Auli is a high-altitude town in Uttarakhand, with its highest point being 10006 ft above the sea level and due to its elevation, it receives heavy snowfall between December to March. During this period, in the month of February, Auli hosts a National level skiing championship which attracts players and tourist from worldwide.
Skiing as an adventure sport with its high speed and thrill is a recreational activity that is in vogue whether be it United States, European countries or the Asian region. With all boldness sometimes the speed involved in this game, goes high upto 50 kmph, including a risk factor to it as well.
Auli is just an overnight journey away from Indian capital, Delhi, located at a distance of 378km from it, making it a popular and an easily accessible weekend destination for everyone. It’s 150km away from the state capital, Dehradun and it holds a prominent spot in the list of the best hill stations as well as for the skiing activities in India.
Apart from Auli, two other well-known locations for the sport in India are, Gulmarg (Jammu and Kashmir) and Manali (Himachal Pradesh).
Out of these three, Auli is the most accessible, lying about 16 kms way from Joshimath. The slopes here range from 8400 ft to 10,000 ft and spread over 3 kms of area. This provides a suitable ground for the yearly ‘Ski Festival’, and Auli, holds the championship of skiing attracting players not only from the country but also from the foreign grounds, each year.
Skiing as a snow sport requires a heavy amount of snow to be enjoyed properly and lack of it will hamper the performance in the sport. Due to that, there have been instances in the past when the championship was cancelled on the ground of Auli.
Speaking about this year’s snow fall so far, is disappointing for both the visitors and the skiers and will put forth challenges to an easy organization of the ‘Ski Festival’. This December, there was a large deficiency of any kind of precipitation in Uttarakhand. Deficieting by 92%, only 1.6 mm snow fall has been recored in the month of December, where the expection was of 21.3 mm. The status shows no notociable improvement and the state is ‘Largely Deficient’ by 73%, in the current month of January.
But, towards the end of January i.e. from 20 to 25 onward, a decent and prolonged wet spell is predicted which will definitely bring some hope for the things to turn out favorable for the ‘Ski Festival’ and there by the state can expect a good influx of tourists and skiers as well.
