Winter Sports in Pakistan: Skiing, Ice Hockey and Skating

Winter sports in Pakistan run from about December to March and come in two kinds. Skiing happens at two resorts with chairlifts, Naltar near Gilgit and Malam Jabba in Swat. Ice hockey, ice skating and other ice games happen on natural ice in upper Hunza and across Gilgit-Baltistan, mostly at community and government festivals in January. January is the one month when everything is likely to be running at once.

The catch is that winters are getting milder, and the natural ice no longer forms reliably every year. This guide sets out what happens where and when, so you can plan a winter trip around it without being caught out.

When is the winter sports season in Pakistan?

These are typical patterns, not fixed dates. Festival dates are announced each winter, often only a few weeks ahead, and in a mild year events move or are cancelled. Our seasons guide covers what winter means for roads and travel across the north.

Where can you ski in Pakistan?

Pakistan has two ski resorts with lifts.

Naltar, about 34 km from Gilgit, is run by the Pakistan Air Force and hosts national ski competitions. Heavy snow, often several metres in a winter, closes the upper road for long periods, so you get up by 4x4 with a local driver. It is the more serious ski area of the two. See our Naltar ski resort guide for access and facilities.

Malam Jabba, in the hills above Swat, sits at about 2,804 metres, about 40 km from Saidu Sharif and some 314 km from Islamabad. The resort was originally built with Austrian help, burned by militants in June 2008, and rebuilt: a new 800 metre chairlift opened in September 2016 and a Pearl-Continental hotel followed in 2020. It is the easier of the two to reach and the more family-friendly, with snow play for people who don't ski. Our Malam Jabba skiing guide covers the slopes, lift and hire.

For a side-by-side look at both resorts, plus informal slopes, read our guide to skiing in Pakistan.

Is Malam Jabba safe right now?

Swat is under a current advisory. On 2 August 2026 a suicide bomber attacked the Kabal police station in Swat during a peace rally, killing 17 people, and the UK government's travel advice, updated in September 2026, advises against all travel to Swat. Pakistani visitors still travel to Malam Jabba, but check local news and current police advice before setting out. Overseas visitors should know their government's advice may say not to go, and that going against it can void travel insurance.

Where is ice hockey played in Pakistan?

Ice hockey in Pakistan is played outdoors on natural ice in Gilgit-Baltistan, and above all in Gojal, upper Hunza.

• Ghulkin, beside Gulmit. The first National Ice Sports Festival was held in Ghulkin from 20 to 23 January 2022, organised by the Pakistan Winter Sports Association with the Ghulkin Winter Club. It had ice hockey, ice polo, ice football and ice skating, with 21 teams including five girls' teams.
• Altit and Sost. For eight seasons, a frozen pool beside Altit Fort hosted the community-run Karakoram tournament, drawing teams from across northern Pakistan. In January 2026 the pool failed to freeze properly and the tournament moved about two hours north to Sost, at around 2,800 metres, where even then the ice was thin in places. Our Hunza winter festival guide covers this event in detail.
• District festivals. The Gilgit-Baltistan government's winter sports festival in January 2025 ran from 15 to 25 January across all ten districts, with ice hockey, ice skating, ice curling and skiing, and more than 50 teams entered.

Kit has partly come through donors, including the Canadian High Commission, and girls' and women's teams are a real part of the game. Matches are community events rather than ticketed fixtures, so ask in the village where and when the next one is.

Can you go ice skating at Borith Lake?

Borith Lake sits at about 2,600 metres above Hussaini, a few kilometres north of Gulmit, and it is often mentioned online as a winter skating spot. We could not find any reliable report of regular skating or organised events there. It is a brackish lake, and salt water freezes less readily than the fresh-water ponds and channels the villages use for their rinks.

If skating is the reason for your trip, base yourself in Gulmit, ask locally which rink is frozen that week, and go where the villagers skate. Never walk onto lake ice that nobody local is using. Our Borith Lake guide covers the lake itself.

Is the ice still reliable?

Less than it was. Reporting in February 2026 cited data showing average winter precipitation in the region down by about 30 per cent since the late 2010s, with four consecutive below-normal years, and recent winters 2 to 3°C milder. Players in Altit describe winters that once froze in November now leaving the ice soft in January.

That changes how you should plan:

• Treat any ice event as a bonus, not the whole purpose of the trip.
• Higher is safer. Sost and the Gojal villages hold ice better than Karimabad and Altit.
• Skiing is more dependable than skating. Naltar and Malam Jabba are higher and hold snow longer than the village rinks hold ice.
• Keep two spare days. Snow can close the road to Naltar, and the Karakoram Highway can be blocked for a day after heavy snowfall.

Who should plan a winter sports trip?

A January trip to Hunza suits people who want a quiet, snowy north and enjoy watching village sport, and who can travel in cold weather with some flexibility. Families looking for snow play and a first go at skiing are better served by Malam Jabba, security permitting, or by snow at the hill stations closer to home: our guide to where to see snow in Pakistan covers those.

It is not the right trip for someone expecting a European-style resort, guaranteed conditions or nightlife. Our guide to winter sports in Gilgit-Baltistan goes further into Skardu's rink and the Rattu slopes in Astore.

Frequently asked questions