In India’s ‘Ski Capital,’ Changing Snowfall Pattern Leaves Locals Worried

Since it was off-season, there were just a handful of tourists around. A few were trekking uphill to Gorson Bugyal, an alpine meadow at an altitude of 3,049 metres. The dense forests of oak and deodar trees lining the trekking route looked picture perfect.

Pandey was looking in the direction of the tourists who eventually disappeared into the forest. “I have been living here for the past 50 years. Auli has changed so much. Earlier, it was just a deserted meadow. The glaciers on the Lower Himalayan range used to be visible from here. The mountains used to be covered with snow even in the summers. Now, we have to create artificial snow,” says Pandey.

When asked where the glaciers have disappeared, he says: “Mausam badal raha hai na. Garmi badh rahi hai. Baraf pighal rahi hai.” (Climate is changing. It’s getting warmer. The snow is melting). We ask Pandey to elaborate on what he understood by climate change. He remains silent for a while and says: “Wo to me bata nahi paunga, lekin us se nuksaan bohot ho raha hai.” (I won’t be able to elaborate, but it is causing a lot of damage).

Pandey was associated with the tourism industry. He had a transferable job, but most of his career was spent in Auli. He has seen the pattern of tourism and climate in Auli undergo a sea change. “It was in the 80s and 90s when Auli emerged as a tourist destination. The major attraction was skiing.”

The slopes of Auli provide skiers with clean stretches of up to 10-20 km without any obstacle, and at any point boasts of a 500-metre descent.

Earlier, the slopes of Auli used to be covered with snow between late November and March. December and January were considered apt for skiing. Lakhs of tourists from India and abroad used to visit during this period.

In fact, in January 2011, the South Asian Winter Games-- officially the first--were held in Dehradun and Auli. The games were conducted by the Indian Olympic Association and the Winter Games Federation of India.

Auli was thriving. The locals benefited from the rise in the number of incoming tourists. When they were not farming— which was their primary occupation—they would double up as guides, taking tourists to Gorson Bugyal, the Valley of Flowers and beyond. Many small hotels came up. It was all good until two-three years back when the impact of climate change was seen in Auli.

“It usually starts snowing in December and it continues till March. But for the past two-three years, there has been a dry spell in December and January, and it snows only in February. It is impacting tourism activity. Less and delayed snowfall is disappointing for those who look forward to the skiing season all year long. These include tourists from outside India who plan and book tickets well in advance,” says Ambrish Kunwar, who owns a hotel in Auli and runs a skiing agency.

In fact, in 2023 the winter games that are organised every year had to be cancelled due to low snowfall in the region.

Kunwar explains that not only is the duration and timing of snowfall changing, but the nature of snowfall is also undergoing a change. “Usually, this region, especially Auli, receives a lot of powder snow, which is conducive for skiing. But for the past few years, we have been receiving snow that is full of water, and it melts easily. I think this is happening because of climate change and global warming,” says Kunwar.

To contain the situation, a mechanism has been devised to create artificial snow from the water stored in the artificial lake. The lake and the tent-like structures erected across the meadow through which artificial snow is sprayed around in case of delayed snowfall stick out like a sore thumb.

While locals who are associated with the tourism industry— small businessmen like horse and mule riders, dhaba owners and tea sellers—are worried about the changed snowfall pattern and its impact on tourism, they are also aware that increased human activity may also throw the area off balance.

The big activity that locals are still not able to forget is the “mega wedding”. In 2019, a Rs 200-crore wedding hosted by South Africa-based businessmen brothers Ajay and Atul Gupta left Auli in a state of dismay.

The four-day destination wedding for the NRIs left behind over 33,000 kg of garbage, along with human excreta. In the clean-up that followed the wedding, a lot of the garbage was set on fire in the Joshimath Municipal Corporation dumping ground that overlooks the bank of Dhauliganga, one of the two main source streams for the Ganga river.

A huge portion of land in Ravigram village, a few kilometres from Auli, was turned into a temporary helipad.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who attended the wedding, said that the event had turned the meadow into a “tourist destination”, but the locals are still aghast and believe something like this should not be repeated.

While they are aware that they have no control over nature, they strongly believe that the natural fabric of Auli should not be altered for development purposes. Their lives largely depend on tourism and if the tourists start giving Auli a miss, they will have to find alternative ways of earning a living. After two back-to-back dismal winter seasons, they are keeping their fingers crossed for the upcoming tourist season.

“If it snows less or the snowfall is delayed by a month or two this year also, it will mean that it is going to be a pattern, and we will have to take some major decisions about our livelihood,” says Rajesh Kunwar, who runs a small shop selling chips and biscuits.

His brother, Brijesh, who is a tourist guide, gives an example of Joshimath, just 11 kms from Auli. The Himalayan town started ‘sinking’ last year due to land subsidence. Many homes, roads and hotels developed cracks and had to be demolished. The Auli ropeway—one of the highest and longest cable cars in Asia connecting Joshimath and Auli— was a major tourist attraction. But after one of the pillars developed cracks, it was shut down last year. “That halved the number of tourists. Now, they don’t have any incentive to visit Auli. Now, both Joshimath and Auli are suffering. This region is very fragile and mindless development needs to stop. Tourists will find other destinations, but we really have nowhere to go,” he says.