Karakoram Winterlude: Ice Hockey and Winter Games in Hunza

The Hunza winter festival most people mean is the Karakoram Winterlude, a community-run ice hockey tournament held each January at Altit, beside Altit Fort in central Hunza. Men's and women's teams from across northern Pakistan play on natural ice. It reached its eighth season in 2026, when the ice at Altit failed and the matches were moved north to Sost.

This guide covers where and when it is played, who runs it, the other winter events in Hunza that share the name, and how to plan a January trip that does not depend on the ice.

What is the Karakoram Winterlude?

It began as a village project. A youth organisation in Altit, known as SCARF, pioneered ice hockey in the valley, using an open-air pool in the village that freezes in winter. The pool sits below the 900-year-old Altit Fort and doubles as the hockey arena each winter. The Altit Town Management Society now runs the tournament with the club.

By January 2022 it was in its fourth edition, and Canada's High Commissioner refereed a girls' match there. Women's teams have been part of it from early on: Reuters, reporting from the 2026 season, described Aleena Gul, a 21-year-old captain, as among the first women in Hunza to take up the sport.

The name appears in reports as Winterlude, WinterLude and occasionally Interlude. They are the same event.

What happened in 2026

The eighth season shows how the festival works, and why you cannot plan around it to the day. This account follows Reuters.

• 12 January. The opening ceremony went ahead at Altit under floodlights, but only the team captains took to the ice to unveil their jerseys. The usual opening-night friendly was cancelled because the surface had not frozen properly.
• 13 and 14 January. With the Altit pool unusable, organisers moved the tournament about two hours up the Karakoram Highway to Sost, where a rink was prepared on the open valley floor at about 2,800 metres, some 300 to 400 metres higher than Altit.
• 15 January. Three matches were scheduled at Sost and only one was played.
• Afterwards. The tournament was completed on the Sost rink, and Aleena Gul's team won the title.

The cafe beside the Altit pool, which normally makes much of its income in tournament week, was quiet.

Why the ice is the problem

There is no artificial rink in Hunza. Organisers pour water over the surface at night, smooth it by hand and wait for the cold to set each layer, which needs nights far below freezing.

Those nights are less reliable than they were. The climate analytics firm WeatherWalay told Reuters that average winter precipitation in Hunza has fallen by about 30 per cent since the late 2010s, with four below-normal years in a row, and that some recent winters have been two to three degrees warmer than usual. Players recalled the pool freezing in November a few years ago; in January 2026 it still had not frozen properly.

For a visitor the lesson is simple: dates and even the venue can change in the week of the event.

Other winter events in Hunza

"Hunza winter festival" is also used for several other gatherings, which is why online listings contradict each other.

Tour operators also advertise a week-long winter festival on Attabad Lake. We could not confirm from a news or official source that it has been held, and in January 2026 the lake was only partly frozen.

Getting to Hunza in January

By road. The Babusar Pass is shut in winter, so the Karakoram Highway through Besham and Chilas is the only road. It stays open in principle but closes for snow and landslides; see our guide to the Karakoram Highway in winter. The UK government advises against all travel on the highway between Mansehra and Chilas. Pakistani travellers use it all year, but foreign-passport holders should check their own government's advice, because travelling against it can void insurance.

By air. Flights from Islamabad to Gilgit run in winter and are cancelled often for weather. Altit is about 100 km from Gilgit by road.

Within Hunza. Altit is just below Karimabad. Sost is about 88 km further north, the last town before the Khunjerab Pass, and it is higher and colder than central Hunza.

Where to stay and what to bring

Stay in Karimabad or Altit, close to the pool. Fewer hotels open in winter, and Reuters noted that unheated guesthouses suffer burst pipes as water lines freeze, so ask specifically about heating and running water when you book. Our guide to Hunza hotels open in winter lists the options.

Matches are played in the open, and you watch from the rink side. Bring an insulated jacket, thermal layers, gloves, a hat and boots with a thick sole, and something hot to drink. Evenings are the coldest.

Should you plan a trip around it?

Plan a winter trip to Hunza, and treat the hockey as the centrepiece if it happens. Give yourself four or five days in the valley around the middle of January, so that a postponed match or a move to Sost does not ruin the trip, and have other things to do: Altit Fort, Baltit Fort, Attabad Lake and the Passu Cones beside the highway are all possible in winter. Our Hunza in winter guide covers them.

Do not come for a single weekend with return flights booked. Between the ice, the weather and the road, too much can change.

If winter sport is the main aim, compare our guide to winter sports in Gilgit-Baltistan and the seasons guide.

Frequently asked questions