Indian ski town laments snowless winters as climate change threatens livelihoods in Himalayas

“The lack of snowfall in Gulmarg this year is unlike anything I have ever seen in all my years skiing here,” said Mehraj Din, a member of the Gulmarg ski patrol team.

Din said numerous tourists had already cancelled their trips to the resort after being advised against visiting due to the lack of powder.

The residents of Gulmarg have grown accustomed to the abnormally dry winters, which have occurred far more frequently in Jammu and Kashmir over the past decade.

Workers who typically cater to visitors, including sledge pullers, tea sellers, and other roadside vendors, are struggling due to the absence of customers. Ski rental shops and ski guides have also been hit hard.

“The lack of snow is causing a delay in the skiing season, which typically begins in early January,” said Danish Habib, a 25-year-old snowboard instructor and alpine tracker.

Indian weather stations have attributed the unusual weather to both global warming and the presence of El Nino, a sporadic climate phenomenon known to cause warm and dry conditions in the Indian subcontinent and other regions of Asia. Meteorologists say this current El Nino has been one of the strongest in years.

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Anil Joshi, an environmentalist and the founder of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization, attributed the absence of snow to a lack of western disturbances – a type of cyclonic storm from the Mediterranean that travel eastward, bringing rain and snowfall to the Indian subcontinent.

“Orchards and agricultural crops are also suffering. There are reports that agricultural crops are totally damaged. Ultimately, you may ascribe this to a simple phenomenon – it is global warming,”