Crash won’t hamper ski events, says Ali

SFP secretary admits Naltar valley will take time to recover from tragedy

KARACHI: Despite the Pakistan Army helicopter crash in the valley of Naltar on Friday, Ski Federation of Pakistan (SFP) secretary Mussarat Ali hopes that Naltar can continue on its path to becoming a major skiing venue in the region, although he admitted that it will take time to recover from the ‘unfortunate event’.

The crash, which took seven lives including those of two foreign diplomats, has shed uncertainty over the future of the sport in the region, but after foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry’s announcement that the attack had no terrorist links and occurred due to a technical fault, Ali is hopeful that there will be little to no setback.

“It’s an unfortunate event, but skiing events will not be affected by the incident,” Ali told The Express Tribune. “Skiing was one of the significant aspects of this project and of course if everything had gone according to plan, the ambassadors and the diplomats would have encouraged their skiers to come to Pakistan for international skiing events too. But we are hopeful that by December things will be better and we’ll be able to go with our standard skiing activities.”

The Pakistan Air Force has played a pivotal role in the promotion of the sport and has assisted in the installation of international standard skiing facilities in the valley.

And Ali hopes that these facilities will prove to be beneficial to both the sport and the valley, where getting additional tourists would increase business in the region. “We need to improve our infrastructure,” he said. “We’re also expecting a growth in business for locals like more hotels and accommodation in the area which will benefit foreign skiers too if they visit Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2015.

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