Gulmarg- With the 2025 Khelo India Winter Games set to be held from February 22 to 25, an interesting cross-section of international players and fans are turning Gulmarg into a melting pot of cultures bound together by their passion for winter sports.
“The beauty here is overwhelming,” says Melania Anderson, a yoga instructor from the United Kingdom based in Hong Kong.
Anderson, who works with the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) through her charity ‘Yama’, is enchanted by the double appeal of Kashmir as both a sporting challenge and cultural treasure.
“The Kashmiri cuisine alone would have made the journey worthwhile,” she said.
Ben Hurst, an Australian commercial prawn fisherman, has swapped the spray of the Pacific for the powder of the Himalayas.
“Standing in the mountains of Kashmir is safer than walking across the streets of Sydney,” he says.
“What we have experienced is just gorgeous and beautiful. It’s unlike most skiing resorts around the world,” he said and praised hospitality and friendliness of the locals.
The French team brings its own view to these games. Jean Marc Auge, who grew up in the French Alps, talked of the Himalayas with holy reverence.
“This is different,” he said.
His fellow-countryman Nabil El, who is now resident in Australia, nodded in agreement.
The locals, the athletes, see more in the games than sport.
Firdous Ahmad Sheikh from Tangmarg, Yasmeen Sajad from Sopore, Mehak Mushtaq from Palhalan Pattan, and Aalima Zainab from Tangmarg are in awe about meeting international ski and snowboarding experts.
“It’s an out of this world experience,” they say, with their enthusiasm clearly evident.
Others like Virginia Winstone, a New Zealander; Laura Thonton, from Wisconsin, USA, and Australian ski guide and patroller Bill Barker, too have been attracted to the games.
As preparations for the games enter the last leg, the air in Gulmarg is alive with expectation.
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