A boy lands a karate kick on a pile of snow in Lava. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Jan. 24: Snow yesterday, slush today.

Cold winds, near-freezing temperatures, an overcast sky and the fast-melting snow robbed residents and tourists of a reason to step outside the comforts of their homes and hotel rooms today.

The more adventurous headed to Tiger Hill and Jalapahar, some 14 km from the hill town, where large swathes are still wrapped in pristine white.

?Guess the snowfall was not as much as in 2003. I was all ready for a snowball battle today, but there is hardly any snow left. Even the weather has remained so gloomy,? said Nima Lepcha of Robertson Road.

The December 28, 2003, snowfall, in contrast, had been a major crowd-puller. Shutterbugs froze frames of the frosted town and revellers braved the cold throughout the day. A thick blanket of snow coated the town and remained two days after the last snowflake fell.

Organisers of the Darjeeling carnival had also hosted a photography exhibition after the overwhelming enthusiasm with the camera shown by residents and tourists alike.

This time, however, the snow hardly gave the people enough time. And the gloomy skies made photography a wasted effort.

?We hardly got any time to revel in the snow,? said Sarmistha Das, a tourist.

The story was, however, different at Lava in Kalimpong. Droves of tourists have changed travel plans since hearing about the snowfall there, trying to beat the crowd and find themselves a place to stay overnight.

?Even tourists who had planned a relaxing visit to the town began changing their plan and heading to Lava since yesterday. The exodus is continuing today,? said Bimal Gazmer, the Kalimpong area manager of the DGHC tourism department.

?Even I will be heading for Lava to enjoy the snow before it thaws completely,? he added with a smile.

Precipitation in Kalimpong began around 2.15 pm yesterday and continued till 4 pm, draping much of the area in three inches of snow.

?A steady flow of tourists have come to revel in the snow and there are more on their way today,? said T.N. Bhutia, the manager of West Bengal Forest Development Corporation, Lava.

Though the snow had melted in the Lava market area, Tiffin Dara and Ryshap, a stone?s throw away, is still sheathed in five inches of snow.

Munna Dey from Calcutta had set out from home after having spent several weeks chalking out his travel plans.

?We were supposed to leave for Kalimpong today,? he said. ?But we changed our plans late last night and decided to visit Ryshap instead,? he said.

He was just one of the hundreds headed for Ryshap.

A Lava-based tour operator, R.K Gurung, said he had his work cut our trying to accommodate snow-chasers from Siliguri, Kalimpong town and even Malda throughout yesterday.

?Everybody wants to stay over for one night, enjoy playing in the snow and then continue with their original travel itinerary. I was surprised to see the number of local residents who arrived yesterday,? he said.

The windfall of tourists has given the hoteliers a reason to rejoice.

?Snow has always been the greatest attraction here. The amount of snowfall was greater than what the area had received last year. If this becomes an annual phenomenon, it will work wonders for the industry,? said Norbu Bhutia, the proprietor of Orchid Lodge in Lava.

Tourists echoed Bhutia.

?This is my first trip to Lava and I have been rewarded with snow. I will go back home and ask all my friends to visit Lava at this time of year, now that snowfall has become an almost annual phenomenon,? said Srabani Das, a visitor from Calcutta.