Judge Rules Massive Himalayan Ski Resort May Move Forward

photo credit: Himalayan Ski Village Private Ltd.

Alfred Ford's dream of setting up a massive Himalayan ski resort was resuscitated last week when a Himalayan judge ruled his "Himalayan Ski Village" project can go forward. The great-grandson of Henry Ford and presumptive heir to the Ford fortune suffered a major setback to his plan of building a luxury resort high in region when the provincial government issued an order blocking the project in 2010. Last week's ruling by Justice Rajiv Sharma paves the way for the project to continue by invalidating the 2010 order.

The project is being pursued by Himalayan Ski Village Private Ltd. According to the resort's website:

The Project will be developed at the Northern end of the Kullu Valley in the state of Himachal Pradesh, with the various facilities located at heights between 7,500 and 14,000 feet above sea level. The Project targets the domestic tourists of India, as well as international visitors from the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 

The Project involves the development of 700 Hotel rooms, restaurants along with an 'Indian Village' shopping experience; a 20,000 sq ft convention facility and a high end spa; and an entertainment/performing arts center. 

Below are some images of the proposed resort. At left, the site plan for the resort and and at right, an artist's rendering of the village. Click the images to enlarge.

  

        Plan of proposed resort                                                     Resort Concept Drawing

Ski, Esq. is hardly qualified to comment on the subtleties of Indian provincial law, but according to newspaper report of the decision, the local government initially backed the project before reversing course in 2010 to oppose it. Essentially, the court held that the government was bound by its earlier letter of understanding with Himalayan Ski Village Private Ltd.  The only grounds for rescission of the letter of understanding were if the developer failed to satisfy the conditions imposed by the letter or if it made material misrepresentations or omissions. Because the developer had satisfied the conditions imposed by the letter of understanding and not withheld or misrepresented any key information, the judge ruled the project could continue.

Just in case any of our readers are thinking of booking a visit anytime soon, the resort's location, translated from the native Hindi means, "the end of the habitable world." To say transportation might be an issue would seem to be something of an understatement.

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