Manali, one of India’s most popular winter getaways, has been plunged into days of gridlock and hardship after a burst of record season snowfall collided with a massive tourist rush over the Republic Day long weekend.

Hill roads have frozen into sheets of black ice, traffic jams have stretched for up to 15 kilometers, and thousands of visitors and residents have been left stranded in sub-zero temperatures as the Kullu–Manali corridor struggles to cope.

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Snowfall Turns Holiday Weekend Into a 15-Kilometer Logjam

What began as a much-anticipated spell of fresh snow late last week quickly spiraled into a logistical crisis along the Chandigarh–Manali highway and adjoining hill roads. Continuous snowfall over 30 to 48 hours piled up to nearly two feet in and around Manali, while higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh reported up to three to four feet. The combination of steep gradients, packed tourist vehicles, and rapidly forming ice brought traffic to a near standstill in multiple stretches approaching the resort town.

On the crucial Patlikuhal–Manali section alone, vehicles ended up locked in a traffic jam reported at between 8 and 15 kilometers, with some travelers taking 10 to 12 hours to cover distances that normally require barely half an hour. In several instances, cars and buses were left stranded where they stopped, forming a rigid chain of metal as snow and ice built up around them. National highway sections into Manali were among those most severely affected, with authorities confirming long, unmoving lines of traffic both for arrivals and departures.

By the evening of January 24 and into January 25, police and district officials acknowledged that the town and its approaches had effectively seized up under a combination of frozen surfaces and sheer volume of vehicles. Efforts to stagger or halt further incoming traffic came only after gridlocks had already formed, leaving many visitors no choice but to wait it out on the icy tarmac.

Tourists Trapped Overnight in Cars as Temperatures Plunge

The sudden freeze turned the long weekend getaway into a grueling ordeal for thousands of holidaymakers. With temperatures in Manali hovering near minus 1 degree Celsius and falling lower in surrounding areas, families, elderly travelers, and children were among those left sitting inside motionless vehicles for hours on end. Numerous visitors recounted spending the entire night in their cars, with engines periodically switched on for heat and fuel supplies closely watched.

Lack of basic amenities compounded the distress. Stranded tourists spoke of having no access to toilets, hot food, or blankets while immobilized in the jams. Many had packed only light snacks for what was expected to be a short mountain drive, and found themselves rationing biscuits, chips, and bottled water as delays stretched from a few hours into full nights stuck on the road. For some, there was no realistic way to turn around or seek shelter until the first light of morning.

As conditions worsened and hotel occupancy in the town center surged toward or reached full capacity, several groups who did manage to break away from the jams discovered that almost no rooms were available. Others decided they could not wait and set out on foot, hauling trolley bags and backpacks through slush and knee-deep snow, trudging anywhere from 5 to 20 kilometers to reach Manali or nearby villages where they hoped to find a bed and a warm meal.

Record Tourist Rush Meets Fragile Mountain Infrastructure

The winter chaos has laid bare the strains on a mountain destination that has grown explosively in popularity but remains dependent on a handful of narrow two-lane roads. Local officials and weather agencies note that the snowfall, though intense and prolonged, is not unprecedented for the season in Himachal’s high country. What is new is the sheer number of vehicles and visitors attempting to reach Manali at the same time, particularly during holiday windows.

The Republic Day long weekend combined the season’s first major snowfall with pent-up demand from domestic travelers seeking a snow experience. Reports from hotel and tourism operators spoke of near-maximum bookings for the period, while videos and images from the highway showed bumper-to-bumper streams of private cars, taxis, and tourist buses ascending into the valley. At the peak of the bottleneck, occupancy in and around Manali approached saturation, even as a large share of holidaymakers never made it beyond the jams to check in.

Transport planners have long warned that the existing road network into Kullu and Manali, essentially a twisting ribbon hugging the Beas River and its valley walls, is acutely vulnerable when weather volatility meets holiday peaks. With only limited parking infrastructure, few dedicated lay-bys, and virtually no alternatives once a jam forms on the main highway, even minor skids or stalled vehicles can trigger cascading delays. The latest snowfall turned those vulnerabilities into a full-blown breakdown of mobility.

Frozen Roads, Black Ice and a Deadly Ambulance Delay

Beneath the images of tourists posing with snowmen and snow-covered pines lies a more treacherous reality. Road engineers and local residents pointed to the rapid formation of black ice on sloping sections of the Manali highway as one of the biggest hazards during this weather event. Even where snow depth appeared modest at first glance, thin, invisible layers of refrozen meltwater formed an almost frictionless surface, leaving vehicles unable to climb or safely descend.

In multiple stretches between Kullu and Manali, cars and buses reportedly skidded sideways or spun out despite slow speeds, leading to minor collisions and fender-benders that further clogged the already constricted roadway. In the tight curves typical of Himalayan highways, a single vehicle stuck crosswise can seal off both directions, which is what appears to have happened repeatedly during the height of the storm.

The consequences were not only economic and logistical but also tragic. Local media reported that an ambulance transporting a heart patient from Manali to Mandi was trapped in the congestion near Rangri for several hours. The patient could not reach advanced medical care in time and died while the vehicle remained stuck among hundreds of others. The case has sparked renewed questions over whether emergency corridors can be realistically maintained on such roads during peak seasons and heavy snow.

Power, Water and Connectivity Cut as Hills Lock Down

Manali’s roads were not the only systems overwhelmed by the storm. Across Himachal Pradesh, thousands of electricity transformers went offline as heavy, wet snow weighed down lines and felled trees, plunging neighborhoods into darkness at the very moment residents and tourists most needed heating. In Kullu and Manali, reports indicated that several hundred transformers were affected, leaving large pockets of the region facing power cuts for extended periods.

Water supply networks suffered their own failures. In some localities of Manali town, pipes froze or cracked, leading to little or no running water at hotels and homestays already straining under unexpected guest loads. Residents spoke of melting snow and relying on stored supplies as utility teams struggled to reach damaged infrastructure through snow-blocked lanes.

State disaster management officials confirmed that hundreds of roads remained shut over the weekend, including key mountain routes beyond Manali, such as those toward the Atal Tunnel and into the high-altitude Lahaul and Spiti district. With over 600 roads across Himachal affected at various points, machinery and snow-clearing crews had to be prioritized for main corridors, often delaying restoration of smaller but crucial local connectors servicing remote villages.

Authorities Scramble With Warnings, Closures and Evacuations

As videos of unmoving vehicle lines and shivering families circulated widely, the Kullu district administration moved to stem the inflow, appealing to travelers to defer non-essential trips to Manali until weather and road conditions stabilized. Police checkpoints were set up at lower-elevation points to hold vehicles back, while only four wheel drive and high-clearance vehicles were permitted to proceed on certain stretches to assist with evacuation and relief.

Public Works Department officials reported deploying heavy snow-clearing machinery, including JCBs and excavators, to carve open lanes through accumulations of up to two or more feet of snow. The work remained slow and hazardous due to continued low temperatures and the risk of fresh ice forming soon after clearing. Even where one side of the carriageway was opened, the narrow width meant that traffic could only move in controlled pulses, prolonging delays.

Local police and volunteers fanned out along the worst-hit segments, checking on stranded families, coordinating vehicle movements, and encouraging those with vulnerable passengers to accept evacuation on foot or via local four wheel drive jeeps. In some nearby highland areas where smaller groups of tourists were cut off by snow, teams of local residents walked up to rescue and guide them down to safer locations, highlighting the crucial role of community response in Himalayan emergencies.

Community Kindness Amid the Chaos

Amid reports of frustration and frayed tempers, scenes from the Manali valley also captured the resilience and generosity that mountain regions are known for. In several villages and roadside hamlets, local women and families organized makeshift relief points, offering hot tea, simple meals, and blankets to shivering tourists who had been stuck on the highway for hours.

Short videos shared from the region showed residents navigating through snowdrifts with kettles and insulated containers, distributing steaming cups to drivers and children huddled in back seats. Others opened their homes or homestay lobbies to travelers who could not find hotel rooms, letting them warm up by stoves and recharge phones while they waited for roads to reopen.

For many visitors, these gestures became the most memorable part of a trip that otherwise veered toward disaster. Several stranded tourists publicly thanked local residents and frontline workers, crediting them with preventing a difficult situation from turning far more serious, especially for those traveling with infants and elderly family members.

What This Means for Future Winter Travel to Manali

The Manali snow crisis has quickly become a case study in how climate volatility, infrastructure limits, and surging tourism can collide in popular hill destinations. Meteorologists have warned of more western disturbances likely to bring additional rain and snow to Himachal Pradesh in the coming days, raising concerns that the recent chaos may not be an isolated incident but a preview of what the rest of winter could hold.

For travel planners and visitors, the episode underlines the need to track not just snowfall forecasts but also advisories from local authorities on road conditions and permissible movement. Officials have started emphasizing that travelers should avoid driving into hill stations in the middle of active snowstorms or immediately after fresh heavy snowfall, when black ice and blocked roads are most likely. Some experts are urging staggered entry systems and real-time caps on vehicle numbers during peak weekends.

For Manali and similar Himalayan hubs, the challenge will be to preserve winter’s allure without letting it tip into recurring crisis. Investments in more robust snow management, designated emergency lanes, better-equipped parking zones, and improved public transport could all help. Until then, scenes of tourists dragging suitcases along frozen highways and sleeping in idling cars may remain a stark reminder that in the high Himalaya, the search for snow can quickly give way to a struggle simply to get home.