Overview

Naltar is where skiing in Pakistan began. Established in 1965, it’s the country’s oldest ski resort, run by the Pakistan Air Force in partnership with the Winter Sports Federation of Pakistan, and it remains the home base for the national ski team — two of Naltar’s own skiers, Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Karim, went on to represent Pakistan at the Winter Olympics, in Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 respectively. The resort sits at a top elevation of 2,950m and is home to Pakistan’s highest chairlift — a Swiss-built lift donated by the resort of Villars, installed around 2015–2016, which extended the main run to roughly a mile long and dramatically increased uplift capacity.

Because Naltar is Air Force–operated rather than a standard commercial resort, it works a little differently than skiing elsewhere: access requires advance arrangement, facilities and accommodation are more limited (expect a basic Air Force-run ski lodge or local guesthouses rather than a full resort town), and equipment and instruction are best booked ahead through an operator rather than assumed on arrival. What it lacks in polish, it makes up for in setting — genuine powder snow beneath Karakoram peaks, two main slopes suited to both beginners and more confident skiers, and a real sense of being at the sport’s home in Pakistan, where national and sometimes international ski championships are held each season.