Gulmarg Ski – Out of Bounds – Looker's Left

Looker's left or the Southeast part of the main Gulmarg Ridge is the easiest to access.

It is all out of bounds and not controlled for avalanche safety. You and your ski partners are expected to ski with avalanche safety gear and know how to use it.

It's a big playground — lots of bowls, ridges, and sub-ridges to explore and play on.

We recommend hiring a local ski guide as the area is big. By skiing with a guide, you will not only be safer but will save time trying to find the best lines.

As Gulmarg Ski Resort is a off-piste, out of bounds ski resort, the health, rescue and evacuation services are not the same as what we are used to. Skigulmarg.com strongly advise to hire a ski guide.

Where Do I Go To Ski Looker's Left?

There are actually 4 main bowls on the looker's left side of the gondola: Sheenmai Bowl, Hapat Khued Bowl, Trajan Bowl, and Saffron Bowl.

Drang Bowls are part of the looker's left area but are described in another section.

To explore any of these bowls, you will have to ride on the top of Apharwat toward the Southeast.

This side is the easiest to access because you don't have to walk up or anywhere. You can just clip in and down you go.

The Terrain

Sheenmai Bowl

This part of the terrain is very easy access. When you get out of the gondola, ski south a little and down you go.

The North facing aspect of the bowl is called Shaggy's Face. It was named after an Australian skier who died in an avalanche on the face in February 2007.

This Gulmarg Terrain is very nice with steep parts, little rocks, and a nice little tree area to finish…nice variety when you Ski Kashmir.

It is very easy to come back to the Gondola, and no touring gear is needed.

Just like most of the bowls in Gulmarg Ski Resort, it is drained by a very narrow gully. Once you are at the bottom, you are exposed to anything coming from above. Ski with care.

Hapat Khued Bowl

Hapat Khued Bowl is also very easy access. It is just a little further down the top ridge.

It is a massive bowl with a very long white North aspect face that ends in a narrow gully.

There are a couple of sub-ridges that I call "C cup" and "B cup" — they can be a lot of fun but will bring you to the bottom of the gully where it can be hard to cross to go back to the North aspect.

The South aspect is wide and big and can be lots of fun if it is unaffected by the sun.

You can enjoy this bowl all the way down without being too worried that you will need touring gear to come back.

Trajan Bowl

The South aspect of Trajan Bowl is very similar to the south of Hapat Khued Bowl — big and wide, and it can be a very, very long run.

The North aspect gets steep, and some parts are very steep. There is a small sub-bowl in the middle that can be very dangerous if the avalanche hazard is high.

The North aspect finishes with a nice shoulder full of pine trees…this area is awesome, but you will need touring gear or snowshoes to get back to the gondola.

Saffron Bowl

The terrain of Saffron is again very similar and also ends on the North aspect with a super nice shoulder.

By then, you are pretty far and if you want to get back to the gondola without touring gear or a long and tiring walk, you will need to start cutting and traversing bowls very high up.

I really do not recommend that kind of skiing as you expose yourself to people skiing over you and expose people skiing down under you… please avoid cutting over other skiers and snowboarders when you Ski India.

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