Winter Olympics: From Gulmarg to Beijing, the story of Arif Khan

His friends remember him for uncompromising discipline and work ethic. In the winter months of December-January when he would stay in Gulmarg, Arif Khan would be up at 5:30 am and hit the slopes at 7 am. Apharwat peak that towers over Gulmarg at 4390 metres would be his choicest conquest, giving him a smooth, free passage to hone his skills.

Overlooking Pir Panjal range on one side and Line of Control on the other, Apharwat, like all of Gulmarg, is blessed with fine powder snow. It is also prone to avalanches, making skiing a high-risk, high-adventure pursuit. A 200-250 metre icy stretch, referred to as ‘Chairlift Slope’ by locals because old-fashioned chair lifts ferry skiers and tourists there, is Arif’s preferred workplace. The naturally hard and icy surface provides the closest replication of the FIS-approved slopes on which international competitions are held.

Almost everyone in Gulmarg has an story on the 31-year-old Arif, each anecdote painting the picture of a selfless young man chasing his dreams. Coach to Yasir, mentor to Junaid, elder brother to Tajjamul. They are among the lives Arif has touched. They remember him as someone who would help an elder pull his sleigh, teach young boys the virtues to live by, climb mountains for fun, and do hours of elevation running to build his leg and lung strength. 

“He belongs to all of us. If Kashmir is paradise, Gulmarg is its taj. And Arif is the crown jewel of the taj,” says Farhat Naik, a local snowboarder and instructor. For over three months now, Naik, 31, has been the de facto mediator for anyone trying to know about Arif, his best friend for over 20 years.

Naik’s bond with Arif dates back to their years at Higher Secondary School in Tangmarg's Chandilora village, where they played cricket and did tuitions together. “Arif was always a very cultured guy. He was also a very good wicketkeeper too and was fond of cycling,” says Naik.

Arif's frequent foreign trips—he has been going overseas for competitions since his early teens — exposed him to myriad cultures. “Shortly after he had made it to the national junior team, he had gone to China, and upon returning, he would say, ‘if people in China can throw rubbish in the dustbin, why can't we?’”

Another off-shoot of Arif’s early visits to the West was the development of an uncanny American accent, drawing guffaw and endless leg-pulling from classmates and siblings. “We used to tease him a lot, saying you have forgotten to speak Kashmiri,” says Rifat, his younger sister.  

Managing skiing and school was not easy and after Arif missed his Class 12 exams due to an overseas competition, Yasin Khan decided that his son must focus on sports alone.

Naik remembers visiting a coffee shop in Srinagar with Arif a few years back, and the two got talking with a group of MBAs on local politics. “Those MBAs later asked him which university did he study from. When told Arif is just 11th pass, they couldn't believe it,” he says.

“Arif likes to explore different cultures, and travel has been his biggest educator. He really loves Switzerland, but says there’s nothing like Kashmir,” says Rifat. 

A dietician by training, the 30-year-old is closest to Arif among his three siblings — he also has an elder sister and a younger brother, a budding snowboarder. “He is really fond of local bakery, and we have to hide cookies and cakes from him whenever he is home. Jokes apart, he really watches his diet. I don't recall when he last had a proper wazwan.”

Years rolled by and Arif’s fledgling career took flight taking him from Iran, Lebanon, Kazakhstan to Switzerland, New Zealand, and Turkey. Rubbing shoulders with the finest coaches and athletes, he would return wiser each time. “Arif bhai has no qualms sharing his expertise with youngsters. Whenever he is here, we swarm him like eager kids, waiting for priceless tips,” says Tajammul Dar, an upcoming snowboarder.

Last year, Arif noticed Dar’s balance on the board was not ideal. “He casually told me to use my legs better and crouch more, and my balance was suddenly better. I went on to win a silver medal at junior nationals, thanks to his inputs,” said the 21-year-old, a five-time medallist at state Winter Games.

Early promise

Sitting in his tiny attic above the ski rental shop that he set up in 1990, Yasin, chacha or Khan saab to many, reclines smoking a hookah. Yasin is a frail man with alive, knowing eyes and flush cheeks. It is hard to find him without his golf cap and chest of stories.

The fire from the pinewood quells the -5 degrees chill at 2650 metres above sea level, comforting the 67-year-old as he rewinds his life. Call it the effect of tobacco —“it is seriously good here”—or the storm building outside, the gregarious old man oscillates between complex politics of the region and jaw-dropping travel tales.

The larger context of a Kashmiri representing India at an event marred with rabid politicking — India is one of the countries to diplomatically boycott the Beijing Games —is not lost on him either. “A Kashmiri carrying an Indian flag in China with Pakistani and Chinese delegates in attendance. Can there ever be a stronger statement of our allegiance to India? I hope Arif’s achievements stop people from questioning our patriotism,” he says.

Twenty-seven years ago when Yasin first fitted Arif's tiny legs in a ski, he knew his son may be special. “Just the way he moved on the snow, it was so natural. His feet movement, body balancing, focus, everything was too good for his age. He was the youngest skier in Gulmarg as kids here usually begin when they are 7-8. I knew I had to let him go.”  

Arif's coach at Austria Racing Camps in Innsbruck, Stefan Zlatrev swears by his ward's commitment. “He is a calm, respectful guy. Skiing is an aggressive sport that requires precise and quick physical movements. You can’t do that unless you are calm and focussed. I have rarely come across a more committed athlete,” says the 31-year-old who is into his 10th year of professional coaching.

To an untrained eye, nothing much separates Slalom and Giant Slalom (GS)—the two alpine skiing events where Arif will be competing in Beijing, beginning with the GS on Sunday —but both disciplines offer varying challenges. 

“Slalom entails shorter skis (165 cms) and shorter distance between the gates, while GS is usually done on 191cm skis. The distance between the gates in GS is more, which offers longer turns. In slalom, you ski mainly from legs; in GS, which is speedier, you have to engage the upper body as well to give you stability,” explains Zlatrev, who was part of Bulgaria’s national age-group teams between 2000 to 2007.

For six months in Innsbruck, Arif, besides developing skiing skills, also worked on his leg movements and reflexes with a combination of jump exercises. He has also addressed his long-standing tendency of going between the gates in “round lines.”

“We tried to fix that by helping him take a more aggressive, faster line. Ideally, your path between the gates should be as straight as possible. You also need quick transitions between gates to record faster times. You need good upper body stability to maintain that aggressive line. His biggest problem was that he used to go in round lines, but his biggest strength is that he is a quick learner. He has adapted really well and began showing improvement within 2-3 months,” says the coach.

“I know Olympics means a lot of him. It has been his lifelong dream, and I will be up at whatever time of the day to watch him race."

This hasn’t been Arif’s dream alone though. Yasin, in his younger days, was an able skier and a mountaineer himself, and while he couldn’t pursue the sport professionally, he always nursed a desire to see his child at the Olympics.

“I had to give up skiing early, but I really liked it, and so one day I thought that if I ever have a child, I will send him/her to the Olympics. Khuda ne akhir sun hi liya.”

“I never told him that him becoming an Olympian has been my dream too. More than a father, I am a friend to him. I don’t follow his progress much neither do I meddle with his training. I don’t speak to him every day when he is abroad,” says Yasin who has never travelled with his son to international competitions. “I don’t need to. This is my world.”

Around the time Arif strutted Beijing's Bird's Eye Stadium at the Winter Games opening ceremony, Yasin was trekking with a group of tourists, 3000 feet above Gulmarg’s ski slopes.

Expensive sport

Yasin, however, made sure to watch the recording, and the sight of his son at sport’s grandest stage moved him to tears. “I thanked Allah, and all those people who stood by us. I don’t think I have made any great sacrifice for Arif; I did what I had to. I never keep track of how much I spend on his training and equipment.”

It is, however, worthwhile to note that a pair of FIS-approved skis alone is priced upwards of ₹2-2.5 lakh. The rest of the gear — gloves, helmets, goggles, shoes, and suits — costs another ₹2 lakh or thereabouts. Add travel, accommodation, logistics, and a skier conservatively ends up spending ₹10-12 lakh a year, without any extra pairs of equipment or gear.

The cost of training in European ski resorts is around ₹20-25,000 a day and each exposure trip lasts usually a month. Even before JSW stepped in as a sponsor last year, Arif would spend more than half-a-year abroad for training and competitions. Do the math, the numbers are dizzying.

“Also, don’t forget that FIS changes equipment specifications every 2-3 years, so everything needs to be bought again. Also, an international athlete needs international grade equipment to train all year round. The cost of this sport is insane,” says Naik, whose promising career petered out for want of funds and quality equipment.

Yasin’s story

Yasin was born in Goiwara village of Tangmarg, around 15km south of Gulmarg. The legend goes that the British, having discovered Gulmarg in the early 20th century, decided not to build a road connecting it to Tangmarg to keep the snow heaven out of bounds for tourists. The English elite found a readymade oasis for skiing, and the locals, far too impoverished to fathom what the fuss was about, would ferry their masters on ponies.

“That’s how we Indians have always been. The common folk are peace-loving people who do all the hard work, but the ruling elite finds ways to suppress us,” says Yasin. “I am a proud Khan Pathan. We are not taught to compromise on self-respect, but we will happily lay down our lives for those who respect us.”

Yasin’s forefathers migrated from Kabul over a century back. He is a seventh-generation Pathan whose traditional family occupation is farming. Yasin still grows apples on his family farm although the ski rental business is what sustains the family. The eldest among four brothers, Yasin visited Gulmarg for the first time when he was 17 and fell in love with the place. “I distinctly remember that moment. The beauty of this place just consumed me. That was May 1972.”

In 1973, Yasir came met late Lt Col Narender ‘Bull’ Kumar, who was principal of the Ski School in Gulmarg. Kumar, a legendary figure in Indian mountaineering history, was recruiting helping staff and Yasin made the cut. Employed at ₹3.50 per day, he would carry out housekeeping and dishwashing chores at the school. Three years later, Kumar's wife set up a travel agency dealing in adventure tours and Yasin joined their Srinagar office as a steward.

Gradually, his interest in expeditions piqued and he went on to specialise as a river rafting, trekking, and summer guide. It wasn’t long before he began taking groups to high-altitude excursions in Laddakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim. “I had the time of my life. Colonel Kumar and his wife treated me like their family,” he recalled.

In the early 1980s, Yasin accompanied Col Kumar in an expedition to Siachen that is credited for establishing Pakistani presence at the glacier. The details collected by Col Kumar helped the Indian Army launch Operation Meghdoot in 1984 to reclaim Siachen.

“That was so thrilling. We found cigarette packets, cans, papers, etc that belonged to Pakistan. I was only a helper in the group, but I am happy to play a small part in one of the most iconic expeditions of the Indian army. It established Col Kumar's legacy as an ace soldier-mountaineer,” he said.

Yasin’s daredevilry saw him scale countless peaks, ranging from the neighbouring Pir Panjal range to the Kanchanjunga base in north Sikkim. Impromptu treks were a norm, as were long absences from home. 

“I would tell my folks that I'll be back in seven days and would come back after three months. Those days, we didn’t have too many telephones, so I would send telegrams to Tangmarg saying, ‘I am fine and alive, and will come back in two months’,” he says with a chuckle.

In his double-storied house made of deodar wood, replete with fine Kashmiri carpets, intricately woven curtains, and a frozen kitchen garden, he is the family patriarch, although his wife, Zarifa, is an equally feisty lady. Rifat recalls an incident when a stray snow leopard ventured into their house. “All of us were scared, but our mother got hold of a stick and charged at the animal. That’s the courage that Arif has inherited.”

“Fear, what fear?” says Zarifa in her broken Urdu when quizzed if she was ever scared that a young Arif would get grievously injured. Rifat reels off another incident of family bravery when a teenaged Arif hurt his knee at school. “He had a nasty fall, and the injury needed medical attention. Arif, who knew some first-aid because of his sport, stitched the knee on his own. That’s when we knew that his pain threshold is quite high. He knows to make the best of what he has. During the lockdown in 2020 when he could not travel overseas, he kept himself in shape by tying clothes and ropes to trees as resistance bands and working on his muscle strength.”

The Khans are now bracing for Arif's wedding that he postponed last year to focus on the Olympics. A feast of about 2000 is on the cards, and Yasin can’t help but boast of his boy’s good looks. “Oh, he was always a darling of girls, although he never had a girlfriend.” His fiancé has a master’s degree in Islamic history. “He is still a very rooted boy. Even today, he prays five times a day, no matter which part of the world he is in. Allah has finally listened to his prayers,” said Yasin.

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