If you are a traveller and fond of trekking, especially ice trekking, you would be missing the most beautiful trekking experience by not going to the chadar trek or the Zanskar Gorge, located in the Union Territory of Ladakh, especially in the winter.
The Chadar trek is a winter trail and the only traditional means of travel during the harsh winter season. The trail has become a popular International adventure tourist attraction. The place is famous for Zanskar Lake, which runs calmly during the summers and autumn but freezes to ice slides in the winters. Skating and hiking are mostly encouraged activities. The overall distance is 105 kilometres, but an average trekker would cover 16 kilometres a day. The trekking starts from the first camp at TiladSumdo and ends at the higher camp point, Nerak, the frozen waterfall and the journey’s return point. Lingshed and Padum are the other higher altitudes or the bigger versions of the trek. The temperature varies from -20°C to -30°C. The journey is risky, but it is worth the entire effort one takes for the trek. January and February are the most celebrated months of Chadar ice trekking.
The only way to reach the place is through airways as the area is fully surrounded by snow in the winters. One should do the trekking only with the help of a guide and by following every minute instruction. Food and accommodation facilities are available in Leh. Triple/quad sharing rooms will be provided. Each trekking group will be provided with an oxygen cylinder and first aid medical kit. A road (NPD road – Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road) is under construction, by Border Roads Organisation (BRO), under the ministry of defense to maintain year-round connectivity between Leh and Zanskar, and is about to complete in a couple of years. Though this road construction would benefit the local people who have been demanding a proper road for ages, especially for medical emergencies, this would also disturb the local wildlife, primarily the snow leopards that dwell up higher in the valley.
