MANALI: With over 500 skiers including experts and amateurs presenting their skiing abilities on ski slopes of Manali everyday, Manali has turned skiresort where most of the shops who rent out skis are hanging ‘sold out’ notice outside their shops.
All ski slopes of Manali at Solang, Fataru, Kothi and Gulaba have been crowded with skiers from across the country. One to three feet of snow on slopes is inviting ski lovers from various parts of the country. Skiers are showing stunts on better snow cover under pleasant weather. Along with skilled skiers, hundreds of tourists are trying their hands with ski kit. And kit lenders are busy in counting hot cash.“All sets of ski have been sold out,” a ski kit lender, Vijay Kumar, said, adding that he did excellent business in last one week. “Enough snow on slopes and sunny sky is perfect for skiing. 30 per cent of the tourists who are heading towards snow points are hiring skis from us. We are expecting the constant heat in business for next three months.”
Manali has over one hundred shops who deal in skiing instruments and outfits. Recent snowfall has cheered them as all are doing brisk business. Over 50 skiing instructorshere are also busy with their clients. Roshan Thakur, an instructor, said, “You can see skiers everywhere. Most of them are newbie and they hire instructors. Overall, learners are more than teachers these days.”
Vishal Thakur, who has eleven pairs of ski, said, “My all skis are busy since morning and I’m working as an instructor. More snowfall may attract even more skiers in coming days. We earn our yearly livelihood after providing our services in winter months.”
Although the ski slopes have less snow than previous years and is likely to melt in a month. But skiers believe soon the slopes would be covered under four to ten feet of fresh snow. With the lower slopes losing their snows, skiers would move to higher altitude in search of new slopes. As many tourists were reporting overcharging from them, ski instructors have formed an association to stop misleading them. Depending on the duration, a pair of skis and an instructor is available for Rs one thousand.
