New Delhi, Feb.12 : The Fifth National Winter Games to be held at Gulmarg in Kashmir from February 17 was inaugurated with a torch run being flagged off from New Delhi on Tuesday.

The torch run will pass through Dehradun, Shimla, Jammu and Srinagar before reaching Gulmarg.

"The teams that we have in different places like Manali, Uttaranchal, at least 500 participants from all these places are geared to participate inhe winter games. We are all prepared for the event," said Gul Mustafa, Dev , a ski instructer in Jammu and Kashmir.

The six-day event in Gulmarg, a ski resort in the Kashmir Valley, will witness the participation of teams from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, GMVN, WHMI (Manali), BSF, Navy, Army Sports Control Board and IIS andM (Gulmarg).

"Those who win in Gulmarg will get a chance to participate in the Winter Olympics. The next Winter Olympic swill be held in Canada. Last year also, a lot of participants from Gulmarg went there. Most of the people are from Kashmir. Therefore, they stand a bigger chance to participate in Winter Olympics," said Suresh Kalmadi, the President of the Indian Olympic Association.

The events to be held include slalom, giant slalom and snowboard in alpine skiing, freestyle (men and women) in cross-country and figure skating and speed skating (men and women) and ice hockey for men in skating rink category.

ANI