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Early snow in Pakistan
The Pakistani ski season has started a month earlier than last year
thanks to the first snow falling by mid-November.
Pakistan has several small ski hills, mostly on military bases and
operated a specially built international standard resort at Malam
Jaba. This is located in the picturesque Swat Valley, the status
of which is uncertain after it was last reported up for sale as
part of a privatisation process a year ago.
The resort, was originally built in 1988 in cooperation with Austrian
specialists. However it remained ‘mothballed’ for a decade before
finally being opening by Pakistan’s president in the late 1990s.
It is equipped with two chair lifts, a hotel with 52 rooms including
four suites, restaurants with seating capacity for 100 people and
a coffee shop for 50 people.
Popular with students
The centre reported open in Pakistan state media is at the Airforce
Base at Kalabagh (Nathiagali). Ski enthusiasts are reported to be
pouring in to the area which offers the only ski slope in the Galiat
region.
The ski slope is open for College/University students daily (inclusive
of weekends and holidays) from 1000 hours to 1600 hours. The ski
resort is easily accessible via Abbottabad, and is only an hour
drive from the city
Two More New Ski Areas For Chinese Capital
Lift ticket prices have fallen in China this year as more
and more Chinese take to the slopes - which are already open thanks
to early snow. Two new ski areas will open in the next month by
the country’s capital, Beijing
The new centres, which will take the city’s total to 12, result
from a flurry of investment in skiing and the construction of man
made hills with snow making, as investors endeavour to cash in on
the on going Chinese ski boom.
Lift ticket includes lunch
Last year, the seven major ski resorts in Beijing received over
200,000 skiers, who spent over 50 million yuan (US$6 million) on
skiing there. As the numbers continue to rise (statisticians estimate
the potential Beijing ski market at 500,000) and competition heats
up, lift ticket prices are coming down, last season to around $10
(US) per hour from a high of $12 (US) per hour.
Prices are expected
to fall further this season. Full day tickets of around $25 are
also available, including rentals and lunch.
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