Auli Tour from Rishikesh

Skiing is January to March, with February the most reliable month. December is a gamble — the snow may not have settled — and by late March the lower slopes are going. Equipment and instruction are available on site during the season.

April to June is pleasant and green with excellent visibility, good for the cable car and walking but with no snow. September to November is the clearest window of the year for the Himalayan views. July and August are monsoon and the approach road is the problem rather than Auli itself.

Eight to nine hours of driving from Rishikesh up the Alaknanda through Devprayag, Rudraprayag and Chamoli to Joshimath, then the cable car or a road up to Auli. That is a full day each way, which makes three days the minimum and four comfortable.

The road is the Char Dham highway as far as Joshimath and is generally good, but it is mountain driving with landslide-prone sections in and after the monsoon. Winter can bring snow on the final stretch.

The artificial lake at the top of the slope, built to feed snow-making equipment, which is a short walk and a good viewpoint. Joshimath below is the base town and a Char Dham waypoint, with Narsingh temple and the winter seat of Badrinath.

From the same base, the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib open in the summer, which is a different and much more demanding trip that starts from Govindghat nearby.