Snow clad mountains are a lucrative destination of people who love to scale down the icy mountain slops with a help if a stick and two elongated wooden planks tied under their boots. You may not believe it but there are places in Pakistan where small children actually use raw wooden planks and a tree branches to ski down the mountain slopes and they are damn good skiers. For them it is everyday fun and part of their life.
The above photograph may reflect an artist’s height of imagination, but it also describes the fun of skiing, whether on snowy mountain slopes or on the sea green bluish waters of the oceans. The hobby is very adventures, demanding high level of physical fitness, fearlessness and boldness on the part of the skiers.
Besides being a popular sports, especially during the Winter Olympics, skiing is highly competitive and an avid leisure pastime. I remember how Iranians spent their days in winters on the mountains overlooking Tehran, using most sophisticated gadgets and gear for the love of skiing.
Mountain skiing as sports is generally divided into three broad categories: Alpine, Nordic and Biathlon. Alpine includes downhill (552), slalom (557), giant slalom and super G races and the alpine combined event. Nordic includes cross country (725), ski jumping (556) and the Nordic combined. Biathlon (activity 60) combines skiing and rifle shooting.
In Pakistan, Naltar, a place near Gilgit, is home to the skiing school and some of the finest slopes allowing the hobbyists from all over the country to flock there and enjoy their love of this hobby. There is yet another skiing resort at Malam Jabba, ahead of Swat.
As for surface water skiing, skiers tow themselves behind boats to water ski. Adventurous also use wind gliding gadgets to fly into the air after a run off on the water surface. We will talk more of skiing in days to come.
Top Photograph Courtesy: weirdomatic.com
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