Backcountry ski tourism surges in Afghanistan and Iraq
There has been a boom in people taking up backcountry skiing, according to adventure travel company Untamed Borders, with tourists increasingly seeking wilder, more obscure and more remote locations to ski, including the likes of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Untamed Borders has run ski trips to Afghanistan since 2011 and Iraq since 2017, but there has been a noticeable trend post-pandemic of more people seeking virgin ski routes.
Sales of backcountry skis increased by 81% in 2020, according to Snowsports Industries America, and the sector has continued to be buoyant since – with backcountry snowboard sales also spiking by 146%.
As countries opened up after lockdown, that new wave of interest in the sport translated into people seeking new destinations to ski in and increasingly travellin...















