Where Islamists Reigned, Ski Resorts Are Rising
VEDUCHI, Russia — Sporting a camouflage ski suit, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, pulled a gigantic ceremonial lever to start this once war-wrecked region’s first ski lift. “God is great!” some yelled.
High in the Caucasus Mountains, a ski resort is rising on slopes that once teemed with Islamist militants. The Veduchi resort is a multimillion- dollar development featuring a hotel and spa center, chalets and a helicopter pad. It is the centerpiece of an effort for Russia to ski and snowboard its way out of a long-simmering insurgency.
The potential for winter sports as a method of diplomacy came into focus recently in South Korea, which welcomed North Korean athletes to the Winter Olympics this month. But Russia has a longer-term strategy: putting winter sports to use as a tool for economic development and pacification in a decades- old conflict in the Caucasus.
A state- owned company, North Caucasus Resorts, is building a string of ski resorts in the restive, predominantly Muslim areas of the Caucasus. Three have opened so far, the most recent here in the Argun Gorge of Chechnya.
The intention is to create jobs, though even the developer conceded that it might be difficult to convince winter sports enthusiasts of the merits of Chechnya, where Russia brutally repressed an Islamist insurgency and where thousands of militants may be returning from Syria after fighting for the Islamic State.
“I am confident it will become popular not only with the Russian population but also with foreign countries,” Mr. Kadyrov said at the opening last month.
Ruslan Timukayev, a spokesman for the regional government, said the region had seen an increase in tourism as “Chechnya became a brand.” About 100,000 tourists came to Chechnya last year, he said, adding with a shrug, “Some people like extremes.”
About $ 35 million has been invested so far in the ski resort, which is expected to cost $500 million. The plans call for 19 ski lifts and 45 kilometers of trails though the resort opened with only one modest lift, serving just one trail.
After pulling the lever to start the lift, Mr. Kadyrov, who does not ski, hopped on for a ride. The lift stalled briefly before jerking back into motion. Professional skiers flown in from St. Petersburg zigzagged down the slope for the television cameras, and local children were offered free lessons.
The war in Chechnya has mostly petered out; the last insurgent attack near Veduchi took place in 2009, and the last significant terrorist attack in Chechnya was in 2014. But rights groups have documented a staggering cost of peace and of propping up the rule of Mr. Kadyrov, a former rebel whose powerful family allied with Pres- ident Vladimir V. Putin in 1999. They have cataloged continuing abuses, including arbitrary arrests and the detention and torture last spring of about 100 gay men.
“How is a ski resort going to solve all that?” said Tanya Lokshina, the Russia director of Human Rights Watch.
Khasan Timizhev, the director of North Caucasus Resorts, said research had shown that Russian skiers were more concerned about the slopes’ condition than about lawlessness.
“We think the Chinese will come,” said Albert Rabuyev, a school principal.
Mr. Rabuyev added that he would even welcome gay men, because as visitors they would “rent rooms, rent skis and then leave.”