Pakistan will have a new destination for skiers next winter when a chairlift is installed at Naltar ski area, formerly a preserve of the Pakistan Airforce (PAF).
Pakistan's only commercial ski area open to the public, Malam Jabba, was opened in the late 1990s after around 10 years of on/off construction with a hotel and a chairlift donated by Austria but the Swat Valley where it is located was taken over by the Taliban in 2009 who destroyed the lift and other resort infrastructure.
There has been a small ski area at Naltar for many years with a primitive drag lift, but a new chairlift donated by the Swiss ski resort of Villars will greatly enhance the area from next winter, with the main ski run extended to a mile long and uplift capacity multiplied teen fold from 50 to 500 skiers per hour.
There was a ground breaking ceremony at the weekend at which the President of the Ski Federation of Pakistan declared the project as being "… of strategic importance for development and promotion of skiing in the country," according to local media reports.
Air Marshal Khan said that the project would mean Naltar would become an international standard ski facility and help attract national and international tourism, helping the area's economy.
He said that Pakistan Air Force would continue to support the Federation to promote ski sport in Pakistan.