Winter festival kicks off at Malam Jabba

Girls and boys participate in Under-15s skiing competition

PESHAWAR: Despite the extreme weather in the valley, the three-day annual Winter Sports Festival 2020 kicked off at the Malam Jabba ski resort in Swat on Friday.

The festival has been organised by the Tourism Corporation of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (TCK-P), in collaboration with the Swat district administration and other partners from the private sector.

On the first day, skiing competitions were held for boys and girls under 15-years-of-age in which many players participated.

Foreign and local tourists and visitors have arrived at the resort for the festival even though many roads were closed owing to heavy snowfall and landslides.

The festival features several winter sports including skiing, speed skating, ice hockey, sledding, tobogganing, archery, curling, snow-tubing, music show, food, display of handicrafts and others.

The organisers have also made arrangements for traditional foods and music to entertain the participants and visitors.

Malam Jabba is among the few skiing resorts in the country and is located at about 8,500 feet above sea level.

The organisers say that the sports extravaganza is aimed at reviving the scenic places, rehabilitating the archaeological and heritage sites and provision of missing facilities to boost tourism in the province to attract tourists and visitors to the serene spots.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has been gifted with abundant natural beauty of lush green valleys, snow-capped mountains, deserts, rivers, landscapes, rich cultural and traditional heritage and history, springs, streams and serene spots.

It is, on the one hand, blessed with a vast mineral and agricultural reserves and resources while the plentiful natural beauty and magnificent splendour are one of its other characteristics the province possessing.

There are natural springs of cool and sweet water, rhythmic waterfalls, lofty snow-covered mountains, green pastures, valleys
and zigzag rivers and streams flowing with fresh water.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2020.