HUNZA, Pakistan: Aleena Gul used to watch the pool beside her home in Pakistan’s Hunza Valley freeze solid each winter, transforming it into a makeshift ice hockey rink.
This year, it barely froze at all.
“If we see, there’s a big difference between 2018 and now in 2026,” said Gul, a local player whose family has hosted the community tournament for eight seasons.
“Winter used to begin in November and everything would freeze, . It’s January now and the ice still hasn’t frozen properly,” said Gul, a local player whose family has hosted the community tournament for eight seasons.
The change has disrupted a small but growing winter sports tradition in the mountainous region near the Chinese border, where residents say colder, longer winters once provided reliable natural ice.
