MUZAFFARABAD: A three-day winter sports competition began in a snowbound plateau of Neelum Valley on Friday with more than 80 athletes from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Chitral among the contestants.

The competition is being held at Arang Kel under the aegis of AJK Winter Sports Association (AJKWSA) during which athletes would show their mettle in alpine skiing, snowboarding and cross-country competitions, said AJKWSA Secretary General Engr Raja Aqeel Khurshid.

Located at an altitude of 8,379 feet, Arang Kel is one of the most beautiful locations of the picturesque Neelum Valleyas well as a best sitefor winter sports.

It can be accessed from the town of Kel by an 800-metre long chairlift followed by 30 minutes trekking. Kel lies at a distance of some 160km from Muzaffarabadalong the main Neelum Valley Road.

Mr Khurshid said medals and other awards would be given to the contestants at the closing ceremony on Sunday. Local artists would also perform in a cultural show at the closing ceremony, he added.

He said winter sports competition had now become a regular annual event in Neelum Valley since 2018.

According to him, three boys of this remote area of Neelum Valley had won gold medal in ice curling event while representing Azad Kashmir at the National Ice Sports Championship in January this year in Ghulkin Hunza.

The AJKWSA was established in May 2018, with late Lt-Gen Mohsin Kamal its founding president and is currently headed by retired Air Commodore Shahid Nadeem, who belongs to a family of post 1947 migrants from occupied Kashmir.

In Feb this year, the association had organised the second winter sports competition in Azad Kashmir’s 10,000 feet high Ganga Choti in collaboration with AJK tourism and sports departments and a Bagh based organisation.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2022