Skiing in Haryana

Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on Scroll.in — Auli/Gulmarg snowfall cancellation coverage (2025), Olympics.com — Khelo India Winter Games 2025/2026 coverage, Wikipedia — Arif Khan (skier), Gul Dev, Ski Snowboard India (ski-india.com), The Hawk — Khelo India Winter Games 2026 coverage, ETV Bharat, Garhwal Post — Auli National Skiing Championship 2026 coverage. These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin: Ancient
Category: Winter
Olympic discipline: Yes
Paralympic discipline: No
Central pathway: Olympic (TOPS eligible)
Athlete profiles on SportSupport: 17

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body: Winter Games Federation of India
Ministry recognition: Not currently verified
International federation: Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion: Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility: In scope — TOPS covers Olympic medal prospects
Olympic status: On the Olympic programme
Paralympic status: Not a Paralympic discipline

Skiing is listed on SportSupport in the winter category. Its recorded origin is Ancient. It is on the Olympic programme. We list Winter Games Federation of India as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Skiing is on the pathway that runs through India's national sports federations to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), with selection running through Winter Games Federation of India against its published benchmarks. Being on this pathway is not itself a statement that the discipline is currently in TOPS — TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group chosen by the Mission Olympic Cell.

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for skiing athletes in India.

Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)
Monthly stipend (₹10,000 for selected Khelo India athletes), boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.
Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)
Central government scheme covering training, foreign exposure, equipment and an out-of-pocket allowance (up to ₹50,000/month) for athletes inducted by the Mission Olympic Cell. TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines rather than every Olympic sport, and induction is decided athlete by athlete; we hold no current list confirming whether skiing is among the covered disciplines.
National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to skiing.
Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons
Lifetime monthly pension (₹20,000 for Olympic/World/Asian/CWG medallists; scaled by tier) for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria — Government of India.

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Indian Players

17 profiles

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Rules

Alpine skiing is a timed discipline: racers descend a marked course through pairs of gates, and the fastest time wins. Slalom uses closely spaced gates and short, quick turns; giant slalom uses wider gate spacing and higher speeds. Missing a gate or straddling it means disqualification, and slalom/GS titles are decided on the combined time of two runs on different course sets. Courses, gate spacing and safety equipment are governed by International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) rules, which also set the homologation standards a slope must meet to host sanctioned races. Nordic (cross-country) skiing instead races over set distances in classic or freestyle technique.

Authoritative rulebook: Winter Games Federation of India. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across winter sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced skiing squad list.

Alpine / cross-country / snowboard
Timed and judged snow disciplines under FIS rules.
Skating & ice hockey
Speed skating, figure skating and ice hockey under ISU / IIHF.
Sliding sports
Bobsleigh, luge and skeleton contested on ice tracks.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in skiing at a federation-recognised event.

Alpine skis with race bindings (separate slalom and giant-slalom pairs)
Ski boots and poles (slalom poles with guards)
FIS-approved helmet, plus chin guard and back protector for slalom/GS
Race suit, gloves with hand guards, goggles and shin/arm protection
Wax and tuning kit; cross-country skiers use lighter Nordic skis, boots and poles

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

Winter Games Federation of India

Winter Games Federation of India is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Skiing, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement of current recognition — recognition is granted year by year.

Origin: Ancient
Olympic: Yes
Paralympic: No
Category: Winter

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Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in skiing.

National Skiing Championship
Held annually at Auli, Uttarakhand — often called 'the Ski capital of India' — whose slope is the first in the country approved by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). The 2026 edition drew 17 state teams plus Army and ITBP contingents.
Khelo India Winter Games
A flagship government programme (6th edition, 2026) held across Leh/Ladakh (ice sports) and Gulmarg, J&K (snow sports including alpine skiing), drawing 1,200+ participants and contesting 136 medals in its most recent edition.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in skiing.

Winter Olympics
Arif Khan became a two-time Olympian (2022, 2026) in slalom and giant slalom, and became the first Indian to win gold at an international FIS event, in 2023. Gul Dev was the first Olympian from Jammu & Kashmir, competing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, and also represented India at the first-ever Asian Winter Games (1986, Sapporo).
FIS World Championships
Arif Khan has competed at six editions between 2013 and 2025.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for skiing. The national championship under Winter Games Federation of India remains the top domestic competition.

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International Players

Globally recognised skiing athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for skiing maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in skiing — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

India's winter sports infrastructure faces a genuine, escalating threat from climate change: the Auli National Championship has been cancelled or postponed six times since 2014 due to insufficient snowfall, and the 2025 and 2026 Khelo India Winter Games in Gulmarg both had to be rescheduled for the same reason — prompting one training-institute founder to warn that 'winter sports in India will become extinct' if the pattern continues
Despite this, a new generation is emerging from unlikely places: a junior skier from Bengaluru — a city with no snow at all — won two bronze medals in Alpine skiing at the 2026 Khelo India Winter Games, having trained at a racing centre in Italy
Bhavani T N, India's most successful Nordic skier, also comes from a non-traditional winter-sports region — Coorg, Karnataka
Playing pathway through Ski Snowboard India and state-level programmes; coaching and ski-resort infrastructure careers are growing in Auli, Gulmarg and Manali as winter tourism expands

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Related academies

1 listed

Indian Institute of Skiing & MountaineeringElite
Gulmarg, Jammu & Kashmir · Since 1969
India's only government winter-sports academy at 8,700 ft in Gulmarg.

All academies →List your academy →

FAQs

Common questions about skiing in India.

Who governs Skiing in India?▾

We list Winter Games Federation of India as the Indian governing/organising body for Skiing, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Skiing an Olympic sport?▾

Yes, Skiing is on the Olympic programme. Athletes selected by Winter Games Federation of India against its published criteria can be considered for TOPS funding.

How do I start playing Skiing in India?▾

The usual routes are a school team under the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), a college team under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), or a private academy affiliated to your state association under Winter Games Federation of India. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Skiing athletes?▾

TOPS supports a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines selected by the Mission Olympic Cell, rather than every Olympic sport. We hold no current list confirming whether Skiing is among them, so we make no TOPS claim for it. State governments give cash awards to medallists at events they notify. Skiing does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Skiing in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Skiing in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.