Friendship Peak

Friendship Peak stands at 5,289 m in the Pir Panjal, directly above Manali's Solang valley, and it is where a lot of Indian trekkers stop walking and start climbing. The approach runs from Solang through Dhundi and Bakarthach to a high camp; the summit day begins in the dark, on snow, roped up and in crampons.

That last sentence is the whole trip. Organizers grade it anywhere from 'challenging' to 'expedition', and most ask for prior high-altitude experience — it is not a first Himalayan outing. Seven days is the common length, the summit push is weather-dependent, and turning back short of the top is a normal outcome rather than a failure. May–June and September–October are the settled windows. The peak needs an Indian Mountaineering Foundation permit, which several organizers charge for separately on arrival rather than inside the headline price.