14 male and 10 female athletes will participate in the ski competition.
What you should know
Preparations have begun for a ski competition to be held on white snow in the Waragung Muktikshetra here. The fifth national ski competition is to be held in Muktinath on Saturday, organized by the Nepal Ski Association.
With the aim of contributing to the development and promotion of skiing in the snow and tourism development, the Ski Association has been organizing ski competitions since 2016. The first national ski competition, which started for the first time from the Kanjen Valley in Rasuwa, has been held in the Muktinath region of Mustang since 2016. Ski competitions were held in Mustang in 2019, 2020 and 2022. Players and official teams from Kathmandu have arrived in Mustang for the fifth national ski competition. The team has already built a 'ground loop' to play ski games in the Muktinath region on Wednesday. Mustang Ski Association President Suraj Gurung informed that training for ski games and competitions has started today. Training is being given for junior skiers today, while training for senior players is scheduled for Friday.
According to Chairman Gurung, although there is a schedule to organize the national ski competition on Saturday, its schedule will be decided based on the weather conditions. 14 male and 10 female athletes will participate in the adventure ski competition played on snow. Similarly, the organizers have stated that some athletes from the Nepal Army will also participate from Mustang.
For the fifth national ski competition, the Nepal Olympic Committee and Nepal Ski Association President Jeevan Ram Shrestha and Nepal Ski Association General Secretary Bijay Shrestha and other teams are coming to Mustang. Senior coach Swaraj Shrestha, assistant coach Dinesh Bohara, Sameep Lamichhane, Laxmi Rai, Ayushi Maharjan and physical trainer Bimantha Adhikari will train the athletes, informed the association's Chairman Gurung. This time, the competition includes slalom skiing and life slalom skiing methods under alpine skiing, informed General Secretary Shrestha of the Nepal Ski Association. The winners of the competition will be awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals. The ski competition, which has not been organized since 2022, has been possible after snowfall in the Muktinath region this season. There has been four snowfalls in the Muktinath region this season.
The sport of sliding on snow using traditional clothing and equipment is called a ski competition. Although such sports are played on artificial snow in developed countries, the association has stated that there are problems in conducting the competition in Nepal due to lack of resources.
The excitement of skiing on the white snow of the Muktinath region has spread among tourists and local citizens. It is believed that skiing on snow will reduce the loss of tourism during the off-season. Stakeholders have emphasized that the state should give high priority to such sports on snow.
