Heavy snowfall this season at this famous ski-resort in north Kashmir's Baramulla district has brought cheers to winter sports enthusiasts in the Valley as well as tourists from outside who are drawn to the steep skiing slopes amid spectacular views, after a gap of three years.
Kashmir Valley in general and Gulmarg in particular has received such heavy snowfall this season after a period of three years of less snow which made skiing almost impossible.
However, snowfall this January has attracted skiing enthusiasts to Gulmarg, often referred to as the "skiers paradise", even as the number of visitors is still less than what it usually witnessed in the years before 2013.
"This is the best place for skiing. The slopes are very good and steep, providing skiers long distances to ski," Jyoti Sharma, a skiing enthusiast, said.
She said Gulmarg is the best winter tourist destination in the world and easy on pocket too.
"Other such places in the world are costlier and they are not even as picturesque as Gulmarg is. I have come here with my family and we are enjoying our stay. This is the best place to be in the winters," Sharma said.
Another tourist, Mohammad Abdul Bari, a resident of Allahabad, who has been living in Jeddah for some time now, said he felt happy by the visit as the environment here was good.
"This is my first visit. I am coming all the way from Jeddah just because there is good environment here and snowfall is quite good. I really felt very happy being here as I had never seen so much snow. We have had a very good time here and I will recommend all to visit this place," Bari said.
He said the government should organise tourism promotion on a large scale to attract the visitors.
The ski-resort especially witnesses the advent of foreign skiers once the place receives snow. However, owing to last year's unrest and some other factors, this year not many have arrived yet.
This place used to be bustling with activities especially during the winters, but this year we have not seen many tourists even after such a snowfall. Last years unrest has dealt a severe blow to tourism.
"Then there are other factors like steep rise in airfare, disruption in air and road connectivity as well as apprehensions of avalanches," Shabir Ahmad, a hotelier, said.
Many areas in the Valley have recently witnessed avalanches in which more than 25 people, most of them armymen, have been killed.
Ahmad, however, said the people associated with tourism
sector were hopeful that the news about normal situation and good snow would help in attracting the visitors from world-over.
"Now that the situation is normal and we have had a good snowfall, we are hopeful of increase in the number of tourists to the Valley, especially to Gulmarg. We hope to have a good year in terms of tourism after the last year was washed because of the situation (unrest)," he said.
The government has also started skiing courses for the students after a gap of three years.
"We have started a 15-day ski-course for the students after three years because there was less snowfall in the last three years," Mohammad Rafiq Malik, a skiing instructor of Youth Services and Sports Department, said.
He said a new batch would start after 15 days and the process would go on till there is much snow to ski.
