Srinagar: Arif Mohammad Khan, the second Olympian from Jammu and Kashmir, slammed the Union Territory administration for below-par facilities at Gulmarg Ski Resort. Khan, who has represented India many times, and won gold medal in Alpine Skiing and participated in four Skiing championships, including the Asian games. Khan claimed in a series of Facebook posts that "it is a shame Gulmarg falls under one of the worst places to skiing and they call that world-famous".
"Started with the first day of training here in Pichl of Italy, feels good to get back on some icy tracks. I am happy that I am not in Gulmarg where you need a meter of snow to get groomer out on slopes and those 1980's old traditional ski lifts, still no tracks build on chairlifts. It is shame Gulmarg falls under one of the worst places to ski and they call that world-famous," he pointed out.
In another post, he said, "Welcoming nature at its best in Gulmarg, the snow-bound mountains, but still highly poor infrastructure for skiing and other winter sports activities." Urging the administration to instal an artificial snow-making system at Gulmarg, he said, "It's highly required to introduce the artificial snow-making system, daily snow grooming and modern ski lifts in Gulmarg, otherwise we will start losing early ski tourism and Alpine snow sports activities in Kashmir."
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"It's very disheartening to see how people of Gulmarg are eagerly waiting for more snow to come and start with winter sports activities as early as possible. I think it is clearly an indication that in the coming years, we must turn towards the development of the artificial snow-making system and make winter sports activities reliable from the beginning of November until the end of April. We could easily make our season last longer if the initiative is taken to prioritise the artificial snow-making in Gulmarg," he further said.
Notably, 31-year-old Khan is the only Indian competitor at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, having qualified in the Giant Slalom events. He is also the first Indian to qualify in twin events of the same edition of the Olympics. Interestingly, Khan has posted his views from Italy where he is preparing for the 2026 winter Olympics, but no one from the Jammu and Kashmir administration or Winter Sports Association has reacted to his comments so far.
