In order to encourage winter tourism in Uttarakhand, the State Government has started necessary preparations to start skiing course and host national junior skiing competition at Auli near Joshimath. The national-level competition is slated to be held in February next year. After necessary repairs, the operation of the snowmaking machine has been started.

In addition to this, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) is also publicising various ski packages through its website and the social media.The State’s Tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar informed that a maintenance contract for the snowmaking machine at Auli has been proposed. Engineers from a French company are slated to arrive in India on December 17 to sign the said contract.

He further informed that approval has also been received for hosting the national level junior skiing competition. This competition is proposed to be held in the first week of February next year. Attempts are also being made to secure approval for hosting the south Asian skiing competition in Auli next year. The grant of approval for this is still under consideration.

Stressing on the need for striking a balance between tourism and the environment, he said that during the winters the tourists who generally arrive here litter the ski slope polluting the environment. With the intention of putting a check on this, a system of charging a mandatory minimum fee from tourists going on the ski slope will be started in the near future.

The GMVN organises skiing courses at Auli every year. According to the corporation’s general manager BL Rana, this year seven-day and 14-day courses are being organised. There are 30 seats in the seven-day course and 10 seats in the 14 day course.

The skiing courses will begin from the first week of January. Considering the start of snowfall in the month of December, it is expected that there will be good snowfall in the state this winter. This will also enable adventure lovers to enjoy skiing.