Dalhousie Winter Trekking Expedition

Dalhousie Winter Trekking Expedition is specially planned to project the young students into the less explored field of snow trekking and snow crafts. During the months of December-January, the nearby area of Dalhousie remains covered with snow and it creates appropriate situation to practice the pre-mountaineering techniques.

Dalhousie is a hill station in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh and was established in 1854 by the British Empire in India as a summer retreat for its troops and bureaucrats. It is situated on 5 hills and was named after Lord Dalhousie who was the British Governor-General in India while establishing this place as a summer retreat.
Geographically, it is located on the western edge of the Dhauladhar mountain range of the Himalayas and it is surrounded by snow-capped peaks. The city is situated between 6,000 and 9,000 feet (2,700 m) above sea level. The famous Pir Panjal mountain range can be seen from here.   
Due to its natural beauty and climate, the town has become one of the favorite place for trekkers and nature lovers as well for tourists. The best season to visit the city as a hill station is summer but though its terrain offers wonderful trekking paths through the year. The snow clad mountain range is easily seen from here, where in the time of winter, the whole area gets covered with soft white snow and that provides a golden chance for snow crafts and adventures. Beyond this, the town is full of hotels and visiting places.
  Besides this, the area is rich with so many small visiting places like Subhash Bawli, Panchkulla, Kalatop and Dainkund. Many temples are also there. During the summer, some of the nearby lakes are accessible for boating too. Due to proper terrain, many adventure activities like Rock Climbing, Bouldering, Rappelling and River Crossing can be performed. For trekking, the pine forests provides a wonderful opportunity to trekkers in every season of the year. Winter trekking in Dalhousie is a famous hike.
In winter, the town remains snow covered and it gives a chance to learn and understand the Nature in a different way.

At an altitude of 8000 feet above the sea level, and 9 km trek from Dalhousie, it is a perfect small Himalayan village: Kalatop. Under the “Home Stay Programme”, participants stays in these small huts and enjoys the Himalayan leaving of the locality. This behaves as basecamp for the expedition members for next three days.
The place is in the inner reaches of Kalatop Reserved Forest, but all the basic facilities are available here. The huts become helpful in the low temperature during late nights. Kitchen is set here with the help of the local people and the place also offers facility of a meeting room cum dining hall, where all type of interactive activities take place for 3 days. Starting from campfire, interaction between participants and briefing sessions by instructors and guides keep this small hall always a busy place.
Whole the village huts are hired for this camping and it also provides employment to the local boys. They help in all type logistical woks and to avail water from the frozen ice. Participants also enjoys their stay at this place by listening the local stories and songs in the perfect Pahari Ascent.
Besides this, the whole left shoulder of mighty Pir Punjal range can be seen from the base camp. Routine of Sunrise and sunset cerates wonderful landscapes full with colored sky. Participants choose to wake up early to see the sky before the sunrise.
Cold night welcomes the sun with shining golden snow on the mountains and this is how the day starts with first fall in at basecamp. After the breakfast, the participants leave the campsite and proceed for trekking or other activities and return to the base camp well before the sunset. Administrative team along with Instructors, Guides and Kitchen Staff Members stay at the same place. Lady instructor stays with the girls in their huts. All type of basic facilities and emergency kits are available at base camp.

Dainkund Top is the highest point of the Dalhousie Hills and offers a mesmeric 360 degree view from the top. Participants are put in this challenging height gain, where they start from the Kalatop basecamp and reaches to this final point in 3 – 4 hours.
There is no clear and visible trail to the uphill and all trekkers have to climb like a mountaineer in the 4-5 feet of snow. Slopes up to 50 degree and frequent snow slides are fun points for one and all. Senior instructors and local guides, who are trained mountaineers adjoins this tail in quite a typical way and trains the participants.
On successful summit to this trekking peak, a group photo is taken with the Indian Tricolor and is happens the most memorable moment of the whole trekking expedition. After spending around 2 – 3 hours on that high altitude point, the team descends in the manner of climbing down. Sliding through slopes and playing with snow balls and forming snow man besides the trails, all reaches back to base camp and enjoys the campfire with their hot dinner.

Khajjiar, locally Khajjar is a small round shaped lake situated amongst the dense forest. Due to its grassy slopes and green grounds around the lake, it attracts lacks of visitors throughout the year. Being below the snow line, it is never under the snow cover and is the place where more than 1000 movies are shot!
Due to the similar terrain to Switzerland, it is certified as “Switzerland of India”. Many hotels and other establishments serves almost all type of foods and offers overnight stay too. One long jungle trail from Kalatop leads to Khajjiar, which offers wonderful natural scenery along with small beautiful streams. This way remains closed in the winter.
Many a times, Government of Himachal Pradesh organizes cultural dance performances for tourists to introduce the tribal Himalayan culture. Comparatively, Khajjiar is more crowded and hence less preferred by the nature lovers but more by photographers and selfie maniacs!

Dalhousie Winter Trekking Expedition 2016-17 is schedule from December 15, 2016 to February 02, 2017. In this duration, a series of 8 day/7 night long adventure camps will be placed as per the academic schedule of various colleges/institutes.

For more information please call on 9099400699 or mail us on [email protected]