Chadar trek

The Chadar Trek or the Zanskar Gorge is a winter trail which lies, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. Traditionally the only means of travel in the area during the harsh winter months, the trail has become popular with international adventure tourists.

Chadar Trek
Blue sky in Chadar
LengthApprox. 65 miles (105 km) One way
LocationLadakh, India
DesignationChadar Trek
TrailheadsChilling
UseHiking
Hiking details
Trail difficultyExtreme
SeasonJanuary to February
SightsZanskar
HazardsSevere cold

Zanskar is tributary to Indus river

Trail

Its walls are near vertical cliffs up to 600 m high and the Zanskar River (a tributary of the Indus) is only 5 metres (16 ft) in places.[1][2]

The overall distance is approximately 105 kilometres (65 mi) – an average trekker walks 16 kilometres (10 mi) per day.[3]

The best time to do the Chadar trek is January to February,[4] when the temperature during the winters drops sometimes to -30 to -35 degrees[5][6][6]

Chadar trek starts from Chilling however with time the organisers tend to drive ahead to about 1 km away from the first camp at Tilad Sumdo (10,390 ft ). Over the next days the trek moves to higher camps till Nerak (11,150 ft) .This is the frozen waterfall and the return point of the trek. There are other variations of the trek which go till Lingshed while a bigger version will take you to Padum over almost 14 days[7]

Modern road

A road (Nimmu- Padum- Darcha road/ NPD Road ,Nimmu is 35 KM from Leh on NH 1 ) is under construction by Border Roads Organization ( BRO), under Ministry of Defense, to maintain year round connectivity between Leh and Zanskar ( HQ- Padum) and is expected to complete in couple of years. The locals have been demanding this road for a long time and will make their life a lot easier, specially to answer medical emergencies during winter. The road construction has disturbed the local wildlife, primarily the snow leopard. It used to be its prime territory for the snow leopards in the winter, but now they dwell up higher in the valley.[3][8]

  • Tilat Sumdo
  • Improvised Sledge on chadar
  • Indus and Zanskar confluence.
  • First night camp on a sandy beach opposite Bakulo cave
  • Clear day in Chadar
  • Porters are collecting drift wood for fire
  • Resting moments of chadar
  • Near Tibb camp
  • Tibb camp
  • Wooden bridge at Nerak
  • Nerak fall

Video clippings of Chadar trek done in 2014

gollark: MATCH MY REGEX, STUPID THING!
gollark: It is so incredibly ridiculous.
gollark: On my *mobile network* archive.org is blocked.
gollark: In my school this year for some astonishingly stupid reason phones are banned during lunch/break.
gollark: There is kind of a difference between "great hackers" and "person with USB stick".

References
  1. "Ban on Ladakh's Chadar Ice Trek". Outdoor Journal. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  2. "Chadar Trek Ladakh". shikhar.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  3. "Chadar - The Frozen River Trek". Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.
  4. "AlienAdv- Ice trek on frozen Zanskar river".
  5. "Department of Tourism, Jammu and Kashmir - Chadar Trek".
  6. "Treks - Wetrekkers".
  7. "Living the ICE AGE dream | Chadar trek blog". TheFreeBird. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  8. "Zanskar Valley - Walking On Thin Ice".
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