot, loading and unloading, and getting away from the offload without sitting down in front of everybody. Carrying speed across flat sections and traverses, which is a snowboarder's problem and not a skier's. And adjusting turn shape as pitch and snow change under you, instead of riding the same turn everywhere.

Day 5, Turns that hold up. Turns that hold up

The consolidation day. Dynamic linked turns down the full Kongdoori descent, worked on repeatedly until they survive fatigue, which is the real test of whether a skill has stuck. We'll start moving you from skidded turns toward the beginnings of a carve: tilting the board on edge and letting it turn, rather than pushing it around.

We finish riding top to bottom together, with your instructor behind you rather than in front.

Day 1, Stance, edges and sliding on purpose. 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, 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. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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.