Chadar Trek - Frozen Zanskar River

Chilling · India

Extreme9 daysAsia~£800 est.

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Overview

For a few weeks each January and February the Zanskar River freezes into a chadar — a 'blanket' of ice — and the gorge it has cut through the Ladakh Himalaya becomes a walking route, as it has been for Zanskari traders for centuries. You shuffle along a canyon 300 m deep on ice that creaks, booms and changes colour underfoot, past frozen waterfalls the size of buildings, sleeping in caves and expedition tents while night temperatures sink towards minus 30°C. Where the ice fails at a bend, you climb the bank and traverse — or wait while the guides read the river. Be clear-eyed about what this now is: climate change has made the ice less reliable, the road being blasted up the gorge shortens the wild section each year, and the trek is heavily regulated — ALTOA-registered guides, insurance, medical checks in Leh and porter welfare rules are all mandatory, and rightly so. Trips are cancelled outright when the chadar fails to form; book flexibly. Acclimatise three nights in Leh (3,500 m) before starting, and treat glacier glasses, double-layer boots and a minus-40-rated sleeping bag as survival kit, not comfort. Nine days runs around £800 from Leh including permits, guide and camp crew.