When snow blocks the main road from Kargil to the Zanskar Valley in Ladakh for a month from January as temperatures drop 15 to 35 degrees below zero, another route opens up for the villagers and the trekkers who come for the thrill and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Zanskar river, flowing through the wide, deep canyons of the Himalayan ranges, freezes on the upper reaches, leading to the formation of Chadar, or blanket of ice.
The “frozen river trek” is not just about walking on ice. It's the same route through which the villagers ply their trade. With weather changing ever so frequently and water flowing rapidly beneath the ice, the challenges multiply. The ice formation changes by the hour. Many trekkers break the frozen surface as they walk with their spike shoes, making the walk treacherous. They slip and topple. It's not for the faint-hearted.
The growing reputation of the toughest, wildest frozen river trek in the world, on social media, has started attracting more tourists than serious trekkers here. Rampant commercialisation threatens the region's culture and the fragile ecosystem. At another level, the trek is about oneness of mind, body and soul — summing up the essence of Buddhism practised here. The numb fingers, frostbite, pain from fractured limbs and swollen toes are trophies from the journey, cherished mementos of a harsh trek.
"This is my third visit and every time I come here, I discover something unique. The landscape is brutal and stunning and you can see different shapes the ice takes," Ramida Vithoonsaritsilp, a trekker says.
It’s elemental: Trekkers crossing the frozen Zanskar river, near Shingra Koma, one of the camp sites, surrounded by the dramatic Himalayan ranges with an average altitude of 3,500 metres. The ‘frozen river trek’ covers a little over 100 km.
Ploughing through: Boys from the villages in the Zanskar Valley work as porters, camp managers and group leaders of the ‘frozen river trek’, carrying food, tents and sleeping bags on sledges weighing 30 kg to 50 kg. Without them, the trek, a driver of the region’s economy, is impossible.
Come snow or shine: The partially frozen Zanskar river forms the backdrop as Border Roads Organisation personnel lay a road to a distance of 35 km from Leh to Tilad Do, which is the base camp for the ‘frozen river.'
A diversion: Trekkers near Tibb Cave, skirting a thin sheet of river ice by clinging on to the crag. One reason the ice surface gives way is the use of crampons by many trekkers, considered unethical in this trek.
On thin ice: Many trekkers slip and topple on the glassy ice surface. Another danger is mountain sickness, which sometimes causes death. Local porters are a big help in shifting the injured to the base camp.
Young porters take a break on the river surface. Breathers are necessary in the freezing high altitudes.
Prayer pennants adorn the backdrop of the confluence of the Indus and the Zanskar at Nimu on the way to Leh.