I m just back from a wonderful trip to Kashmir which was organized by Ritual Holidays.
Gondola will take you to heaven, Gulmarg, it's the most beautiful place in entire Kashmir. You need buy tickets for Gondola either you can book online if you're visiting in peak season or you can buy from counter. You need to take a special cab for Gulmarg also know as Chain wali gadi to cover a route of around 8 km till Gondola lift.
This was my first view of snow and I was super thrilled. Worth every penny we spent on the tickets upto level 2. We visited in May so at level 1 there wasn't much. Skiing as they call it isn't worth so beware. Cameras have to be taken care of in the snow. Cable car ride was also thrilling. Overall wonderful.

Gulmarg Gondola Stage - 2 is an awesome experience.. Points to be noted-
1. Book online tickets for both the Stages.
2. Book early morning slots to avoid traffic while travelling to Gulmarg and queues for the Gondola ride.
3. One can enjoy the walk up to the Gondola point from the parking area.. No need to hire horses or local cabs.
4. Unfortunately getting boarding passes at the Gondola station is a stupendous task.. The queue for issue of boarding passes and that for actual boarding are different and guides and tour operators make it more chaotic.. So we opted for a guide (Rz. 700/- all inclusive for both stages).He arranged for our boarding passes and accompanied us for both Stages..
5. After reaching Stage 1, we immediately opted for Stage 2 to avoid long queues..
6. We enjoyed the snow at Stage 2, we only hired Gumboots.. We went at different points on the sledge. This was the best part of the trip.
7. On our return we spent some time on Stage 1 but not much to see.
There is a good fast food center just near the Gondola station.
Gondola ride upto stage 2 is a must when one visits Kashmir

One must not miss the Gondola ride in Gulmarg. After purchasing the ticket (even a e-ticket) one need to get the boarding pass. One can board the Gondola only after getting the boarding pass. There will be queue for boarding pass and local agents will keep breaking the queue. It's good to be at Gondola early (say 9AM). Then you have better chance of cutting the queue.
We were here on 24-May-2016 and had done e-bookings. It took 30-45min to get the boarding pass. It was raining and there wasn't snow at Phase-I so we directly went to Phase-II. Phase-II had tons of snow and we were lucky to get snowfall almost for an hour.

Tips:
1) Do online bookings. When weather starts getting bad the ticket counter gets closed and boarding pass is issued to e-bookings. In worst case even e-booking will not get the boarding pass
2) You definitely need the rubber shoes and snow jackets. Better to get these things before boarding. They are available at Phase-II also but will be costlier.
3) At Phase-II there is room like structure below the Gondola boarding/landing point. If someone feels too cold or if it's raining then can take shelter there.