The four-day winter skiing carnival and open championship got off to a lack-lustre start on the snow laden mountain slopes of Auli today with neither Chief Minister Harish Rawat nor Tourism Minister Dinesh Dhanai making it to the venue for the inaugural ceremony due to bad weather.
As Rawat and Dhanai could not turn up for the event, Badrinath MLA Rajendra Singh Bhandari declared the carnival open amid continuing snowfall in the higher reaches and showers in the plains.
However, Rawat telephonically conveyed his good wishes for the event which was being seen as part of the state government's efforts to revive tourism hit hard by the 2013 flashfloods.
The inauguration of the event took place at ITBP's skiing ground with tribal artists from Lata village presenting a Pauda dance performance.
ITBP personnel and local youths participated in the outings lined up for the first day.
The open championship begins tomorrow.
