Chaddar - Frozen River Zanskar Trek

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What you will see

The Chadar Trek or the Zanskar Gorge is a winter-trail in Zanskar region of Ladakh, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Its walls are near vertical cliffs up to 600 m high and the Zanskar River (a tributary of the Indus) is only 5 m wide in places. The Chadar Trek is the frozen Zanskar River which provides an access route to the Zanskar Valley and is used as a trail by locals and tourists during the winters. It takes place on the trade route that has been used by the indigenous people for centuries and is a fairly well established trek.

Permit & Medical Checkup :

As per the new directives received from the local authorities in Leh, it is mandatory for all participants to undergo a medical examination at Leh and spend 3 nights in Leh before departure for the trek. Also the forest department & ALTOA have made it mandatory to obtain a special permit to trek on the Chaddar. The charges has to be paid for the medical checkup & permit individually by each participant at Leh, over and above the Yuvashakti's trek fees

Trek Gallery

Trek Schedule : Chaddar - Frozen River Zanskar Trek

Boarding Preference:
Leh to Leh
  • 1

    Arrive in leh by morning flight to give more acclimatization time The temperature in Leh is always in the negative. Keep a jacket, woolen cap and gloves handy in the flight to face the blast of cold air the moment you land from the plane. Leh is totally covered by a blanket of snow. It is white all around. Sometimes the roads have a coating of a think sheet of ice. Watch out when you walk on them and be wary of slips and falls. The city of Leh only partly open during the winter months only the shops catering to the local needs are open. Buy all your gears from your city and don’t keep any major shopping to do at Leh. Leh at 11,800ft is higher than your entire trek. It is colder too. Daytime the temperature hovers at around -10 degrees and after sundown drops to -16 or more. Get used to the cold at Leh during the day in the sun but get into your rooms once the sun goes down. Guest House or Hotel in leh

  • 2

    Today, we take proper rest and get acclimatized to the altitude and the environment at Leh City.

  • 3

    Today is also reserved for a proer rest and acclimatization, further all participants would require to get their Mandatory Medical Checkup at Leh Civil Hospital.

  • 4

    Leh to Darr (by private bus or jeeps), camp at Shingra Koma. Today we take our first few steps on Chaddar carefully getting a feel of the surface you are stepping on. The Chaddar surface can be of various kinds, from a coating of fresh powder snow, hard and shiny ice, a freshly formed chadar (sheet of ice), chadar thats weakens and breaks-off to create another new texture. It is easy to walk on a fresh coating of snow. The snow gives you good grip and you can walk normally. An old hard and shiny surface of ice is what is tricky in initially. Do a penguin kind of walk on such a surface without lifting your feet too much off the ground. The Shingra Koma campsite comes within an hour of your trek.An elevated level field makes a good camping spot. On the opposite side are a few caves were those not carrying tents can camp. The locals on their journey through the Chadar tend to stay in caves. A campfire will make it better but it comes at the cost of the last traces of vegetation (dried) left on the banks of the Chaddar. Camp at Shingra Koma

  • 5

    Trek from Shingra Koma to Tibb approximately takes 4 Hours to cover the distance of 5 Kms. Wake up with the sun at about 7 am and prepare to leave the campsite by 9 am. Though the sun is up, Shingra Koma like most parts of the Chaddar gets direct sunlight only during mid day. Another reason why the Chaddar forms and remains. The morning walk on the Chadar may feel like a walk inside a deep freezer. Your face should be the only exposed skin but its enough to give the deep freeze feeling. As you walk on the Chadar, listen to the sounds it makes. Depending on the thickness of the Chadar, the sounds change. You will soon start recognizing where the Chadar is thick and where it is thin and dangerous. Shingra Komais a big camping ground on your right as you walk up stream. Its right below a huge stone wall which is straight out of a hollywood movie. The Zanskar river takes a beautiful turn right in front of the camp site and sharp peaks rise on the other side of the river. Camp at Tibb

  • 6

    Trek from Tibb to Nerak, 12 kms, 7 hrs. The trek from Tibb to Nerak is 12 kms long. This is the day when you encounter the much awaited frozen waterfall. The day is beautiful too going through the cliffs and gorges and valleys of Chadar. 5 hours into the trek and after your lunch break is when you see the first sights of Nerak. Prayer flags around Juniper shrubs by the Chadar signal that you are now close to Nerak and before that the waterfall. Nerak is a village located about 2,000ft higher than the river bed. The Chadar trekkers camp not at the village but at the camping ground 200 ft higher than the river. There is a lone shelter at Nerakcampsite which serves as a Rafting point in the summer months. During winters, it serves as a shelter for the Chadar trekkers. Camp at Nerak

  • 7

    Return from Nerak to Tibb, 7 hrs. The return path is theoretically a retrace of the route you took the last 3 days but in reality can feel like a totally new one. The dynamics of the Chadar can make the whole place look and feel different. Old Chadar breaks, new ones form where there was none earlier, texture of the Chadar changes and so on. Sometimes the Chadar breaks right under your feet and floats away like a raft. You have no option but to run on to the safer sheet ahead. You see the same broken raft getting stuck somewhere downstream and other icicles clinging on to it to form a whole new Chadar elsewhere. The Chadar trek is an experience. Your experience and what you see will be totally different from anyone else. We retrace our steps back to camp at Tibb for the night

  • 8

    Today, we retrace of steps further to Bakula from where we will get to board a vehicle and return to Leh after a fantastic outing in the snowy mountaineous region of the mighty Zanskar River.

  • 9

    End Of Trek! After a heavy heart, we leave this fascanating Himalayan region and board our way out from Leh!!

Location


Things to Carry: Chaddar - Frozen River Zanskar Trek

Important Notes: Chaddar - Frozen River Zanskar Trek

Charges Include

    Guide Charges

    All stays in Leh and during trek on twin/double sharing

    Leh stay with Breakfast only

    All treks and camping equipment

    Trek Staff charges

    Tempo Traveler from Day 1 to Day 9

    Leh Hotel with central heating

    Vegan food only during trek

Charges Exclude

    Medical checkup fee

    Insurance

    Any Kind of Tips

    Any personal expenses

    Anything else not mentioned in the 'Charges Include' section

How to dress for Chaddar Trek?

    One thing that keeps you protected on the Chaddar trek is the concept of layered clothing.

    We recommend the following:

    The most important rule is to make layers, instead of carrying thick and heavy jackets.

    • For top make layers in this order: Thermal inner, full sleeves T - shirt, woolen sweater / fleece jacket, windcheater / down jacket (water and wind proof).

    • For bottom make layers in this order: Thermal / woolen inner, water proof trekking pants.
    • For palms make layers of: woolen / fleece gloves, water proof gloves.
    • For feet make layers of: sports socks, woolen socks.
    • For face and head: Use a balaclava which covers the head and face, and a woolen cap.

    • Shoes: Snow trekking boots are the best for this trek, but if you don't wish to buy them, carry your normal trekking shoes and buy the local gum boots (Rs. 300 - 400) from the market in Leh. These gum boots would be needed when you have to cross the patches of Chaddar which aren't completely frozen. On fully frozen patches and the alternate rocky patches, the normal trekking shoes could be used. It is difficult to walk with the local gum boots entire day, so use them only when really required. It's always a good idea to use micro-spikes on the shoes/boots to avoid slipping on the ice.

Importatnt Points

    The temperature in Leh is always in the negative during winters. Keep a jacket, woolen cap and gloves handy in the flight to face the blast of cold air the moment you land from the plane. 

    Leh is totally covered by a blanket of snow and is white all around. Sometimes the roads have a coating of a thin sheet of ice. Watch out when you walk on them and be wary of slips and falls. The city of Leh is only partly open during the winter months; only the shops catering to the local needs are open. 

    Buy all your gears from your city and do not keep any major shopping to do at Leh. Leh at 11,800ft is higher than your entire trek. It is colder too. 

    Daytime the temperature hovers at around -10 degrees and after sundown drops to -16 or more. Get used to the cold at Leh during the day in the sun but get into your rooms once the sun goes down.

    The formation of the Chaddar is a natural phenomenon. Whether or not the Chaddar would be formed on a particular day is not in the hands of Yuvashakti nor our local representatives. The dates of departure of each group have been finalized based on our past experience. 

    Yuvashakti cannot be held responsible for any change in the itinerary resulting from any unforeseen reasons beyond our control. The costs you have paid include two nights at Leh and the remaining nights are to be spent in tents on the trek route. In case if the formation of Chaddar is weak and it becomes unsafe to walk on the Chaddar, in the best interest of the safety of our participants the entire group may be required to return to Leh for nighthalt. 

    Apart from the two nights included in our costs, if the group spends additional nights at Leh, there may be an additional cost for these additional nights at Leh. Any such increment in the costs resulting from a change in the itinerary will have to be borne additionally by the participants.

    As per the new directives received from the local authorities in Leh, it is mandatory for all participants to undergo a medical examination at Leh and spend 3 nights in Leh before departure for the trek. 

    Also the forest department & ALTOA have made it mandatory to obtain a special permit to trek on the Chaddar. Medical checkup & permit fee is to be paid individually by each participant at Leh, over and above the Yuvashakti's trek fees.

    In case if any participant wishes to book the services of a porter to carry your personal rucksacks, a package rate of of approx Rs.8,000 per person per bag has been quoted by our suppliers in Leh. These services have to be pre booked since there is a shortage of support staff in Leh.

    As mentioned earlier, all the arrangements for the Chaddar trek are preplanned and prepaid. In case of non-completion of the trek due to any reason whatsoever there will be no refund for any unutilized services. Any expenses arising out of unforeseen circumstances like flight delays / cancellation / hike in fare, strike or any other natural calamities like non formation of the Chaddar or overflow of water over the Chaddar due to heavy snow or any emergency evacuation expenses etc. have to be paid by the participants on their own.

    Chaddar trek is technically not that difficult. The challenges that you face are the extreme cold & highly unpredictable weather and strong wind which take the cold to colder. Hence it is very essential to have a fit body & mind. You must be able to jog 3 to 4 km in 30 minutes or walk continuously in 15 degrees incline for at least 45 minutes.