Snow festival begins in Gulmarg

Gulmarg, Dec 24 (UNI) A week-long snow festival began at this world famous tourist resort of Kashmir today during which several sports and cultural programmes will be held.

Competition would be held in various categories such as snow-cycling, snow-skiing, night-skiing, ice-skating, sledge- racing, cross country race and snow-man making during the festival being organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department.

Tourism Department Joint Director Sarmad Hafeez said the snow festival was expected to attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists to this famed ski resort.

He said the Tourism Department has so far received 350 confirmed bookings mainly from Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Hafeez said it would be a mega event and the basic motive was to promote Kashmir as the winter tourist destination across the world.

The most attractive features of the event would be snow- cycling and Moonlight Gondola ride. Both events were being organised for the first time.

''We want to restore the status of Gulmarg it enjoyed in winter sports and tourism. We have already launched aggressive advertising campaign,'' he added.

Besides Gulmarg, winter games would also be held at unexplored ski resorts of Yousmarg, Doodipathri and Pahalgam, Mr Hafeez said.

Gulmarg Cup will be played from February 4 to 11 while the Gondola Ski Cup will be organised in the last week of February. The Jammu and Kashmir Youth services and Sports Department has also organised a ski coaching camp here.

The Department will organise different courses for students in skiing. While the first course would be held from January 7 to 21 next year, the second from January 23 to February 6, the third from February 8 to 22 and the fourth from February 24 to March 10.

An inter-district competition would be held from March 12 to 16.

The Kashmir University would conduct first course from January 20 to February 3 and the second course from February 18 to March 4.

The Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council will hold its first course from January 16 to 29, second course from February one to 14 and the third course from February 15 to 28. Besides, the Ski Association of Delhi will organise a National Snowboard Championship there on January 13 and 14 next year.

Mr Hafeez said the season was likely to give a fillip to the ailing tourism sector as visitors, especially from abroad, were expected to visit the Kashmir valley. All the arrangements for the winter games have been finalised, he added.

The famed resort has fine quality and well-groomed slopes available. ''We have 6.5 km of ski slopes from Afarwat to Gulmarg.

There are absolutely no brown patches and we also have finest quality of equipment,'' he added.

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