No Igloo Cafe, no snow sculptures: How climate change has affected winter art at Kashmir’s Gulmarg

Srinagar:  Scanty snowfall has affected winter art in the ski resort of Gulmarg.

 No Igloos, no snow sculpture,  winter art has come to a grinding halt this season.

Igloo Café, which had become a huge attraction for tourists for the last few years has not come up this season. Scant snow coupled with warm Chillai Kalan, the owner has decided against setting up Igloo Cafe this year.

 “There is very little snow in Gulmarg. Further, it will take us 50 days to build it. By then the temperature will be very warm here,” said Waseem Ahmad Shah, owner of Kalahoi Green Heights. Last year, Shah made Asia’s biggest Igloo Café with a height of 37.5 feet, a diameter of 44.5 feet, and a thickness of five feet.

 Shah had emulated Switzerland where he witnessed massive igloos made for tourists to stay during winter.

 Last year, nearly 11000 tourists visited Igloo café. Even Shah had pitched for Guinness World Records.

Likewise, snow sculptures too are missing in Gulmarg. Last year, a hotelier made a snow sculpture of the Taj Mahal, which was a huge hit among tourists. This year, he too has not experimented with the snow sculpture.

 Apart from the massive igloo café, small igloos, which were a common sight in Gulmarg are also missing.

 “We had been making Igloos on the roadsides and in the meadow of Gulmarg. However, this year there is no such display of art. The snowfall has not been enough this year and we are now hoping for heavy snowfall in the remaining weeks of January,” said Zubair Ahmad, a snow artist.

 Less snowfall this season has equally discouraged snow sculptors.  “For the last few years, top artists from India would visit Gulmarg to make snow sculptures. This year, no such activity has been planned so far. We are hoping for a heavy snowfall so that we could make large snow sculptures at Gulmarg to attract locals and tourists,” said Mohammad Shafiq, a snow artist.