Joshimath: Hill resort of Auli in Chamoli district had been flocked by hoards of adventure sports loving people to see the inaugural of the skiing events of the first South Asian Winter Games. It was declared open by Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'.

Folk artists from Pauri Garhwal district were the main attraction of the opening ceremony while well-known Sufi singer Kailash Kher is scheduled to perform too.

Nishank, in his inaugural speech said that the focus is on promoting the winter games in the state. This would be especially done by developing world class winter games infrastructure in Dehradun and Auli. On the other hand, the ongoing winter games would also help in boosting relations with South Asian countries and attract Winter sports lovers in India from various parts of the world.