Uttarakhand to host National Junior Skiing Championship 2016
Uttarakhand is set to host the National Junior Skiing Championship at Auli Ski Resort in Chamoli district from February 10.
About 200 skiers from across the country are expected to participate in the championship from February 10 to 15 at the snow-laden slopes of Auli.
Roshan Lal Thakur, secretary general, Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI) told TOI, “Uttarakhand would be hosting junior and children skiing championship at Auli while Jammu and Kashmir has won the bid to host senior skiing championship at Gulmarg ski resort in the first week of February.”
In 2014, Uttarakhand had won the bid to host both senior and junior skiing championship but the organizers refused to host the event claiming that the government was not agreeing to pay the money needed to organize it.
According to SS Panti, president of Uttarakhand Winter Games Federation, “We have formed an organizing committee headed by Garhwal Commissioner CS Napchiyal for the successful conduct of skiing championship. We have also demanded Rs 40 lakh from the government to organize the event. The government is planning to organize Auli carnival along with the skiing championship.”
Three main events would be organized in the junior category while children skiing championship will have two main events.
“The main disciplines will include Super-G, Giant Slalom and Slalom. All the events basically involve skiing between sets of poles (gates) spaced at different distances,” Thakur said.
The snow clad slopes of Auli, which are at an altitude of almost 2,500 to 3,000 metres, are usually covered with a thick carpet of snow, about 3 metres deep from January to April.
