Indian Government officials have given the green flag for a $300 million ski resort project located in the Kullu Valley, in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The resort will include 700 five-star rooms, 300 Swiss-style chalets and a gondola taking skiers up to 14,000 feet.
The developer of this Himalayan Ski Village idea, John Sims, has enlisted Alfred Ford, the great-grandson of car-maker Henry Ford as a major investor. The pair have the ultimate aim of holding a Winter Olympics there. The immediate goal is to tap into the growing affluence of India’s middle-class, which averages 26 years old and seems to have an insatiable desire to try everything western – including skiing the highest mountain range in the world. Currently India has only two Himalayan ski resorts, and one is virtually off-limits thanks to a violent insurgency.
One of the first hurdles the new company must overcome is the infrastructure. Kullu Valley is a winding 15-hour drive from Delhi. However, with the area’s natural advantages, private airlines have expressed an interest in new services.