“I’m going on a trek in the Himalayas”
“Great, but its too cold out there, even when its summer in India !”
“I’m actually planning to do a trek in the himalayas in winter”
“Are you mad! It is way too cold, you will freeze to death ! The tents and sleeping bags can’t be enough !!”
“The temperature ranges from -100C to -250C”
“We are from India. Our body is not used to such low temperatures. An European or a Russian can do it since they are used to this nail biting cold. It is not for us”
“That’s why it’ll be fun :)”
I’ve just done one very low temperature trek in the Himalayas (‘The Chadar Trek, Ladakh’, February) and I have booked another one at Kedarkantha in Uttarakhand Himalayas (December). The conversation above is a very common one which I face when I tell people about doing a trek in winter.
Is it really doable? Isn’t it too harsh? And most importantly where and how will I poop?
How do you beat the cold?
How many clothes will I have to wear: Once you are dressed in proper layers, there is no more cold and the weather feels very pleasant even when it is -100C. Sometimes it actually feels warm in the day when you trek, and you might have to remove your heavy jacket or sweater. The trick is to know how to dress in layers. Sometimes only 4 layers are sufficient, and sometimes you might have to go to 6 layers, but not more than that.
How do you sleep in the night: Yes, the weather turns extremely chilly and freezing in the night, but you are not advised to roam outside in the night (even that you can do with proper clothing). Just drink some hot soup with dinner, a glass of hot milk before bed, take a hot water bag and put it inside your sleeping bag, and your are done! You will not feel cold.
Even in -300C? : No, you have to take some extra precautions in temperatures below -200C, but they are adequate. In that situation you just put another sleeping bag over your existing sleeping bag, and yes you are done. That’s all it is needed.
How will I pee and poop ? (the most important question): If you are going with a trekking organizer, just make sure you have a toilet tent. It is mostly dry toilets so no need to use any ‘icy’ water. The dry toilets are mostly clean, though it depends on they type of trekkers you have in your group, since it will be everyone’s responsibility to keep the toilets ‘covered’ and dry. You can even go outside, trust me, it is very much doable. If you absolutely need a ‘5 star standard toilet’, its better to book a seaside resort for the holidays, not a trek on Himalayas 🙂
Trekking in Winters is the best thing in the Himalayas, and these are the reasons:
Not too much crowd : Everybody is flocking to hill stations in the summers, and treks are no exceptions. Hill stations like Manali, Shimla, Mussoorie become unbearable due to the crowd in summers. The treks are much better, but they are still crowded and your campsite might be covered with a lot of tents. In winters though, it is so much better ! A place like Leh which overflows with tourists in the summer season (tourists outnumber the local population 10:1), becomes serene, calm and amazing in winters. Its snow all around, and you can easily roam around wherever you want. On the treks too, the landscape changes. ‘Himalayas’ mean ‘home of snow’, and you’ll see a lot of snow which you can’t see otherwise, even on the treks with lower elevation
Amazing flora and fauna: its different than in summers. Summers are mostly green all around, with patches of white snow. Winters are mostly white all around, with patches of green. Though every trek has a different landscape and this statement might not be true for all treks, but the point is that in winters you can experience something totally different than what you experience in summer
Frozen Lakes: If you are lucky, you will be able to see frozen lakes and play cricket or football on them. If you are very lucky (like we were on the Chadar Trek, Ladakh), you might get a chance to climb a frozen waterfall and explore places that are absolutely impossible to reach in summers.
Cricket on a Frozen River
It is really a great way to get out of your comfort zone and do something different, something which you haven’t done and you are scared to do, something that will make you tough. If something is easy, anyone can do it. If something is tough, only the determined will be able to do it. In the end, you will definitely come out as a tougher person.