Inside Gulmarg’s Secret Ski Party, Where Indian Luxury Is Quietly Evolving
By
Mansvini kaushik
|
Feb 24, 2026
Share this article:
Travel
Image: Outside the Gulmarg Gondola Phase 2 that takes you from Kongdoori to the Apharwat peak at 14,403 ft
Luxury travel is getting louder. Bigger launches, grander itineraries, more visible indulgence. Yet far from the spotlight, a quieter shift is unfolding. One that favours intimacy over scale and memory over spectacle.
High in the snow-draped slopes of Gulmarg, that shift takes shape in the form of an invitation-only winter gathering known simply as the Secret Ski Party. Hosted by Jammu-based entrepreneur Krishan Anand, the experience has built a quiet reputation among insiders for its restraint as much as its access.
The format is deliberately small. Two editions each February. Roughly 40 guests at a time. No public-facing marketing. No visible amplification. Entry travels mostly through private networks, and that discretion is central to its appeal.
“Luxury cannot be created at mass,” Anand says, a philosophy that anchors the entire experience. Scale is traded for precision. Spectacle for immersion.
From the moment guests arrive in the Valley, the tone is set through subtle choreography rather than overt theatre. Transfers are seamless, transitions intuitive and the experience unfolds with the kind of quiet confidence that comes from obsessive planning.
But what distinguishes the Secret Ski Party isn’t just logistics. It’s structure.
Unlike traditional ski holidays built around slopes and après culture, this gathering is designed more like an experiential residency. Skiing remains central, but it exists within a wider framework that blends regional culture, curated social dynamics and highly personalised hospitality.
Days begin with the mountains.
Guided skiing sessions unfold across Gulmarg’s famed powder slopes, welcoming both seasoned skiers and first-timers. Snowmobile trails cut through vast white silence. Breathwork in sub-zero air replaces rushed itineraries. The mountains set the pace, not the schedule.
Evenings, however, reveal the deeper architecture of the experience.
The opening night centres around a traditional Wazwan, Kashmir’s ceremonial multi-course feast slow-cooked over days. Presented without performative framing, the meal unfolds in long, unhurried courses that emphasise both culinary heritage and communal rhythm. A Sufi performance follows, where music drifts across the room with an unforced intimacy.
It is in these moments that the Secret Ski Party begins to reveal its intent. Cultural immersion here is not staged as spectacle. It is integrated into the flow of the gathering.
Equally considered is the guest composition.
The room typically brings together a cross-disciplinary mix of founders, investors, creators and collectors. Individuals operating at high velocity elsewhere find themselves in an environment intentionally designed to slow them down. Conversations stretch. Social hierarchies soften. The energy shifts from networking to connection.
This social architecture may be the most strategic element of the format.
Because what is being built here is not merely a travel experience, but a controlled ecosystem. One where the right environment and the right people intersect with intention.
“People think luxury is access,” Anand notes. “For me, it’s alignment. The right place, the right people, the right energy.”
That philosophy manifests in moments that feel quietly improbable.
At nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, guests ascend to Phase 2 of Gulmarg’s terrain, where the landscape turns stark and surreal. Endless white, minimal visual noise and a sense of altitude-induced stillness. And then, unexpectedly, a curated lunch appears. Not a compromised mountain menu, but world-class sushi flown in specifically for the experience.
In another context, such a gesture might read as excess. Here, it registers differently. Less as indulgence, more as intent. Luxury not transplanted, but recontextualised.
This distinction defines the broader experience.
The Secret Ski Party does not rely on overt signals of opulence. There are no oversized productions or exaggerated theatrics. Instead, the emphasis stays firmly on precision and emotional memory. On how something feels while it is unfolding.
That ethos culminates on the final evening.
A long table emerges against snow and shadow. Black tie silhouettes contrast with the vastness of the mountains. The setting feels cinematic, yet unforced. What lingers is not the visual drama, but the collective awareness of impermanence. A shared understanding that the moment exists briefly and then dissolves.
Even the scale of operations, considerable given the terrain and logistics, remains largely invisible. Safety protocols, mountain coordination and guest movement are handled with quiet efficiency. Nothing demands attention. Everything simply works.
And perhaps that is the real signature of the experience. The invisibility of effort.
As Indian luxury travellers evolve, their expectations are shifting in tandem. The emphasis is moving away from acquisition and toward immersion. From visibility toward meaning. From scale toward curation.
In that context, the Secret Ski Party feels less like an outlier and more like a signal. A glimpse into where experiential luxury in India may be headed. Smaller, more intentional and rooted in emotional resonance rather than visual excess.
It resists easy categorisation. Not quite a ski trip. Not quite a retreat. Not quite a social gathering. Instead, something more fluid. A format built around atmosphere as much as activity.
And that ambiguity may be precisely why it lingers.
Because long after the snow settles and the mountains recede into memory, what remains is not a checklist of moments, but a shift in pace. A recalibration. A reminder that the most compelling luxury today may not be what is seen, but what is quietly felt.
Share this article:
Mansvini kaushik
Mansvini Kaushik is the Editor-in-Chief of Indulge Newsroom, the editorial division of Indulge Global. A seasoned business and investigative journalist, she brings years of experience from Forbes India, where she honed her craft in high-impact storytelling. With a deep-rooted passion for luxury and culture, Mansvini founded Candle Magazine before taking the helm at Indulge Newsroom. She now leads the publication with a vision to redefine luxury journalism in India.
