Chandigarh-Manali by car on 22nd December 2019 weekend

[Raminder_Singh]

Hi,
I am planning to visit Manali from Chandigarh by car, will leave on 21st December. Please suggest if the road condition is fine via Bilaspur-Sundarnagar-Mandi route or should I take Una route? I don't have much off-road hill roads experience by car, have been there multiple times by bike so the route should be easier to drive
Also, another concern is if there will be snow on roads while approaching Manali?

Thanks!

 

[skysat2005]

Hi,
I am planning to visit Manali from Chandigarh by car, will leave on 21st December. Please suggest if the road condition is fine via Bilaspur-Sundarnagar-Mandi route or should I take Una route? I don't have much off-road hill roads experience by car, have been there multiple times by bike so the route should be easier to drive
Also, another concern is if there will be snow on roads while approaching Manali?
Thanks!

Bilaspur-Sundarnagar-Mandi is fine now that sundernagar bypass is also operational. Small bad patches are still there but nothing that the car cannot do.
On snow, the roads are normally cleared off snow by PWD to maintain the connectivity, however if there is any strong western disturbance around your travel dates, you could face snow/black ice on the roads. You should start early from CHD so as to reach Manali in day light so that you have buffer time to manage the black ice/light snow.
Happy driving....

 

[Raminder_Singh]

Bilaspur-Sundarnagar-Mandi is fine now that sundernagar bypass is also operational. Small bad patches are still there but nothing that the car cannot do.
On snow, the roads are normally cleared off snow by PWD to maintain the connectivity, however if there is any strong western disturbance around your travel dates, you could face snow/black ice on the roads. You should start early from CHD so as to reach Manali in day light so that you have buffer time to manage the black ice/light snow.
Happy driving....

Thanks Satish

 

[skysat2005]

Hi,
I am planning to visit Manali from Chandigarh by car, will leave on 21st December.....................................

Infact next strong western disturbance is expected on 20-21st Dec which could result in heavy widespread snow all around the hill-stations. See of you can reschedule your trip so as to reach Manali by 19th itself...

 

[Raminder_Singh]

Infact next strong western disturbance is expected on 20-21st Dec which could result in heavy widespread snow all around the hill-stations. See of you can reschedule your trip so as to reach Manali by 19th itself...

Reaching 19th will be tough. Is there generally snow and black ice on the road when it snows in Manali? Because then, driving will be tough for me and I don't want to risk it.
We have planned to leave Chandigarh early so that we reach Manali during daylight and I think black ice will be very less at that time of the day.

 

[adsatinder]

Kullu had good snowfall recently. It was all white then. Difficult to drive on black ice. It depends on intensity of weather at particular time. If Sun is out, you can reach Manali as others will be ahead and behind you. Rope can be used or less air in tyres can move vehicle with grip.

 

[Raminder_Singh]

Kullu had good snowfall recently. It was all white then. Difficult to drive on black ice. It depends on intensity of weather at particular time. If Sun is out, you can reach Manali as others will be ahead and behind you. Rope can be used or less air in tyres can move vehicle with grip.

Thanks Satinder ji. I'll try to reach Manali in the after so that most of black ice will be melted by then. If getting late, we would rather stay near Kullu or before that and leave next day again after sun is out.

 

[adsatinder]

Yesterday a BCMTian was there.

Manali is already having black ice on roads.
Keep car in low speed only.
Sun may save you if it works well.

 

[Raminder_Singh]

Yesterday a BCMTian was there.

Manali is already having black ice on roads.
Keep car in low speed only.
Sun may save you if it works well.

Thanks Sir. In that case, I'll stay near Kullu if it gets dark by the time we reach Manali. Will also enquire locals near Kullu before heading towards Manali or will explore and move towards Shoja and then back to Delhi if locals suggest not to go further

 

[Raminder_Singh]

To update everyone, there is no black ice right now in Manali because of continuous sunny days after latest snowfall. We reached there around 7 PM on 21-Dec and left on 24-December morning. There is abundant black ice and snow enroute Solang valley so drive carefully.