The best way to ensure maximum fun from a trip to Auli is to head there for a week long skiing course with a group of friends. The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam conducts courses for beginners and also has a 14 day advance course for those who just cannot get enough. And what’s more they even provide you a certificate and badge on successful completion of the course.
There are no books to study from or gruelling tests to be put through. You need to have the determination to learn a new sport, irrespective of your age and be relatively fit. As a beginner a lot of time is spent trudging up hill with skis, in ski boots that weigh at least 1kg per foot and hauling yourself off the ground from having fallen. Many dramatic, spectacular falls are witnessed on the baby slopes at Auli! Keep your digital camera at hand.
The highly qualified instructors who are primarily Garhwalis will teach you the correct way to fall and all the techniques to ensure you enjoy the course and actually can manoeuvre on two slim planks (international equipment all the way e.g. Saloman) provided along with the poles and boots for the course.
The fee for the week long course includes accommodation in dormitories and meals in the mess. There are separate dormitories for guys and girls. Should you wish to stay independently, book a room in advance at an extra rate. The mess serves wholesome meals with aloo and gobi being the chief ingredients and the very rare non vegetarian dish is saved for the last farewell meal. There is an independent restaurant and a bar that can cater to more refined tastes. A pleasant Nepali couple run a dhabba / canteen in the vicinity of the resort and serve excellent omelette-pav, thoppas and momos.
The tourists heading to Auli over the last few years have been mainly from Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkatta and Delhi. Auli is located in Uttranchal and to get there you need to get yourself to Delhi from where you could hire a car to take you all the way up or hop onto the Shatadabdi to Haridwar and from there hire a bus or get onto a local bus headed to Joshimat.
I break up the route from Rishikesh upwards into three sectors - the Rishikesh rafting sector which comprises very windy roads, great rafting rapids and rafting camps. Then the Prayags or confluences like Deoprayag where the Alakananda and Bhagirati join to form the Ganga.
And the final bit which is treacherous narrow mountain climbing roads that finally have you up at 3,000 odd mts.
Weather in the mountains is deceptive. One minute bright and sunny, the next overcast and grey. We once experienced a mountain sand storm at a town named Pipalkoti. It is frightening to see sand and dust billow up the edge of the cliff and onto the narrow road with visibility cut to almost zero and all traffic at a halt.
The last town before the climb to Auli is Joshimat from where tourists usually take the 3 km cable car ride up over the conifer and oak forest. This journey is spectacular in a good snow season as the tree tops are white and views of the ITBP camps very impressive.
Auli is one of the few ski destinations the country has to offer and unfortunately does not have the infrastructure that should accompany a ski resort. So dash away any thoughts of a Swiss style resort and holiday. Power failure and lack of adequate heating systems top the list. But when you know this and keep going back for more you know you are hooked. Hooked to the fact that every alternate year the powder snow has been a treat to ski down, the chair lift and ski lift work when you need them to, the ski equipment will be in good condition, at least one of the highly experienced instructors will be a National skiing champion, the instructors will say “mausam ban raha hai” making us ever so hopeful that we shall be snowed on, the infamous, always cheerful porter Prem Bahadur will always be there with a smile and a ‘Good marning’ to take at least 10 sets of skis up to the slopes, the local children will be there to sing the latest Garhwali pop songs, the Griffins will soar, you will get gobi and aloo in abundance at every meal, you will be cut off from the real world for just a few days with no TV updates, no internet, no newspapers, no mobile signals (slowly this is changing though) and you will see the sunrise and sunset with golden, yellow snow capped peaks of the Nandadevi, Kamet, Mana Parwat, Dunagiri, Beethartoli, Nilkanth, Hathi Parbat, Ghori Parbat and Nar Parbat as a panorama from your chai spot everyday.
Should you wish to experience Auli the way we know it you should get there as soon as you can. Before its transformation to Auli International, five star resort. It is hard to believe but the process is already underway after Auli was considered as a venue for the South Asian Winter Games 2009. The central and state government allocated large amounts for the hosting of the games. Auli did not end up hosting the games but the work had already begun and soon the resort may be a totally different destination.
You could even head here from March to November when it is a trekker’s paradise with several marked walks as well as mountain bike trails. Some say the wild flowers that grow here rival the ones found in the Valley of Flowers. The famous high altitude Gorson Reserve Forest (part of Nanda Devi Biosphere) has been reopened in the recent past after being shut for over 10 years and is said to be richly habituated by rare Himalayan wildlife including Snow Leopard, Musk Deer, Wild Boar, wild Cat, wild Rabbit, Jackal, Fox, Hyena and Bear.
If you are a person who has a ‘must do’ list of places to visit, definitely add Auli in there. A week in the hills, testing your physical limits and enjoying the tranquil sights and sounds provides food for the soul for long days ahead in the city.
Auli:
Stay:
GMVN Resort - http://www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/
Hotel Clifftop - http://www.clifftopclubauli.com/
