Young Afghans Look to Mountain Biking as a Means to Transcend Conflict

Ian J. Lynch

In the high mountains of Bamiyan, young Afghans are leading a movement that thinks very differently than their parents’ generation about their environment and country. Instead of picking up arms and joining militias they are hopping on mountain bikes and joining local ski clubs.

“I started mountain biking because my village is surrounded by mountains and we have got the best places for mountain biking,” Reihane, one of eight women to race in Mountain Bike Afghanistan’s (MTBA) 2nd annual Hindukush MTB Challenge in late October, told The Diplomat. Living in a country where the lives of women are heavily circumscribed by patriarchal culture, outdoor initiatives are at the forefront of providing equal access for all genders. 

All together, 27 Afghans competed over seven laps of a challenging 2 kilometer cross-country loop. Just over a year old, MTBA’s purpose stretches far beyond holding races.

“Mountain Bike Afghanistan was created to help Afghans tangled with and overwhelmed by the conflicts realize that we as a nation can do amazing things we have been ignoring,” Farid Noori, MTBA’s CEO and founder, told The Diplomat. “It’s all about shifting the public focus from the bad and the miserable to the good and exciting.”

MTBA joins a broader collection of initiatives in Bamiyan and across the country that harness the potential of sports to develop community and resilience. MTBA’s manager, Sajjad Husaini, and his training partner Alishah Farhang are pioneers of a nascent ski culture in Bamiyan. Eight years ago a Swiss journalist brought skis to Husaini’s village and now he and Farhang compete internationally, just missing qualification for the 2018 Olympics.

The Bamiyan Ski Club started with just 10 members. Now there are eight ski clubs with over 250 women and men hiking into the Afghan mountains to ski. Husaini told The Diplomat he sees similar levels of enthusiasm for mountain biking spreading in Bamiyan.