Auli

Auli, perched at 2,800 m in Chamoli, is the Himalayas’ reluctant ski‑town; it works best when you can stomach a two‑hour drive through Roorkee, Rishikesh and Badrinath Road, then a steep, wind‑tossed climb to the rope‑way terminal at Joshimath. The only non‑negotiables are a morning lift on Day 1 to see the sunrise over the Himalayan range from the 3,050‑metre point, and a late‑afternoon descent on the well‑groomed 2‑km run that feeds into the Gorson Bugyal meadow – the powder here is decent but the crowds in December and January are as thick as the souvenir stalls. If you visit between June and October, swap the skis for a trek across the 520‑species alpine carpet; the valley bursts with rhododendrons, blue poppies and endangered gentians, and the quiet of the high‑altitude bugyals is a rare antidote to the commercial lift‑line. Stay in the modest Auli Resort or the family‑run hotel on the ski‑cable base; both are functional, none are luxurious, and both will get you back to a decent dinner of thukpa at the Gumruk restaurant before the night‑air bites. Two days is honest for a ski session and a floral walk; add a third if you want to venture to the nearby Pindari Glacier base camp, but skip the over‑priced “snow safari” packages that simply shuttle you around the same slope. The best window is late‑February to early‑April: the snow lingers, the weather is tolerable, and the alpine blooms begin to peep through the melt.

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