Powered by powdery snow, Gulmarg is vying to become an international winter sports venue

Gulmarg aims to host international winter sports events, groom athletes for ski mountaineering, and become an Olympic venue.

Buoyed by its successful record of hosting four national winter games, Kashmir’s snow-capped town of Gulmarg is vying to become the venue for international events such as the Asian Games this year. It also hopes to offer its powdery slopes as training venue to groom athletes for ski mountaineering, a sport that will make its debut in the 2026 Olympics in Italy.

Gulmarg’s snow meadows, first discovered by Sultan Yusuf Shah in the 16th century, have ski slopes at 2,730 metres above sea-level. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has now started the spade work to see Gulmarg become an international venue for the Asian Games and the Olympics., working on an international certification for its slopes, which are covered with the rare powdery snow considered essential for professional skiing.

“We have proposed it to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (also known as FIS). The Gulmarg slopes need to be certified using international standards. Engaging the right people with technical knowledge can enable Gulmarg to host international events,” Olympian Shiva Keshavan, the founder-president of the Olympians Association of India (OAI), told The Hindu.

Once Gulmarg’s slopes are groomed by experts, it will start earning FIS points as a venue and can compete to host international events, including Olympics. “We want the FIS to survey slopes and identify changes. It has to start before next winter sets in,” Mr. Keshavan said.

Gulmarg now has six feet of snow for alpine skiing, and also has the best natural setting in terms of range of slopes and quality of snow. “The best ski resorts in the world have 30 centimetres of packed snow and are hosting world championships. However, one could see boulders coming out in Gulmarg. The ski resorts have to groom their slopes,” Mr. Keshavan said.

India lags in the winter sports. Arif Khan from Kashmir was the only athlete to represent India in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Though winter sports were introduced in the country in the early 1980s, they has not attracted athletes on the scale that other sports have.

“We should have been at a higher level. We are focussing on Olympics sports. This year, we ensured that Gulmarg offers highest standards and abides by certain international guidelines, for example, the timing and the course length,” Mr. Keshavan said.