Trip report for Lunana Snowman in Bhutan led by Almas Khan in September/ October 2017

Photo: Tshorim Lake before Gophu La pass

This is the ninth time The Mountain Company has organised the Complete Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan starting in Paro and finishing in Bumthang. Our Snowman 2017 went well and this group successfully made the full traverse through Lunana out to Bumthang. The Mountain Company has 100% track record of organising this challenging 28 day trek through the remote Bhutanese Himalaya.

This year we had fourteen trekkers signed up for Lunana Snowman and like in previous years this group was an international mix with people coming from UK, USA, Australia, Singapore, Belgium and Denmark. Our 2017 Snowman group was led by Almas Khan and he has now completed this trek nine times too!

For our 2017 Snowman we had a strong and experienced local crew who have worked with us for many years. The two regular guides are Tashi and Tsering Dorje, I remember leading the first TMC Snowman trek with these two back in 2008! It has been wonderful to see both Tashi and Tsering develop as guides over the years coached by Almas and also we have invested in their training by sending them to Kathmandu for their Wilderness Medical Training at KEEP. Thanks Tashi and Tsering for all of your help over the years!

The cook, Sonam, and his kitchen helpers were new for last year's Snowman and as they did such a great job we requested their services again this year. I have heard from both Almas and group that the food was very good and has certainly improved since Sonam came on board. I have copied Almas’s comments on the food below:

“The quality of the food was very good and most of the clients commented they loved it. Hygiene standards by the entire kitchen crew were up to our standards. Quantity of food was adequate too.”

Photo: view from Karchung La

Overall the weather and conditions were favourable compared to previous years although this group had some rain & cloud crossing Karchung La into Lunana however they got lucky with stable & sunny weather on the exit passes over Gophu La and Saga La. We received weather forecasts of over 1m of snow for the day this group crossed the last passes over to Tso Chenchen as there was a low pressure system coming off the Bay of Bengal. However luckily this group was spared the extreme weather as the system tracked away from Bhutan at last minute! I have copied Almas’s assessment of weather and conditions below:

“The weather on the trip was very kind to us. Most of the time it only rained after we reached the camp. Not the best views at times. Rained and snowed on us while we walked on the day we walked over Karchung La to Tarina. Had excellent weather at the Tshorim lake and over the Gophu La. It was not as cold as I had expected. The lowest temperatures experienced were at Tshorim and Michigang -12. 8 Celsius at night outside and about -5 Celsius inside the tent in the coldest hour before dawn. Some group members found the trails a bit muddy - personally I have seen them worse on some previous treks."

Throughout our Lunana Snowman trek we receive bespoke weather forecasts from Michael Fagin at everestweather.com and this information is sent through to Almas on his satellite phone. Having professional weather forecasts is essential for safety in crossing high passes and for decision making in the field.

Our Snowman 2017 group made good progress and did not lose any days due to bad weather or other delays along the way. This year Almas decided to have two nights at Thanza to allow the group and crew to rest as the weather forecast was showing stable weather for a week allowing adequate time to cross Gophu La and Saga La.

Photo: Gophu La pass

Of interest on the day crossing Gophu La out of Lunana one of the cook boys saw a snow leopard while having a rest sitting on a rock near Geche Woma camp. Almas told me how this person was so startled that he dropped his chocolate bar (!) on the ground. Two members of the group also saw the snow leopard from afar as the cat quickly moved away. On further inspection of this area there were print mark seen in the sand that looked like snow leopard so we will take this is a confirmed snow leopard sighting! Blue sheep were also seen around Chomolhari Base Camp.

We used SPOT gps tracker for this group and each night Almas checked in sending a gps signal to us so we could track this group's progress --->  see the way points overlaid onto a map for Lunana Snowman

The Mountain Company has a pledge through AITO Project Protect for our groups to collect at least 120kg of rubbish/ trash in the Himalaya and Karakoram during 2017. Our 2017 Lunana Snowman trek has collected 40kg of rubbish from the trails and around campsites and was carried out to the road head by the ponies during resupply at Laya and out to the end of the trek at Minchugang. Well done to Almas, crew and group!

Photo: Tsering weighing the rubbish collected on Snowman

Photo: baskets of rubbish collected

I have copied below feedback received from one member of the group now published on AITO review site:

"The Lunana Snowman trek is a major logistical challenge for the leader to organise horses and food over such a long remote trek. On this trip everything worked really smoothly. TMC offer the Bumthang exit to the trek which is much less frequently visited and we had a real sense of being in a quite different world in Lunana. The scenery is fantastic, the walk is long but most days are quite straightforward. There is a bit of a sting in the tail going over the last few passes but by then we were all pretty fit and acclimatized. The Mountain Company was very efficient. Potential trekkers are screened for suitability so the risk of being held up by someone unfit is minimised. From personal experience I can confirm this is important!"

Many thanks to Almas, Tsering Dorje, Tashi, Tsering, Sonam and rest of the crew for all of their hard work with organising and leading another successful Snowman trek. Thanks also to Kinley and Dawa in the office in Thimphu who have provided an excellent service with their logistics and planning for this long and remote trek.

We have now launched the dates and prices for Lunana Snowman 2018 on TMC website so please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group. We have already received strong interest and this group is likely to fill fast as Snowman 2017 was fully booked with fourteen trekkers by April over six months before departure date.

Trek on!

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Ladakh Sky Trail GHT led by Almas Khan in August/ September 2017

Photo: Tso Moriri lake at finish of LST

In August/ September 2017 we organised our 4th Ladakh Sky Trail GHT in northern India. Almas Khan is the leader and organiser for this trek and this year we had an international mix with people coming from Australia, USA and UK.

As mentioned in previous trip reports our Ladakh Sky Trail GHT is a unique itinerary designed by Almas and travels through the best of the three areas of this region: Ladakh, Zanskar and Changthang/ Rupshu. For most of Ladakh Sky Trail GHT we follow rarely trekked trails and this is only possible due to the local knowledge of Almas and our local Ladakhi guides.

These days in most areas of the Himalaya there are more and more trekking groups around and with increasing construction of roads means that more places are accessible. With many years experience of running treks in the Himalaya The Mountain Company specialises in searching out and organising the most remote treks with fewer other groups around. If you are looking to get truly off the beaten track then Ladakh Sky Trail is a good choice for India, Lunana Snowman for Bhutan and Upper Dolpo to Jomsom GHT for Nepal.

Our Ladakh Sky Trail GHT group arrived to Leh on August 15th and on 18th drove to Lamayuru (3,500m) and 19th they started the trek. One of the changes we implemented for this year was to have three nights in Leh whereas in previous years we only had two nights. As Leh is located at 3,500m the more time one has here to adjust to this high altitude the better before heading off on trek and ascending high passes.

The feedback from this group has been positive with no reported issues relating to altitude sickness and Almas feels that having an extra night in Leh helps everyone feel stronger during the first week on the trek. There are lots of interesting places to see in and around Leh so this extra time is used well to get a feel for the scenery, culture and pace of life in Ladakh.

Photo: river crossings during LST

As for all or our treks in the Himalayas we received bespoke weather forecast from Michael Fagin at everestweather.com. Fortunately the weather was good for our 2017 Ladakh Sky Trail GHT trek and for your information I have copied Almas’s words from his trip report:

“The weather on the trip was good. The days were hot in the beginning of the trek till we reached Zangla. It rained only one day while we were in the gorge. That day we camped short at Tilat Sumdo instead of Kumarasumdo. Next day the weather cleared up and we easily covered up the hour and a half we lost the previous day. The weather got cold after Tshokar lake and got light dusting of snow on some nights. Overall the weather for LST 2017 was really good and I think we run this trip at the optimal time of year.”

As mentioned in previous year’s Trip Reports we have carefully selected the time of year to run this trek, by starting in late August into September much of the snow in the mountains has already melted over the summer so river levels should be lower at this time of year. As Almas explains above this trek is in the shoulder season so expect the weather to cool off during the trek as the conditions become more Autumnal towards the end of the trip.

Photo: peaks around Tso Moriri lake

As the weather and conditions were favourable the group made good progress and followed the itinerary as planned. The group arrived to end of the trek at Tsomoriri lake on September 9th and then on 10th drove back to Leh. As with all of TMC western led treks we track their progress while in the field through SPOT gps check ins, you can see the map of this trek on SPOT Adventure website

We have made one change on the kit list for our 2018 Ladakh Sky Trail GHT based on feedback from this group and from Almas. In previous years we recommended fully enclosed sandals for the river crossings however this year Almas used a water shoe called Merrell Waterpro Maipo and this provided more protection during the three days walking in the gorge. I have copied Almas's comments below:

"I have tried several styles of shoes for river crossing shoes over the last three LSTs - I feel water shoes without any Velcro work the best - laces are more efficient than Velcro which gets clogged with sediment and stops working. The mesh foot coverage prevents small pebbles getting in and also they were comfortable to walk in between river crossings. We should update the kit list to include water shoes as there are more than 130 river crossings over three days and a lot walking in between. Also can double for camp / travel shoes"

Photo: peaks around Tso Moriri lake

The Mountain Company has a pledge through AITO Project Protect for our groups to collect at least 120kg of rubbish/ trash in the Himalaya and Karakoram during 2017. Our 2017 Ladakh Sky Trail GHT has collected 10kg of rubbish from the trails and around campsites and this is more than our target of 4kg per group so well done to Almas, crew and group!

Photo; photo of rubbish collected on LST 2017

As ever I would like to thanks Almas and the very hardworking Ladakhi team for doing a great job on another successful Ladakh Sky Trail GHT. Almas will be back in Ladakh again next summer leading our 2018 Ladakh Sky Trail and this trek is now already guaranteed to run.

Please get in touch soon if you are interested in joining our Ladakh Sky Trail GHT or if you have any questions on this trek.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk