Srinagar, Nov 03 (KNO): Kashmir is witnessing an emergence of new adventure sports, which draws enthusiasts from across the world.
From mountain biking to fishing competitions, these exhilarating activities are becoming increasingly popular in the valley, offering both locals and tourists unique opportunities to explore the natural wonders of the valley.
Taking the instance of mountain biking, it has gained significant traction in recent years, as adventure loving people move to remote places to explore the rugged terrain and breathtaking trails of the Kashmir Valley.
As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the sport is gaining popularity among both seasoned bikers and novices eager to embark on thrilling journeys through the region's pristine forests and picturesque meadows.
MTB riders Rule is one such mountain biking group, which over the years has discovered rugged terrains in various destinations to popularise this sport in Kashmir.
“We see a lot of people are getting attracted towards this sport. Initially we started with a simple expedition but then we got interested to explore more terrains across Kashmir. Now we are three experts who move to distant places and perform a downhill cycling sport,” Mirza Mehdi, a downhill cycling expert who is a part of MTB Riders Rule club, said.
He said this sport has a good future in Kashmir which is bestowed with natural trails to help a biker move from beginners to expert level.
“This sport has good scope as alpine regions of Kashmir are naturally good trails. If this sport gets recognised by the government more youth will try their future in it. Further, promotion of this sport can attract athletes from Europe and other countries,”
The trio in the last three years discovered many trails in various mountain ranges of the valley.
Similarly, Fly Fishing is also emerging as another adventure among locals as well as the tourists visiting the valley from across the world.
To promote leisure and adventure tourism, the Department of Tourism has been organizing the Kashmir Fly Fishing Competition, which is participated by a lot of people.
Even the valley has a fly fishing federation, which looks after such events as well as participants in the competitions.
“Fly fishing is popular in Europe. In Kashmir we have resources like rivers and streams which are treasures of fish varieties. So we take part in such activities to popularise this adventure in Kashmir,” said Ishfaq Ahmad, an angler.
Pertinently, trout angling is becoming a popular adventure among tourists visiting Kashmir from different parts of the world.
Fisheries department said this year so far, they have organized 16 trout angling events in the valley.
These events have attracted scores of angling enthusiasts who compete with other participants to get maximum and big catches—(KNO)