After skiing Chamonix, Vail, Zermatt, Whistler and Verbier, one might enjoy something totally different and new, such as skiing Afghanistan. Yep, skiing the high snowy mountains of Afghanistan would be a dream come true for many backcountry skiers, but as we all know, it is not possible as long as the fighting keeps going on in the country. Unfortunately that’s been going on ever since the 70s and doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is bordered by Iran to the south and west, Pakistan to the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China to the far northeast. Some describe it being located within Central Asia, some like it to be in South Asia while the rest prefer the Middle East. Who cares though, we in HomeboySki.com are more interested about the skiing.

Afghanistan is the land of mountains

Afghanistan is a mountainous country. The main mountain range is called the “Hindu Kush” with the highest point in Afghanistan being Nowshak at 7,485 m (24,557 ft) above sea level. Hindu Kush is a subrange of the Himalayas.

So, mountainous Afghanistan would provide pretty awesome runs for backcountry skiers and riders, but accessing the country does not sound tempting, although some brave hearts do seem to organize trips to Afghanistan.  The site was last updated in 1999 and it states “The Taliban government is fully aware of the importance of tourism and its impact upon economic and social development. Therefore the Taliban government will endeavor to encourage the healthy growth of Afghanistan’s tourism Industry“. Well, don’t really know about that. The current government probably does understand the importance of tourism but there might be some other people in the country who don’t.

Skiing over landmines in Afghanistan

Despite the unstable country many climbers have reached the summit of Noshaq (7492 meters), the highest mountain of Afghanistan. There are hundreds of virgin peaks available near Noshaq for climbers wanting to be first ever to the summit.

Pakistan has reported that some of Kabul’s expat aid workers have experimented with off-piste skiing and snowboarding near the Salang Pass north of Kabul, which used to be the only ski resort of Afghanistan. There is always a risk of skiing over a landmine, but because of all the pow pow you should not really get hurt if one explodes.. right?

It is interesting that there used to be one real race skier living in Afghanistan. As the only skier of Afghanistan he used to travel to competitions in France and Japan. Another interesting point is that an Afgan warlord planned to build a $100 million ski resort. What might be the status of his project right now?

Let’s hope the country becomes peaceful soon so that the skiers and climbers can enjoy the peaks again. Skiing in Afhganistan would be an awesome experience, but at the moment I must be satisfied with my local hill called Talma anyway. While dreaming of skiing in Afghanistan, I can at least wear a “Ski Afghanistan” T-shirt.