CHENNAI: The skiing slopes are barren. Instead of pristine white, there is barren brown. There are no signs of snow for the next few days. And looking on worryingly are India’s Winter Olympians.
As if they did not already face enough challenges in a country that routinely ignores its winter sports, India’s Winter Olympians have a new foe to contend with — climate change. A few winter sport athletes, who can handle the cost, have decided to move to better conditions in Europe and Asia. But the unfortunate majority are still waiting, their eyes locked on the heavens.
There is not enough snow in three of India’s elite winter sports venues: Gulmarg in Kashmir, Solang Valley in Himachal Pradesh and Auli in Uttarakhand. In fact, for a place like Gulmarg, this has been one of the worst years — in terms of snow — in recent times.
Gulmarg is postcardish. It has been bestowed with exceptional beauty, especially in the winters when it is usually draped in snow. The white slopes can be thrilling as well as captivating. For adventure seekers, it’s a dream destination that provides adrenaline rush during the day and unusual calm in the night. But without its white cover, Gulmarg loses quite a bit of that ethereal quality.
A combination of photos shows tourists at a snow-laden ski resort in Gulmarg on Dec. 31, 2022 (L) and its deserted look on Jan. 7, 2024. (Photo | PTI)For Rauf Tramboo, president of the Winter Games Association of Jammu and Kashmir, this year has been torrid not just for the sport but also for the economy of the region. “There is 30 percent occupancy as against more than 100 per cent last year,” he said.
One of India’s largest winter sport events, the Khelo India Winter Games, is facing an unexpected postponement due to the lack of snow in Gulmarg, the town that hosted the Games for the last three years. “We have been hosting the Khelo India Winter Sports for the last three years and this year too, we were planning to host the fourth chapter in February. In fact, we had declared our dates between February 2 to 6. Because there is a delay in the snowfall, we foresee that we may not be able to hold these competitions,” said Tramboo, who is also the competition manager of the event.
“In our recent meetings with the Sports Authority of India and the sports ministry and the federation and our associations, we have addressed these problems. This was done after we got inputs from the meteorological departments across J&K and the Centre. We are not sure if we will get adequate snowfall for these Games till the third or fourth week of January. So we foresee that we may have to reschedule the Games. If everything goes well as per our inputs, we are expecting good snowfall between February 10-15 so we may be able to hold the Games in the middle of February. We usually get snowfall in December and January but unfortunately, that has not been the case this time.”
“The other thing that we were discussing is the general sport. The last three years, after the Covid, recreational tourism in the region started looking up. Because of Covid, when there were restrictions on travel abroad, Indian skiers started diverting their attention to Gulmarg. Once they were here and other regions like Pahalgam, they saw that the snow was at par with Europe. For recreational sports also, the years from 2021 to 2023 saw a boom. This helped us to fill the winter season all through. We had a comfortable year. But now snow has played spoilsport and because of the uncertainty, they have rescheduled their timing to Gulmarg or diverted it to some other place in Europe. It is a total loss for the economy, especially with skiing teachers and other people associated with the sport who are, at the moment, idle. This year we had plans to divert skiers to places like Sonmarg and Pahalgam but there has not been adequate rainfall,” he added.
Tramboo felt that it was all about nature. “We tried to tinker and fiddle with nature, and it has led to global warming and all that. Because of that, we are getting delayed snowfall. Hopefully, the snow will come and Gulmarg will once again be abuzz with sports activities.”
Many venues across the world are increasingly starting to opt for artificial snow. But for Gulmarg, this is not an option. “Because of the lack of water in the region, creating artificial snow would not be ideal but there are other options. We can check other facilities where snow is available. In Kashmir, we have a lot of snow and I am sure the government will help as always in finding the right solution. We may have to look into other parts of the region.”
Thousand of miles away from Gulmarg, Auli in Uttarakhand too is facing the same problem. Ajay Bhatt, who has been associated with the sport for more than two decades is based out of Auli. He calls this an extraordinary situation. “It had never been so bad,” said Bhatt, the joint secretary of the Uttarakhand Winter Olympic Association. “I can’t say that there is no snowfall here as it had snowed first on December 13 and there had been about one foot or so on the slopes. Even now on the higher ranges, there is snow. But it’s less. And in January (10) as of now, there is no snowfall. But we are expecting it soon.”
Bhatt has a solution. He said since the region experiences low temperatures from December and the temperature goes down below zero there is potential to create artificial snow. He said that if the government takes the step, artificial snow could be created. This will help not only the skiers but the local economy as well. “Even now, the temperature is conducive enough to create artificial snow,” he said. “In Auli from December onwards the dry cold temperature plummets low enough to create snow, especially at night. The Auli slope is over 1300m. Even if we don’t cover the entire stretch, at least we can create snow for 300m-400m. For tourists, this can be conducive. This will help winter sports to grow.”
Bhatt also says that creating artificial snow in Auli will not cause many environmental issues. “We have water and we will tap the same water from the source and the same water will get soaked into the ground and will be carried to the stream downhill,” he said. He feels the government should carry out proper studies before implementing. “I think the government can form a small team and send them abroad to see how it’s done. We don’t have the knowledge here right now so we have to study. Or you can call experts from abroad and check the feasibility.”
Nestled between Gulmarg and Auli is Solang Valley aka Solang Nala. The story here is one of remorse and worry. The slopes are barren and brown at the moment. There is no skiing. The serious skiers have left for Europe or Kazakhstan where there is a visa on arrival for Indians. Ludar Thakur, president of Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association, is crestfallen.
“This time, there is late snowfall,” he said. “Even if there is snowfall, it’s not like it used to be 10 years ago. Earlier there used to be 2 metres of snow. But it has been decreasing over the years. This time everything is brown.”
Thakur pointed out that the players are getting affected. “Some of the skiers have gone to Europe while some have left for Kazakhstan where there is a visa relaxed norms for Indians. And the rest of them, who cannot afford international stints, are still waiting for the snow. It’s expensive to go abroad and since there is hardly any funding from the government, they have to fend for themselves.”
World too is not enough
It was just a few months ago when International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach had talked about such predicaments during an interaction in Mumbai. “Climate Change has already had an effect on the sport and in particular, winter sports, where the lack of snow is already leading to shifting sports indoors,” he had said days before the IOC Congress in October. “It is a serious threat.”
The Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games are heavily dependent on weather. The temperature needs to be below freezing point with a lot of precipitation to assist good snowfall that will lead to a long-lasting snowpack. “What is good snowfall? I would say two-three days of good snowfall that would lead to at least four-five feet of snow on the upper reaches of the mountain,” explained Shiva Keshavan, six-time Winter Olympian. “This snow can be groomed into skiing slopes.”
Even that seems missing the world over, including in India. The future looks bleak too. Daniel Scott, University Research Chair and Professor, who has been studying the Winter Olympics amid changing weather patterns, shared his research that was referred to by the IOC while deferring the future hosts of the Winter Games. According to the study, since the first 1924 Winter Olympics, the temperature has been rising steadily across most Winter Olympic Games venues.
The study said that weather and snow conditions have been key determinants in the success of the Games. “A review of the official post-Games reports (1924–2010) from the host Organizing Committees to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), highlights poor weather as one of the greatest challenges faced by organizing committees. Organizers in the Sarajevo (Yugoslavia) report (1984, p. 15), “not even superhuman efforts could conquer nature”, which was similarly echoed in the Vancouver (Canada) report (2010, p. 5), “... the warmest weather on record ... challenged our ability to prepare fields of play for athletes in the venues at Cypress Mountains''. Interestingly, in 1924, there were about 16 medal sports that were played outdoors on natural snow. In 2022, there were events held indoors (refrigerated tracks and climate control halls) as well as outdoors but on 100 per cent artificial snow. Sochi, in 2014, had used 80 per cent artificial snow and going by the trend there will be more artificial snow in the future.
The study also detailed how temperature has been rising steadily since the first Winter Games were held. And the story is indeed alarming. “Analysis of historic average weather conditions revealed that during the era of emergent adaptation (1920s–1950s), the average maximum daily temperature of host cities was 0.4°C (Rutty et al., 2015). This average daily maximum temperature increased to 3.1°C during the technological transition era (1960s to 1990s) and further increased to 7.8°C in the games held so far in the twenty-first century (2002–2014),” said the study titled “The changing geography of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in a warmer world”.
With rising temperature and weather pattern disturbances, we are staring at inevitability: lack of snow, barren mountain slope, low precipitation that also has an adverse effect on the economy. The Winter Paralympics that are usually held in March are the most vulnerable because according to Scott’s study, by that period, the temperature is above freezing point. "In the 2050s, the number of climate reliable locations will decrease to 13 in the low-emission scenario and 12 in the high-emission scenario. Olympic sites including Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany), Grenoble and Chamonix (France), Squaw Valley (USA), as well as recent host cities Vancouver (Canada) and Sochi (Russia), would not be considered climatically reliable to host the OWG by mid-century." Scott and his team also studied the making of artificial snow and it all depends how we adapt to it and make it energy efficient. Winter sports may not be like in Europe or the US or even some parts of north Asia, but India, of late, has been trying to promote the sport. Whether they have been successful or not will be known in the next few decades but there definitely have been a mushrooming of winter sports national federations. The Winter Olympic dream is vivid but, clichéd it may sound, the slopes though are empty.
QUICK TAKES
Shiva Keshavan, six-time Olympian and ski and skateboard ad-hoc committee chairperson, is also part of the coordination commission with the Olympic Council of Asia for Asian Winter Games. An interview... On low snowfall this year and how challenges can be minimised It’s a very worrying time for winter sports in general. Climate change is an existential threat to the winter sports industry. It is also a threat to hundreds and thousands of persons who depend on these industries for their livelihood. I think steps must be taken to plan how we can mitigate these challenges. There are ways in which by proper management and planning and grooming the slopes with artificially made snow we will be able to minimise such challenges. Climate change and how it’s impacting winter sport athletes, especially with shorter winter Climate change is alarming not just for the conduct of the competition but because the shorter winter season means players get less time to prepare and train. It is also a challenge for us. When you have the international race calendar you need time to prepare in advance. Our athletes already face issues in terms of availability of training venues; this becomes an added complication. How can this be tackled?
There are solutions. As it is a global problem there are solutions all around the world. One of the common practices especially for snow sports that has been in practice for decades in Europe, North America and China. Make snow through snowmaking canons. These are something where natural water is pushed through a compressor to make ice and then shot out through canons as snow. By making snow during the colder period like in the nighttime, you are able to have enough stockpiles which can be groomed on the slopes. This is a simple solution. There are other ways through which we can mitigate the challenges: through technology, long term planning and there are definitely solutions. Don’t see much environmental issues here. Making snow requires water which is available in most of the Winter Sports destinations. The water will go back to the water table. Of course, you need electricity. The machineries are simple and can be made in India. It is beneficial to everybody.
