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Naltar Valley: Skiing on the magic carpet
By Obaid ur Rehman Abbasi
A chairlift ride, Photos by the writer
There might be no other good news in the year for the inhabitants of Naltar Valley, Gilgit Baltistan other than their new 180-seater ski chairlift. “Pakistan Zindabad!” reverberated in the valley, as the first successful test run of the ski chairlifts concluded in August. For the Naltaris, it is not just good news, it is great news.
Situated some 40km away from Gilgit, the Naltar Valley is home to all skiing activity in Pakistan. They say skiing comes naturally to almost every girl, boy, man and even housewives in Naltar. Most Naltaris cannot afford the expensive ski kits available in the market and many thus tend to carve their own kits from wood chopped from the pine forests nearby. On these same home-made wooden skis trained Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Karim; the duo represented Pakistan in the Vancouver (Canada) and Sochi (Russia) winter Olympics respectively. Abbas’ homemade wooden kit is presently displayed in a Canadian museum. Skiing is as much a tradition in Naltar as it is an identity.
The chairlifts therefore are part of the Ski Federation of Pakistan’s (SFP) endeavours to harness Naltari passion and develop Naltar as a world-class skiing resort in Pakistan, equipped with facilities and amenities that are comparable with any winter sport destination across the globe. They have been brought to Pakistan with the help of Swiss and Chinese experts. Naltari ski chairlifts are now the only operational ones in Pakistan for winter games purposes; there used to be another one in Malam Jabba (some 40km from Saidu Sharif), but it fell victim to terrorism. Three chairlifts also operate in Muree, Patraiata, and Ayyubia, but those are only for tourism purposes and not for skiing or any other winter games purpose.
Last year, PAF engineers started installing the lift at the present site in Naltar — a process that reached completion in the last week of August 2014 with the first successful test run of the ski chairlifts. As per official reports, final testing and commissioning is underway with Swiss experts having arrived in Pakistan to certify the facility.
Tourism experts in the country are attaching great importance to the ski chairlifts in the promotion of skiing and increasing tourism to Pakistan, especially to Gilgit Baltistan. Many argue that due to the law and order situation in the country, Pakistani sport lost almost all international competitions despite the abundance of great talent. But this situation can be reversed through Naltar’s ski resort.
“With the addition of the ski chairlift in Naltar and some other facilities, international ski competitions can now be organised in Naltar, and we can return sporting activities to the country though winter games,” says Colonel (retd) Mohammad Walli, president of the Gilgit Baltistan Ski Association. “We have a wonderful ski slope, perhaps a hundred times better than that of the Indian ski resort of Auli. We only need government support and some public relations exercises. We are confident that we can hold an international ski competition within one year.”
One major stumbling block to Naltar’s development as an international ski resort, however, is the regrettable condition of the road leading from Gilgit to Naltar. As things stand, the one-hour journey to Naltar is near impossible unless ski enthusiasts travel there on a jeep.
“The focal point of development of any place is a road; in the case of Naltar, this point is missing till date,” argues M. Zaffar Yousafzai, the secretary general of the Sindh Ski Association. “Until and unless the road leading to Naltar is carpeted properly, sporting activity in the valley cannot be properly promoted.”
Recent news reports suggest that ACM Butt has requested the prime minister to expedite work on the road, and the PM has acquiesced. “The plan of constructing a wide pucca road from Gilgit to Naltar is already in the pipeline. After the completion of the road, tourists shall be able to visit and stay in Naltar,” claims SFP Vice-President M Javed.
Then there are problems with communication and lodging facilities. Mr Salman, director of a private group, Sports Management Islamabad, contends that the tourism department should attract investors to construct lodging facilities. “Organisations such as the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) or the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), who have their own ski teams and take special interest in Naltar, should build resorts and motels to accommodate tourists,” he argues.
Meanwhile, authorities in Gilgit Baltistan are excited about the follow-on benefit of the ski chairlifts and other facilities. “Not only can winter sports thrive but summer ski sports such as grass skiing and roller skating can also be promoted,” says SFP’s Javed, who also serves as an office bearer of the Alpine Club of Pakistan. “I have no two opinions about this, but to say that sooner or later, Pakistan will be a major player in the field of winter games across the world.”
Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 12th, 2014
By Obaid ur Rehman Abbasi
A chairlift ride, Photos by the writer
There might be no other good news in the year for the inhabitants of Naltar Valley, Gilgit Baltistan other than their new 180-seater ski chairlift. “Pakistan Zindabad!” reverberated in the valley, as the first successful test run of the ski chairlifts concluded in August. For the Naltaris, it is not just good news, it is great news.
Situated some 40km away from Gilgit, the Naltar Valley is home to all skiing activity in Pakistan. They say skiing comes naturally to almost every girl, boy, man and even housewives in Naltar. Most Naltaris cannot afford the expensive ski kits available in the market and many thus tend to carve their own kits from wood chopped from the pine forests nearby. On these same home-made wooden skis trained Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Karim; the duo represented Pakistan in the Vancouver (Canada) and Sochi (Russia) winter Olympics respectively. Abbas’ homemade wooden kit is presently displayed in a Canadian museum. Skiing is as much a tradition in Naltar as it is an identity.
The chairlifts therefore are part of the Ski Federation of Pakistan’s (SFP) endeavours to harness Naltari passion and develop Naltar as a world-class skiing resort in Pakistan, equipped with facilities and amenities that are comparable with any winter sport destination across the globe. They have been brought to Pakistan with the help of Swiss and Chinese experts. Naltari ski chairlifts are now the only operational ones in Pakistan for winter games purposes; there used to be another one in Malam Jabba (some 40km from Saidu Sharif), but it fell victim to terrorism. Three chairlifts also operate in Muree, Patraiata, and Ayyubia, but those are only for tourism purposes and not for skiing or any other winter games purpose.
Last year, PAF engineers started installing the lift at the present site in Naltar — a process that reached completion in the last week of August 2014 with the first successful test run of the ski chairlifts. As per official reports, final testing and commissioning is underway with Swiss experts having arrived in Pakistan to certify the facility.
Tourism experts in the country are attaching great importance to the ski chairlifts in the promotion of skiing and increasing tourism to Pakistan, especially to Gilgit Baltistan. Many argue that due to the law and order situation in the country, Pakistani sport lost almost all international competitions despite the abundance of great talent. But this situation can be reversed through Naltar’s ski resort.
“With the addition of the ski chairlift in Naltar and some other facilities, international ski competitions can now be organised in Naltar, and we can return sporting activities to the country though winter games,” says Colonel (retd) Mohammad Walli, president of the Gilgit Baltistan Ski Association. “We have a wonderful ski slope, perhaps a hundred times better than that of the Indian ski resort of Auli. We only need government support and some public relations exercises. We are confident that we can hold an international ski competition within one year.”
One major stumbling block to Naltar’s development as an international ski resort, however, is the regrettable condition of the road leading from Gilgit to Naltar. As things stand, the one-hour journey to Naltar is near impossible unless ski enthusiasts travel there on a jeep.
“The focal point of development of any place is a road; in the case of Naltar, this point is missing till date,” argues M. Zaffar Yousafzai, the secretary general of the Sindh Ski Association. “Until and unless the road leading to Naltar is carpeted properly, sporting activity in the valley cannot be properly promoted.”
Recent news reports suggest that ACM Butt has requested the prime minister to expedite work on the road, and the PM has acquiesced. “The plan of constructing a wide pucca road from Gilgit to Naltar is already in the pipeline. After the completion of the road, tourists shall be able to visit and stay in Naltar,” claims SFP Vice-President M Javed.
Then there are problems with communication and lodging facilities. Mr Salman, director of a private group, Sports Management Islamabad, contends that the tourism department should attract investors to construct lodging facilities. “Organisations such as the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) or the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), who have their own ski teams and take special interest in Naltar, should build resorts and motels to accommodate tourists,” he argues.
Meanwhile, authorities in Gilgit Baltistan are excited about the follow-on benefit of the ski chairlifts and other facilities. “Not only can winter sports thrive but summer ski sports such as grass skiing and roller skating can also be promoted,” says SFP’s Javed, who also serves as an office bearer of the Alpine Club of Pakistan. “I have no two opinions about this, but to say that sooner or later, Pakistan will be a major player in the field of winter games across the world.”
Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 12th, 2014
